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 in life.
I also happen to follow Chrissy Teigen on Twitter. I think she’s so smart and funny. Also…try not to drool over her food blog. So when I heard that she was coming out with a cookbook, Cravings, I knew I had to have it, which is a big deal because I haven’t experienced a “had to have it” book in a while.
The book came out toward the end of February and I remember texting the Cute Boy™ (we’d been dating about a month and a half at that point) if he wanted to get this cookbook with me, and then we’d cook something from it for dinner that night. Anything that involves food, he’s on board.
So I grabbed the book and we flipped through it before settling on one of the most intimidating recipes: Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage, listed in an aptly named chapter: “Things That Intimidate People But Shouldn’t.”
Though the process seemed arduous, it was fun. And while my little pillows looked like they’d been heavily slept on, they were so delicious.
Since that recipe, making things from Cravings became a regular occurrence. We’ve made dinners and snacks and side dishes. Her cheesy guacamole recipe is one of my favorite things I’ve ever eaten. I’ve made it for parties, for dinner to put on her Capon’s Chrissy Burger, or just to devour on my own. To put it plainly, I’ve given this cookbook a very thorough test drive.
If you’re curious about the meat and potatoes (heh) of the book, the chapters are as follows:
Breakfast All Day
Soupmaster
Salads (For When You Need Them)
Noodles and Carbs
Thai Mom
Party Time
Sh*t On Toast
Vegetable Things
Things That Intimidate People But Shouldn’t
Supper
Plus there are the pre-recipe stuff like general cooking information and post-recipe stuff like the acknowledgments and index. (Sidenote: I love a nicely structured index.)
While so far, everything I’ve (or we, if the Cute Boy™ is involved) has been pretty tasty. We’ve fudged a couple things, but made notes how to alter the recipes for our own tastes – less pepper here or small burger patties because my stove is temperamental. But the main thing I love about this cookbook is its personality. It’s something I felt that is lacking in a lot of the cookbooks I’ve acquired.
While I adore my behemoth Good Housekeeping Illustrated cookbook, it’s pretty dry.
The introduction is funny and touching, as well as all of the photos inside with Chrissy and her family. Each recipe has a quick, entertaining paragraph. Take this one for Cauliflower Mash with Roasted Garlic and Ricotta:
Whenever anyone asks me what my diet secret is, I say one word: trickery. So much of my life is tricking myself into thinking I am getting that so-desired dish that I can’t actually have at the moment.
Potatoes are my heart and soul. I get a physical and emotional rush when potatoes are making their way down my gullet. Sometimes I can’t have potatoes and so I mash cauliflower instead. But dare I say I almost prefer these fake-ass mashed potatoes? Actually, you know what, they are different and I need them both. They are my sister wives. My creamy, garlic sister wives.
And I can vouch that this cauliflower mash is pretty similar to mashed potatoes, though Cute Boy™ almost ended our relationship because I am a chunky mash over creamy mash sort of girl. And well…he has no clue what he’s missing by daring to choose creamy mash.
This book isn’t perfect though, at least not for me. I don’t eat seafood and I have a huge sweet tooth. Unfortunately, there are quite a number of seafood dishes on account of Chrissy’s mother being Thai. And I was really disappointed by the lack of a desserts chapter, but if Chrissy were to ever put out a baking cookbook, I’d be all over it.
If you’re interested in a copy of Cravings for your very own (and I hope you are because it’s officially my favorite book in my cookbook collection), I have an extra one that I’d love to give away! And we will send you a very special Smart Bitchin’ in Your Kitchen apron, too!
Standard disclaimers apply: Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. A sharp knife is a safe knife. Anything involving gnocchi is automatically 200% more awesome. Keep all your bits and bobs covered in case of any grease splatter. Comments will close at noon on Friday 17 June 2016 and winners will be announced shortly afterward.
Also, I will be traveling until the 24th, so the book and apron won’t be mailed until the week of the 27th!
Good luck and happy cooking!
ETA: 17 JUNE – We have a winner! Congratulations to Christina, keeper of the Eet Smakelijk cookbook, who has won our giveaway! Thank you to everyone who entered!
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Homesick Texan by Lisa Fain. Gorgeous cookbook by a, you guessed it, homesick Texan. She also has a wonderful blog at homesicktexan.com.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, by Marcella Hazan. If you want to try your hand at “real Italian,” this is the book. The Italian version of Julia Child, I suppose. And her commentary is delightful. Subtle and delightful. And now I am hungry.
Our go-tos are The Best Recipe and the other related cookbooks by America’s Test Kitchen 🙂 Clearly the ultra-geeky, “we’ve tested it ALLLLLL” approach works for me 😉 Cravings does sound delicious!
I love Mark Bittman’s cookbooks,as well as “Vegetable Literacy” by Deborah Madison. My favorite, most-used cookbook is, however, the collection of family recipes my sister put together for us for Christmas one year. I’ve been adding to it as I work out a recipe from other cookbooks, but turning the pages and seeing “Fuddy’s Ravioli” (my great grandma’s recipe) takes me back to the kitchen table the July four generations made it for July 4th.
I recently got really into cooking, but I have a hard time balancing a ‘clean’ diet with my love of ethnic, fatty and fried foods. As I run anywhere from 30-50 miles per week it’s also a struggle to manage my protein intake while also limiting meat consumption.
I just started the ‘reading’ portion of Abel James’ Wild Diet (borrowed it from a friend). I did try a few recipes so far and what I like about them and the diet (lots of eggs!) is that fat is a good thing – a really good thing!
Anyway, one of my summer ‘projects’ is learning my way around French cuisine. Anyone have any good book recommendations? I don’t really bake and try to use the oven – I’m particularly interested in sauces – so something along those lines?
The Pioneer Woman, 100 Days of Real Food and Weelicious are all great cookbooks! King Arthur Flour for baking too!
I have so many cookbooks. You can never go wrong with a Southern Living cookbook. Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens are great for staples.
I recently read Ration by Michael Ruhlman. I love cooking and backing, but hadn’t realized how much of it was reliant on chemistry! This book really opened up some of these ideas, which is helping me understand when I can experiment and whether it’s going to work!
I have added no less than cookbooks to my wishlist. Why did I read the comments?!
I have several “go-to” cookbooks such as Betty Crocker, Cook’s Illustrated and The Pioneer Woman. But I love The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook: They Came, They Cooked, They Left, Cookin’ with Coolio and Screen Doors and Sweet Tea for recipes with a story.
That should be no less than 5. Sheesh!
Always and forever Dinner: a love story
I love Love Soup. The recipes are great, and I love the little intros before each one.
Many great cookbooks in the comments! I love cooking and experimenting with recipes. After so many years in the kitchen now though, I find myself pulling down The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg more often than a cookbook with complete recipes. It’s an encyclopedia of all the best flavor pairings. If you look in the fridge and you’ve got broccoli you need to cook, you can look up broccoli and find all the recommended preparations, foods and seasonings to go with it, like “broccoli + garlic + tarragon.” I turn to my other cookbooks for specific favorite recipes, or to make something I’ve never attempted before, but most weekday nights, I just create dishes from these lists.
I’ve been enjoying the Love & Lemons cookbook that Jeanine Donofrio published recently. The recipes aren’t too complicated and they taste great.
The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, and the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook are all wonderful.
If you want something more novel, I can recommend Cooking With Humor by Robin Copper Benzle. Most of the recipes have something funny or weird about how they’re written, but I’ve had a lot of success with them. The banana bread in particular has been my go-to desert for years.
I’ve never gone wrong with anything from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook – and buying it supported a blogger who has never steered me wrong.
I’m loving The Food Lab cookbook right now (by Kenji Lopez-Alt) although it also has no desserts! The Baked cookbooks are some of my favorite sweet-oriented cookbooks.
You mentioned a lack of dessert recipes as a disappointment. Here’s my suggestion to fill that void: Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, originally published in 1980. I love this book. Recipes may not be the easiest desserts I’ve made, but they are definitely the best.
September 7th Cake is amazing–flourless, dark-chocolate layers, filled with whipped cream, and topped with mocha cream. I also highly recommend Profiteroles, French Chocolate Mint Truffles, and World’s Best Hot Fudge Sauce. It’s a great book to wander through–lots of information about chocolate and basic dessert techniques.
I would recommend Good Food by Jane Green. It’s a bit intimidating at times, but a really gorgeous book. Thanks!
Wow, this entire comment thread is potentially so bad for my wallet….
I love Nigel Slater’s “Kitchen Diaries” (makes me want to move to a house in England with a garden and an organic market within walking distance), and have been really enjoying “Cook This Now,” (but can’t remember the author….).
It is too difficult to pick one book so Im going to pick authors. I adore Ken Hom and we are eating a lot of his food at the moment, healthy tasty stir-fries plus so much more. I also cook a lot from Madhur Jaffrey, both fom her Indian books which talk about how she started to cook as a homesick student in London from recipes her mother sent, and from her Eastern and World vegetarian recipes, all with stories of where she first ate the recipies and the people who cooked them for her. But perhaps the most fascinating books of all are those of Claudia Roden who also started to cook as a student in London, then went on to gather the recipes of Jewish family and friends forced to leave Eygpt. She has written a wonderful book about Jewish cooking the world over with a lot of cultural information along with the recipes.
I really like the Pioneer Woman cookbook, because it reminds me of the food that my grandma used to cook all the time. I also like Budget Bytes because I am lacking in the monetary area, and she’s got a bunch of great recipes that can be made cheaply that are delish.
I’m actually not a cookbook user, on the whole. I would break that for this book, though! Mostly I use a binder that holds my (printed off the internet) recipes in plastic sleeves, or my 1980s-era Betty Crocker cookbook to look up basics (the back cracks me up: you might even be cooking using a microwave!)
Wait, I forgot about my Stan Lee’s Cooking with Marvel Superheroes book! Except most of the recipes inside are terrifying and I keep it mostly for the kitsch value.
I LOVE cookbooks, and collect ones from the 50’s and 60’s. Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book is probably my favorite cookbook! We had this book when I was growing up, and I would periodically browse through to drool at the pictures-not to mention I used it quite a bit, since I baked a lot growing up. I was so happy when it was rereleased several years ago, so now I have my own copy! Laurie Colwin’s Home Cooking is another huge favorite-I love all her novels, and when I picked this up I wasn’t disappointed.
Looneyspoons and Crazy Plates by Janet and Greta Podleski are my favourites. They are full of puns, trivia, cartoons, and food science and nutrition tidbits. And all the recipes are healthy and yummy! Recipe names include “Lord of the Wings”, “Quiche Me, You Fool”, “Forrest Gumbo”, and “Obi Wonton Kenobi”. My favourite recipe is “Isn’t She Loafly”, a chocolate and chocolate chip zucchini loaf.
My absolute favourite is an Irish cookbook of my mum’s (lots and lots of baking goodness and a chicken and oyster mushroom pie that’s to die for) but it’s probably not a good recommendation since all I can remember is “blue, with a photo of food on the cover”.
I also like Ken Hom’s Complete Chinese Cookbook, some of the ingredients are pretttty hard to find in a small town but we’ve made dumplings several times and they’re so good! I’m craving dumplings now! So many different dumplings! Beef with black beans is also a family favourite.
I love all cookbooks! I read them like novels. There are so many good ones out there. “Cravings” has been on my radar for quite some time!
We use the Betty Crocker Big Book of Cupcakes for decorating inspiration on a regular basis. My go-to is my old stained BHG Cookbook. These are the only two that always seem to be in the kitchen rather than stashed somewhere else.
In the past, I’ve had a lot of fun with Nigella Lawson’s books.
I love all cookbooks! I read them like novels. There are so many good ones out there. “Cravings” has been on my radar for quite some time!
Ack! I forgot to add, Hemsley and Hemsley “The Art of Eating Well” is my recommendation!!
I’m a big fan of Southern Biscuits (https://amzn.com/B004X6WL72) by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart. Also, I picked up a new one in New Orleans by John Besh (while eating at Luke) called Besh Big Easy (https://amzn.com/B00UGOK9FQ). Looks promising!
Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman is my go-to for recipes that I know will work on the first try. I also love her writing style and her Smitten Kitchen blog – I heard her talk at the library once and I seriously want her to be my best friend.
Cookbooks with personality? Oh where to start and how much time do you have?
Robert Farrar Capon’s The Supper of the Lamb Comes to Mind
MFK Fisher: The Art of Eating
Mimi Sheration: From My Mother’s Kitchen: Recipes and Reminiscences
Marcella Hazen: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
Laurel’s kitchen by various
When it comes to baking, at least, my favorite cookbook is Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. I’m not even vegan, but these are the most moist, delicious cupcakes I’ve ever made, and there are cute decorating ideas to go along with great flavor combinations. I’ve had a lot of baking fails in my life, but these always come out delicious.
I have a huge stash of cookbooks, but when I moved to California I left them all behind in Florida. One of the 3 cookbooks I have out here is The Oz Family Cookbook. I don’t care about Dr. Oz one way or the other, but this cookbook is superb. We’ve tried quite a few recipes from the cookbook, and every single one of them has been a winner!
I love Smitten Kitchen and Skinny Taste. Can’t go wrong with either of them (cookbooks or websites).
I’m all about the desserts so Melissa Gray’s “All Cakes Considered” is one of my favorite cook books.
I’ve heard all sorts of things about Chrissy’s cookbook, how her guac could start fights all over, but it seems like a lot of the recipes are pretty good. I would echo Deb Perelmen’s Smitten Kitchen, David Lebovitz’s Ice Cream book, Ree’s Pioneer Woman books (which taught me the importance of Pato tomato sauce!) and Huckleberry, a baking book. I don’t always read the forewards or the stories, but I absolutely devoured the story about creating and maintaining the bakery kitchen in Huckleberry. It was like being part of the kitchen line process- without all the waking up early and kneading. The other book I would recommend is an older one called Monster Cookies by Helen Witty. It’s just what is is- a giant monster cookie book- but it also sizes them down from as big as your head to normal. I found it at Powell’s and have loved it ever since.
Oh, and I just got an electric pressure cooker so I’ve been experimenting with pressure cooker cookbooks. Hip Pressure Cooking by Laura Pazzaglia is my favourite of the bunch. Consistently tasty recipes (and a good website as well).
Can’t pick a favorite cookbook! My oldest, most falling apart book is Beard on Bread. Good recipes from basic to not so basic and charming line drawings and introductions to each recipe. Probably out of print but I love it.