The case for long dessert menus

January 17, 2020 by
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The offerings of most restaurant dessert menus - if there is even one to begin with - are not the stuff of dreams. Most eateries do not put much time or thought into curating an offering of sweets to end the meal. Perhaps this is due to cost concerns, as having a pastry chef along with dedicated refrigerator or preparation… read more

Cookbook authors on the books they keep returning to

January 16, 2020 by
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What is better than finding out which cookbook an author thinks is indispensible? Learning the same from a half-dozen authors. Over at The New York Times, they've assembled a sort of cookbook author relay race, in which one recently published author recommends his or her favorite title from the past year or so, then passes on the honor to that… read more

The allure of celebrity mom cookbooks

January 15, 2020 by
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Go to the cookbook section in almost any bookstore and you will see a slew of cookbooks written by a celebrity actor, singer, or perhaps both. These women are not professionally trained chefs or, in some cases, even accomplished cooks. Yet these cookbooks fly off of store shelves - Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Kitchen was one of the top selling books… read more

Taking it to the limit

January 14, 2020 by
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The Splendid Table's Francis Lam once flew to a city just to eat at a specific restaurant, and felt that was going far - figuratively and literally - in pursuit of food. Inspired by his own obsession, Lam decided to ask others how far they would go for food-related items. The results are fascinating. Lam interviews photographer Melanie Dunea, who… read more

Dishoom – Cookbook Giveaway

January 14, 2020 by
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Enter our giveaway below open to US/UK members to win a copy of Dishoom: From Bombay with Love: Cookery Book and Highly Subjective Guide to Bombay with Map by Shamil and Kavi Thakrar and Naved Nasir. Dishoom is a small group of Indian restaurants initially based in London, England. The first cafe opened in Covent Garden in 2010. The owners… read more

Love your lemons

January 13, 2020 by
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Currently in my local supermarket, oranges are less than $1 USD per pound and Meyer lemons have finally made their annual appearance, meaning that peak citrus season is here. Seeing mile-high displays of bright and enticing lemons, grapefruit, and oranges remains one of the best parts of what can be a dreary time here in the northland. However, this bounty… read more

Food news antipasto

January 12, 2020 by
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If there is one theme for this week it's cheese. If you believe that fromage is fabulous, you might be interested in visiting a new cheese-themed hotel suite. Brought to us by the UK chain restaurant Café Rouge, the suite will be all cheese, all the time: cheese wallpaper, artwork, bedding, and even cheese-themed games will be on display in the… read more

Highly divisive foods

January 11, 2020 by
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Cilantro, Marmite, black licorice, and olives - what do these items share in common? They are all foods that people either love or hate, with almost no one on the fence about them. If you look at various lists of divisive foods, most of the same one rise to the top; for example, a list from Reader's Digest contains significant… read more

The best of (baking) intentions

January 11, 2020 by
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Note to self: never make a public declaration of my intentions. On November 23rd, I declared I would be baking epic holiday cookies and treats in my Cookie Time post. If I hadn't made that promise to myself and others (I owe at least three boxes of baked goods to family and friends), I wouldn't have gotten myself into two… read more

The woman saving a rich history of cheese

January 10, 2020 by
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With all of the chaos and sad news in the world today, it's worth seeking out uplifting stories. One that recently caught my attention profiles a woman who is working diligently to save artisanal cheeses in her home country of Georgia. Ana Mikadze-Chikvaidze, the chairwoman of the Georgian Cheese Makers’ Association, has devoted the bulk of her career to discovering… read more

The joy of failing in the kitchen

January 10, 2020 by
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Does the following scenario sound familiar? You are excited about making a new dish, and as you lay out the ingredients, you envision the perfect meal you are about to enjoy. However, things do not go according to plan - the timing gets screwed up, a shaping technique turns out to be much more difficult than anticipated, you scorch some… read more

This week at Eat Your Books

January 10, 2020 by
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Since our last roundup, Darcie has written articles that include a piece on getting the most out of your mortar and pestle, starting the new year off sans meat, praising the unitasker, India’s ‘Pickle Queen’, and cave cooking. Darcie’s weekly food news antipasto is shared every Sunday (#foodnews brings up these information-packed posts). Our post on looking forward to 2020 cookbooks provides an outline of… read more

EYB Cookbook Club Feb-April 2020

January 9, 2020 by
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Our community at Eat Your Books share our thoughts on recipes from our monthly cooking and baking selections in our clubs:  Eat Your Books Cookbook Club and Sweet Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. This month we’ve been cooking from the following titles: Main Selection:  Nothing Fancy  by Alison Roman and share any repeats from 2019 that you loved Online Option: Any online recipe from EYB Baking: Any online… read more

Laurel – Cookbook Giveaway

January 9, 2020 by
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Enter our giveaway open to US members for Laurel: Modern American Flavors in Philadelphia by Nicholas Elmi and Adam Erace. This book made my best books of 2019 list. Running Press has published some amazing cookbooks this year (See the bottom of this post for links to other reviews and giveaways) and Laurel: Modern American Flavors in Philadelphia is no exception. Top… read more

Elegant Pie – Cookbook Giveaway

January 9, 2020 by
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Enter our giveaway open to US members for Elegant Pie: Transform Your Favorite Pies into Works of Art by Karin Pfeiff-Boschek. EYB is offering one additional copy to our members outside the US. This book made my Baker’s gift guide this year. Karin is an Instagram sensation known for creating objet d'art out of pie dough. One of her recent postings demonstrates… read more

Get the most out of your mortar and pestle

January 8, 2020 by
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If there is one kitchen purchase that I put off for far too long, it is buying a proper mortar and pestle. For years I had one of those tiny marble ones that was too small to be practical and I wondered what all the fuss was about. I recently bought a larger, more versatile one and it was a… read more

Meet India’s ‘Pickle Queen’

January 7, 2020 by
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Most self-published books are vanity projects and their print runs and sales are usually miniscule. Sometimes, however, one will break the mold and become a cult classic or even, in rare cases, a bestseller. That is part of the story behind Usha's Pickle Digest: The Perfect Pickle Recipe Book by Usha R. Prabakaran - but the self-publishing success is only… read more

The New Way to Cake – Cookbook Giveaway

January 7, 2020 by
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Enter our giveaway below (open to US - three copies; with EYB providing one copy worldwide) for The New Way to Cake: Simple Recipes with Exceptional Flavor by Benjamina Ebuehi. This book made my Baker’s gift guide this year. Benjamina appeared on The Great British Bake Off (series 7) where she impressed the judges with her technique and creative flavor combinations. She… read more

Cave cooking

January 6, 2020 by
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The trend for cooking more 'plant-based foods' continues unabated, but it really is not a new phenomenon. In fact, you could say it is one of the oldest trends in human history. That's because a new discovery shows that people have been cooking plants for nearly 170,000 years. The recent find, in the Border Cave in the Lebombo Mountains on… read more

Food news antipasto

January 5, 2020 by
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Sodium alginate, spheres, and foams: when these items first made their appearance in the early 2000s, they ushered in a new way of looking at food. Pioneering chefs like Wylie Dufresne, Heston Blumenthal, and Grant Achatz applied scientific principles to an industry that had long been one of tradition and even superstition (lest we forget, many old-school chefs said that… read more

The Joys of Baking – Cookbook Giveaway

January 5, 2020 by
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Enter our giveaway open to US members for The Joys of Baking: Recipes and Stories for a Sweet Life by Samantha Seneviratne. This book made my Baker's gift guide this year. If I had to pick a specific subject matter that was my favorite in the cookbook arena, I would choose baking titles hands down. I love trying new savory… read more

Starting the new year off sans meat

January 4, 2020 by
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As the calendar turned from December to January, millions of people worldwide started working on their healthy-eating resolution for 2020. A growing trend in this vein is to eat a vegan diet for a month, a movement dubbed 'Veganuary'. If you are new to veganism, this can be a daunting task. There are some resources you can use if Veganuary… read more

In praise of a unitasker

January 3, 2020 by
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Blame Alton Brown or perhaps even Marie Kondo for the backlash against kitchen tools that have only one use - unitaskers, as Brown calls them. The argument against them boils down to this: why take up valuable kitchen space for a tool that does only one thing? Sometimes, however, the item does that one thing so well that it becomes… read more

This week at Eat Your Books

January 3, 2020 by
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Happy New Year! We had a fantastic year of cookbook releases and the post on looking forward to 2020 cookbooks provides an outline of what the new year has in store for us cookbook lovers. Throughout the year, this post will be frequently updated with new additions, edits to titles and publication dates and more! Since our last roundup, Darcie… read more

Food history via menus

January 2, 2020 by
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Restaurant critic Ruth Reichl has seen her share of menus. During her stints writing for a variety of newspapers and magazines, she dined in some of the finest establishments in the U.S. During her career as critic - from the 1970s to 1990s - she couldn't capture what was listed on the menu by pulling out a cell phone and… read more
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