{"id":44943,"date":"2025-10-14T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=44943"},"modified":"2025-10-09T13:49:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T20:49:53","slug":"donabe-we-stand-on-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/donabe-we-stand-on-guard\/","title":{"rendered":"Donabe \/ We Stand on Guard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DONABE \u2013 HOT POT COOKING WITH A JAPANESE FLAVOR<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Donabe: Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking<\/em>
by Naoko Takei Moore and Kyle Connaughton
Ten Speed Press
2015, 328 pages, 9.4 x 9.4 x 1.1 inches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donabe (doh-nah-bei) is Japanese for clay pot. It is traditional Japanese earthen cookware and its popularity has waxed and waned with the centuries. Today donabe cooking is a family (and friends) activity, bringing people closer together with communal dining. The book features traditional as well as modern donabe recipes created by the authors and takes readers through the history, manufacture and culture of the donabe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors Takei-Moore and Connaughton create an intimate communal experience with the narrative and sharing of stories. Each recipe begins with a bit of an anecdote, such as \u201cI\u2019ve been making this dish for years, and it\u2019s also one of the most popular rice dishes in my cooking class.\u201d Then the instructions follow with tips and reminders, and include serving suggestions. We can almost hear Ms. Takei-Moore gently instructing her students, \u201cUsing a paring knife, score the skin of the duck breast \u2026 Be careful not to penetrate the meat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aspiring donabe chefs need not think they have to acquire many different donabe (although that might be fun!). The authors encourage experimentation and provide instructions for using a classic donabe or even a dutch oven if you do not have the type of donabe specified. The book itself is a delightfully sumptuous eyeful with beautiful photographs of different donabe, ingredients and finished dishes. Sturdily constructed with heavy glossy pages that are sewn in, the book falls open flat just like you\u2019d want a cook book to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donabe<\/em> is delightful reading and the recipes are authentic, delicious and most are not complicated or difficult for the beginner to make. I loved reading and leafing through the book, trying out the recipes and extending my knowledge of \u201chot pot\u201d cooking with a Japanese flavor. Interestingly enough, until I read the book, I had not heard of shime<\/em> \u2013 a recipe that uses the remaining broth of the donabe recipe if it is a soup or stew to create an end-of-the-meal dish. Don\u2019t just drink up the broth, create yet another course! \u2013 Carolyn Koh<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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THE US SICS ITS ROBOT DRONE ARMY ON CANADA\u2019S WATER SUPPLY IN WE STAND ON GUARD<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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We Stand on Guard<\/em>
by Brian K. Vaughan (author), Steve Skroce (artist) and Matt Hollingsworth (artist)
Image Comics
2016, 160 pages, 7.3 x 11.1 x 0.6 inches (hardcover)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know those cheeky jokes about the United States invading Canada? No one is laughing in Brian K. Vaughn\u2019s We Stand on Guard<\/em>, an extremely tense, often brutal, military sci-fi thriller with an obvious political point to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some 100 years in the future, an allegedly Canadian drone strike on the White House destroys it, killing the president. The US responds with everything it\u2019s got while Canada screams false flag attack, an excuse for the US to come after Canada\u2019s precious water resources (which, surprise, the US is plumb out of). The US deploys its immense drone arsenals, including giant, stompy mecha robots, and \u201choser ships,\u201d aerial tankers that fly over Canada sucking up all of her water. The story in the book revolves around a group of Canadian guerilla fighters trying to repel the US occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the subject matter is intense and the pacing of the book rarely lets you catch your breath, there is levity, too. There are plenty of insider Canadian jokes, a character from Quebec whose French dialog is never translated, and an ongoing bit about Superman having Canadian roots (he was co-created by Canadian artist Joseph Shuster). And while there is plenty of action, with everything from skirmish combat to giant, all-out battlefield hellfire, this is a very dialog-driven book and a book that is chalk full of interesting speculative tech and a believable near-future world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A country being occupied by a vastly superior high-tech military, with questionable evidence to justify its actions, and irresistable natural resources that just happen to be sorely needed by the invaders\u2026 Hmmm, where have we heard this story before? Having the enemy be Canada, not Iraq, definitely changes the way that you relate to the guerillas and your shifting allegences to who the \u201cgood guys\u201d actually are. This hardcover edition, collecting the first six issues of the series, is beautifully produced. Besides the series, there is a sketchbook in the back showing dozens of artist Steve Skroche\u2019s sketches and pre-colored panels. \u2013 Gareth Branwyn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BTW: I found that this book had a lot of thematic and stylistic similarities, as well as a similar level of white-knuckled ferocity, to Letter 44<\/a>. If you enjoyed that series, you\u2019ll probably want to check out We Stand on Guard.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once a week we\u2019ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because\u00a0the possibilities they inspire are new.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Issue No. 88<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[31],"tags":[2398],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44943"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44943"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44961,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44943\/revisions\/44961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}