The mystery of the skinny turkey

The blogosphere is full of stories about the fat turkey problem - or, more accurately, the lack of fat turkeys problem. Apparently, Butterball - the company that produces the largest number of turkeys for national sale - has announced that they've had problems getting turkeys to plump up for Thanksgiving. Therefore, the number of fresh, fat (over 16 pound) turkeys… read more

Ottolenghi & Tamimi on their most essential – and fun – ingredients

It's a pretty safe bet that every one of our members has heard of Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi - their cookbook Jerusalem is, as we described it previously, the Harry Potter of the cookbook world. So we wanted to share this NPR interview with Ottolenghi & Tamimi who, at the very least, deserve kudos for earning their fame the old-fashioned… read more

Cookbook giveaway – 2-book bundle: Canal House Cooks Every Day & Pronto!

                      For our latest cookbook giveaway, we're very pleased to be able to offer 5 free bundles of two cookbooks from the Canal House folks:  Canal House Cooks Every Day & Pronto. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Canal House collection, here's a brief history:… read more

The women of Canal House cook us lunch

In 2006  two women: Christopher Hirsheimer, the founding editor of Saveur, & Melissa Hamilton, the director of Saveur's test kitchen, began a new business: Canal House. Originally plannined as a photo and design studio for cookbooks and magazines, the two women soon turned their attention to cooking, developing an innovative plan. Rather than starting a new magazine, they inaugurated a… read more

The most expensive cookbook

Jane and I were chatting the other day and the question arose: Which is the most expensive cookbook? We weren't discussing used or historical books auctioned off or resold, but currently available books for sale on Amazon or in bookstores. The discussion was inspired by the announcement of a March publication date for Ferran Adrià's new book(s) - seven volumes… read more

And the $1,000,000 recipe winner is…

® The annual Pillsbury Bake Off® - which long ago stopped involving just baked goods - just announced its 2013 winners - awarding $1,000,000 to the winning recipe. We always think it's interesting to see what wins. This year, the winner is an appetizer, Loaded Potato Pinwheels: "Loaded Potato Pinwheels are a great, versatile appetizer," said Jann Atkins, Bake-Off Kitchens Manager.… read more

Is one type of cinnamon really better than the other? Plus 263 ways to use it

If you had to choose one spice to be associated with the holidays, it would have to be cinnamon. From pies to squash to drinks to candles, it's omnipresent. So we thought we'd highlight some recent articles that add a bit to our common knowledge, or possibly our common confusion. On Epicurious, we have True Cinnamon, which explains that there… read more

Do you judge people by what they’re eating?

In their article, Why do we judge people by the food they eat?, The Guardian provided some interesting material to think about. In particular, the idea of food profiling struck a chord. Back in the day (way back in the day) if someone ate muesli, they were immediately identified as a counter-revolutionary hippie - ditto for brown rice, soy beans, and… read more

Take 50,000 recipes and derive 25 amazing facts

Before we get to our regularly scheduled content, we wanted to announce a special holiday treat from EYB: Buy 1 EYB Gift Voucher, and Get 1 Free! Plus you'll be in the drawing to win Nathan Myhrvold's fabulous new book, The Photography of Modernist Cuisine.  Check out all the details here. _________________________________________________________________________ Whenever Wired  tackles food-related items, it's always fascinating, and… read more

For your consideration – a list of the 25 best food memoirs

Now is the time we're all compiling lists of books to request for the holidays, so I wanted to post this list from Grub Street  of The Top 25 Must-Read Food Memoirs of All Time for your consideration. No cookbooks here, and only one book per author, but still intriguing. Here's their criteria: "The list itself is comprised of picks… read more

Why microwaving kale, carrots, or other vegies can create sparks

We're going into the holiday season, so it's nice to have a collection of healthy, quick snacks and appetizers to go along with the more traditional ones. And kale chips definitely fit the bill. However, making kale chips in the oven can be tricky as they either never dry out or can burn - in any event, they take an… read more

Comparing 8 famous roast chickens to determine the tastiest bird

Personally, I would die a happy person if the Zuni Cafe's Roast Chicken was my last meal. However, I do know people who swear by Thomas Keller's and Julia Child's versions. So I was really excited to read about the great roast chicken cookoff that BuzzFeedFood just ran. Essentially, they took 8 famous roast chickens and had them compete in… read more

Saying farewell to Charlie Trotter

Charlie Trotter, who passed away today, was one of those chefs that everybody had on their bucket list. Those who ate what he cooked were lucky and could always recall their meal in detail; those who never had the opportunity regretted the lost opportunity. We're honoring his impact on the food world by noting two different items. First, his legacy,… read more

The Thanksgivvukah face-off: The two final recipes

Last month, we announced that two of our favorite online food sites were entering into a culinary joust to create recipes for the unique holiday of Thanksgivvukah (see our blog description if you're in the dark about this holiday). Food52 challenged Serious Eats  to come up with the ultimate Thanksgivvukah recipe. Both sides responded and the two final recipes have just been announced - they're creative… read more

John Besh describes the unique touches in his 10 signature dishes

We have a special soft spot in our culinary hearts for New Orleans cuisine - and we've found John Besh to be a worthy successor to such illustrious forces as Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse. So his essay from In First We Feast, The 10 Dishes That Made My Career, struck us as a worthy read. After all, there aren't many… read more

Converting a recipe to a slow cooker

Food52 recently published a useful article on how to change a recipe so that it can be made in a slow cooker. Here are some of the areas the article discusses - you can read the entire list and further description at How to Adapt Recipes to a Slow Cooker: Determine size of your slow cooker See if it has… read more

Five essentials and 50 foods for sensual home cooking

When you've been around the food world for awhile, you discover some less-publicized but strongly admired food authors. Certainly not as famous as Alice Waters or Rachael Ray, these are authors who publish newsletters or write books not so much for the fame or money, but to please themselves and as an outlet for their food-related passions. Their publications are… read more

The Thanksgivvukah face-off: Food 52 vs. Serious Eats

  Two of our favorite online food sites are potentially entering into quite a culinary joust. To create recipes for the unique holiday of Thanksgivvukah (see our blog description if you're in the dark about this holiday), Food52 has challenged Serious Eats  to come up with the ultimate Thanksgivvukah recipe. The Food 52 campaign: In asking their members to help, Food… read more

Me and my cookbooks – October 2013

We're hearing from a lot of you that you've enjoyed meeting some of our EYB members through our Me and my Cookbooks Monthly feature. We'd love to introduce as many as we can -  If you'd like to be featured, just email us at info@eatyourbooks.com. Our featured EYB member this month is Sandra Thorman (EYB member sandyt1408). Sandra is from Australia,… read more

Unearthing Halloween Inspiration

With Halloween coming on Thursday, we thought we'd help out anyone looking for different ideas. We have over 150 pins on our Halloween Pinterest board   -  unique recipes all gathered in one convenient location. And there aren't just sweets -  savory ideas are included as well  (including the Pumpkin cheese ball, with over 50 repins) and an especially strong selection… read more

New publishing trend: Cookbooks with impossible recipes to execute

  The Telegraph recently issued a bit of a diatribe against Heston Blumethal's new book, Historic Heston. In the article, Heston Blumenthal's new book: These faux cookbooks leave me simmering, they write, "The book itself is beautifully designed, bound, slip-cased and illustrated. As must be evident, you can't really use it to cook from at home. Not only is the domestic… read more

Martha and the bloggers

There's been a lot of fuss in the food blogosphere recently which can be summed up as the story of Martha and the bloggers. It is not about a new singing group (though that is a great name) but about an interview Martha Stewart gave to Bloomberg TV in which she is quoted as saying about bloggers, ""They're not trained… read more

Chip flavors have now truly jumped the shark

As something of a purist when it comes to chips, it's been a little difficult looking down the snack aisle in the grocery store and seeing bag after bag of weirder and weirder flavors (chicken and waffle chips? ) But now it appears that even those flavors have become too dull and common. According to The Daily Meal, Pringles now… read more

Cookbook giveway – The French Kitchen Cookbook by Patricia Wells

  We're very pleased to be able to offer 10 free copies of a new cookbook by one of the legends of the culinary field, Patricia Wells. Her new book,  French Kitchen Cookbook: Recipes and Lessons From Paris and Provence, has its basis in her famous cooking school in Provence.  We had a chance to discuss her passion for food… read more

Sharing Patricia Wells’ passions

Patricia Wells certainly needs little introduction. She's not only famous for her 13 cookbooks, food writing, and restaurant critiques but also for her lengendary cooking school in Provence. Her latest book, The French Kitchen Cookbook: Recipes and Lessons from Paris and Provence is a collection of her favorite recipes and lessons from her cooking classes in Paris and Provence. (We're delighted to be… read more
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