Chef Sean Brock brings history to Heritage

Chef Sean Brock's recently released cookbook, Heritage, is sure to be on many "best of" lists for 2014. What began as a book about cooking in the Lowcountry (Brock's two restaurants are located in Charleston, South Carolina) transformed into a self-described documentary with "personal anecdotes and reflections on the significance of seed-saving, home-gardening and keeping culinary traditions alive." The James-Beard… read more

Featured Cookbooks & Recipes

At Eat Your Books we want to bring you the best recipes - our dedicated team searches out and finds online recipes excerpted from newly indexed cookbooks and magazines. New recipes from the best blogs are indexed daily and members index their favorite online recipes using the Bookmarklet all the time. Below you'll find this week's recommendations from the EYB team.… read more

Sunset looks for a new home

Time, Inc., the corporate parent of Sunset magazine, announced that it has sold Sunset's 7-acre campus, located in Menlo Park, California. The campus contained several gardens and midcentury ranch-style buildings designed by Cliff May, considered the father of the California ranch home. Sunset magazine's rich history traces all the way to 1898 with a sales publication developed by the Southern… read more

The Hanukkah latke story

Fried foods feature prominently in Hanukkah celebrations, and latkes are popular expressions of the tradition. The popularity of potato latkes is no surprise - what's not to love about the contrast between the crispy exteriors and creamy insides? They're so delicious, Epicurious dreams of a latke party with their five favorite latke and sauce pairings. But did you know that… read more

Going on a food safari

Ever wonder where chefs find ideas for inventive new menu items? One source of inspiration comes from visiting other restaurants in diverse locations, as Chef Kevin Binkley of Phoenix, Arizona does. He goes on find-dining 'safaris' to be inspired. Most recently he, along with other chefs from his own and nearby restaurants, traveled to Austin, Texas for a whirldwind tour… read more

In a pickle! 2014’s preserving books

It's mid-December, which means that those of us in the Northern hemisphere are enjoying the hard work we did months ago, in the form of Mason jars full of glowing preserves and crisp pickles plucked right off the pantry shelf!  Right?   Everyone I know who spends as much effort gardening as I do has something to show for it… read more

Peace via spice

Much of the news coming out of Afghanistan in recent years has been gloomy, so an inspiring story from the region is quite welcome. NPR's The Salt has one such tale of how enterprising veterans from the decades-long conflict are working with farmers to cultivate the saffron trade. U.S.-based Rumi Spice, a small, enterprising company from Massachusetts, is attempting to… read more

Freeze right there

Yesterday's post may have pointed out the downside of refrigerators, but today's post is all about the advantages. We're moving from the fridge to the freezer today, as Epicurious provides us useful tips on freezing cookie dough. The holidays can be a very busy and stressful time, but you can use your freezer to get a head start on your… read more

Tom Colicchio on refrigeration

As part of its 85 Years/85 Ideas series, Bloomberg Businessweek enlisted chef Tom Colicchio of Craft restaurant and Top Chef fame to expound on the concept of refrigeration. Refrigeration technology isn't even a century old, but it has completely transformed the way we think about food, say Colicchio. Certain food courses were invented partially because there was no commercial refrigeration.… read more

Mull it over

The start of the winter season has been brutally cold in much of North America. As the temperature plummets, warming drinks become essential. While coffee, tea, and hot chocolate are wonderful for everyday sipping, sometimes you want something a bit different. For those occasions, mulled beverages are just the ticket. The history of mulled beverages, mulled wine in particular, can be… read more

Featured Cookbooks & Recipes

Did you know adding online recipes to your EYB Bookshelf is a really great way to build your personal recipe collection? You can now do this even if you have a free membership! Try it out now and see how easy it is. Browse the recipes below, choose one that appeals, click on the link, and add it to your… read more

Eat your words

The following scenario may sound familiar to you. You are reading along in a cookbook or magazine article when you encounter a word that sounds familiar but you aren't quite sure what it means. Of course you can Google it, but you can also check out a feature on the The James Beard Foundation's blog called Eat This Word. Most EYB Members… read more

Gifts from your kitchen (and your heart)

  For millenia people have expressed their feelings through food. Feasts and festivals mark important milestones from the changing of the seasons to birth, marriage, and death. In addition to these celebrations, gifts of food play an important role in conveying sentiments of love and gratitude. Homemade gifts especially relay these messages, so it's no wonder many of us choose to make… read more

Authoritative Mexican cookbook aims for authenticity

NPR's The Salt  just featured a recently published cookbook billed as a "comprehensive bible of authentic Mexican home cooking." Mexico: The Cookbook features a collection of recipes drawn from all across Mexico. Although it's not the first cookbook to document Mexico's regional cuisines - Diana Kennedy has already tackled the subject - this is the first written by a Mexican native, Margarita Carrillo. Carrillo is… read more

Globetrotting vegetarians

Vegetarian cookbooks are not what they once were -  that is to say, big on brown rice and a few other Asian pantry ingredients, or filled end to end with pasta and cheese.  No, they travel everywhere and anywhere, and if they pay a little more attention to the whole grains of the moment, like quinoa and spelt, well, they're… read more

Haute cuisine for the people

Katrina Meynink is a freelance food writer who lives and breathes all things food. She is also a prolific lover of cookbooks. In addition to degrees in journalism and creative writing, she has a Masters in Gastronomy from Le Cordon Bleu and the University of Adelaide, as well as an Advanced Diploma in Taste through the University of Reims, Paris and… read more

Cookbook giveaway – Bistronomy

If you haven't heard about the bistronomy movement, now's your chance to discover this phenomenon. Food writer Katrina Meynink takes a look inside the world of the bistronomy restaurant, terroir, wine and the workings of the bistronomy chefs with her latest cookbook, Bistronomy: French Food Unbound. Bistronomy details the history of the nascent movement that melds gastronomy with bistro, and describes how… read more

Avoid slow cooker mistakes

Slow cookers are a godsend to the busy cook. They're so useful that even Grant Achatz of Alinea & Next uses them in his restaurant. As good as they are, slow cookers can't do everything well, and indexed blog The Kitchn provides advice on how to avoid common mistakes when using your slow cooker. One thing the slow cooker isn't… read more

Carrots 101

Carrots are staples for any cook: they are inexpensive, plentiful and oh so versatile. Most of us take them for granted because they can be found everywhere, at any time of year. But did you know they were first grown in Afghanistan? Carrot facts are the focus of a Food Republic article on the root vegetable. Besides the origin of… read more

Add some color to your cocktails

We are heading into the holiday party season, and you can bet that many of the parties will feature cocktails. While many classic cocktails are delicious, some of them are very drab: various shades of brown or nearly clear. Some of the most brightly colored cocktails are pretty yet far too sweet. Lucky for us the EYB Library contains many… read more

Featured Cookbooks & Recipes

Finding the best recipes amongst the millions online is not easy - but you don't have to! The team here at Eat Your Books, searches for excerpts from indexed books and magazines and every week we bring you our latest finds. Every day recipes are added from the best blogs and websites. As a member, you can also add your own… read more

The intriguing history behind Thanksgiving food

As people in the U.S. sit down to enjoy another holiday meal, they may not think about how traditional Thanksgiving dishes became tradition in the first place. Someone is, however, and is sharing the fascinating history behind ubiquitous food served at this time of year. Most Americans know the legend of the sharing between Native Americans and Pilgrims that inspires… read more

Bleak year for olive oil producers

If you're a fan of good olive oil, prepare to pay more next year for what is quickly becoming a precious commodity. 2014 is being called "The Black Year of Italian Olive Oil," as the olive harvest throughout much of Italy down a sizeable 35% from last year. Spain's production is also down an estimated 20%. Even California's olive oil output has been affected by the lingering… read more

Load up for leftovers

Cooks in the U.S. are in the midst of Thanksgiving meal preparations, and Twitter feeds are stuffed to the gills with holiday recipe ideas. We expect that most of you have already nailed down your menu, so we thought we'd give you a head start on what to do with the leftovers you'll be facing on Friday. These ideas may… read more

Glass class

If you're like most of us living in the U.S., this week you're currently scrambling with shopping lists and cleaning and agonizing over the weather forecast (which, at least on the East coast of North America, is dire) in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday. If you're like me, one of the last things on your mind is the wine.  For… read more
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