CAPTCHA, Prime Day, James Beard entry period open, 1,700 EYBD Previews and more

This week we have added CAPTCHA in order to sign-in to our site. A CAPTCHA is a type of challenge–response test used in computing to determine whether the user is human in order to deter bot attacks and spam. Please see Jane's blog post with more information about this measure. October 10-11th is Amazon Prime Day again! If you do… read more

Do you really need a roasting pan?

Few home kitchens in the US are without a large deep roasting pan. Most of them are made from aluminum, although enameled steel and stainless steel pans are also common. Usually they are tucked away in the back of a cabinet for most of the year, pulled out to hold the Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham. Serious Eats has long… read more

Efforts to stop bot activity

As regular visitors will know, we have been having site performance issues related to very high levels of search bot activity. The bots fire thousands of requests per second at our site which causes the server to get overloaded and grind to a slow crawl or even a halt for anyone else using it (our members). Our short-term solution was… read more

Break out the good china: what you serve your food on matters

When I start thinking about what to make for lunch or dinner, only rarely do I consider the dinnerware on which we will be eating the food. Our everyday plates are Fiesta Tableware in six different colors that we mix and match with abandon. Pairing a color with a particular food isn't something I contemplate unless I'm really into getting… read more

2024 James Beard Book Awards Call for Entries are Now Open!

The James Beard Foundation® announced today that the entry and recommendation period for the 2024 James Beard Awards® is officially open until November 30, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The 2024 Awards ceremonies will be held in Chicago on the following dates:● Media Awards: Saturday, June 8, 2024● Leadership Awards: Sunday, June 9, 2024● Restaurant and Chef Awards: Monday, June 10,… read more

Food news antipasto

Restaurant aficionados often turn up their noses at chain restaurants, and there are many reasons why a food lover might not like them: they can be noisy, the food is often bland, and the overall dining experience will never knock your socks off. But as Grace Dent explains, sometimes a chain restaurant is just the place to go, especially if… read more

The Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Week 1 – Cake Recap

We are back in the tent and hopeful about the show's new direction this year. (That's a great name for a band.) To prepare for the new season I have updated the Which Great British Bake Off Contestants have written books post so it is current. Many GBBO bakers are coming out with books next year! The contestants from the… read more

IACP Cookbook Award winners

The International Association of Culinary Professionals announced the winners of its 2023 Cookbook Awards (along with other food media and writing awards) this evening at its 2023 Summit held in rain-soaked Brooklyn, NY. In addition to this year's winners, the IACP inducted three cookbooks into its Culinary Classics, which is a like a Hall of Fame for cookbooks. IACP also… read more

Coming soon to a recipe near you: shrinkflation

A recent article in The Guardian explained how Galaxy chocolate bars are now 10% smaller but priced the same as before, a strategy pundits have dubbed "shrinkflation" because in the end the result is the same as raising prices: less purchasing power for the consumer. The article reminded me of an issue that came up with a recipe I was… read more

Thinking inside the box

As I cracked open a box of organic, low-sodium broth earlier today I recalled Michael Ruhlman saying that one should never use canned or boxed chicken broth, that homemade was the only way to go, and that even water would be better than commercial broth. Despite his admonition, I glugged the box straight into the sausage and potato soup with… read more

September 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: Cookbook: Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling or Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico by Bricia Lopez and Javier CabralOnline: Any online recipes from Bricia Lopez and Javier CabralBaking: 100 Morning Treats by Sarah Kieffer or any online recipes… read more

September 2023 New Cookbook Review

Here we are in September and well into Cookbooktober. Last week, I published the preliminary 2024 Cookbook Preview and don't forget that you can create a wishlist here and share it with your loved ones. In May we announced that we have connected the EYB database to ckbk’s library of digital cookbooks. ckbk is a cookbook subscription site where you can access… read more

Food news antipasto

Gordon Ramsay plans to open 14 restaurants in Thailand after signing a deal with Tanachira Group, the lifestyle company behind jewelry brand Pandora. It is part of an international expansion push for the chef’s group, which runs 37 UK restaurants and 35 additional eateries worldwide. Granola for fellow "granolas" from Food52 If you describe someone as being very "granola", most people… read more

The World Central Kitchen Cookbook – Giveaway

Enter our US giveaway to win one of two copies of The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope by José Andrés and World Central Kitchen. The author has a few events scheduled to promote this title and the team at WCK has another tour which can be found on their website. In their first cookbook, World Central Kitchen… read more

Fish Butchery – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win one of three copies of Fish Butchery: Mastering The Catch, Cut, and Craft by Josh Niland. James Beard award-winning author and culinary game-changer Josh Niland returns with the ultimate guide to the art of fish butchery, with expert techniques and ground-breaking recipes that are an urgent call for action on culinary sustainability. Josh’s multi… read more

Inside the Le Creuset Factory to Table sale

As promised, I am reporting on the Le Creuset Factory to Table (FTT) sale held in Minneapolis this weekend. The event sold out so fast that I was unable to get the coveted VIP tickets for Thursday evening that included an opportunity to buy a 'mystery box' of items for $50. I was relegated to a regular admittance ticket that… read more

2024 cookbooks, recipes, EYBD Previews and more

I finally completed the 2024 Cookbook Preview this week. There will be many changes and additions so be sure to check back frequently. All new titles will always be on the top of the month/country. Next week will be the monthly newsletter so I will keep this short. I wish to point out new author tours below: Hillary Dixler Canavan… read more

Gohan: Everyday Japanese Cooking Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our worldwide giveaway to win one of five copies of Gohan: Everyday Japanese Cooking: Memories and Stories from My Family's Kitchen by Emiko Davies. Emiko Davies' cookbooks are some of my favorite titles. She is an award-winning Australian-Japanese food writer, photographer and cookbook author who grew up in a diplomatic family. She spent most of her life in countries… read more

Olive oil prices surge to all time highs amid drought

Prepare yourself for sticker shock when buying your next bottle of extra virgin olive oil. Due to drastically reduced yields, olive oil supplies are rapidly being depleted, leading to dramatic price hikes. Spain, the world's largest olive oil producer, saw record high temperatures (the third hottest summer on record) coupled with an intense drought. In turn, this diminished the olive… read more

October 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

Bake it Better – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK giveaway to win one of two copies of Bake It Better: 70 Show-stopping Recipes to Level-Up Your Baking Skills by Matt Adlard. Matt Adlard’s debut cookbook Bake It Better: 70 Show-stopping Recipes to Level-Up Your Baking Skills is impressive. Matt is a self-taught baker and pastry chef from Norwich, England with a large social media following. Bake it Better… read more

GBBO returns on 26 September, names contestants

The Great British Bake Off has announced the contestants for the upcoming season of the show, which premieres at 8:00 p.m. on 26 September in the UK. The contestants, as always, are a fascinating slice of the population, ranging from deli manager Amos to database administrator Dana to science teacher Matty. It's fun to imagine what kind of bakes each… read more

2024 Cookbook Preview

Every September (this year I'm running a little behind!), I begin cataloging the following year’s cookbook releases. I do this for several reasons: 1) so our members know what is waiting down the pipeline and 2) it makes the monthly new cookbook reviews a little easier for me as I keep the original post updated when changes occur. As I… read more

Food news antipasto

Food critic Jay Rayner had the honor of interviewing Madhur Jaffrey for the September issues of Observer Food Monthly. On the eve of the 40th anniversary edition of her book Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery, the 90-year-old author talks about how she became "an accidental cook" due to acute homesickness when she was in London studying drama. An acclaimed actress, Jaffrey started… read more

The foods of Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah, meaning "head of the year" in Hebrew, is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. The holiday includes several food-related customs including eating apples dipped in honey, as well as eating other symbolic foods such as pomegranates, dates, string beans, beets, pumpkins, leeks, and fish heads. Each of these symbolizes a wish or blessing for prosperity and health in the… read more
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