April 2021 Great Big Cookbook Club Roundup

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 want to get this information out to you so you… read more

My Shanghai Cookbook Review & Giveaway

Enter our US giveaway to win one of two copies of My Shanghai: Recipes and Stories from a City on the Water by Betty Liu. "The two Chinese characters in the city's name are 上 (shàng/zan, "upon") and 海 (hǎi/hae, "sea"), together meaning "Upon the Sea" Betty Liu is a woman who has worn many hats including that of a food photographer, workshop/retreat teacher, blogger, and… read more

Food news antipasto

We have sad news to report this week: Sydney chef and restaurateur Amy Chanta has died at age 63 following a two-year battle with cancer. Chanta built an empire of Thai restaurants that shaped the city's love and understanding of Thai food. She opened her first Chat Thai restaurant in 1989, to be followed by more locations and other outposts… read more

Pi(e) Day is almost here

March 14 (3.14 if you use the month-first convention as we do in the US) is the perfect day for bakers to celebrate both pi (the mathematical constant) and pie (the tasty food with endless variation) because of the natural synergy between the two. Bakers use pi when scaling recipes to determine the proper pan size, and of course bakers… read more

Bon Appétit controversy heads to the small screen

We have previously reported on the Bon Appetit controversies that involved allegations of inequitable treatment of BIPOC staff members in the BA Test Kitchen, and charges of cultural appropriation. As Grub Street reports, the drama surrounding the real-life story is now headed to HBO Max, which is planning a half-hour scripted comedy featuring elements of these controversies. Bon Appetit Test Kitchen (YouTube)… read more

This week: Irish brown bread, St. Patrick’s Day grub, cookbook giveaways and EYBD Previews

Please don't send evil Leprechauns after me but I do not like typical Irish soda bread (online recipes) or corned beef (online recipes). I do however love brown bread (online recipes) and potatoes (especially Colcannon) - I am an Irish girl after all. I'll give up all the other meal components for extra slices of sugary topped craggily brown bread.… read more

Mother’s Day recipe ideas

Mother's Day is this Sunday in the UK (it's May 9 in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand). A great way to honor the person who likely did most of the cooking for you during your childhood is to make a special treat for her on this special occasion. Whether that means a full meal (if you are able to… read more

Rare Andy Warhol cookbook headed to auction

Did you know Andy Warhol had written a cookbook? Apparently some of our members did, because the book, Wild Raspberries, appears on a handful of bookshelves in the EYB Library. Not very many copies of this cookbook exist, but you have a chance to buy one of them at an auction in NYC later this month. The story behind the… read more

Jew-ish Cookbook Review/Giveaway with a Quick Bites with Jake Cohen

Happy Publication Day to Jake Cohen for Jew-ish: A Cookbook: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch! Enter our US/Canada giveaway to win one of three copies of this amazing book! Jew-ish: A Cookbook: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch is everything you would expect from Jake (follow him on Instagram and see for yourself). This debut offering from a culinary (and love… read more

What does a ‘no-recipe cookbook’ look like?

The idea of a 'no-recipe' recipe is not exactly new. At various points over the years I have seen dozens of articles with the premise of 'how to cook X without a recipe', but an entire cookbook that is dedicated to the concept is another story. That is exactly what the debut cookbook from NYT Cooking is all about. Simply… read more

How to Make Anything Gluten Free – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win one of three copies of How to Make Anything Gluten Free by Becky Excell. How to Make Anything Gluten Free will show you how to unlock all the food you miss eating - but promises that nothing tastes or looks "gluten-free". The photos of the recipes in this book are crave-worthy and could be… read more

Food news antipasto

Last year the 2020 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival (MFWF) had to quickly pivot to an online format due to the coronavirus outbreak. Despite a recent scare with a snap five-day lockdown, the 2021 MFWF will happen in person, from March 12 to 31. Head over to Australian Gourmet Traveller to learn more about the event. Many of the festival's… read more

Fruit Cake – Cookbook Giveaway & Quick Bites

Enter our US giveaway to win one of two copies of Fruit Cake: Recipes for the Curious Baker by Jason Schreiber. Fruit Cake: Recipes for the Curious Baker was released last November and I swooned over its glorious contents. Recently, I connected with Jason on Instagram and I mentioned how much I'd love to do a feature on his title. At… read more

2020 André Simon Food and Drink book awards

Cookbook award season has launched with the March 3 announcement of the André Simon Food and Drink book awards for 2020. Simon was the charismatic leader of the English wine trade for almost all of the first half of the 20th century, and the grand old man of literate connoisseurship for a further 20 years. In 66 years of authorship, he… read more

The last two weeks: Basque cheesecake, recipes, Spring cookbook highlights, EYBD previews and more!

Last week we held our roundup as the timing fell close to the monthly newsletter. We prefer to space out our mailings as a courtesy to our members. Nothing drives me bonkers more than getting several emails in the span of a week from the same party. "Yes, Sur la Table, I know I left something in my shopping cart.… read more

The story of our pandemic kitchens, as told through cookbooks

During 2020, cookbook sales - which were already a bright spot for publishing houses - continued their upward trend, with sales up 17 percent from the previous year. This should not surprise anyone; people have been cooking at home in numbers not seen for several generations and the inspiration well was pretty quick to run dry for all of us.… read more

The rapid rise and fall of Recipeasly

Both Jenny and I have written before about the constant criticism aimed at food bloggers who pen a lengthy introduction or indulge in a personal story before reciting their recipe. I wrote about 'How much story do you want with that recipe?' a couple of years ago, and recently Jenny returned to the subject with 'Order up: one recipe, hold… read more

Simply Julia – Cookbook Giveaway

Happy Publication Day to Julia Turshen! Enter our US/worldwide giveaway to win one of two copies of Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food by Julia Turshen (two copies US from the publisher and EYB will provide one copy worldwide). Be sure to check out our Calendar - Julia has a full schedule of virtual events planned. Julia… read more

The Shortcut Cook – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win one of three copies of The Shortcut Cook: Classic Recipes and the Ingenious Hacks that Make them Faster, Simpler and Tastier by Rosie Reynolds. The Shortcut Cook: 75 Classic Recipes and the Ingenious Hacks that Make them Faster, Simpler and Tastier by Rosie Reynolds shares the chef’s extensive experience to deliver over 60 much-loved classic… read more

Celebrate Welsh food on St. David’s Day

March 1 is St. David's Day, which celebrates the 6th century patron saint of Wales. This holiday may not have the strongest food tradition, but it does offer an opportunity to explore Welsh food. Traditional festivities for the day, also known as The Feast of St. David, include wearing daffodils and leeks, both symbols of Wales. The leek is associated with the… read more
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