Whether you’re planning a garden or just planning to shop your local farmers’ market, Deborah Madison’s beautiful new Vegetable Literacy will soon be your favorite reference book. Long admired as a leader in the vegetarian cooking and slow food movement, Madison brings her considerable skills and knowledge to hundreds of exquisitely simple recipes. Each plant family—from carrots to mint to squashes, melons and gourds—is illustrated with remarkable photographs, and Madison describes the features that make its members interchangeable. Botany has never been so fascinating, or delicious. The garden is “a lively universe that stitches us firmly to the world at large.” In the kitchen, it becomes a part of us.
–Ann Woodbeck has been a “bookseller extraordinaire” for Excelsior Bay Books for the
past nine years. When not recommending the next great novel, she reads,
writes and spends time with her husband and poodle in Excelsior. EXCELSIOR BAY BOOKS: 36 Water St., Excelsior; 952.401.0932.
The little Waterstone operation is still in its infancy, though their first several releases have left quite an impression on my palate, including the Waterstone Cabernet 2010. They have sourced Atlas Peak and Stags Leap AVA fruit for their 2010 Napa cabernet. These sub-appellations include some of the most elevated vineyards in Napa. This altitude provides hot days and cool nights that give this offering great density, while retaining structure and silky tannins. Black cherries and cola dominate the palate of this accessible yet complex cabernet; pair this wine with well-seasoned red meat or blue cheese for a wonderful taste experience. $25.99.
–Tyler Melton is the manager of the Wine Shop. Sign up for their weekly
recommendations by emailing wineshopmtka@gmail.com and read their best
seasonal drink pick on this page each month. THE WINE SHOP: 17521 Minnetonka Blvd., Minnetonka; 952.988.9463.
Josh Davis, aka DJ Shadow, has an origin story befitting a superhero in the creation of his masterpiece Endtroducing….. Davis compiled the entire instrumental hip-hop record from samples stitched together on his trusty Akai MPC60, with sounds culled from his record-store spelunking. The documentary Scratch shows Davis literally crawling through the cellar of Sacramento’s Rare Records, sifting through cobwebs, mouse droppings and warped wax in search of the bits that would bring us such masterfully realized tracks as the trunk-rattling “The Number Song,” the underwater groove of “Changeling,” and the rain-slick beat of “Midnight in a Perfect World.” In the process, Davis made his bones as the grandmaster of all-samples records with fully realized songs instead of mere art-school sound collages.
–Jack Kentala is a local filmmaker and writer. He has directed two
feature films, Transmissions (2009) and Archetype (2012). He also wrote
his first novel, Meridien K, in 2011.
FIND THE ALBUM AT:
Barnes & Noble: 13131 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka; 952.546.2006.
