How to brine turkey and make gravy from a flavor scientist

Here in the US, most cooks are planning their Thanksgiving day meals and to help a bit with that task, we have an excerpt from a book that will be released in March of 2024. Flavorama: The Unbridled Science of Flavor and How to Get It to Work for You by Arielle Johnson delivers recipes designed to easily finesse flavor… read more

Spice support: pink peppercorns

You might have been introduced to them from the tri-color peppercorn mixes that often come with the purchase of a pepper grinder: pink peppercorns. These diminutive, brightly colored orbs are more than just an colorful garnish to be sprinkled over a dish, as Serious Eats explains in its primer on pink peppercorns. First things first - pink peppercorns are not… read more

November 2023 New Cookbook Review

Here we are in November and nearing the end of 2023. This year has flown by. Last month, I published the preliminary 2024 Cookbook Preview and don’t forget that you can create a wishlist and share it with your loved ones. Our December 2023 Great Big Cookbook Club Summary and November 2023 EYB Cookbook Club Summary can be found at the links provided. In May we announced… read more

November 2023 EYB Cookbook Club Summary

Each month we offer at least four cooking options in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. This month we cooked from: Cookbook: Veg-table: Recipes, Techniques, and Plant Science for Big-Flavored, Vegetable-Centered Meals or The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained: More Than 100 Essential Recipes or Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food by Nik SharmaOnline: Any Nik Sharma online recipesBaking: Scandinavian from Scratch by Nichole Accettola or The Great Scandinavian Baking… read more

Celebrating ‘grape’ discoveries

When a friend offers you a laundry basket full of ripe Concord grapes, what do you do? If you are me, you say "thank you" and proceed to the open EYB Library tab on your computer to find recipes that use them. I knew I wanted to make grape preserves and already knew where to look for that recipe, but… read more

Sweet potato 101

A blue-green bowl holds cooked, diced orange fleshed sweet potatoes dotted with tiny black black seeds and bits of scallion
We are headed to the time of year in the US when more sweet potatoes are served than perhaps the rest of the year combined. Families that never eat the tubers at any other time will trot out sweet potato casseroles and sides during the holidays. This serves as a great opportunity to brush up on the different varieties available… read more

Bread and Roses Prize Package Giveaway

Enter our US giveaway to win one of three prize packages which include a copy of Bread and Roses: 100+ Grain Forward Recipes Featuring Global Ingredients and Botanicals by Rose Wilde and a Hedley and Bennett apron; a five pound bag of of Whole Grain from Barton Spring Mill and a bottle of Graza Olive Oil. (Style of apron and… read more

Food news antipasto

It is amazing how 2023 has flown by, and now it's that time of year to make our lists and check them twice. If you have been nice, you might want to check out the kitchen equipment year in review for 2023 at Epicurious. The editors have compiled their list of "Kitchen MVPs" which are those products that they found… read more

What are your favorite make-ahead recipes?

After three years of not hosting, my spouse and I are back in the hot seat and will have a group of about eight people at our house for Thanksgiving dinner. I have been tinkering with the menu for a few days and have decided to make as many items ahead as I can because my work schedule is hectic… read more

December 2023 Great Big Cookbook Club Summary

As our members know, each month we offer several 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 can prepare… read more

The Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Week 7 – Desserts – Recap

We are down to six bakers already! This week was all about desserts and I again I was not thrilled with this week at all - to me the signature and technical challenges were too similar and nothing stood out as a wow to me. Signature: Eight crème caramel in 2 hours and 45 minutes. We have 360 online recipes… read more

Say hello in Brooklyn

I'm attending a panel on 'The Future of Cookbooks' on Saturday at the Cherry Bombe Cooks & Books event at the ACE Hotel in Brooklyn, New York. If any EYB member is planning to attend, please do say hello. I will be loitering in the hotel lobby in the afternoon (the panel doesn't start until 4:30pm). You can recognize me… read more

2,500,000 recipes indexed

When we launched Eat Your Books in 2009 I couldn't have imagined we would grow the site into what it is today. We launched with 550 cookbooks indexed (about 92,000 recipes) and in the years since we have added almost 6,000 magazine issues and the indexed books total is almost at 13,000. Plus of course 470,000 online recipes. Whew! This… read more

The German Baking Book Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our worldwide giveaway to win one of four copies of The German Baking Book: Cakes, Tarts, Breads, and More from the Black Forest and Beyond by Jürgen Krauss. From Jürgen Krauss, a semi-finalist in 2021's Great British Bake Off, comes a celebration of German home baking. Make classic German pastries, from apple strudel and stolen to show stopping celebration… read more

Recipes to celebrate Diwali

Diwali, a five-day festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains across the world, celebrates new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is worshipped on this holiday, which this year falls on November 12. Diwali celebrations frequently include fireworks, candles, and other forms of light displays. As with many holidays around… read more

Does everything need to be zhushed?

Does anyone remember the commercial for Rice Krispie treats that aired in the late 1980s? The commercial opens with a woman reading a romance novel while her child (in another room) asks if the treats are done yet. "These things take time!" the mother replies. Donning an oven mitt, the woman dips the mitt into the flour container, flicking flour… read more

Maman & Me Cookbook Giveaway & Quick Bites

Enter our US/CA giveaway to win one of three copies of Maman & Me: Recipes from Our Iranian American Family by Roya Shariat and Gita Sadeh. Maman & Me is a gorgeous cookbook filled with over 80 delicious cook-at-home Iranian American recipes from beloved mother-and-daughter duo Roya Shariat and Gita Sadeh. You will fall in love with Roya Shariat and… read more

Food news antipasto

The Seattle restaurant scene lost one of its legends this week as acclaimed chef Thierry Rautureau died at the age of 64. Widely known as the 'Chef in the Hat,' the French-born restaurateur helped Seattle cement its reputation as a location for fine dining. Rautureau won numerous awards for his restaurants, including a James Beard Award in 1998. In culinary… read more

The Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Week 6 – Botanical – Recap

Last week saw a double elimination with both Nicky and Rowan going home. This week the theme was botanicals: bakes with spice, herbs, and floral hints. Signature: 12 spice buns in 2 hours and 45 minutes Swedish cardamom buns by Stephanie Wise author of Comfort Baking Saku's lovely twisted Swedish cardamom buns received good comments; Tasha's Yuletide cinnamon, nutmeg and… read more

Le Creuset for the holidays; assistants to the celebrity chefs making it big, EYBD Previews, recipes and more

Le Creuset is always bringing new and exciting colors and designs to their product line. Recently, they bought the colors Thyme and Chiffon Pink to the party. Just when I thought I was safe from temptation, they announced two holiday Dutch ovens in their Noël Collection: the 12 Days of Christmas Round Dutch Oven and the Holiday Tree Round Dutch… read more

NYT interviews Tieghan Gerard of Half Baked Harvest

Half Baked Harvest is the one of the most popular blogs indexed in the EYB Library, and the corresponding books written by Tieghan Gerard, who is the heart and soul of HBH, have also generated loads of positive feedback from our Members. That is one reason I thought that Julia Moskin's NYT profile of Ms. Gerard (gift link) would be… read more

Why don’t cookbooks talk about the cleanup?

When you read a recipe in a cookbook (or online, for that matter), the final instruction usually revolves around how the dish should be served. Left unmentioned is the mess that remains. If a recipe discusses washing up, it's to claim that it is a simplified or "one-bowl" affair that will leave fewer dishes to be washed. Occasionally the preface… read more

The Artful Pie Project Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/CA giveaway to win one of two copies of The Artful Pie Project: A Sweet and Savoury Book of Recipes by Denise Marchessault with artwork and photography by Deb Garlick. Congratulations to the author and photographer who received a Silver Runner-up Award in the Taste Canada Awards on Monday! The Artful Pie Project was published in 2022 and… read more

2023 Taste Canada Award winners

The Taste Canada Awards were announced last evening at a soiree held at the historic Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. The Awards are presented to outstanding Canadian cookbooks in both English and French languages. This is the biggest night of the year for Canadian cookbook authors. Unlike other cookbook awards, Taste Canada presents both gold and silver awards in… read more

Holiday Baking 2023

October is my favorite month of the year as it holds the promise of the holidays. (I started drafting this mid-October!) For me, November is too close to the actual holidays and December is go-time. October means that I have time to plan and look forward to the seasonal festivities of baking, buying gifts, and decorating. Some years decorating means… read more
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