Lögberg-Heimskringla - 21.03.1997, Side 5

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 21, mars 1997 • 5
Betty Jane Wylie Cooking Solo
The book helps people
understand that cooking for
one is not as daunting a
task as it may seem and
that it can be done quickly
and result in healthy,
nutritious eating.
it” she said. “In the 1980s, you read a lot
about casseroles and cream of mush-
room soups and you just can’t do that
anymore. I don’t put sauces on anything
anymore. And no cream sauce ever.”
Most of the recipes in the book are
based on food items many people have
heard of but the recipes are unique to
Betty Jane and what came out of her
explorations in the kitchen. To claim a
reciþe as your own, she said, you have
to change at least two basic ingredients
and the style and method of cooking it,
“otherwise you’re plagiarizing,” she
said. All of the recipes in her cookbook
meet that standard, she said, and she
has tried every one. Some surprising
combinations of food have come out of
the experimentation because “I don’t
throw anything away.” (That’s how
Feta Garlic Crumble was bom.) Not
every idea tumed out exactly as antici-
pated, but, said Betty Jane, “I always
ate my failures.”
“A lot of the recipes are all mine. I
work things up and invent them in my
kitchen. My good ideas are in the
book,” she said.
Although the topic of this book is
lighter than many of her others, it is
still a self-help book, providing people
with both the encouragement and infor-
mation they need to eat better, even if
they are only cooking for themselves.
Betty Jane said many people use
food to “medicate” themselves. Others
— especially women who find them-
selves suddenly alone, either through
divorce or widowhood — end up eating
too little, not only losing too much
weight but becoming unhealthy. This
book tries to provide encouragement
and help so that people not only eat
properly but enjoy the entire process of
cooking and eating right.
“No one has a comer on pain and I
don’t want to walk in any one else’s
shoes,” she said, “but I do what I can to
help others.”
Solo Chefis her latest attempt
to bring some brightness into a dark
world.
Betty Jane Wylie has written more
than 30 books, and several award-
winning radio, TV and stage scripts.
She is most well known for her books,
Successfully Single, Everywoman’s
Money Book, and Reading Between the
Lines: The Diaries ofWomen. Her
latest book, Solo Chef, is her third
cookbook and is published by Macmil-
lan Canada and retails for $22.95. □
□ Manitoba $39.90/year (incl GST & PST)
□ Elsewhere in Canada $37.45/year
(incl. GST)
□ United States/Others $44/year
□ lceland 3760 kronur/year*
□ Donation in addition to subscription
(Charitable No. 0582 817-22-21)
‘Remit in Canadian or U.S. funds.
Name
Address
City/town
Prov/State________Post/Zip Code
Phone No.
Mail cheque or money order to
Lögberg-Heimskringla Inc.
699 Carter Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3M2C3
Tel: (204) 284-5686
coping with cooking for
one,” said Betty Jane, the Manitoba
bom author of Icelandic decent who
now lives in Mactier, Ontario.
The book helps people understand
that cooking for one is not as daunting
a task as it may seem and that it can be
done quickly and result in healthy,
nutritious eating.
“It (the book) sounds so serious,
but it’s not,” she said. “It’s full of jokes
and stories and my philosophy.”
Eating habits have changed among
most people in recent years and where
once cookbooks focused on pot roasts
and other red meats, her book focuses
on low fat, healthy but tasty eating.
There are only two desert recipes in the
book.
“A few years ago, I very con-
sciously began cutting fat grams from
my diet and it’s been fun writing about
Betty Jane Wylie is a
serious writer, usually
writing about serious stuff
— widowhood, grief, loss,
moving on. In her newest book — a
cookbook called Solo Chef: Recipes,
Tips, Advice and Encouragement for
Single Cooks, — Betty Jane had a
chance to lighten up, laugh, chat and
relax with her readers, while still
providing important life lessons.
Betty Jane refers to herself as a
“professional widow” because of her
extensive writing on the subject, but in
“Solo Chef ’ she is able to exchange
recipes — more than 120 of them —
and stories with her core group of
readers, people who are on their own
for one reason or another. ,
“There are a lot of people who are
suddenly single and they have trouble
The perfect investment in
your lcelandic heritage —
your weekly lcelandic
Newspaper—44 issues a year!
□ New □ Gift □ Renew
Government of
Iceland Scholarship
North American students of
Icelandic descent are invited to apply for
a Scholarship to study Icelandic language
and literature at the University of Iceland
in Reykjavík for the 1997—98 term.
The scholarship is
432,000 Icelandic kronur
or approximately $8,500 CAD
and covers tuition, room and board.
For application forms and further
information please contact:
Icelandic National League Head Office
Box 99, Gimli, MB R0C 1B0
Ph:204 / 642-5897
Fax: 204 / 642-7151
Email: axelsson@evergreen.freenet.mb.ca
Deadline for submission
of all application materials is
Monday, April 14,1997.
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