Zest for Life

Arlene Gryfe is a Toronto-based professional nutritionist and home
economist.

Both Diane Clement and her husband were professional athletes, and today
continue to enthusiastically embrace this lifestyle. She has already
written several cookbooks (one coauthored with her husband deals with
exercise and healthy eating). In keeping with her interest in food,
Clement has opened a restaurant in Vancouver with her daughter.

This book combines her memoirs with popular recipes of the past 50
years, divided into decades. Each decade has its own index of drinks,
appetizers, salads, soups, main and side dishes, breads and desserts.
The 1950s and 1960s (discussed together) reflected an increase in home
entertaining, but still maintained a desire for comfort foods. Since
many of those recipes were high in fat, a sidebar is added with
modifications to lower fat content while maintaining flavor. The 1960s
marked the beginnings of more adventurous attempts at recipes, with
local grocery stores introducing “gourmet” sections. In the 1970s,
ethnic eateries began branching out from family neighborhoods to main
restaurant districts; home cooks now had a large variety of cookbooks,
magazines, and television shows to inspire them. The 1980s were
characterized by increasing health consciousness, more exercise, and
less fat, sugar, and salt. In the 1990s, people began seeking
“comfort” foods (albeit with more creativity) within a modified,
healthier lifestyle.

All recipes in the book are introduced with one or two paragraphs of
engaging personal comments. Although only imperial measurements are used
in the recipes, there is a short conversion table for metric users.
Ingredients are clearly listed, methods are easy to follow, and
preparation times are included. Most recipes have useful hints regarding
substitution, freezing, uses for leftovers, and the like. There is an
extensive cross-index and more than 30 mouthwatering color photographs.
Zest for Life will delight both beginning and advanced cooks.