Fair food fever

State fairs in the US are filled with agricultural exhibits, carnival rides, crafts, concerts, and, of course, food. Oodles and oodles of food, with plenty of items "on a stick" for convenience as you squeeze your way through the crowds. I know people who will map our their state fair excursion to make sure they can enjoy all of their… read more

Pull Up a Chair – Cookbook Giveaway

Enter our US/CA giveaway to win one of three copies of Pull Up a Chair - Recipes for Gatherings Big and Small, Morning to Night by Martha Collison. At just 17, Martha Collison became the youngest contestant ever on The Great British Bake Off's fifth series in 2014. Since then, she's built an impressive career as a food writer, broadcaster,… read more

Cookbook Deals

I will update this post when time permits – new additions are always at the top of each bulleted list below. If no update is available, be sure to check the publisher links and "cookbook deals" links under each region as they are updated periodically. If you spot a deal that isn't in the links below (publishers and or separate entries)… read more

When bad people use good recipes

Nagi Maehashi, the woman behind the popular blog RecipeTin Eats, spent countless hours perfecting the Beef Wellington recipe published in her first cookbook, Dinner. The recipe has recently gone viral, but not for a good reason. Convicted murdered Erin Patterson allegedly used Nagi's recipe when she prepared the dinner at which she poisoned four of her in-laws, killing three of… read more

Your Nutella is safe with me

Closeup of a jar of chocolate hazelnut spread with two slices of artisan bread out of focus to the left.
Classic food pairings like apple and cinnamon, peanut butter and jelly, or tomato and basil work together for many reasons. Complex chemical compounds play off each other and cultural factors can also play a role in how we perceive certain combinations of flavors. For most people these couplings seem natural and elevate the separate components to exceed what each offer… read more

August 2025 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 world and we’d like to highlight those for those members who might want to cook or bake something other than our choices.  I will update this post as clubs make their August choices. Something that has… read more

Food news antipasto

The strawberries and cream sandwich from Marks & Spencer has taken England by storm. People who enjoy this dainty treat, inspired by the Japanese "sando" may be dismayed to learn that it could soon be subject to the 20% VAT on desserts. According to VAT expert Simon Knivett: “If the bread is sweetened and the product is held in the… read more

Getting to the heart of it

After I learned a few years ago that Italian amaretti are traditionally made with apricot kernels, I thought it would be fun to make them someday. Recently I bought apricots and decided that someday was now. After using the fruit in a cake, I stashed the pits in a mason jar until I had enough time to tackle the project.… read more

UK Food Festivals

I was going to highlight these events in my next weekly roundup but as one of these festivals is coming up soon - I wanted to alert our UK Members who may wish to make plans to attend. Delicious has an exhaustive list of food festivals that you can check out as well organized by region including Scotland and Ireland.… read more

The history of barbecue

This weekend, grills across the US will be blazing with a multitude of meats, vegetables, and fish set atop the racks. Some will enjoy quickly cooked items like hot dogs and hamburgers, but in many households (mine included), low and slow barbecuing will take place. The roots of barbecue date back centuries, and its modern day incarnation owes a lot… read more

Can the can continue?

Del Monte Foods, one of the largest canned fruit and vegetable processors in the world, filed for bankruptcy earlier this week. The filing aims to stabilize the company with interim financing until a sale of the company can go forward. In addition to the canned goods carrying the 139-year-old company's iconic logo, Del Monte owns the Contadina tomato brand, College… read more

Any way you slice it

A reader comment to a recent article in The Guardian asked why bread slices have gotten thicker over the years. The same reader lamented that you cannot find thin sliced bread in the supermarket any more, and that by making the slices thicker, food companies were contributing to obesity issues. While I do not know if bread has actually gotten… read more

Introducing libraries to EYB at ALA

In Sunday's Food News Antipasto, Darcie wrote about our experience at the American Libraries Association (ALA) Conference this past weekend - meeting hundreds of librarians, having dinner with the authors of the upcoming stunner Heartland Masala and having fun chats with EYB members who dropped by our booth. The reaction from librarians to our new library feature was overwhelmingly positive… read more

The Giveaway Roundup

All of our current giveaways are now on one convenient roundup which will be continually updated! If you are having any difficulties with entering our giveaways, please see our step-by-step help post. Giveaways are tagged by the countries the contests are open to. Bookmark the searches below for easy reference! To enter our contests click on the blue link beneath the… read more

Food news antipasto

Jane and I spent the weekend at the American Library Association annual conference in Philadelphia, promoting our Library memberships. Highlights of the trip included seeing several EYB Members who stopped by to say hello, wonderful cocktails at Almanac, and a meal with two absolutely delightful authors Jyoti and Auyon Mukharji, who had a demonstration on the What’s Cooking stage at the… read more

Four outstanding independently published cookbooks worth your attention

Independently published cookbooks offer authors greater control over their work and the publishing process. This approach allows creators to maintain creative control, retain more rights, and potentially earn higher royalties. While traditional publishing provides wider distribution networks, self-publishing has become an increasingly viable option for culinary authors. We love our cookbook publishers and work closely with them to promote their… read more

Tea innovations

Forget pumpkin spice lattes, the latest thing in beverages is pumpkin spice tea. That, and along with other trends, is driving an uptick in the popularity of tea, especially in the US, which has not always been tea-friendly. (We got a little salty about it back in 1776 and never got over it.) But now Americans are embracing tea, and… read more

Taste Canada releases shortlist for 2025 awards

Now in its 28th year, Taste Canada Awards / Les Lauréats des Saveurs du Canada has announced its shortlist of cookbooks vying for a coveted culinary writing award. Sixty-nine cookbooks entered the competition, written by authors from across Canada. The shortlist narrowed the competition to 43 entries. The winners will be announced at the Taste Canada Awards Soirée in Toronto, scheduled… read more

World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025

On Monday, the World's 50 Best announced the top 50 restaurants in the world for 2025 at an event in Turin, Italy on Monday evening. Maido in Lima, Peru was named No. 1, the second time a restaurant from this city landed in the top position (Central won in 2023). Spain’s Asador Etxebarri became the bridesmaid again at No. 2… read more

Grocery store trickery

One of the grocery stores in my city vexes me to no end by its constant rearranging of products. As soon as I get used to learning where to find the items that I regularly buy, everything moves to a new location. This shuffling of items is probably not just due to changing inventory, but rather a deliberate attempt to… read more

June 2025 New Cookbook Review

June is a fairly light month for cookbook releases but there are some outstanding titles that warrant our attention. A few books that our Members will want to know about include: Braided Heritage by Jessica B. Harris; Galette! by Rebecca Firkser; Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream by Nicholas Morgenstern; Potluck Desserts by Justin Burke; Strong Roots by Olia Hercules; Boustany by Sami Tamimi; Flavour Heroes by Gurdeep… read more

June 2025 EYB Cookbook Club

Each month we allow posting in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club from any cookbook, magazine or blog and we also offer one featured cookbook. We hope that sharing our favorite recipes will help our Members discover new cookbooks and recipes to try. Also please see our updated/revised July 2025 Great Big Cookbook Club Summary which is now organized by location and includes… read more

Food news antipasto

We covered the James Beard Media Awards over the weekend, but there were more honors given on Monday, when the JBF announced the winners of its Restaurant and Chef Awards, representing the best food and drink in the US. Fine dining establishments took home many of the honors, but there were plenty of casual restaurants in the mix. Take a… read more

Strategies for when it’s too hot to cook

This year the solstice brought with it a record-breaking heat wave for much of the US. When the temperatures and dew points both spike this high, standing over a hot stove for any length of time is unappealing, to say the least. Keeping cool while cooking in the midst of a heat wave is difficult, but there are ways to… read more

James Beard and Guild of Food Writers’ awards, culinary tours, recipes, EYBD Previews and more!

Culinary tours provide an exciting way to combine travel with your passion for food! There's something magical about experiencing a culture through its cuisine, especially with someone who deeply understands the culinary traditions and can share insider knowledge. Cookbook author-led tours offer such a unique perspective - you're not just tasting the food, you're learning the stories behind the dishes,… read more
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