Bethenny Frankel, shown here with her Skinnygirl Solutions shapewear for Macy's at the Renaissance Times Square, wanted to come up with shapewear that's sexy and affordable.

We were a bit surprised to hear that reality star Bethenny Frankel has a new line of shapewear. After all, the entrepreneur behind the Skinnygirl brand, which includes cosmetics, drink mixes, on-the-go nutrition bars and fitness DVDs, looked enviably toned in person at a recent New York City launch of Skinnygirl Solutions collection, currently available at select Macy’s locations.

But Frankel was inspired to get into compression garments when she noted that many of the women she spoke to were unhappy with shapewear that rolls up, pinches or doesn’t look sexy. “I take pride in listening to women,” says Frankel, 41.

And don’t be thrown by the Skinnygirl name. “It’s not about what size you are,” Frankel says. “It’s all about solutions for women.” In fact, for the Real Woman campaign, Frankel enlisted women in her life — such as makeup artist Sonia Rodriguez and former personal assistant Julie Plake — to model items. (Frankel also has a Smoothers n’ Shapers collection available online.)

We think the power mesh fabric in items such as the black/nude Lace Shaping Bodysuit ($48, from the Smoothers n’ Shapers line) is surprisingly soft for shapewear. The Lace Shaping Brief ($24) and Boyleg ($26) promise no panty lines and a waist-cinching band for tummy control. Fans of Bethenny Ever After might recognize the Booty Booster ($20), with foam pads and shaping microfiber, from a recent episode of the reality show.

While plenty of items, such as the Luxurious Shaping Slip ($42) have built-in support, there’s also the Wear Your Own Bra Cami ($30) based on feedback Frankel had heard from women who want to pair their own bras with shapewear. Others, such as the Alluring Lace Shape Cami ($38) from the Macy’s Skinnygirl Solutions collection, provides coverage but no cups or underwires, so it’s at the discretion of the wearer whether to add a bra underneath or not. The sexy designs address another concern women voiced to Frankel: What if you’re not the only one who’s going to see your shapewear? (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)

Frankel calls the items “lazy lingerie” and notes not only are all the pieces under $50, but they’re also “very user-friendly.” The tags even helpfully remind, “Remember: Always step into your shapewear.” Of course, we neglected to follow this pointer until it was too late and we were briefly entangled in our Alluring Lace Shape Cami. (On the bright side, if romance is involved, someone will be there to extricate you.)

What’s the most important factor for you when buying shapewear?

Photo credit: Michael Simon

At Pure Yoga, Loren Bassett (in purple) leads mountain climber exercises at a heated Bassett's Boot Camp, which incorporates elements of yoga and interval training.

We recently had the opportunity to take classes at Pure Yoga’s Eastside Manhattan location to check out some of the newest offerings, including hot Figure 4 and Ki Power Vinyasa, as well as a mash-up of hot power yoga and interval training called Bassett’s Boot Camp. Plus, we also caught up with Flowmotion Yoga and meSheeky founder Sarah Tomson Beyer for a recent class at Pure.

The first advantage of the 105–110˚ F temperatures in the heated Figure 4 class became obvious almost immediately. As the workout’s founder, former professional ballet dancer Kate Albarelli, led us through the repeated motions at the barre and our muscles burned and shook and sweat poured from our brow, we thought, “At least this sweat will mask our tears.” We did however, feel the intended benefit of the heat — a deeper stretch in the muscles. The toned and energetic Albarelli kept us on task, providing words of encouragement and gentle reminders about keeping the “4” form, the ballet stretch where one crosses the ankle over the opposite knee and bends forward, as a thigh and glutes stretch. Aside from barre work, the class incorporates elements of classic and modern dance, Pilates, yoga, free-weights toning and resistance training.

Also new at Pure’s NYC locations: Ki Power Vinyasa, a mixture of yoga, meditation and martial arts created by Isauro Fernandez. A longtime martial arts practitioner, he holds black belts in both judo and tae kwon do and discovered yoga when rehabilitating from a shoulder injury. After a short meditation, the flow-style class melded traditional vinyasas with graceful martial arts moves. According to Fernandez, “ki” means “life force,” something that you’re meant to connect with during the moving meditation. We thought the class nicely balanced fast-paced vinyasas and strength work with meditation and sense of peace.

Since we do Bikram and vinyasa yoga as well as regularly attend a fitness boot camp, we were intrigued by Bassett’s Boot Camp. Developed by Loren Bassett with personal trainer Cole McDonough, the workout combines vinyasa yoga, cardio intervals and strength training in a heated room. This means we did down dogs and sun salutations, as well as burpees, mountain climbers and push-ups with hand weights, plus toning exercises with weights and squats. At one point, Bassett told us that if anyone dropped out the forearm plank before the allotted time, we’d all have to start over. (We’re not sure if she was kidding, but that was motivation enough for everyone in the class to hold the pose.) Since this combined three of our favorite workout elements — heat, boot camp and yoga — we’re a fan.

Last year, we told you about Flowmotion, a version of yoga that features flowing sequences for a twist on a traditional practice. We caught up with founder Sarah Tomson Beyer, who is based in Park City, UT, when she was in New York City recently. She led us through a class that encourages yogis to step off the mat and find his or her own flow. And we were happy to hear that there’s now a 60-minute Flowmotion video available at Yoga Download ($3.99 for one-time, $8.99 to buy) so we can practice at home. A playlist ($12.78) is available to purchase separately on iTunes. There’s also a Flowmotion app.

Thirsty and in need of a protein boost after all that working out? After her class, Bassett shared the modifications she makes to Juice Generation’s Protein Buzz with us: Opt for the whey protein and almond milk, and ask for half a banana (without the berries) and one scoop of peanut butter.

Is there a yoga fusion class you’d like to try?

Lévana Kirschenbaum shares more than 350 recipes, including matbukha and its egg variation shakshuka (shown), in her latest cookbook.

When we think of comfort foods, too often heavy, fatty dishes come to mind. Yet in The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen (Lévana Cooks, 2012), author and chef Lévana Kirschenbaum recalls that her mother would say, “The cure is in the pot,” from oatmeal for stomachaches to a baked sweet potato for nausea. The book takes an updated approach to food cures, providing healthful recipes that utilize unprocessed foods for nutritious and flavorful dishes.

Kirschenbaum, who owned Lévana, a kosher restaurant on New York City’s Upper West Side for more than 30 years, is also the author of Lévana’s Table: Kosher Cooking for Everyone (Merkos Linyonei Chinuch, 2002) and Lévana Cooks Dairy-Free! (Skyhorse Publishing, 2007). After few days of hospitalization and a several months of medication for irritable bowel syndrome, Kirschenbaum remembered her mother’s words and examined her diet. After changes that included incorporating dark greens, lots of fruits and vegetables, seaweed, whole grains and lean proteins into her diet, she notes that she felt better and shed 10 pounds of middle-age weight.

Kirshchenbaum notes, “Cooks-from-scratch spend hardly any more time, money or effort making real delicious, nutritious food.” She uses instructions for cake and pancake mixes versus homemade as an eye-opening example.

While the 350-plus recipes are obviously kosher, anyone can enjoy the dishes included in the hefty tome, with ethnic recipes from Kirschenbaum’s native Morocco, as well as Indian, Italian, French and Chinese dishes. The first chapter is devoted to stocking your pantry with homemade salad dressings, rubs, marinades, sauces and jams, before a soups chapter with options such as curried apple kale soup, corn chowder, Moroccan lentil and cold red and yellow pepper.

You’ll also find salads (from apple Waldorf to the kale, beet and seaweed salad on the book’s cover) and fish dishes such as tuna, wild mushrooms and asparagus ragout and mock crab summer rolls. The poultry and meat chapter starts with variations on a simple chicken recipe, with everything from artichokes to plantains to carrots, as well as roast chicken six ways. Vegetable dishes include beer-braised mushroom tempeh stew, sushi rolls and steamed vegetable dumplings. There’s also a chapter for grains and pasta, breakfast and brunch and desserts.

The recipe that caught our eye was the matbukha, a cooked tomato salad that we’ve had as shakshuka, the version with eggs, at The Art Café in Nyack, NY. We’ve included both variations below.

Cooked Tomato Salad: Matbukha
Serves 8
1 whole head garlic
2 red bell peppers, washed, cored and seeded
2–3 jalapeño peppers
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large beefsteak tomatoes or 8 plum tomatoes, diced small (settle for 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, liquid and all)
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons paprika
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.

2. Slice about ¼ inch off the pointed end of the head of garlic, leaving the cloves exposed. Drizzle the olive oil onto the garlic and the peppers, place them on a cookie sheet, and roast for 30 minutes, or until the garlic is soft and the peppers are charred (the peppers might be ready a few minutes before the garlic). Press the cloves out of their skins while still warm and mash with a fork. Peel the peppers and cut them into thin strips.

3. In a heavy, wide-bottom pot, bring the tomatoes, oil and paprika to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, add the roasted garlic and peppers, and cook covered for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently. All of the liquid should evaporate, and the oil will resurface (if you neglect this step, you will not get the desired look and texture, but a glorified tomato sauce). Add the minced garlic and the salt and pepper to taste. Let cool and store in a glass jar in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to 2 weeks. Use a slotted spoon to serve so the oil stays behind. Makes about 3 cups.

NUTRITION SCORE (per serving)
185 calories
Fat 17 g
 (2.4 g saturated)
Carbs 8 g
Protein 2 g
Fiber 2.2 g
Calcium 24 mg
Iron 0.9 mg
Sodium 7 mg

Variations: Shakshuka
Stir 8 eggs into the matbukha on a medium flame, mixing thoroughly with a wooden spoon, and cook just a few more minutes, until the eggs are barely set. If you would rather end up with a more pristine look, leave the eggs whole, break them one by one and set them over the mixture, close but not touching, and cook covered on low flame until they look barely set.

NUTRITION SCORE (per serving)
257 calories
Fat 22 g
 (4 g saturated)
Carbs 8 g
Protein 8 g
Fiber 2.2 g
Calcium 52 mg
Iron 1.8 mg
Sodium 78 mg

Serve hot, alone or with a good whole-grain bread, or on a bed of cooked (canned OK) beans. If you’ve started to make more meals at home and from scratch, what were the biggest obstacles and how did you deal with them?

Photo credit: Meir Pliskin

Maggie Gyllenhaal (left) and Hugh Dancy star in "Hysteria," a smart romantic comedy about the invention of the vibrator as a medical device in Victorian England.

When we heard about Hysteria, a film about the invention of the vibrator in Victorian England, we giggled and were immediately intrigued. Tanya Wexler had the same reaction when she got the pitch seven years ago. “It made me laugh so hard I said, ‘I have to do it!’” says the director, 41, whose delightful “thinking woman’s romantic comedy” opens in New York City and Los Angeles on May 18 and expands to more cities over the next few weeks.

Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy, the movie is set in 1880s London at a time when a wide variety of women’s complaints were given the catchall diagnosis of “hysteria,” treated by physicians with digital manipulation. (Yep, women went to the doctor for the “big O.”) Dancy’s Dr. Mortimer Granville joins the booming practice of an older doctor (Jonathan Pryce) and encounters his two daughters: prim-and-proper Emily (Felicity Jones) and Charlotte (Gyllenhaal), a feisty firebrand of a social activist who fights for women’s suffrage and works with the poor at a settlement house. When Granville’s eccentric, wealthy inventor friend (Rupert Everett) comes up with a motorized feather duster, Granville sees the value in it as a way to relieve his aching right hand.

While the story is a fictionalized account, it’s based on the real Granville and his medical invention. “Yes, the vibrator was invented as a labor-saving device,” laughs Wexler, who did considerable research about medicine, vibrators, society and women’s roles at the time. Women like Chicago’s Hull House founder Jane Addams inspired the reform-minded Charlotte. “We said, ‘Let’s make the character who we would have wanted to be had we lived back then,’” says Wexler, calling her “the beating heart” of the movie. “She had to have that fire, power and accessibility.” Casting was crucial. “It was a very short list and we got very lucky,” she says, in getting Gyllenhaal — who gave birth to her second daughter April 30 — to sign on.

“I knew that the script had to be pretty much perfect or they wouldn’t let me make the movie,” explains Wexler, who thought the subject was a no-brainer, but would-be investors were risk-averse. “Movies are really hard to get made and are expensive and you really have to make your case. Few were willing to stick their necks out.”

Now developing two projects (including one with actor Paula Patton), Wexler, a New York City-based mother of four, calls Hysteria “an amazingly cool experience,” one with which she aimed to entertain and “not whack people over the head with a message,” but nevertheless points out several themes in the movie that she hopes audiences will think about. “There’s an empowerment message,” she says. “You’re in charge of your own happiness. And it doesn’t take a doctor to get it!”

But are some women still misinformed about sexual health and medicine? We see some parallels in Hysteria to the recent documentary Orgasm Inc., about the pharmaceutical race to cure Female Sexual Dysfunction (FDS).

Do you think there are still a lot of misconceptions about female sexual health?

Photo credit: Liam Daniel/Sony Pictures Classics

This time of year, fava beans, squash and greens are in season in many parts of the U.S.

Longer days and warmer weather brings visions of summer bounty, from juicy berry pies and bright compotes to fresh corn and heirloom tomatoes. But right now, as late spring turns to summer, we’re in a sweet spot where versatile, easy-to-prepare ingredients are readily available from farmers markets and in CSA shares. And we’re not just talking asparagus.

From California to New York, May and June mean greens, greens and more greens. Think spinach salad tossed with early-season strawberries, or go for more intense, dark leafy greens like kale and Swiss chard. If you’ve never had crispy kale, you’re missing out — just rip it up and toss in a pan with a pinch of sea salt and olive oil, and roast at 375° F for 25 minutes or until crisp all the way through. We’ve also shared a crunchy kale with Parmesan recipe and an easy sautéed kale preparation.

Feeling adventurous? Make your way into the bitter, but nutritious dandelion greens (bacon helps cut the bitterness) or pull out the sauté pan and olive oil to get the best out of bok choy, broccoli rabe or pea shoots.

Get fresh fava beans while you can. The season is short and while the double shell means it’s a labor-intensive process, these large, nutty beans are worth the effort. (Double shelling means removing the beans from the pod, and then removing the tough skin that surrounds each individual bean.) The appearance of sugar snap peas at the market is another sign of the season, and these gems are so satisfyingly crunchy, they need little to no preparation at all. Eat them raw, or sauté quickly with olive oil and throw them into a stir-fry or pasta.

Regional favorites vary by geography and climate. Some California farmers markets are just starting to see short-lived Bing cherries from the Central Valley — with a six-week season to enjoy these sweet treats straight from the market.

At the Dane County Farmers Market in Madison, WI, morel mushrooms are a favorite. These earthy treats grow wild in more northerly states like Wisconsin and Michigan, where foragers are rabid about tracking down the latest crops.

Meanwhile, foraged edibles are springing up in the East Coast states as well. Just head to the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City on any Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday, and you’ll see the city’s top chefs rummaging for seasonal favorites like ramps (aka spring onions), watercress and even stinging nettles. Handle raw nettles carefully (gloves and tongs are recommended) — quick steaming or boiling softens the prickles so they’re perfectly safe to eat.

In Central Texas, rainstorms earlier this year meant a bounty of tomatoes, loquats, squashes, berries and even some stone fruits. “It’s an exciting time for us,” says Nadine Thomas, executive chef at the W Austin and TRACE Restaurant. “I particularly enjoy the tomatoes and the peaches — we just pickled a large batch of peaches and are awaiting the season’s first tomatoes,” she says. “Ratatouille with all the spring’s first squashes is another favorite.”

Below is Thomas’ ratatouille recipe. “If I find any other vegetables at the market such as braising greens — Swiss chard or kale — radishes or fresh carrots also make an interesting addition,” she says.

Spring Squash Ratatouille
Serves 8
1 head of garlic
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 small eggplant
½ large yellow onion
2 bell peppers
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow summer squash
4 medium tomatoes
¼ cup sherry vinegar
1 tsp fresh thyme
8 leaves fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Wash vegetables.

2. Roast garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil covered in foil in 325° F oven for 20–30 minutes until soft and lightly browned.

3. Dice the eggplant, squashes, onion and peppers. (For a more rustic ratatouille, dice larger, and for a more refined, dice the vegetables smaller.

4. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water and refresh in an ice bath. Peel, seed and dice the tomatoes.

5. Heat a heavy-bottom fry pan and add the remaining olive oil.

6. Add the eggplant and sauté until lightly browned and slightly softened.

7. Add the onion and continue to sauté 4 minutes.

8. Add the peppers and squashes and continue sautéing until all the vegetables are evenly cooked, seasoning as you go with salt and freshly ground pepper.

9. Add the tomatoes last, cook long enough for most of the liquid to evaporate, check seasoning and add sherry vinegar, fresh herbs and 4 cloves roasted garlic or to taste.

NUTRITION SCORE (per serving)
133 calories
Fat 11 g
 (1.5 g saturated)
Carbs 9 g
Protein 2 g
Fiber 3 g
Calcium 29 mg
Iron 0.7 mg
Sodium 9 mg

What are your favorite vegetables in season right now?

Photo credit: Sarika Chawla

In her new book, clinical psychologist Jennifer Baumgartner gets to the issues underlying wardrobe woes such as overshopping, hanging on to old clothes and hiding in unflattering clothing.

Like many women, our closets are full of unloved items that go unworn, and we find ourselves thinking, “Why did we ever buy that?” We wear the same familiar pieces over and over, yet our wardrobe never feels complete. In the new book You Are What You Wear: What Your Clothes Reveal About You (Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2012), Jennifer Baumgartner, Psy.D., argues that our fashion woes are actually tied to deeper emotional issues. (Our plans to spring clean our closet suddenly got more interesting!)

A practicing clinical psychologist who also runs her own wardrobe consulting business, InsideOut, Baumgartner says that the key to perfecting your style is to understand this connection and make changes accordingly. Part style guide, part psychological examination, the book is divided into nine chapters, in which Baumgartner diagnoses nine distinct shopping complaints and wardrobe mistakes. These include overshopping, having a stagnant closet, baring too much skin, failing to dress your age, living in “mom jeans” and avoiding mirrors.

In each chapter, Baumgartner shares a real-life case study. For example, Ricki hides her body in clothes two sizes too big and Tessa, a compulsive shopper, has fallen deep into debt paying for a closet full of clothes she barely wears. Baumgartner then provides an analysis of each issue from both a stylistic and psychological perspective. Ricki has been taught to be ashamed of her body since her first child was born, while Tessa turns to shopping when she experiences emotional highs and lows in the same way overeaters turn to food.

Finally, Baumgartner discusses treatments for both her patients and readers. Ricki, for example, needs to choose clothes based on what makes her feel sexy and confident. Tessa must learn to find effective alternatives to shopping that will not burn a hole in her pocket when she experiences a range of emotions.

Fashion remedies include complementing a neutral wardrobe with seasonal colors and adding one statement piece to every outfit, while the author also asks you to examine the message your wardrobe sends to others and to determine and accentuate the attribute you love most about yourself.

You Are What You Wear inspired us to examine what our clothes tell us about ourselves. After some self-reflection, we’re ready for a little upgrading to perfect our own style. What do you think your clothes say about you?

James Beard Foundation Award winner Bruce Sherman, chef/owner of North Pond in Chicago, promotes sustainable, seasonal cooking, such as this egg with asparagus and morel ragout.

The annual James Beard Foundation Awards reward the best in cooking with medals and recognition. We’re lucky enough to know more than a few chefs, and we’re eager to know the best places to eat, so we pay attention to the awards, which take place every May at Lincoln Center in New York City. This year was especially exciting, because so many winners were chefs who promote sustainable, healthful, seasonal cooking.

Bruce Sherman, chef/owner of Chicago’s North Pond Restaurant, has been quietly doing good work (no TV shows or big splashy parties) for years, so it was nice to see him take home the Best Chef: Great Lakes. He works with Chefs Collaborative to promote local farms, and he added a dollar to the price of each bottle of wine in his restaurant to go to charity, a donation that is matched with an additional dollar from the restaurant’s revenue.

If Chicago’s not in your immediate travel plans, then sign up for Sherman’s newsletters. (Click on “news” here.) You’ll learn more about how to prepare seasonal and sustainable items. It’s not quite like having the food cooked for you — and the dishes cleaned up after — but it’s a pretty tasty second.

The first time we met Gramercy Tavern’s Michael Anthony, a big supporter of NYC farmers markets, he spent half an hour telling us about the funky, bright, fresh root vegetables he’d set on a gala table. He puts the same joy and dedication into his menus and won the Best Chef category for New York City. Gramercy Tavern offers gorgeous tasting menus and a la carte menus; if you go a la carte, save room for Nancy Olson’s desserts.

Right across the river, in Hoboken, NJ, Maricel Presilla of Cucharamama took the mid-Atlantic honors. Presilla, a culinary historian, has a Ph.D. in history from NYU, and her interests lie in Latin America and Spain, plus she’s written a book on chocolate. Chucharamama dishes include Choritos (Mejillones) en Salsa “Cuzqueña”: mussels in a spicy sauce of panca peppers, garlic, cilantro and Peruvian dark beer, as well as Arepas de Choclo — fresh corn cake with salmon roe and Venezuelan crème fraîche — from Presilla’s wood-burning oven.

Best Chef: Northwest went to Matt Dillon of Sitka & Spruce in Seattle, where Dillon serves seasonal and regional ingredients and makes it happily communal, with an open kitchen and a long table — but you can grab some private space, if you prefer. The fresh ingredients, with flavors that really pop, are from The Old Chaser Farm, a small farm on Vashon Island, where you’ll find everything from honeybees to sheep. The Monday nights of Mexican fare are popular with locals.

Hugh Acheson got double honors this year. His cookbook, A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen (Clarkson Potter, 2011), won the James Beard Foundation Book Award for American Cooking. Three nights later, he was one of two chefs to take Best Chef: Southeast. At 5 & 10, in Athens, GA, Acheson offers local ingredients for brunch, dinner, snackies (marinated white anchovies with grapefruit, housemade pickles, etc.) and cheese with accompaniments. Acheson shared his recipe for salmon with marinated vegetables and salmoriglio sauce with VIVmag; the salmon pairs beautifully with spring vegetables currently available and the simple Italian lime and herb salmoriglio sauce.

Ties are rare, but there was one this year. Linton Hopkins, of Restaurant Eugene, in Atlanta was the other Southeast winner.

Still hungry? Regional Best Chef awards went to Tory Miller of L’Etoile, in Madison, WI; Tim Cushman of Boston’s O Ya; Chris Hastings of the Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, AL; Paul Qui of Uchiko in Austin, TX; and Matt Molina, of Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles.

Outstanding Restaurant went to Boulevard in San Francisco, and Rising Star Chef of the Year to Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar in New York City. Mindy Segal, of Mindy’s HotChocolate in Chicago, won Outstanding Pastry Chef. Outstanding Chef went to Daniel Humm, of New York City’s Eleven Madison Park.

Have you had the chance to eat any fare prepared by the 2012 James Beard Foundation chef winners?

Photo credit: Courtesy North Pond

Iowa farmer Andrew Dunham, who runs the Grinnell Heritage Farm, talks in "The Weight of the Nation" about the obstacles he and other farmers face in delivering organic vegetables to market.

We caught a preview last week of HBO’s upcoming four-part documentary The Weight of the Nation and we have a spoiler alert for you: A lot of us Americans are fat! OK, so the obesity crisis isn’t breaking news, but this well-intentioned documentary, which airs tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the cable channel and its website, does have some surprises up its sleeve.

One of the most startling things about Weight is simply that it’s a cooperative effort of HBO Documentary Films, the Institute of Medicine (an independent federal agency), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, with underwriting coming from Kaiser Permanente and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. (Anyone who has ever tried to plan a girls’ night out can recognize how exhausting that group effort — which involved three government agencies — must have been.)

Surprisingly, one of the villains in the series is the government itself, in the form of federal farm subsidies that keep American corn and soybeans (and their derivatives, high-fructose corn syrup and soybean oil) unnaturally cheap. If you can draw the connections between that fact and obesity, you’re onto the point of the documentary. As the companion book of the same name notes in its opening chapter, “As much as we wish there were one thing in the fight against fat we could point to and eliminate, there isn’t…the cause is complex.”

Complex issues don’t always make for good TV, but if you really want to understand the big picture on how America got so fat, it’s worth investing the time to watch. The statistics fly thick and fast in this series, but you also see the human toll: how agribusiness has turned individual farmers from food growers into commodity producers and how children in low-income communities are hit disproportionately with the double whammy of no safe place to exercise and an onslaught of cheap junk food.

Consciousness-raising is clearly the agenda here, since the producers believe that informed people will make smarter choices. In fact, HBO is offering individual kits stocked with discussion guides and DVDs to encourage people to organize their own screenings. Given that peer behavior has been shown in recent research to be a significant driver in weight gain, the reverse approach makes sense. Whether it will work remains to be seen, but with the prospect of the nation’s obesity-related healthcare costs swelling to $344 billion (21 percent of total healthcare costs) by 2018, there’s a lot of dollars — and lives — at stake.

What steps do you think should be taken to fight the obesity crisis in the United States?

Photo credit: Courtesy HBO

Lisa Loeb, who is expecting her second child, says her mom taught her the importance of being there for your children.

When we’re young, we often believe our mothers are completely clueless, but most of us come to realize with hindsight that their advice made a lot of sense. In honor of Mother’s Day, we asked a few celebs to share the maternal lessons that they’ve most taken to heart.

“‘Don’t shave with soap. And never forget where you came from.’ That’s why I do so much work in the Latino community and the special-needs community. I have a sister with special needs.” —Eva Longoria, Desperate Housewives

“My mom used to say, ‘Keep your panties up and your dress down!’ And she always used to tell me, ‘Pay it forward.’” —Sherri Shepherd, The View

“She taught me how to laugh at myself. She taught me that I might make mistakes and that it’s OK to laugh.”  —Brooke Elliott, Drop Dead Diva

“‘Always be on time.’ I’m very punctual.” —Cat Cora, Around the World in 80 Plates

“‘Pay your debts’ — monetary, emotional, psychological. I’ve discovered that when you pay your debts, you get back tenfold. She also taught me how to make the best meatloaf in the world. I can’t tell you what’s in it. Family secret!” —Carolyn Hennesy, True Blood

“Just to be there. You can’t call it in. Being in entertainment and being a working mom, people think you can just say, ‘I’ll be there for you’ or ‘I’m thinking of you.’ Thinking of a person or talking to them on the phone is not the same as sitting with your child and reading with her or blowing her nose or sharing lunches with her. You have to be there.” —Lisa Loeb

“‘Be respectful of others.’”—Lisa Vanderpump, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

“’Have a sense of humor, no matter what Zev does.’” —Marissa Jaret Winokur, Retired at 35 (and mom to Zev, 3)

What’s the best piece of advice your mother gave you?

Photo credit: Amy Graves

Gabrielle Hamilton is a sought-after chef who has an MFA in writing, a winning combination that earned her memoir a 2012 James Beard Foundation Book Award.

With so many cookbooks and food memoirs available, what’s worth adding to our shelves of trusted kitchen tomes? We look to the recently announced list of 2012 James Beard Foundation Book Awards winners.

We were happy — but not surprised — to see that Jeni Britton Bauer won the baking and dessert category for Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home (Artisan, 2011), which we told you about last summer, when we shared a recipe for her backyard mint ice cream. Other recipes include Ugandan vanilla bean (a favorite, apparently, of dessert enthusiast Courtney Love), sweet corn and black raspberry, salty caramel and Buckeye (chocolate and peanut butter). The Columbus, OH-based Bauer uses cream from grass-fed cows and seasonal ingredients in her ice creams, as well as essences you’ll remember from another VIV Says post — Aftelier Chef’s Essences by Mandy Aftel. In fact, Aftelier offers a Jeni’s Ice Cream Set ($90) of essences: clove, coriander, lavender, peppermint, ylang ylang and sweet orange.

We’ve been giving copies of Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef (Random House, 2011) to friends — and even have a few tucked away as upcoming Mother’s Day gifts. The winner of the 2012 James Beard Award for Writing and Literature, it was written by Gabrielle Hamilton, chef-owner of NYC’s Prune. Two-time James Beard Award nominated writer Janet Rausa Fuller tweeted a great review of the book: “Read it from ORD to LAX w/o looking up.” Hamilton’s MFA in fiction writing takes a front burner on this memoir, making it easy to fall into her world. Hamilton also makes a striking impression in person. The first time we met, she gave us a container of fresh octopus, cleaned with her own hands.

Paula Wolfert went home with the International medal for The Food of Morocco (Ecco, 2011), a 528-page tour of a very edible country. More than a cookbook, it’s a journey with pictures, stories and maps. Take it to the kitchen to prepare trout with preserved lemons, raisins and pine nuts in broth; grated cucumber salad with orange flower water; or semolina yeast pancakes with honey and butter. But curl up in bed with a lamp and a mug of mint tea, and let Wolfert take you on a journey that will feed more than your imagination. No passport required.

Modernist Cuisine (The Cooking Lab, 2011) won Cookbook of the Year. Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young and Maxime Bilet put in a ton of work into the six-volume 2,438 page set. At more than $400 — Amazon’s discount price — it’s a splurge, but it really is art. A charred pepper has never looked so beautiful, and the research and writing are spotless.

As a VIV reader, you know we have a thing for bitters, so we bought Brad Thomas Parsons’ Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All (Ten Speed Press, 2011) the instant it hit the shelves — long before it was even nominated for (or won) the Beverages category. Parsons writes for high-end aficionados who want to make their own bitters, cocktail-lovers looking to make a delicious splash at their next dinner party and people who, like us, enjoy a tantalizing nonalcoholic drink. Recipes include bitters-and-balsamic macerated strawberries, bitters-sweet chocolate malted pudding, classic cocktails and beautifully flavored syrups.

Heidi Swanson makes healthy eating tasty with Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes From My Natural Foods Kitchen (Ten Speed Press, 2011). The winner of the Focus on Health Award (not to mention winner of shelf space in our kitchen) is divided into sections on breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, drinks, treats and accompaniments. Best of all, Swanson shares her sources, so we don’t need to scramble to find herbs, spices, teas and other hard-to-source ingredients. Swanson’s website, 101 Cookbooks, is jammed with healthful recipes — searchable by ingredient or season — news, tips, tricks and links.

The media awards weren’t just for bookworms. Medals also were awarded to publications, columns, essays and blogs. This year’s blog winner is NPR’s The Salt. We loved recent stories about making drinking water safer in developing countries and how our homemade yogurt might outlive us.

You can see the rest of the media winners here. Congratulations to everybody who took home a medal. Do you have any culinary book favorites or early predictions for next year’s nominees?

Photo credit: Christopher Hirsheimer