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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Spiced: Book Review and Giveaway!

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They say: For as long as she can remember Dalia Jurgensen wanted to cook. By age five she would stand on a chair at the counter next to her Danish mother, shaping frikadeller and peeling potatoes for bikser mad.  And when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she was unequivocal: she wanted to be a chef.

With a conventional college degree and a couple of years in publishing behind her, she abruptly quit her job to pursue her dream and enroll in culinary school. It was a leap of faith that changed and defined her life in ways she’d never imagined.  Now Jurgensen shares the delicious details in SPICED: A Pastry Chef’s True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen (Berkley Trade Paperback; April 6, 2010;$15.00), an eye-opening look at the sweet and sour of following your passion.

Refreshingly candid and simmering with kitchen drama, SPICED traces Jurgensen’s hard-earned metamorphosis from lowly pastry cook to acclaimed executive pastry chef at a three-star New York City restaurant.  But SPICED is much more than a personal memoir.  In the entertaining tradition of Kitchen Confidential, it’s an unforgettable insider’s tour through some of Manhattan ’s finest kitchens, the first to come from a woman’s perspective.  



I say: This was a very interesting book!  I liked to learn about what it is like for a woman in the kitchen. This book chronicles Dalia's many jobs, starting as a nighttime pastry person, who preps parts of desserts. She held many jobs, not only working with pastry or on the line and grill station at restaurants, but also for a caterer and in Martha Stewart's show prep kitchen. The book is well written with many details - including all hermess ups and the new recipes she creates. I really enjoyed reading what really goes on behind the scenes at restaurants.

Win it: 
 I have one copy of Spiced: A Pastry Chef’s True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen by Dalia Jurgensen to give away.





Mandatory Entry:
1. Comment and tell me your favorite biography, autobiography or non-fiction book. (1 entry)

Bonus Entries:
*for items with more than one entry, leave a seperate comment for each entry*

2. Subscribe to me via Google Friend Connect ( 2 entries)

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4. Follow Me on Twitter. Leave your Twitter id in your comment (2 entries)

5. Tweet this giveaway, using the following tweet or your own that includes a link to this post and @lbandj. (2 entries)
    "Win the book Spiced: A Pastry Chef's True stores @lbandj http://lbandj.blogspot.com/2010/04/spiced-book-review-and-giveaway.html"

6. Add my button to your sidebar. Leave link to your blog. (1 entry)

7. FOR 5 EXTRA ENTRIES - Blog about this giveaway, with a link to my blog and come back and leave the link to your blog post.

LEAVE YOUR EMAIL IN YOUR COMMENT SO I CAN REACH YOU IF YOU WIN!  Giveaway will end on Thursday, 5/13. Open to U.S. and Canada.
Good luck! :)

I was given this book to review and an additional copy to give away thanks to business2blogger. All thoughts are of my own opinion

25 comments:

  1. I loved Baby Laughs by Jenny McCarthy.

    hewella1 at gmail dot com

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  2. My all-time favorite biography is of Mother Teresa by Kathryn Spink.
    caliblue7@gmail.com

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  3. I am a follower via google friend connect.
    caliblue7@gmail.com

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  4. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
    Stephaniesuesansmith@gmail.com
    http://blog.stephaniesuesansmith.com

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  5. Thanks so much for linking up your giveaway on my linky at Scraps of Life! You are welcome to nab the button and put it on your blog linking back to me! I hope you get some traffic for this giveaway! I'm entering this giveaway too! My current fav non fiction book is 30,000 year of Art! Very cool and my kids love it!

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  6. New google friend connect follower!

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  7. #2 New google friend connect follower!

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  8. Newest twitter follower @susieqtpies

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  9. Newest twitter follower #2 @susieqtpies

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  10. Tweeted! http://twitter.com/susieqtpies/status/12979125468

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  11. Tweeted #2 http://twitter.com/susieqtpies/status/12979125468

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  12. My favorite biography is Natasha (the story of Natalie Wood).

    APSkap (at) comcast (dot) net

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  13. I follow you on Twitter

    @AlisonsBookMrks

    APSkap (at) comcast (dot) net

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  14. I really like biographies. My very favorite is the 6 Wives of Henry VIII

    Desiree
    carolinagirlmommy@gmail.com

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  15. 1- google friend

    Desiree
    carolinagirlmommy@gmail.com

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  16. 2- google friend

    Desiree
    carolinagirlmommy@gmail.com

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  17. 1- twitter follower- WeeShare

    Desiree
    carolinagirlmommy@gmail.com

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  18. 2- twitter follower- WeeShare

    Desiree
    carolinagirlmommy@gmail.com

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  19. https://twitter.com/WeeShare/status/13139807501

    Desiree
    carolinagirlmommy@gmail.com

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  20. 2- https://twitter.com/WeeShare/status/13139807501

    Desiree
    carolinagirlmommy@gmail.com

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  21. Love Eat Pray Love - a new favorite by Elizabeth Gilbert
    june_spirit2628 at hotmail dot com

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  22. I traveled to Kenya a few weeks after I finished my senior year of high school and since then Africa seems to be in my blood so one of my favorite books is Battle for the Elephants by Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the top elephant researcher in the world, about his fight to stop poaching.
    dlogstonATgmailDOTcom

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  23. I love Terry McMillan's biography

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