cover image College Survival Cookbook

College Survival Cookbook

Nancy Ujevich. University of Pittsburgh Press, $9.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-8229-5491-0

Perhaps appropriately, this concise, utilitarian handbook opens with a down-to-the-ground chapter on party food and drink (wing dings, ``instant pizza''). Parties matter a lot in college. But the book's intended, of course, for people too busy (and maybe too young) to do more than is absolutely necessary in the kitchen, with all possible corners cut. And it will probably be helpful. Ujevich certainly doesn't fuss, and takes little for granted; in fact, her sensible bare bones are sometimes almost funny. (A recipe for roast chicken and potatoes explains that chicken innards are ``usually found inside chicken.'') She covers the meals and their constituents--breakfast, soups, sandwiches, sauces, main meals, vegetables, dessert--and includes pointedly minimalist appendices: a single page of ``basic ingredients'' (from salt to soy sauce) and another of tips (``Start with good habits so they become automatic''). Along the way are fried bongers, porcupine balls, hot dogs and mom's steak dinner. So it's a plain, plain walk through the cupboard to the dining room table--and meant to be. (June)