Ultimate Cooking Companion for At Home Caregivers or Purba

Ultimate Cooking Companion for At-Home Caregivers

Author: Elana Zucker

The Ultimate Cooking Companion for the Homemaker / Home Health Aide Elana Zucker, R.N., M.S.N. and Mary Ellen Capron, M.S., R.D.

Finally! Here is the practical handbook agencies and aids have been clamoring for! Elana Zucker, author of Prentice Hall's best-selling homemaker/home health aide textbook and nutrition consultant Mary Ellen Capron have teamed up to write the ultimate cooking companion for homemaker/home health aides who need to provide nutritious meals for the clients they serve. This handy reference takes the worry and wonder out of what to buy, prepare, and serve clients, many of whom have special needs. A "must-have" resource for home health agencies and their aides. Features:

• Clear and concise information on meal planning and cooking
• Sensitive to the realities of "real-world" budget and time constraints
• Abundance of recipes that are culturally-sensitive and age-sensitive
• Easy-to-follow tips for adapting recipes to further meet individual dietary needs and physical challenges and restrictions

Doody Review Services

Reviewer: Neva L Crogan, PhD, APRN, BC (University of Arizona College of Nursing)
Description: This is a food and shopping guide for use by at-home caregivers. This book includes all the elements needed for caregivers so that they can prepare and serve nutritious meals in the home setting.
Purpose: According to the authors, the goal of the book is to assist the aide in establishing a nutritionally sound atmosphere so that nutrition will be maintained when the aide is no longer in the home. The book is designed to enhance the dining experience and if read and implemented, this is an obtainable goal.
Audience: The book was developed and written for at-home caregivers, however, it is a versatile book that may be useful by home care agencies. The authors are credible professionals.
Features: This book could be viewed as a resource for use in the home. It includes basic nutrition information, facts about food supplements, steps in how to feed a client, instructions for shopping and food storage, and a description of common therapeutic diets. It also includes a sizable number of recipes that can be adapted or food items substituted to meet individual needs of clients. The book includes appendixes and an easy to use glossary and index.
Assessment: This is a very useful and much needed cooking companion for at-home caregivers. All information is presented in a clear, concise manner so that it can be used both as an initial introduction to the content and as a quick review. The information will contribute to the caregiver's job satisfaction by modeling appropriate behaviors so that the client can achieve maximum health and well-being.

Rating

3 Stars from Doody

Interesting textbook: Tax Funded Politics or Marketing Management

Purba: Feasts from the East: Oriya Cuisine from Eastern India

Author: Laxmi Parida

Not just a recipe book but a comprehensive survey of culinary delights from the eastern Indian state of Orissa, better known for the architectural splendors of its ancient temples in Konarak and Puri.

The author speaks of her own experience in the context of the food she describes- meticulously documented by her as she passes through her grandmother's kitchen to her mother's overseen by the family cook. The little anecdotes that accompany some of the recipes provide an unusual glimpse into the middle-class Indian existence the author experienced while growing up in that vast and fascinating country.

Comparing and contrasting the techniques refined over generations, with that from diverse and distant cultures, augmented with an extensive bibliography, the book should appeal to a wide spectrum of readers --from the faltering beginner to the serious cook. An unusual chapter on the family cook's contribution might make the orthodox in you squirm but nevertheless offers a glimpse into the evolution of "restaurant-food" in urban Orissa.

A scientist by training, the author injects her own scientific-humor into the writing that also makes the book an amusing read.