Reading List

Sometimes you marvel at the thought of the people you know, because of a path you took sometime in your life. At least I do. I think about the people I more than likely, never would have met, if I’d never turned on the TV in 1977 and watched "The First Barry Manilow Special." I know it sounds kind of corny, but you'd be amazed at the places I've been, people I've met, etc. because of Barry Manilow.

One person in particular is Dylan Schaffer, who became initiated into the world of Manilow fans with his two critically acclaimed books, "Misdemeanor Man" and "I Right the Wrongs." He enlisted the help of other local Barry Manilow fan clubs, to help generate publicity for them. Many of us had the chance to meet him at his booksigning he had in Las Vegas in 2004, which coincided with Barry’s "One Night Live" performance.

Mr. Schaffer has a new book which will be in bookstores shortly and is available for pre-order online. It’s called "Life, Death & Bialys: A Father/Son Baking Story." He writes about the story of a week-long baking class he took with his dad, who was then terminally ill. Check out his website for more information about the book, appearances, a bialys recipe, and more.

When it gets cool enough to bake around here, I’ll definitely give the recipe a try.

I’m accumulating a list of books to read. Here’s what I have so far:

• Life, Death & Bialys: A Father/Son Baking Story by Dylan Schaffer
• Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford
• The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain
• Words in a French Life by Kristin Espinasse
• Two for the Road: Our Love Affair with American Food by Jane and Michael Stern
• My Life in France by Julia Child
• The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Towards Perfection by Michael Ruhlman
• The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute by Michael Ruhlman
• The Reach of a Chef: Beyond the Kitchen by Michael Ruhlman
  (I read "Soul" many years ago and want to read his new book, so I might as well start at the beginning again and read everything in chronological order.)