Bay leaves – essential or superfluous?

November 13, 2024 by
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A twig with fresh bay leaves sits next to an Erlenmeyer flask with a dark liquid, presumably bay leaf oil
Bay leaves, like cilantro and pineapple on pizza, can be a divisive topic among cooks. If you ask 10 people whether they are necessary to a dish or are a waste of time and money, you'll probably end up with a fairly even split between aficionados and haters. The Boston Globe's Beth Teitell decided to put bay leaves to the… read more

December 2024 Great Big Cookbook Club Summary

November 13, 2024 by
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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

A new way to test cookbooks

November 12, 2024 by
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Cookbook clubs (along with our EYBD Previews) offer an opportunity to "test drive" cookbooks. Making recipes that you find online or in a library copy of the cookbook, along with hearing how others fared with specific recipes, allows you to get to know the book without committing to a purchase right away. There's another way to vet a cookbook, and… read more

Food news antipasto

November 10, 2024 by
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The editors at Epicurious pulled together a list of nine cookbooks that they have been enjoying recently. The list includes new releases along with holdovers from previous months. There are baking books, vegetarian and vegan tomes, and an ode to the dinner party. Amish dinner rolls from King Arthur Baking Company With the holidays coming up, dinner rolls might be… read more

The Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Week 7 – Dessert 2024

November 8, 2024 by
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And then there were six to tackle dessert week. Signature challenge: 8 meringue nests with at least two fillings in 2 hours and 15 minutes. There is a Nelly-sized hole in my heart this week. I, however, managed to get through the episode without bursting into tears. We have over 100 online recipes for meringue nests in our Library should… read more

Three new cookbook stores, bakers’ gift guide/giveaway, EYBD Previews, recipes and more

November 8, 2024 by
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We are happy to report the addition of three cookbook stores in the United States to our Directory - Anchovy Book Co. in St. Louis, Missouri; Buffalo New York's Read It & Eat Bookshop (their events and classes schedule are added to our Calendar); and Food Temptress Cookbook Store in Virginia Beach, Virginia whose mission is to connect customers to… read more

Gift Guide for Bakers – 2024 and Giveaway

November 8, 2024 by
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The holiday season is fast approaching. I wanted to share a gift guide for the bakers in your life of some of the best baking books published this year as well as a few products. In addition, we have a nice giveaway featuring the following items: a Marcato Made in Italy Holiday Cookie Gift Set, an Emile Henry cookie jar,… read more

The time to start preparing for the holidays is now

November 7, 2024 by
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A hand in a yellow cleaning glove wipes across the face of an oven
The holiday decorations are fully ramped up now that Halloween is past (didn't we used to wait until Thanksgiving?!), so that means we need to start getting ready for those big celebration dinners we will soon be making. Creating a game plan for organizing and cleaning well in advance is vital to having a low-stress event. If you need a… read more

Have you tried an onion boil, the latest TikTok food trend?

November 6, 2024 by
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Every few months there's a new viral vegetable trend, and the latest is one that will make your eyes water - perhaps literally. It's called an onion boil, although there isn't any actual boiling going on. Many of the videos involve using the air fryer, which is itself an oxymoron because there isn't any real frying. Back to the "boil":… read more

Brown paper bags are a cook’s best friend

November 5, 2024 by
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Brown paper bags have been associated with food for decades. Before the rise of plastic bags, almost every supermarket and corner store used brown paper bags in the checkout lane. Is it just me or does everyone love the smell of a fresh paper bag? But I digress - these puppies can do so much more than tote home your… read more

Food news antipasto

November 3, 2024 by
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Netflix just released a new documentary about Martha Stewart, and while the octogenarian was involved in the making of the show, she is not pleased with some of the editorial choices made by the director. Martha thought the first half was good but felt like the latter portion of the program spent too much time on her conviction and jail… read more

Desi Bakes – Cookbook Giveaway

November 3, 2024 by
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Enter our worldwide giveaway to win one of three copies of Desi Bakes: 85 Recipes Bringing the Best of Indian Flavors to Western-Style Desserts by Hetal Vasavada. Desi Bakes: 85 Recipes Bringing the Best of Indian Flavors to Western-Style Desserts by Hetal Vasavada is one of my favorite baking books this month – in a month full of great baking titles.… read more

Pepperoni rolls get their due

November 2, 2024 by
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The epicenter of the pepperoni roll, an Appalachian / Rust Belt specialty that has roots in the region's mines, is Fairmont, West Virginia. That is where the roll was created, at least according to lore that surrounds this humble yet delicious creation. Writing for Eater, Danny Palumbo explains the appeal of this workingman's food, and takes us on a tour… read more

The Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Week 6 – Autumn 2024

November 2, 2024 by
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More than half way through this season of The Great British Bake Off! This week's theme was "autumn." Signature challenge: Sweet autumnal pie with pastry and a seasonal flavor /produce in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Nelly, my queen, looked beautiful with her autumn inspired headpiece. I loved when she was cutting out her owls and said, "owls live in… read more

A huge cheese heist has experts wondering where it will go

October 31, 2024 by
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Assorted cheeses on a rustic wooden board
Thefts of food products are not uncommon, so it is not a huge surprise that someone would plan a heist of a commodity like cheese, which happened recently to Neal's Yard Dairy, where over £300,000 worth of cheddar was stolen by swindle. What makes this theft unusual is the quality of the product, which will make it difficult to resell.… read more

The Big Book of Bread – James Morton – Cookbook Giveaway

October 31, 2024 by
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Enter our worldwide giveaway to win one of three copies of The Big Book of Bread: Recipes and Stories From Around the Globe by James Morton. James Morton is the author of seven books including Super Sourdough (2019) and Brilliant Bread (2013), which won the Guild of Food Writers Cookbook of the Year award in 2014. In 2012, he reached… read more

The foods of Día de Muertos

October 30, 2024 by
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After tomorrow's Halloween festivities, the Mexican celebration Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead follows, celebrated November 1-2 each year. Day of the Dead celebrations can be traced to the ancient Aztecs, who felt that instead of mourning the deceased, people should celebrate their lives and welcome their spirits back to the land of the living once a year. Common traditions… read more

Don’t throw out that jack o’lantern

October 29, 2024 by
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Millions of pumpkins are purchased each year for autumn decorations, with the majority carved and displayed at Halloween. After the holiday is over, most of those pumpkins go straight to the landfill. That's a shame, says chef Mike Davies. He encourages us to use those pumpkins to make delicious meals, not only at Halloween but year-round. Baked pumpkin with sun-dried… read more

Food news antipasto

October 27, 2024 by
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The groundbreaking cocktail book Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail by Dave Arnold turns 10 this year. This book was revered by modern bartenders looking to dive deep into the science of drinks so they could experiment with a solid footing on what each component would add to the mix. There is a revised edition in… read more

The Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Week 5 – Pastry 2024

October 26, 2024 by
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It is Pastry Week! Nelly strolled in wearing a beret, sunglasses and enough gold jewelry that even from the grave, Joan Rivers would be impressed. She's my girl. Signature Challenge: 12 frangipane tarts with pastry, frangipane filling and one additional element. (We have 670 online recipes for various frangipane tarts in our Library.) Illiyin and Dylan both had to remake… read more

October 2024 New Cookbook Review

October 25, 2024 by
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October brings the motherload of new cookbooks - over 165 titles - for us to consider adding to our treasured collections. You can keep track of what is coming in November and December with our 2024 Cookbook Preview and don’t forget that you can create a wishlist and share it with your loved ones. Our 2025 Cookbook Preview Post is live and will be… read more

Is the term ‘food writer’ a valid description?

October 24, 2024 by
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I subscribe to a variety of culinary websites, including Christopher Kimball's Milk Street. In his most recent Milk Street email, Kimball staked out a controversial position on food writers, saying that "[t]he entire notion of being a “food writer” is suspect, since it should be no different than being a writer," amidst a rant about the state of modern food… read more

Is blind baking necessary?

October 23, 2024 by
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If you have watched The Great British Bake Off or The Great American Baking Show, you know the dreaded words that a baker never wants to hear: you have a soggy bottom. To avoid this fate and ensure a crisp pastry crust on your baked goods, blind baking is the way to go. However, it can be intimidating and time… read more

The Cake Bible – 35th Anniversary Edition – Giveaway

October 23, 2024 by
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Enter our US/Canada giveaway to win one of two copies of The Cake Bible, 35th Anniversary Edition by Rose Levy Beranbaum and Woody Wolston. Right now on Amazon, buy one book get one at 50 percent off - including this title - type in cookbooks in search qualifying items box! Events are scheduled to promote this book and are available on our… read more

Revising a ‘bible’ – heresy or heavenly?

October 23, 2024 by
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Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible, 35th Anniversary Edition arrived on my doorstep a few days ago. My well worn original edition frequently gets pulled off the shelf for reference, so I was excited to see the updated version. I was a little nervous, however, because often the sequel to a hit is disappointing, and I worried that an attempt… read more
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