The intersection of food and disability

Disability advocates have long sought to bring visibility to the challenges faced by people who have physical or mental disabilities, highlighting these difficulties while simultaneously amplifying the accomplishments and contributions of disabled people. Culinary culture is catching up in this space, with increasing numbers of bloggers and food writers publishing cooking advice for people who face physical or mental limitations.… read more

July 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

Food news antipasto

Every chef has their own 'secret' ingredient, the one that they turn to time and again to add pizzazz to their dishes. For Mauritian chef Chaya Maya, that ingredient is tamarind. She adds it to soups and stews near the end of cooking, as a marinade for meats, and in desserts. Like other Maruritians, she even eats it straight out… read more

Forget farm to table – Netflix offers film to table

Watching cooking shows is both entertaining and frustrating because there is no way to taste the creation of the chefs or contestants. We are forced to use our imaginations or recreate the dish at home if a recipe is provided. Fans of cooking shows in Los Angeles, however, will get a little something extra at the end of the month,… read more

Father’s Day recipe ideas

Tomorrow is Father's Day in the US, UK, and Canada, part of a three-day weekend in the US with the Juneteenth holiday falling on Monday. For many families that means the perfect excuse to do outdoor cooking, meat on the grill, and picnic fare. If you plan on making something special but are out of ideas, head over to Delish to… read more

Cookie tins from Diaspora, recipes, EYBD Previews and more

A few months back our friends at Diaspora Co. had a special event in New York featuring a gorgeous tin filled with tempting cookies. Those tins sold out quickly. This week you can preorder one of these tins for delivery in March 2024 by clicking here. (The preorder for this holiday season has sold out). Not only is the hand-painted… read more

Vietnamese Vegetarian Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win one of three copies of Vietnamese Vegetarian: Simple Vegetarian Recipes From a Vietnamese Home Kitchen by Uyen Luu. Uyen Luu is the author of My Vietnamese Kitchen: Recipes and Stories to Bring Vietnamese Food to Life on Your Plate and Vietnamese: Simple Vietnamese Food to Cook at Home. Her latest title Vietnamese Vegetarian showcases… read more

Tandoori Home Cooking – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win one of three copies of Tandoori Home Cooking: Over 70 Classic Indian Tandoori Recipes to Cook at Home by Maunika Gowardhan. Maunika is the author of Thali: A Joyful Celebration of Indian Home Cooking and Indian Kitchen: Secrets of Indian Home Cooking. In this her third title Tandoori Home Cooking she delivers an approachable,… read more

Ideas for your Juneteenth menu

Monday marks the third year of Juneteenth being an official federal holiday in the United States. It was first celebrated in Texas in June of 1866, one year after Major General Gordon Granger signed the order proclaiming that slaves in Texas were now free - two full years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. In the beginning it was called… read more

Instant Pot’s parent company files for bankruptcy

Instant Brands, the manufacturer of Instant Pot, CorningWare, and Pyrex, filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. and Canada this week. (Hat tip to EYB Member sir_ken_g for alerting us to this event.) In a statement, the Illinois-based company announced that it "initiated a voluntary court-supervised Chapter 11 process," blaming rising interest rates on its debt load. "Tightening of credit terms… read more

Kitchen trends that are falling out of favor

Remodeling a kitchen is something that most of us do infrequently, if at all. I've been fortunate enough to have done two full-on remodels, both DIY projects and both wildly different from one another. One house was a 1960s ranch-style home and the other a 1920s Craftsman-style bungalow, so the design choices were influenced by each home's respective era. Even… read more

Food news antipasto

Olivia Potts has judged food awards, including World’s Original Marmalade Awards and the Great Taste Awards, the "big kahuna of UK produce awards." While she thinks that there is merit highlighting small producers, Potts wonders if overall these food awards are worthwhile. "Taste doesn’t necessarily defy analysis, but that analysis is almost retrospective, a breaking down of why something is… read more

A spoonful of vinegar, recipes, EYBD Previews and more

This week while cruising through my recommended articles - thank you Google - I came across one entitled The Unexpected Condiment That Adds Color and Flavor to Chocolate Cake. "Just a tablespoon in the batter can transform a dense, heavy dessert into something lighter, fluffier, and even more delectable. Vinegar not only affects the texture of a cake, but its… read more

Finally some good news about food prices

As shoppers faced escalating prices for everything from butter to vegetables in the past couple of years, it felt like there was no end to the rising cost of groceries. It seems as though we may have turned a corner recently. Food prices have inched down in the last couple of months for many categories including dairy, fruits and vegetables,… read more

Changing old ways in the kitchen

I've been cooking for a long time, and many of the kitchen practices I employed at the beginning of my culinary journey have gone by the wayside. I no longer cook pork chops to well done, I stopped putting oil in my pasta boiling water, I don't use glass cutting boards anymore, the list goes on. In all cases, I… read more

Gardens are full of miracles and disappointments

Usually by now I would have posted my annual ode to rhubarb, one of the first items most gardeners can harvest each spring. This year the rhubarb was delayed due to a long, cool April, but in May it leapt out of the ground due to a burst of warm weather. The joke around here is that spring lasts roughly… read more

Pasta Masterclass Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/UK/AU/NZ giveaway to win one of three copies of Pasta Masterclass: Recipes for Spectacular Pasta Doughs, Shapes, Fillings and Sauces, from The Pasta Man by Mateo Zielonka. Pasta Masterclass: Recipes for Spectacular Pasta Doughs, Shapes, Fillings and Sauces, from The Pasta Man by Mateo Zielonka is a stunning follow up to Mateo’s The Pasta Man. This book has everything –… read more

Food news antipasto

After 17 years, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi announced that she was leaving the Bravo TV series. In a tweet, Padma said that "After much soul searching, I have made the difficult decision to leave Top Chef. Having completed a glorious 20th season as host and executive producer, I am extremely proud to have been part of building such a… read more

James Beard Cookbook Award winners

The winners of the James Beard Media Awards were announced this evening at a gala celebration in Chicago. Chef, television star, and cookbook author Pati Jinich served as emcee for the event, and announced the first couple of winners. Gregory Gourdet, who won several awards last year, also presented awards for several categories including the General cookbook category where a… read more

Are robots coming to a restaurant near you?

Recently one of my friends posted a photo of a robotic "waiter" at a restaurant where they were dining. It took their orders via touchscreen and it brought out the food on a tray when it was ready. With worker shortages ongoing, investing in technology seems like a logical move, although whether diners will appreciate this change remains to be… read more

To become a better cook, start scribbling

We've discussed the practice of writing notes in your cookbooks before, and most EYB Members agreed that it was a good practice. There were some naysayers, however, who argued that messing up a gorgeous book with notes (or splotches and splashes) was a bad idea. Today in The Washington Post, Becky Krystal set out to change the latter group's mind.… read more

Food & Drink Modernist Cuisine Photography – Giveaway

Enter our US giveaway to win a copy of Food & Drink: Modernist Cuisine Photography by Nathan Myhrvold. Take a deep dive into Modernist Cuisine founder and photographer Nathan Myhrvold’s ever-evolving fascination with food in his new book Food & Drink: Modernist Cuisine Photography. This beautiful photo book features over 200 vibrant images showcasing food in new and surprising ways.… read more

Celebrate National Doughnut Day

Food holidays tend to sneak up on me and I don't realize it is National [insert food here] Day until after it's over. However, I am always on point for National Doughnut Day, because deep fried cake/sweet dough is so darned delicious. The holiday is happening on June 2, and here in the US, Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme (among… read more

Food news antipasto

Does chef Jose Andres ever sleep? As if he isn't busy enough running restaurants, contributing to his nonprofit enterprise (World Central Kitchen), and giving talks around the world, he just announced a new partnership with George Washington University. They are forming The Global Food Institute, and its lofty aim is to "serve as a hub to develop evidence, partnerships, and… read more

Recipes to welcome summer

Our US members have a long weekend for the Memorial Day holiday. While the day itself is a time for somber appreciation for those who gave all in defense of our nation, the unofficial event that coincides with the holiday is the welcoming of summer. As I walked through my neighborhood today it seemed like every backyard contained a grill,… read more
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