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

This is a reminder that the free webinar sponsored by IACP and Milk Street is this Tuesday, March 18, at noon Eastern (US) time. Join J.M. Hirsch and Deb Broide as they explore how Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street blends culinary storytelling with a journalist’s eye. They’ll discuss everything from book and magazine planning to travel, reporting, and recipe development.  Our best avocado toast from Food52 I… read more

Alton Brown – Food for Thought – Giveaway

Alton Brown's latest book, Food for Thought - Essays and Ruminations is a collection of personal essays. The author is touring and his remaining dates can be found on our Calendar. From cameraman to chef, musician to food scientist, Alton Brown's diverse career has made an indelible mark on culinary entertainment. His groundbreaking Food Network shows - including the creator-hosted… read more

How well do you know pepper?

When most people in the West talk about pepper, they are referring to ground black peppercorns, but that is only one in a range of spices referred to around the world as pepper. Gastro Obscura takes a closer look at the various peppers found across the globe, which share a few characteristics but have their own unique flavors and sensations.… read more

April 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 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

Pi day is finally here!

National Pie Day may be officially recognized on January 23, but I prefer Pi Day (3.14) because I'm a science nerd/geek and because pi has a logical affinity for pie-shaped objects. I think pie is better than cake (don't @ me) because pies are more versatile. Even the pickiest eater can find something that pleases her in the pie family… read more

The ins and outs of pasteurized eggs

carton of eggs
Eggs are in short supply in many areas due to outbreaks of avian influenza, commonly known as 'bird flu'. In addition to worrying about the availability of eggs, consumers are also concerned with their food safety aspects as well. Scientists and food safety experts believe there is minimal to no risk of exposure to avian influenza from eating eggs, so… read more

Comfort levels

For various reasons I have been craving comfort food in recent days. I have also come to realize that there are different types of comfort food depending on the situation that necessitates the comforting. If I am sick, I seek foods that I associate with being nursed back to health: brothy soups, bland dishes from my childhood, and simple things… read more

Food news antipasto

The IACP is offering a free webinar on March 18 featuring J.M. Hirsch and Deb Broide of Christopher Kimball's Milk Street. The topics will include everything from book and magazine planning to travel, reporting, and recipe development. Hirsch, a James Beard and IACP Award-winning writer and Milk Street’s editorial director, and Broide, the company’s media relations director, will share insights they have… read more

The Cook and the Gardener – Cookbook Giveaway

Twenty-five years ago Amanda Hesser's The Cook and the Gardener: A Year of Recipes and Writings for the French Countryside was published. This year the book is being republished on April 22nd as a special 25th anniversary edition. At just 22 years old, Amanda Hesser worked as a live-in cook for Anne Willan's prestigious Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne. This… read more

Loss of bees is causing a buzz

Honeybees do a lot more than make delicious honey - they are responsible for pollinating crops for about a third of the food eaten in the US. Beekeepers truck entire colonies around the country to be there at the exact time crops need, but this year when they checked on the hives before readying for the almond crop, they received… read more

14,000 books indexed, cookbook trends, EYBD Previews, recipes and more

We are pleased to announce that over 14,000 books have been indexed. Our Library has a great mix of new releases, classic cookbooks and even Member Indexed non-English titles! In addition to these titles, we have connected the EYB database to ckbk’s library of digital cookbooks. ckbk is a cookbook subscription site where you can access the full content of over 960 great… read more

Rum’s dark and stormy history

In modern society, rum is associated with parties, revelry, and generally good times. However, the spirit has a dark past, as Douglas Blyde of The Standard explains. Rum didn't start out with daiquiris, mojitos, and pina coladas. Instead, its history involves slavery, the British navy, colonization, and profiteering. Blyde's recounting of the sugar cane spirit is lively and gets right… read more

This problem stinks (literally)

For the first time in my adult life, I have long(ish) hair, down past my shoulders. A couple of years ago I abandoned short cuts like pixies and French bobs, allowing my mane to grow with abandon. Part of the reason for this transformation is that since I entered menopause, my formerly stick-straight hair has developed into gorgeous (according to… read more

Meatsmith – Review and Promotion

Enter our worldwide giveaway to win one of three copies of Meatsmith - Home Cooking For Friends And Family by Andrew McConnell and Troy Wheeler. Andrew McConnell's culinary odyssey began in Melbourne, where he first donned a chef's whites as an apprentice at the prestigious Grand Hyatt Melbourne. This early experience would set the stage for an extraordinary career that… read more

How king cake inspires community

Today Mardi Gras ended in New Orleans with the Fat Tuesday parade. One of the parade's most well-known features is that participants throw items to the crowds along the parade route. These range from strings of purple, gold, and green beads to stuffed animals to (inexplicably) toilet plungers, and this year, a new item: a cookbook. A dance group called… read more

Food news antipasto

stack of three pancakes topped with slices of banana and syrup on a white plate
It's been a while since I shared a post from Vittles, which is hosting some of the best short- and medium-form food writing around. This week a post caught my eye about the intersection of autism and cooking. Charlie Benjamin writes about the struggles he had with chopping onions, and how the seemingly simple task would sometimes drive him to… read more

Making bread the star of dessert

Using stale bread in desserts is nothing new; bread pudding is centuries old. Different cultures have put their own spins on it, from France's pain perdu to India's shahi tukra. Today, pastry chefs are finding creative new ways to use leftover bread, using it as a critical ingredient in sweet treats like ice cream (gift link to NYT article). Bread… read more

Finding joy in the dishes

dirty dishes after dinner lie in the sink, cleaning the table in the kitchen
There are two types of people in the world: those who hate doing the dishes and those who are happy to take on the task. I am the former, and often decide what to make for dinner based on how many items will need to be washed afterward, and whether those pans and dishes can be washed in the dishwasher.… read more

Who invented pizza bagels?

four pepperoni pizza bagels are shown on a dark baking sheet. Basil leaves sit to the left of the image, and a small metal measuring cup placed next to the bagels holds grated cheese.
I recently stumbled across a fun blog called Snack Stack, which touts itself as "an agreeably nerdy newsletter about the cultural history of snacks and other foods around the world." Snack Stack is a one-man operation, where food and travel writer Doug Mack takes deep dives into the history of foods from candies to drinks to ready-to-eat items like Spaghetti-Os.… read more

160-year-old cookbook gets a brand new edition

Back in 2019, we wrote about the work of Juli McLoonen and Jan Longone, the University of Michigan Special Collections Curator and Adjunct Curator, to boost interest in the oldest known cookbook authored by a black woman. Longone found a copy of A Domestic Cookbook by Malinda Russell, published in 1866, at the bottom of a collection of donated books. For years, a digital… read more

February 2025 New Cookbook Review

February is the calm before the storm of Spring cookbook releases as typically March and April are packed with loads of new titles. Our 2025 Cookbook Preview Post is continually updated. Don’t forget that you can create a wishlist and share it with your loved ones. Our February 2025 EYB Cookbook Club Summary and March 2025 Great Big Cookbook Club Summary  can be found at the… read more

Food news antipasto

We'll start off this week's edition with some relatable news (at least I was able to relate to it): an opossum ended up at an animal rescue facility after it devoured an entire Costco chocolate cake. Luckily, the critter was able to make a full recovery and return to the wild after arriving in some distress. The Nebraska wildlife center… read more

February 2025 EYB Cookbook Club Summary

Each month we previously offered at least four cooking options in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. This summer we cooked our favorite recipe from any cookbook, magazine, blog or online option and had a huge increase in participation and after a poll in the group we have decided to allow posting from all cookbooks and to offer one featured cookbook.… read more

How to fix a broken emulsion

Time may mend a broken heart, but it's not going to fix a broken emulsion. However, there are other ways to bring your sauce back together if it separates, as Chowhound's Nikita Ephanov explains. If it's been a while since you learned what an emulsion is in science class, here is a quick refresher: an emulsion is a mixture of two or… read more
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