Indie Spotlight: March 2021

In this edition of Indie Spotlight, our monthly thematic roundup of BookLife titles, we're celebrating the joy of cooking and eating.

Mindful Eating

The Meal Deal: Blaze Your Own Trail to a Healthier Eating Lifestyle

Lisa Kiersky Schreiber

ISBN 978-1-6100-5974-9

About the book: The Meal Deal helps you get out of the diet trenches and take the reins by showing you how to simplify your food lifestyle based on your personal preferences and tastes. No more relying on other sources: you become your own meal-planning, healthier eating guru.

Author statement: “I began writing The Meal Deal after I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and began studying nutrition to see if I could get this chronic disease under control by changing how I ate. The results were tremendous—I was able to eventually go into complete remission and stop taking all the drugs I was taking to manage the disease—and set me on a path of building a foundation to simplify my food life based on cooking at home with more whole foods. I came to love studying nutrition so much that I proceeded to get a Precision Nutrition Level 2 Certification, a yearlong mentorship program aimed at helping students become client-centered wellness coaches. Along with a certification in motivational interviewing, I use these skills to help clients begin creating and practicing healthier eating habits. My goal with the book is to help readers set up their surroundings, use meal planning and other techniques, and learn overall healthier eating habits so they can gain the confidence they need to trust themselves implicitly around all things food-related.”

Once upon a Bowl of Oatmeal

Annie Douglass Lima

ISBN 978-1-6941-8480-1

About the book: Seventy recipes spruce up a familiar staple.

Author statement: “I spent over two years experimenting and innovating to find tasty combinations of ingredients that would transform a bowl of oatmeal from basic porridge into a delicious and filling treat. As a busy teacher, I know the importance of quick breakfasts that provide lasting energy for a productive morning, and you’ll find lots of them in these pages! But, as a fantasy author, I couldn't resist giving a fairy-tale theme to the cookbook as a whole and to many of the individual recipes. So grab yourself a copy and prepare to enjoy a bowl of Cinderella's Pumpkin Spice or Unicorn's Delight Oatmeal. Breakfast will never be the same!”

Recipes and their stories

What’s Your Poison? How Cocktails Got Their Names

Jerry Bader

 ISBN 978-1-9886-4721-0

About the book: Why do we call mixed alcohol drinks cocktails? How do they get exotic names such as Singapore sling, screwdriver, alamagoozlum, angel’s kiss, hanky-panky, Harvey Wallbanger, sex on the beach, monkey gland, brass monkey, margarita, Japalac, lion’s tail, and many, many more? Who makes up these names? Where are they invented? Why? And how do you make them? What’s Your Poison? explores the incidents, people, and places that prompted the creation of these exotic concoctions.

Author statement: “After watching a reality television show about bartenders who were tasked with making a new cocktail and naming it, my wife asked me how cocktails got their names, and of course I had no idea. She suggested that it might make a good book. The next day I decided to find out and that led me down the rabbit hole of discovery. I really got interested when I researched a character named Baldy Jack Rose, a gangster in the early 1900s who was involved in one of New York’s most infamous murder cases and who the Jack Rose cocktail seems to be named after. Because I mainly write neo-noir novels and screenplays, I really got interested and dove in headfirst. It’s a fascinating subject, and the book doesn’t just tell the stories of the different cocktails: it also provides recipes for each drink.”

Jay Christian

 ISBN 978-0-9846-1720-3

About the book: Jay Christian's Hollywood Celebrity Recipes is a simple, easy-to-read cookbook, loaded with a variety of dishes from all the greatest Hollywood legends.

Author statement: “All of the recipes were personally given to me by the stars themselves. With appetizers, sauces, sides, salads, soups, main dishes, and desserts, you'll never get bored, and you'll be pleased with how well these recipes turn out.”