Eat Me or What Color is Your Parachute 2009

Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin

Author: Kenny Shopsin

"Pancakes are a luxury, like smoking marijuana or having sex. That’s why I came up with the names Ho Cakes and Slutty Cakes. These are extra decadent, but in a way, every pancake is a Ho Cake.” Thus speaks Kenny Shopsin, legendary (and legendarily eccentric, ill-tempered, and lovable) chef and owner of the Greenwich Village restaurant (and institution), Shopsin’s, which has been in existence since 1971.

Kenny has finally put together his 900-plus-item menu and his unique philosophy—imagine Elizabeth David crossed with Richard Pryor—to create Eat Me, the most profound and profane cookbook you’ll ever read. His rants—on everything from how the customer is not always right to the art of griddling; from how to run a small, ethical, and humane business to how we all should learn to cook in a Goodnight Moon world where everything you need is already in your own home and head—will leave you stunned or laughing or hungry. Or all of the above.

With more than 120 recipes including such perfect comfort foods as High School Hot Turkey Sandwiches, Cuban Bean Polenta Melt, and Cornmeal-Fried Green Tomatoes with Comeback Sauce, plus the best soups, egg dishes, and hamburgers you’ve ever eaten, Eat Me is White Trash Cooking for the twenty-first century, as unforgettable and mind-boggling as its author.

The New York Times - Craig Seligman

Shopsin's writing is much like his cooking: blunt and flavorful. ("When it comes to food," he says, "subtlety is lost on me.") His book is a lot of fun to read, though it's marred by his constant bragging and his tendency to call anybody who doesn't do things his way dirty names.

Publishers Weekly

Kenny Shopsin hates publicity the way a magnet must hate metal filings. With a documentary, a New Yorker profile and several New York Times articles clinging to him, this supposedly reluctant restaurateur now adds to his own troubles by releasing a totally hilarious and surprisingly touching treatise on cooking, customer loyalty and family bonds. As his brood grew to include five kids, his Manhattan eatery shrunk in size, yet maintained its idiosyncratic 900-item menu (reproduced here in a 12-page spread). Recipes for more than 100 of the offerings are presented, including Mac n Cheese Pancakes and Blisters on My Sisters (sunny-side-up eggs placed atop tortillas and a rice and bean concoction). But the real treat is Shopsin's salty philosophizing. Sure, pancakes are tasty, but he reminds us that, "They are flour and milk drowned in butter and some form of sugar. They're crap." And the customer is always wrong "until they show me they are worth cultivating" as customers. Two such well-cultivated customers were the writer Calvin Trillin and his wife, Alice. They pop up throughout the book, providing not only happy reminiscences, but a roux of poignancy as both Shopsin and Trillin become widowers, bonded together over the love of a decent meal, quickly rendered. (Sept.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Look this: Factory Girls or Moneyball

What Color is Your Parachute? 2009: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career Changers

Author: Richard Nelson Bolles

The best-selling career book of all time and an undisputed classic in the category, updated annually to address current trends in the job market.

Table of Contents:

Contents Preface....................xi
Grammar and Language Note....................xv
I. Finding a Job ... in Hard Times 1. Hard Times: Rejection Shock....................3
2. Hard Times: Think....................15
3. Things School Never Taught Us about Job-Hunting: Five Best Ways to Hunt for a Job....................27
4. Things School Never Taught Us about Job-Hunting: How to Deal with Handicaps....................41
5. Things School Never Taught Us about Job-Hunting: Resumes and Contacts....................53
6. Things School Never Taught Us about Job-Hunting: Interviews....................77
7. Things School Never Taught Us about Job-Hunting: Salary Negotiation....................109
8. Things School Never Taught Us about Job-Hunting: How to Choose a New Career....................131
9. Things School Never Taught Us about Job-Hunting: How to Start Your Own Business....................141
10. Things School Never Taught Us about Job-Hunting: Entering the World of 50+....................171
II. Finding a Life ... That Has Meaning and Purpose 11. The Parachute Workbook (Updated 2009)....................183
12. Finding Your Mission in Life....................285
The Pink Pages Appendix A: Alternative Forms of Skill Identification....................311
Form A....................311
Form B....................328
Appendix B: How to Get Unstuck....................339
Appendix C: A Guide to Choosing a Career Coach or Counselor....................353
Sampler List of Coaches....................373
Index....................395