“Crip Up the Kitchen” Review

“Crip Up the Kitchen: Tools, Tips, and Recipes for the Disabled Cook” by Jules Sherred

A comprehensive guide and recipe collection that brings the economy and satisfaction of home cooking to disabled and neurodivergent cooks.

cripping / crip up: A term used by disabled disability rights advocates and academia to signal taking back power, to lessen stigma, and to disrupt ableism as to ensure disabled voices are included in all aspects of life.

When Jules Sherred discovered the Instant Pot multicooker, he was thrilled. And incensed. How had no one told him what a gamechanger this could be, for any home cook but in particular for those with disabilities and chronic illness? And so the experimenting―and the evangelizing―began.

The kitchen is the most ableist room in the house. With 50 recipes that make use of three key tools―the electric pressure cooker, air fryer, and bread machine―Jules has set out to make the kitchen accessible and enjoyable. The book includes pantry prep, meal planning, shopping guides, kitchen organization plans, and tips for cooking safely when disabled, all taking into account varying physical abilities and energy levels.

Organized from least to greatest effort (or from 1 to “all your spoons,” for spoonies), beginning with spice blends and bases, Jules presents thorough, tested, inclusive recipes for making favourites like butter chicken, Jules’s Effin’ Good Chili, Thai winter squash soup, roast dinners, matzo balls, pho, samosas, borshch, shortbread, lemon pound cake, and many more.

Jules also provides a step-by-step guide to safe canning and a template for prepping your freezer and pantry for post-surgery. With rich accompanying photography and food histories, complete nutritional information and methods developed specifically for the disabled and neurodivergent cook, Crip Up the Kitchen is at once inviting, comprehensive, and accessible. If you’ve craved the economy and satisfaction of cooking at home but been turned off by the ableist approach of most cookbooks―this one’s for you!

Review

I really enjoyed reading through this cookbook and all the different tips in it. There is a great chapter about different types of disabilities and how the book can help. There are also tips for what items you should by and have available too you, grouped into least expensive to more expensive if you can get it and why these things will be helpful. My favorite chapters are the ones about how to organize your kitchen and pantry areas to make everything easier to work with and the meal planning / meal prep chapters. I think there’s a lot of good information to be had in these sections before even getting to the recipes. As for the recipes I like that there is an introduction chapter for how to use the various equipment (Pressure Cooker/Air Fryer). The recipes themselves are organized well and I really like the details and stories with the recipes – the author includes some good history lessons for many of them.

Book Details

Crip up the Kitchen Book Cover - the cover is black with a spoon that takes up most of the upper right side of the cover. There is some sort of thick liquid on the spoon dripping off of it. The title of the book takes up most of the rest of the cover in yellow with the subtitle in white at the bottom. The author's name is at the top.

Author’s Website
Jules Sherred
Publisher / Date
Touchwood Editions, May 2023
Genre
Guidebook, Cookbook
Page Count
272
Completion Date
October 10, 2024

“Color Taste Texture” Review

“Color Taste Texture: Recipes for Picky Eaters, Those with Food Aversion, and Anyone Who’s Ever Cringed at Food” by Matthew Broberg-Moffitt

This much-needed cookbook combines tips and techniques with a dash of understanding about food aversion and how to help your kids—and yourself—cook beautiful meals in an empowering way, and is a groundbreaking resource for anyone who has ever been called “picky” or “discerning.” Learn how to alter the texture or taste profile of a dish, or even fit it within a specific palette with a unique color-coded guide. Delicious, nutritious, and easily tailored recipes (including for gluten-free and vegan eaters) include:

  • the perfect smashed cheeseburger
  • Italian sausage and potato soup
  • the best omelet
  • stuffed focaccia
  • chocolate pinwheels
  • and dozens more

Professional chef Matthew Broberg-Moffitt’s advice is broken down by category (The Five Tastes, Texture, Color, Aroma, Presentation, and Plating) in order to address each and every aspect of food aversion, and a Food Preference Profile and Worksheet is included for you and your child to quickly identify and summarize their preferences. Instead of leading to mistrust by disguising or slipping in foods your kids don’t want to eat, this cookbook supports caretakers in a way that maintains a healthy relationship with food, and a joyful, less stressful experience around the table.

Review

I thought this recipe book was really interesting! I don’t have as many food aversions as I used to but I did feel like I learned a few things from the earlier parts of the book about different reasons for aversions – how different colors, tastes and textures can cause the aversions and why. I thought the descriptions were detailed and informative. For example texture is the one area I still have trouble with (often combinations I don’t like) so this was the section I spent the most time looking through. There are tips for making the foods more of a certain texture which seem helpful to me. I also liked the plaiting and environment section too – something people don’t often think about. Where you’re eating can have a lot of impact! For the recipes themselves I liked the breakdown of what colors, tastes and textures each one had – I thought those would be helpful for people looking for something specific.

Book Details

Color Taste Texture book cover. The top third of the book has a picture of cinnamon rolls on the right and chicken figures on the right. The middle contains the title and author's name on a brown textured background. The bottom third is a group of four children setting behind a table filled with all kinds of different foods either eating or drinking the food.

Book Link
“Color Taste Texture” at Bookshop.org
Publisher / Date
Avery Publishing Group, August 2023
Genre
Guidebook, Cookbook
Page Count
208
Completion Date
October 10, 2024

“Safe and Sound” Review

“Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair” by Mercury Stardust

For too many people, the simple act of contacting a plumber or repair person can feel like a game of chance. As a transwoman and a professional maintenance technician, Mercury Stardust has discovered (the hard way) that we live in a world with much to fear. If you’ve ever felt panicked about opening your home to strangers in order to fix a maintenance issue, this book is for you.

Renting a home can be a complex process—from finding a safe and affordable space, to hiring help for moving and out, and of course, managing any repairs that come up during your stay.

You deserve to feel empowered to take matters into your own hands—and it’s not as hard as you might think. In this book, Mercury will show you how to tackle the projects that need improvement in your home—from how to properly fix a clog in your bathroom sink and safely hang things on your walls to patching small and medium drywall holes.

Review

This is a great book for anyone who’s renting and needs some tips for everything from finding an apartment to making repairs and more. There’s a lot of great information in the book with very detailed explanations for what tools to use and how to complete the repairs. There’s also a section at the end of the book with a lot of great information about the various laws and various resources for tenants in the United States that may prove useful to many.

Book Details

The cover has a drawing of a woman with blue/green hair in a pink plaid shirt and blue overalls standing in front of a workbench with several tools on it and a peg board behind them. Woman is holding up a drill with her other hand on her hip. The title is in box above the woman's head and the title is above that.

Author’s Website
Mercury Stardust
Publisher / Date
Alpha, August 2023
Genre
Guide Book
Page Count
224
Completion Date
April 3, 2024