Bread and a Dog by Natsuko Kuwahara
My rating: 5/5 cats
in the ever-expanding category of “people who live life better than i do,” there is natsuko kuwahara, who wrote this book.
it’s a collection of her photographs, each featuring both a mouthwatering, bread-centric meal (usually of the breakfast variety) and kipple, a little dog who loves bread, hovering nearby the table, making sure everyone knows she is willing to help out with the eating of bread, should such help be required.*
so her life is better than mine because she has a dog (and also a cat, who is occasionally shown blurring through the photos, interested in neither bread nor fame) but also – these FOODS! i am beyond jealous. and maybe the fact that she is a professional baker and food stylist has SOMETHING to do with how much better-looking her meals are than mine, but still. it makes me hungry and envious, and that’s no way to live!
she’s very blasé about her awesome bread lifestyle – “Almost all of the recipes included in Bread and a Dog are the breakfasts I cook and eat every day,” she says, “though some of them are sample recipes that I cooked for my work.”
which is like saying – “oh, this?? this is just the golden unicorn i ride to work, whatevs.”
things i didn’t know were missing from my life until i read this book, but now want desperately:
-spiced orange marmalade
-hazelnut-flavored cafe au lait
-hazelnut shortbread cubes
-nevel orange marmalade
-chestnut bread/chestnut bagel/chestnut and yuzu bread/chestnut and apple loaf
-kiwi and grapefruit juice
-mango coconut bread
-banana-coconut muffin
-ume juice
-tangerine spread
-walnut and red bean paste sandwiches
-hyuganatsu
-black sesame pancakes
-clafoutis with plums
-honey rusks
and many of these desperately-wanted items are among the recipes included in the back of the book, but unless i get the hungry, inquisitive dog, the streaking cat, and all the flatware, i’m not likely to make any of these. all or nothing, baby!
because awww – i would never be able to resist that face!
yup, kipple would be three times bigger if she lived with me. i’m not about to say no to that
(by which i mean both the dog and that SANDWICH!)
so close!! so close to delicious!
i wish i was close to that bread right now
this book is equal parts adorable and delicious, which is the recipe for a perfect book. hahaahahahah ohhhhh humor!
all this bread-talk (and side-splitting hilarity) has made me sleepy
doggie has instagram: https://instagram.com/kwhr725/
*for those of you hall monitors who can’t just enjoy how cute this book is and are all “doggies shouldn’t eat breads!!” even though most doggies will eat anything out of any trash can ever and i watched a doggie eat another doggie’s poo last week, heed this and be chill:
“Eating too much bread is not good for a dog’s health,” Natsuko admits. “Bread contains salt, which is bad, and dogs physically don’t need grains in the first place. When I feed Kipple bread, I give her only a little piece of it. Besides, I choose grain-free dog food, which she eats every morning and evening.”
