If you are a history buff, a food buff or (ideally) both, then you have to read A History of the World in Ten Dinners: 2000 Years, 100 Recipes. This book is so well-organized and natural that I’m not sure if I should say that it’s a food book with history or a history book with food. I was this many days old when I learned about Edible History. Victoria Flexner and Jay Reifel host … Continue reading A History of the World in Ten Dinners by Victoria Flexner and Jay Reifel →
I have a few tests for cookbooks I want to try. First, I borrow them digitally and read through, bookmarking recipes I might want to try. Once I reach four or five bookmarks, I put the book on hold at the library so I can borrow and use post-it notes on a physical copy. This book passed both of those tests in record time. In fact, I started reading it digitally while on vacation, and … Continue reading I Dream of Dinner (So You Don’t Have To) by Ali Slagle →
When I recommend Instant Loss Cookbook: Cook Your Way to a Healthy Weight with 125 Recipes for Your Instant Pot Pressure Cooker I do so with the caveat that this book really isn’t about weight loss. If you read the introduction, the author is open about the fact that she struggled with obesity, but the real reason she came up with these recipes is that her child was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis and as a … Continue reading Instant Loss Cookbook by Brittany Williams →
I don’t usually review cookbooks here, but this book has been making me so happy, I had to share. I first borrowed this cookbook from the library, because the Cook’s Country/America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks can be costly, especially if I end up liking one or two recipes. I ended up liking this cookbook so much, I bought my own copy and have been adding recipes to our rotation since it arrived in July. Y’all. Y’ALL. I … Continue reading One-Pan Wonders Cookbook by Cook’s Country →
I want to sit down with Michael W. Twitty and talk food with him for about a million hours. Twitty is a food historian who specializes in American antebellum slave cookery – what slaves were cooking and eating during the period of American Slavery from 1619 to 1865. He is especially interested in the evolution of slave cookery to “Southern Cooking” and how the introduction of food and techniques from Africa through the forced migration … Continue reading The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty →
Falling for the Rancher is someone’s catnip, but it was definitely not a book for me. Overall, I liked the relationship between the hero and heroine well enough. I believed how they came to care for each other and in the things keeping them apart. I have issues with Jarrett, but I liked Sierra enough to believe that she would kick his butt if needed. The sibling dynamic was real and painful and beautiful. I … Continue reading Falling for the Rancher by Tanya Michaels →
In Victorian England, there was one book that was designed as a one-stop-shop for questions about running a household: how to manage a dinner party, how to pay calls, how to cook, how much you should expect to pay servants, and even how to manage a lease. That guide was Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management. Originally, the book was published as a serial, and even though Isabella Beeton died in 1865, the book continued … Continue reading Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton →
History buffs and foodies rejoice – The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks is an amazing resource. This book is not a cookbook, although it does reprint some recipes. Instead, this is an encyclopedia of about 150 cookbooks by Black authors. They are arranged chronologically, from The House Servant’s Directory (by Robert Roberts, 1827) to Jerk: Barbeque from Jamaica (by Helen Willinsky, 1990). Each cookbook is listed with a lengthy description of its … Continue reading The Jemima Code by Toni Tipton-Martin →
The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science is a nerd’s dream. I find it hopelessly intimidating yet utterly fascinating, like watching a King Cobra go about its business (it’s hard to tell, but that’s a compliment). In order to understand the cookbook, it’s vital to read the introduction. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is a geek in the best and truest sense: he is full of enthusiasm. The man has no chill. He’s also a huge … Continue reading The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt →
One thing you notice as you read the Outlander series is all the mentions of food. It’s not quite as prolific as all the food in A Song of Ice and Fire, but there’s a lot of book and a lot of food. As we’ve seen, a lot of people like food (I am one) and like playing with food, and Outlander fandom being what it is, we should not be surprised that there is … Continue reading Outlander Kitchen: The Official Outlander Companion Cookbook by Theresa Carle-Sanders →
I love cookbooks. Even if I don’t plan to use them often, they seem like such pieces of art. I remember going through my grandmother’s collection on a weekly basis, just looking at the photos and daydreaming about making such fancy things. After I earned my Master’s degree in publishing, my dream jobs were to either work in publicity for a romance imprint or for a cookbook imprint. Kissing and food are my favorite things … Continue reading Cravings by Chrissy Teigen – With Giveaway! →
