The book that made me pull my juicer off the shelf: Juice by Carly de Castro, Hedi Gores and Hayden Slater

It's no surprise that I like this book. We've been walking a path to more healthful eating for quite a while now, careful what we consume, and from where it is sourced. Many of the farmers greet me by name at the local farmer's market. We have a high quality blender, which we use for smoothies (particularly green smoothies, which often are what we sip in the evening as we sit outside and watch life parade by.) There's also a juicer in our appliance arsenal, having moved from a centrifugal juicer to a twin gear over the years. I love fresh juice, especially, juices "with ingredients", as my mother used to say, taking frequent opportunities to partake of cold pressed and fresh squeezed juices offered for sale, even though I often shudder at the prices asked for them. Yet, I balk at juicing itself: the cleanup is just such a chore. I never want to do it after having that yummy juice, and if I do it before, I resent that it's keeping me from my fresh juiced goodness.

But this book, with beautiful pictures, easy to follow tips, and absolutely scrumptious recipes for juices, smoothies, and even some non-juice stuff to supplement a cleansing program, has me eyeing the juicer that sits high up on a shelf. I even am contemplating climbing up on a stool and bringing it down, finding a place somewhere in our compact kitchen to give it a more accessible home. I've got the fruits and veggies  already in the fridge -- all I need is the motivation to tackle the juicing and the inevitable clean-up. I tried convincing myself that the washing helped with an upper body workout, but my mind didn't believe me. Maybe I'll try telling myself that washing all those parts provides a zen moment to meditate. 

Many thanks to the authors for some wonderful tips, recipes, and insights, and to Blogging for Books and the publishers for sending this book along. It's a keeper.

Tags: blogging-for-books, read-for-review, foodie, i-liked-it, taught-me-something, made-me-look-something-up