Gastro Obscura’s favorite cookbook stories of 2023

January 14, 2024 by Darcie

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Good cookbooks have well-tested recipes that work. Great cookbooks also tell stories about the food, either personal stories about love, grief, triumph, and despair, or broader stories about the culture and people where the recipe originates. The editors at Gastro Obscura agree, and they regularly feature vignettes about cookbooks - both recent releases and historical volumes. They selected eight of… read more

Beating the cold in the kitchen

January 13, 2024 by Darcie

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After a warm start, winter is bearing down on us with full force. A large swath of the northern U.S. is bracing for a winter storm that will bring frigid temperatures and bone-chilling winds. I know this not only because of the weather report, but because the store shelves were nearly empty when I went grocery shopping earlier today. In… read more

Alison Roman’s latest project? A grocery store

January 10, 2024 by Darcie

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Alison Roman, viral recipe hall-of-famer, cancel culture survivor, and bestselling cookbook author, has embarked on a new project. No, it isn't the culinary show she's been shopping around since she lost her deal with Hulu, it's a small grocery store in upstate New York. Called First Bloom, the shop opened recently and according to food writer Callie Hitchcock, it feels… read more

Weird advice from vintage entertaining guides

January 9, 2024 by Darcie

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When I was a young cook putting together my first small dinner party for friends, I wasn't sure where to begin. The internet was not sufficiently advanced to offer a lot of advice, so I turned to books about entertaining. Although the names of the tomes have been lost in the dusty corners of my mind, I'm reasonably certain that… read more

Food news antipasto

January 7, 2024 by Darcie

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Boston-area chef and restaurateur Barbara Lynch, who came under fire last year after workers accused her of abuse, has closed several of her restaurants and is selling others to former employees, according to WBUR. Gone are Menton, Sportello and Drink in Fort Point, and two locations on the South End, The Butcher Shop and Stir, are in contracts to be… read more

Store-bought is fine

January 6, 2024 by Darcie

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Ina Garten's famous saying of "store-bought is fine" when offering alternatives to an ingredient she is using in a recipe has reassured many a home cook, including yours truly. Knowing that you can successfully use a shortcut ingredient if you do not have the time or ability to make something from scratch takes some of the stress out of cooking,… read more

Helpful features and tips for using EYB including adding books to the Library; recipes and more

January 5, 2024 by Jenny

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Happy New Year! Since we have new Members joining, I'd like to go over a few helpful features in this new year. First, please bookmark this article which is updated each time a new feature is added to Eat Your Books. It can be found on the Home Page as well. A member in the EYB Cookbook Club recently asked… read more

“Grubgate” hits south Texas

January 4, 2024 by Darcie

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Food is often political, but usually not in the way that this story illustrates. In south Texas, a former U.S. Congresswoman, who is trying to win back the seat she lost after redistricting changed the district's demographics, has become embroiled in a scandal being called "Grubgate" regarding food photos she posted on her social media accounts. Former Rep. Mayra Flores… read more

The best meals of 2023

January 3, 2024 by Darcie

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Scrolling through my favorite food sites this week I encountered many posts about the best meals the writers ate last year, or some variation on that theme. Restaurant critic Jay Rayner gathered his notes from the sundry meals he ate as part of his job and put out a list of culinary highs and lows from 2023. The entire GoodFood… read more

Making the most of holiday cooking gifts

January 2, 2024 by Darcie

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I'm sure many of us received food, cooking, and/or cookbook related gifts for the holidays. It's pretty easy to know what to do with food gifts (yum!), but sometimes kitchen tools or equipment require us to seek out some assistance. If you received an air fryer as one of your gifts, you can head over to The Guardian for a… read more

New Year’s food intentions

January 1, 2024 by Darcie

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I have written about New Year's food resolutions before, but I am not a fan of the term "resolution" because it sets a person up for failure if they don't meet the resolution exactly. Instead, I prefer the term "intention" because it more accurately reflects how I approach the situation: this is what I would like to try in the… read more

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