Never Eat More Than You Can Lift

"Never Eat More Than You Can Lift" is a goulash, a mix of this and that and a lot of other things. It's a quote book and the source for Twain's swipe at American cookery. It's also a cookbook with recipes for chutney ham rolls, baked caramel apples and garlic grilled okra. It's an advice book with hints for making custard, peeling cucumbers and telling the difference among English, American, Dijon, German and Chinese mustards. Weaving their way among these mini-essays are 1,500 thoughts, one-liners and musings about food. Author Sharon Tyler Herbst casts a wide net for her quotations, from Arab emir Abd-al Kadir ("Coffee is the common man's gold, and like gold, it brings to every man the feeling of luxury and nobility.") to writer and editor William Zinsser ("[The hot dog] . . . a twin pillar of democracy along with Mom's apple pie. In fact, now that Mom's apple pie comes frozen and baked by somebody who isn't Mom, the hot dog stands alone.") Alongside familiar faces like Julia Child and James Beard are the unexpected, like Miss Piggy, who supplied this book's title. Herbst spices the mix with her own ruminations on the sensuous joys of frozen grapes, the mythological origins of mint and why onions make you cry. With so much variety, it would be impossible not to find something that makes you laugh or think, or head for the fridge.