This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Carol Thompson for Readers' Favorite
Vernita Whitaker Naylor’s Nita’s Nibbles: Taste Your Base is both a cookbook and a personal journey that blends food, family, and sustainability. The book combines storytelling with recipes, offering readers more than just instructions for the kitchen. Whitaker bases her culinary philosophy on her father’s words, “Nothing is to be wasted,” a theme that runs through her chapters on sustainability, gardening, and reducing food waste. The book opens with Whitaker’s reflections on her upbringing in Oakland, shaped by parents who migrated from the South during the Great Migration. These family roots reflect her love of cornbread, greens, and soul food, but also her awareness of how food quality has changed over time. Her honesty about once avoiding cooking, then rediscovering it through her husband’s passion, adds warmth. These stories provide context for her recipes, showing how food became a pathway to health and identity.
Vernita Whitaker Naylor writes with a practical, flexible approach that encourages readers to taste as they cook, adjust seasonings, and adopt her “Kitchen Sink” concept: using what’s on hand to reduce waste while sparking creativity. This philosophy is supported by detailed notes, substitution tips, and reminders to “Taste Your Base” at each stage. Recipes are grouped into beverages, sweets, starters, and main dishes, with options ranging from bread pudding to Jamaican and Nigerian oxtail stew. Each is infused with cultural influences, showing how global flavors and traditions intersect in her kitchen. Whitaker links herbs, spices, and sea moss to wellness, drawing from her lifelong journey of managing allergies and inflammation. Nita’s Nibbles: Taste Your Base is a delicious cookbook with recipes that can be enjoyed over and over.
