Great meals in literature

April 30, 2014 by
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Many readers have been entertained by detailed descriptions of great meals in books. For those who are passionate about cooking, the meals sometimes stay with us longer than the rest of the book. We paint pictures in our minds of the spreads, whether they are sparse as in Oliver Twist, or a lavish spectacle as in The Great Gatsby. Writer… read more

Get a taste of a top 50 restaurant at home

April 29, 2014 by
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The world's 50 best restaurants for 2014 were recently announced. The list, sponsored by global food and equipment purveyors, is a veritable 'who's who' of world chefs, although it is tilted toward the U.S. and Europe. Notably absent from the list are women (only two restaurants have women at the helm, and in both cases the women share top billing).… read more

The easiest way to add your books

April 29, 2014 by
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We know that one of the biggest obstacles for new members is the time and effort they think will be needed to add their books and create their Bookshelf.  It really doesn't take very long to do but if you own more than a few books, it's worth considering a barcode scanner.  This reads the barcode on the back of… read more

Food writers and their books

April 29, 2014 by
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This week, Ruth Reichl's Delicious! arrived in the mail - her first novel, though far from her first book.  I've been getting press releases for at least six months, so it wasn't a surprise.  But with the Beard book awards taking place this week - I'm going, for the first time - I've been thinking about food writers and the kinds… read more

April 2014 cookbook roundup

April 28, 2014 by
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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 Canada, U.K., Australia, and New Zealand releases. US Isn't it funny how warm weather can have different effects on… read more

What’s your sign?

April 27, 2014 by
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While the pickup line of "what's your sign?" has fallen out of fashion (at least, we hope it has), horoscopes still enjoy some popularity. Now Saveur has matched each astrological sign to its perfect cocktail complement. The drink for Gemini, pictured above, is called La Puella y el Puer. Bartender/astrologer Patricia Clark Hippolyte created the cocktail "specifically for Gemini drinkers:… read more

The top food and drink books ever written

April 26, 2014 by
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With all of the amazing books about food and drink that have been published, it can be difficult to pick favorites. However, the writers at The Telegraph have selected their  top ten food and drink books of all time. This list is not for cookbooks per se, but rather books that have had a profound influence. The first book on the list is Fast Food… read more

World food photography award winners announced

April 25, 2014 by
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If you agree that the next best thing to reading cookbooks is looking at gorgeous food photographs, you will want to view the winners of the annual Pink Lady Food Photographer competition. This year's overall winner was Tessa Bunney (of the UK/Lao PDR) for her photograph, Noodle Making (pictured above). The picture also won the Philip Harben Award for the "Food in… read more

Celebrating Anzac Day

April 24, 2014 by
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While many "holidays" about food are completely fabricated events to promote a product, some foods are associated with real holidays that have a more noble purpose. This is the case with the Anzac biscuit, made to commemorate Anzac Day. According to EYB member and blogger Pat Churchill of Cooking Down Under, each year on April 25, Australians and New Zealanders mark Anzac Day… read more

Featured Cookbooks & Recipes

April 24, 2014 by
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Cookbooks may be at the heart of EYB, but we're also very proud of our magazine collection. To date, we have over 1,500 issues indexed. That's more than 84,000 magazine recipes -- 43,000 of which also have online links. This week, we're excited to share a recipe for Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Banana Pie with Candied Spicy Peanuts from our newest indexed publication, Food… read more

Cookbook store profile – featuring Book Larder in Seattle

April 23, 2014 by
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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

Does local and seasonal produce always taste better?

April 22, 2014 by
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The mantra of eating local and seasonal has reached a fever pitch. But The Guardian's Amy Fleming wonders if the product lives up to the hype. Does a locally grown strawberry really taste much better than one that's been shipped from many miles away? The conventional wisdom is that the local product will be better because it is grown under optimal… read more

Cookbooks as teachers

April 22, 2014 by
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Do you remember what it was like when you first learned to cook?  And you had to learn everything for the first time, whether it was jointing a chicken or roasting a pepper?  Now, you probably aren't even aware of just how much you know, except for when you're teaching someone who's new to cooking themselves.  Then you remember that… read more

Skimping on shrimp

April 21, 2014 by
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Shrimp prices have soared worldwide due to a shortage caused by a disease that's wreaking havoc on the crustacean's population. Bloomberg reports that shrimp prices increased 61 percent in March over last year, mostly due to a bacterial disease known as early mortality syndrome (EMS). The surge in prices was made especially difficult because it came during the Lenten season, when many… read more

Uses for leftover Easter eggs that aren’t all devilish

April 20, 2014 by
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The Easter egg hunt is over, the kids are in a sugar coma from the chocolate bunnies, and now you're left with a bunch of hard-boiled eggs. Now what? Naturally, deviled eggs come to mind. The EYB library is full of deviled egg recipes, with all manner of add-ins like guacamole, sriracha, and just to mix things up, beet-pickled deviled… read more

Coconut and spring

April 19, 2014 by
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News feeds have recently been buzzing with coconut desserts for both Easter and Passover, but the reason for coconut's popularity during these springtime religious holidays remains an enigma. There certainly isn't a grand historical tradition--coconuts weren't everyday ingredients in Biblical times. So why have coconut desserts - especially coconut cakes and macaroons - become so popular during these holidays? Perhaps… read more

The power of positive thinking

April 18, 2014 by
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It happens to all of us. We read the nutrition label on a tub of ice cream and silently think, "This is really fattening. I shouldn't eat it." The siren song of the mint chocolate chip is irresistable, however, so we succumb. But before you eat the next scoop, you may want to think about it in a more positive way, as this… read more

Featured Cookbooks & Recipes

April 17, 2014 by
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These weekly round-ups mostly highlight cookbook recipes, but we also like to share great recipes from magazines and blogs like the  Rhubarb-Raspberry Cheesecake Squares from Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Did you know EYB has over 1,500 issues from 36 popular publications indexed? 53 issues of BBC GoodFood, 51 issues of Australian Gourmet Traveller, 44 issues of NZ's Cuisine, and 198 issues of Cook's Illustrated -- just… read more

The sultry language of online food reviews

April 17, 2014 by
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Anyone who has read online restaurant reviews has probably noticed that the language used to describe the food can be downright sensual. Words like "orgasmic" and "seductive" appear frequently. A new study co-authored by Stanford linguistics professor Dan Jurafsky confirmed this tendency and offered insight on what other words used in online reviews say about us. The study analyzed 900,000… read more

Bringing home take out

April 16, 2014 by
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Even though EYB members love cooking at home, we occasionally (or perhaps more than occasionally) crave take out. Frequently that means Chinese food, and in particular, the kind of crispy, sweet, and spicy dishes typified by General Tso's chicken. But sometimes we don't want take out because we don't want to go out (is spring ever coming to the upper… read more

Spring resolutions…and the books to go with them

April 15, 2014 by
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I finally got into the garden this weekend - anybody else?  It wasn't much of a start, but I put in arugula and spinach, favas and peas.  It's the start of the growing season, when there's nary a weed or a pest (except for ticks - I've seen plenty of those already), and good intentions go hand-in-hand with wild ambition.… read more

What to do when life doesn’t hand you limes

April 15, 2014 by
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The U.S. relies on Mexico to supply 95% of its limes, but severe weather late last year knocked blossoms off lime trees and reduced the current crop by two-thirds. As a result, lime prices have soared by 200%. One damaged harvest isn't enough to cause more then a temporary spike in prices, but a strain of bacteria that is slowly creeping across… read more

Cookbook giveaway – Egg

April 14, 2014 by
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Michael Ruhlman is back with a cookbook featuring a food that has been popular around the world for centuries. Egg is an homage to an ingredient vital to many dishes that also fares well on its own in many different preparations. EYB is pleased to offer three copies of the book. Discover Ruhlman's thoughts about the versatile egg in his EYB interview. For… read more

Michael Ruhlman extolls the virtues of the egg

April 14, 2014 by
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Michael Ruhlman is an award winning writer whose cookbooks cover numerous subjects ranging from charcuterie to the importance of ratios. While the chicken (more precisely the chicken fat) may have come before the egg in his writing, he gives the egg its due with his latest work, simply titled Egg. Ruhlman graciously took time from his book tour to answer… read more

Who buys cookbooks and why?

April 13, 2014 by
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It's a pretty safe bet to say that people who use this site like to buy cookbooks. But what drives people to buy cookbooks and who, besides EYB members, are buying them? Those are questions answered by a Nielsen survey and reported by Dianne Jacobs on her excellent blog. Probably no one will be surprised to learn that 65 percent… read more
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