It’s time for cranberries to shine

Until I had been out on my own for a few years, my only experience with cranberries came during Thanksgiving, involving a tin can and a wobbly cylinder with ridges encircling it (all the easier to cut even portions). I didn't like it. However, once I tasted cranberry sauce made from fresh cranberries, I was instantly hooked on using the… read more

Home Cookery Year – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/NZ/AU giveaway to win one of three copies of Home Cookery Year: Four Seasons, Over 200 Recipes for All Possible Occasions by Claire Thomson. Claire Thomson writes books that I love to cook from especially The Art of the Pantry (or Larder) reviewed here and New Kitchen Basics. Now I have a third title to enjoy, Home Cookery Year,… read more

Downsizing the holiday meal

For many of us, the holidays are not going to be the same this year. Diwali and US Thanksgiving are just a few weeks away, with Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa following soon after. Instead of large feasts and gatherings we will likely be preparing smaller meals for fewer people. For those who have lost their jobs or have reduced income due… read more

The Wicked Baker – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/NZ/AU giveaway to win one of three copies of The Wicked Baker: Cakes and Treats to Die For by Helena Garcia. Wicked by definition means evil, extremely unpleasant. Wicked in the state of Maine usually precedes "good" as in "wicked good chowdah". In Helena Garcia's debut cookbook wicked leans more toward the "wicked good" slang used in Maine… read more

Simply – Sabrina Ghayour – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter to win our giveaway for 3 copies (US) and 1 copy (worldwide provided by Eat Your Books) of Simply: Easy Everyday Dishes from the Bestselling Author of Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour. Simply: Easy Everyday Dishes from the Bestselling Author of Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour was released in the UK in August and has landed in the US this month with a… read more

2020 Taste Canada Cookbook Awards

A champion of Canadian cookbook authors, Taste Canada is a national not-for-profit that aims to inspire readers to discover delicious recipes and diverse food stories written from a Canadian perspective. Over the past two decades, Taste Canada Awards has honored hundreds of Canadian-authored books and blogs on an array of topics related to food. The awards cover both of Canada's… read more

An outpouring of cookbook love

Last week we shared the sad news that the 3,800-volume cookbook collection of California chef Cindy Pawlcyn was destroyed in the Glass fire that swept through the Napa Valley. As news of the devastation circulated, friends, coworkers, and even total strangers reached out to Pawlcyn, giving her cookbooks to replace some of what she had lost. The contributions became so… read more

October 2020 New Cookbook Review

This month exhausted me before it even began. The pandemic had publishers moving release dates so often that I felt like I was herding cats. Every time there was a change, I had to make sure that I covered all the bases: preview posts updated, book data updated, our indexing manager had to be made aware, covers and sub-titles checked,… read more

Great British Bake Off – Recap – Week 5 – Pastry

Google spends a great deal of time trying to figure out what I like to search for and suggests articles for me to read. Right now I see countless headlines as follows - "GBBO was never meant to save us" "GBBO has pulled the chain in the old water closet" (I made that one up myself) and the like. I… read more

Food news antipasto

When Danny Bowien started Mission Chinese Restaurant, he was looking to create a working environment free from the abuses he experienced as a young chef. From the outside, it seemed that Bowien was achieving his goal of having a restaurant geared toward healthy employee relations, but a Grub Street investigation uncovered a toxic work environment flourished instead. Recently, Bowien admitted… read more

November 2020 Great Big Cookbook Club Round Up

As our members know, each month we offer at least four cooking options in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. There are other fun cookbook clubs around the interwebs and we’d like to highlight those for those members who might want to cook or bake something other than our choices. We will try to keep you up-to-date on these clubs’ choices… read more

October 2020 Eat Your Books Cookbook Club Summary

Each month we offer at least four cooking options in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. This month we’ve been cooking from the following titles: Main Selection:  Simple: Effortless Food, Big Flavours by Diana HenryBaking Selection: Happiness Is Baking: Favorite Desserts from the Queen of Cake by Maida HeatterOnline Option:  Great British Chefs – Chef RecipesPlant-based Option: Start Simple: Eleven Everyday Ingredients for Countless Weeknight Meals by Lukas… read more

IACP Cookbook Award winners announced

With the IACP going digital like so many other conferences (and the fact that one Blursday runs into another), I almost missed the IACP Cookbook Award winners announcements, livestreamed on Twitter. But luckily my cookbook radar alerted me at the last moment, averting tragedy. It is hard to believe that we learned who the nominees were back in February, and… read more

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – cookie time!

'Tis a bit early to start the holiday baking posts but I needed a wee break from the October new cookbook review. (I have no idea where the 'tis and wee came from, I blame it on Cookbooktober). As I was clearing my head in preparation for returning tonight to finish the epically long review, I glanced at the small… read more

Cookbooks or lookbooks?

Some cookbooks on my shelf have splashes and splotches in many places, worn dust jackets, and other signs of being well-used in the kitchen. Others are pristine, with stiff spines and immaculate covers. This does not mean I love these volumes any less, however. Some cookbooks lend themselves more to looking than cooking, and that's okay. I'm not alone in… read more

This week: The Book on Pie pre-order bonus, EYBD Previews, and giveaways!

I promised you last week that I would be back with more recipes this week but I fibbed. This week has been super busy with preparing for the October new cookbook review (and a little battle with a flu bug) and I didn't want to prepare a mediocre recipe roundup. Instead, I will share some pie news. What is better… read more

Greenfeast Autumn, Winter – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US (and worldwide) giveaway to win a copy of Greenfeast: Autumn, Winter by Nigel Slater. Nigel Slater’s Eat was one of his bestselling and most popular books, Now he has written Greenfeast Autumn, Winter, the green follow-up to Eat, packed full of short, doable, and fast vegetable recipes that are usefully divided into modes of preparation: frying pan,… read more

Do you organize your grocery cart?

A lot of people dislike bagging their own groceries, feeling like it is disenfranchising workers and pushing work on shoppers without giving them any benefit in price reduction. I, on the other hand, often volunteer to pack the groceries myself. Bagging my own is one of the many reasons I am a fan of Aldi as well. I'm pro-self-bagging because… read more

Tailgreat – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US giveaway to win one copy of Tailgreat: How to Crush It at Tailgating by John Currence. This was not the year to publish a book with tailgating in the title but when life gives us lemons we make lemonade. John Currence's latest Tailgreat: How to Crush It at Tailgating contains delicious food that can be made anywhere… read more

Is something amiss in the GBBO tent?

As Jenny has noted in her weekly recaps, the Great British Bake Off seems to be lacking its usual charm and it seems more difficult to engage with the bakers this season. It is difficult to put a finger on what about the show is leaving people cold. The hosts seem fine, the bakers are characters as always, so what… read more

Extreme gardening takes root

Vegetable gardening took off this year, partly because the pandemic stoked fears of food shortages and partly due to the fact the people had a lot more time on their hands and needed a good socially-distant hobby. People proudly posted photos of their tomatoes, carrots, beans, and squash on social media. But the twee harvests of these nascent backyard horticulturalists… read more

Dinner Uncomplicated – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/CA giveaway to win a copy of Dinner, Uncomplicated: Fixing a Delicious Meal Every Night of the Week by Claire Tansey. Claire Tansey is the author of Uncomplicated: Taking the Stress Out of Home Cooking which I reviewed in 2018. Her follow up to this title frees us from the pressure of the evening meal with simple and… read more

Great British Bake Off – Recap – Week 4 – Chocolate

This is going to be a quickie recap. Since Friday evening, I haven't felt well. But before the sickness took over, I was able to watch Chocolate Week on Friday morning. (Updated now that my strength is back.) Here are our bakers: Dave, 30, Armoured GuardHermine, 39, AccountantLaura, 31, Digital ManagerLinda, 61, Retirement Living Team ManagerLoriea, 27, Diagnostic Radiographer (eliminated Week… read more

Is making pasta the new yoga?

With a pandemic raging in many areas of the world, fires burning in several US states, no-deal Brexit looming, and a hotly-contested US Presidential election only weeks away, it is safe to say that people everywhere are stressed out (except maybe in New Zealand, lucky dogs). Self-care has never been more important, and what better way to soothe and nourish… read more

Food news antipasto

We'll start off this week with a perennial favorite: a list of 50 great cookbooks coming out in fall 2020. This one comes to us from Food & Wine, and contains many of the volumes that Jenny has in her review of the best cookbooks of the season. Speaking of Food & Wine, they recently discussed how California chefs are… read more
Seen anything interesting? Let us know & we'll share it!