The core of the matter

Ben & Jerry's new ice cream flavors created a lot of buzz this week. Ever wanted two ice cream flavors and a swirl in one convenient container? Well, your dreams have now become a reality with Ben & Jerry's Cores. While E! online claims that Ben and Jerry's has "changed the ice cream game forever," I'm not convinced this is… read more

Improve your cooking skills with EYB’s new feature

We've created a new feature that gives you access to 594 (and counting!) online how-to demonstrations, including how to carve a duck, how to make homemade ricotta, how to make marshmallow fluff, and how to prepare and cook artichokes. Select tutorials from cookbooks are indexed as well.  And even better, 127 of the tutorials have  videos. To browse all of the how-to links, go… read more

Featured Cookbooks & Recipes

Today we're sharing our latest compilation of recipes and cookbooks we've featured on Facebook, Twitter, & Google+. Many of the recipes are samples from recently indexed cookbooks, so even if you don't have the book (yet!), they can give you an idea of what each one has to offer. It is our hope there will be a little bit of something here for everyone.… read more

Me and my cookbooks

At a time when conventional wisdom insists that no one is interested in cooking at home anymore, there is great joy in realizing that there are many others (EYB members) who enjoy the creativity and pleasure of sharing good food. So we wanted to celebrate our members by regularly publishing vignettes about members and their cookbooks. If you'd like to… read more

And the nominees are…

It's the end of February, so it must be time for culinary award season to begin. We've already addressed Food52's The Piglet competition, which is in the quarterfinal round, the James Beard Foundation cookbook awards, which will be announced on March 18 (read about JBF restaurants and chef semifinalists), and the IACP nominees were also recently announced. Without further ado,… read more

Cookbook store profile: Featuring Cook the Books in Auckland

Recently we began to offer an EYB feature highlighting independent cookbook stores. Now you can discover (or get reacquainted with) a store near your home - or plan a new target destination when you travel. And to make this as strong a feature as we can, we're asking our members to help us. We already know of many great stores,… read more

February 2014 Cookbook Roundup

Every month Susie Chang reviews new cookbook releases and notes trends in the United States. And she may also occasionally throw in a review of a "not-quite cookbook."  And for our non-U.S. members, Jane and Fiona provide similar reviews for new U.K., Australia, and New Zealand releases. USA February's an interesting month in cookbook land.  It's kind of a grab… read more

Cookbook Giveaway: Down South: Bourbon, Pork, Gulf Shrimp & Second Helpings of Everything

We're delighted to be able to offer three copies of New Orleans chef Donald Link's latest cookbook, Down South: Bourbon, Pork, Gulf Shrimp & Second Helpings of Everything. Chef Link, a James Beard Award winner, sat down with EYB to discuss his love of Southern food and share his memories of his grandfather's down-home cooking. From quintessential Southern classics like… read more

E-cookbooks: Love ’em or hate ’em?

I hear that every year, more e-cookbooks are published and sold.  Yet few people I know seem to use them (even though everyone seems to use online recipes at some point or another). It occurred to me that maybe I just hadn't put the question to people directly. So, EYB members, how about you? Do you use e-cookbooks? I'm thinking… read more

New Orleans chef Donald Link shares his love of Southern cooking

Chef Donald Link is a very busy man. Not only does he operate some of New Orleans' most highly-acclaimed restaurants (Herbsaint, Cochon, and Pêche Seafood Grill), the James Beard Award-winning chef is actively involved in the New Orleans community and has just completed his second cookbook. Chef Link graciously took time out of his hectic schedule to answer our questions… read more

Curds and whey

It's a good thing I am not lactose intolerant, because I have been on a dairy kick recently. First it was cultured butter, and now it's homemade ricotta cheese. It amazes me that something this simple can produce such fantastic results. Two of my more recent cookbook purchases have been Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Homemade Cheeses by Ricki… read more

The past is a foreign kitchen

Recently The Australian held a contest to find the worst recipes. This search was inspired by food columnist John Lethlean after he discovered a recipe for lamb salad soufflé with lime jelly crystals and mayonnaise in the 1971 New Zealand Women's Weekly Cookbook. To make the soufflé, "First, you dissolve your jelly crystals, lime or lemon; then you stir in… read more

Every day is a celebration

Today is National Margarita Day in the United States. This is, of course, not an official holiday, but a quick Google search turns up a plethora of similar food celebration days in the US and the UK. (My search for specific UK food holidays was hampered by the different use of the word holiday in these countries. I guess the… read more

Amber waves of techology

Grains factor prominently in my diet, which can be explained in part by the fact that I come from a family of grain farmers. I have grain on the brain even more after listening to an NPR story on the latest farming technology. Agricultural giants Monsanto and John Deere are offering a service that lets these big companies collect data… read more

Featured Cookbooks & Recipes

Today we're sharing our latest compilation of recipes and cookbooks we've featured on Facebook, Twitter, & Google+. Many of the recipes are samples from recently indexed cookbooks, so even if you don't have the book (yet!), they can give you an idea of what each one has to offer. There are also recipes from indexed magazines, blogs, and around the web, so it is… read more

Inconvenient truths

Since I grew up in an agricultural area and spent a lot of time on my grandparent's farm, I was not surprised that a Huffington Post article on "disturbing" food facts noted that peanut butter may contain rodent hair. If you have ever seen field crops being harvested, you realize that many insects are extracted from the field along with… read more

Poach perfect

Recently, a lot of recipes for poached foods have flickered across my news feeds. It's no wonder, because poaching is a timeless method to gently cook many types of foods while also enhancing their flavor. Poaching liquids are as varied as the foods cooked in them and add distinctive flavors to the finished dish. Wine is a favorite for poaching,… read more

Expose yourself to culture

The Telegraph recently proclaimed that butter is "suddenly back in fashion," but for many of us butter never went out of style. Rich, creamy, and decadently delicious, butter has always been an essential ingredient in pastries, cakes and sauces, as well as being our preferred spread for bread, scones, and more. Most of the butter sold outside of continental Europe… read more

Postcards from the Cake Frontier

As longtime readers of this blog know, I have a sort of fascination with the excesses of cake decorating (I'm not immune to decorating excesses myself, but my weakness lies on the cookie front).  Anyway, every once in a while I like to visit the far frontiers of cakery to see what the natives are doing.   This week's excursion was… read more

Guess who’s coming to dinner?

People who love to cook frequently like to host dinner parties. It provides an opportunity to share one's cooking passion with friends in a relaxed, intimate setting. Cooking clubs have been popular for decades, with dedicated members who alternate hosting and cooking duties. The advent of the internet greatly expanded opportunities for like-minded people to get together. In the last… read more

The Piglet is here!

For the past several years, Food52, inspired by The Morning News' Tournament of Books, has presided over The Piglet, a tournament of cookbooks. Sixteen notable cookbooks compete head to head in a bracket, each winner advancing to the next level, until a champion in crowned. Previous winners of the competition include A Girl and Her Pig by April Bloomfield and… read more

Parsley, sage, rosemary, inside

Today seemed to be dreary the world over; raining in Sydney, cloudy in London, and snowing in a large part of the United States. When it's cold, raining or dreary outside, I comfort myself with visions of green gardens. Since it will be sometime before I can get back outside in my garden, my Pinterest search today focused on indoor… read more

Sometimes a guy just wants a sandwich

Tonight, thousands of champagne corks will pop and indulgent meals will be served as couples the world over celebrate Valentine's Day. This day of romance is named after a Christian martyr from the fifth century, but its modern-day incarnation as an ode to romantic love makes its debut in the writings of Chaucer and others in the fourteenth century. It is frequently… read more

Featured Cookbooks & Recipes

Today we're sharing our latest compilation of recipes and cookbooks we've featured on Facebook, Twitter, & Google+. Many of the recipes are samples from recently indexed cookbooks, so even if you don't have the book (yet!), they can give you an idea of what each one has to offer. There are also recipes from indexed magazines and around the web, so it is our… read more

You say potato, I say potahto…

We've all been there, intently reading a recipe, when suddenly a foreign word or unfamiliar ingredient causes us to pause because we don't know how to pronounce it. If you are like me, you sound out the word in your head and use that pronunciation going forward. Then you hear a famous chef say the word, and you realize that… read more
Seen anything interesting? Let us know & we'll share it!