A very special dinner

Every so often we get to do something that is so special we can't believe it's really happening.  I had that feeling this weekend when I had the privilege of attending a dinner cooked by two of the world's greatest chefs - Heston Blumenthal and Thomas Keller.  They had got together at a beautiful spot on the east coast of New Zealand at… read more

EYB Road Trip

We got back home today after two weeks on the road.  In two weeks we visited San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Boston and New York.  Had some wonderful experiences, climaxing Sunday night with the James Beard Awards in NY.  A parade of amazing cookbook authors took the stage - Claudia Roden (Cookbook Hall of Fame for A Book of Middle Eastern Food),… read more

Eat Your Books Award at IACP

We just got back from the IACP Cookbook Awards where I presented the Eat Your Books Award.  All the nominees were tremendous books - we were delighted to present it to Stephanie Alexander for Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion.  Well, I would have done if she had been there so it went to Lauraine Jacobs from New Zealand (an ex-IACP… read more

Jamie Oliver’s petition to improve children’s eating habits

Jamie Oliver has launched an online petition to improve the eating habits and lifetime health of America's children.  This ties in with his new TV show Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution which is currently showing on ABC.  Jamie hopes to present the petition to Barack & Michelle Obama at the end of the series. You can see how many votes your state has generated - if you live… read more

James Beard Book Award nominations announced

The nominations for the prestigious James Beard Cookbook Awards were announced today.  They can be viewed on our JB Awards nominations page.  We will be attending the awards in New York on May 2nd which is going to be exciting.  We have also created a page listing all the IACP Award nominations which includes the Eat Your Books Award. read more

Ruth Reichl on what cookbooks mean to her

Ruth Reichl didn't like Adam Gopnik's article in The New Yorker and on her blog she explains how her approach to cooking differs. I'm definitely in Ruth's camp - cooking because you love to do it and because you love feeding other people good things to eat. Adam's constant striving for perfection, and disappointment that each recipe never quite takes him there, doesn't connect… read more

NPR stories worth catching

Susie was featured on NPR yesterday talking about her selection of the best cookbooks of 2009 - you can hear her discussion with Lianne Hansen on Weekend Edition. Another interesting piece on NPR recently was a discussion between Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker and Monica Bhide, author of Modern Spice, with Rebecca Roberts on Talk of the Nation. This is a fascinating analysis,… read more

Julie & Julia

Saw 'Julie & Julia' last night and loved it.  Based on the books My Life in France by Julia Child and Julie & Julia by Julie Powell, this juxtapositions the two stories.  Julia is finding herself through French cooking (then relatively unknown in US home kitchens) and Julie is finding herself by cooking her way through Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and then blogging about it.  I've… read more
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