Tag Archives: cookbooks

Cookbooks for Free

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“How much does this book cost?” is a question I get occasionally from pre-school aged children on the library’s bookmobile. The idea of the free public library is a foreign one to some young minds. You probably totally get this concept since you’re reading this blog. Free books? Of course! Count me in!

I love to check out all of the glossy, beautiful cookbooks that our library has to offer just to see if they are worth purchasing for personal home use. Here are the ones that I’ve found at the library and loved so much that I just had to add them to my home cookbook shelf:

stirfryingStir Frying to the Sky’s Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery with Authentic recipes and Stories by Grace Young. This is a complete guide to stir frying with over 100 recipes, stunning photos, and many great tips. We especially love the Cashew Chicken recipe at our house.

inthekitchenIn the Kitchen With a Good Appetite: 150 Recipes and Stories about the Food You Love by Melissa Clark. The only thing lacking in this cookbook is photos, but it is full of stories, and fantastic recipes to cook delicious meals and fill you up. We love the Spicy Chicken Barley Soup. Try it!

whattocookHere’s one that I purchased as a gift for a new cook. What to Cook & How to Cook it:  Fresh & Easy by Jane Hornby. The fantastic thing about this book is that it is so visual, almost like a visual menu. It has photos for each step of each recipe, from laying out all of the ingredients to the finished product. It shows you everything. How easy is that?

I’m in the ‘holds’ line to check out these cook books:

barefootcontessaBarefoot Contessa Foolproof by Ina Garten looks like a keeper. I love all of Ina Garten’s cookbooks and this one probably won’t disappoint. I’ll check it out from the library first just to be sure.

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman is very popular these days. There’s quite a buzz about this one, so, of course, I must check it out. Literally.

myfavoriteAnd, finally, here’s one that I just found on the new book shelf. Oh, my, but this one is gorgeous and glossy. Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. With a name like that, he must be a great chef, right?  That’s Stone Fruit Bruschetta on the cover. Each of the recipes have a stunning photo and look delicious.

I can answer that child’s question for you: books cost a lot of money! Check out these fabulous cookbooks and others at your free public library.

You hungry now? I am. Buh-bye, I’m off to cook!

Leslie

Did You Know? (Turkey Edition)

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Did you know that the turkey almost became the symbol for the United States instead of the bald eagle?   

I found this information in the book National Geographic Complete Birds of North America. This book has really lovely pictures of all kinds of wild birds, and anecdotal stories like the one about Benjamin Franklin writing his daughter telling her the turkey would have been better than the bald eagle for a symbol for the United States.

In Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry by Leonard Mercia there is a very complete section about raising turkeys. It has everything you need to know to get started farming or just raising a few at home.

To make a yummy turkey, try one of our many cookbooks in the 641.66 section. How to Cook A Turkey has directions and recipes for an entire Thanksgiving Dinner! There are many other cookbooks that include turkey. Betty Crocker and the Joy of Cooking are just two examples.

And just for fun be sure to look for Turkey Riddles by Katy Hall and Lisa Eisenberg. The kids will have fun telling the riddles all through dinner!  How is a penny like a turkey sitting on a fence? Head’s on one side, tail’s on the other!

Linda

Thought for Food

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I read cookbooks like I read novels. Start to finish, savoring every word. Although a lighter fare, cookbooks make up a complete and beautiful story in their own way and can be a nice reprieve from the full depths of a novel.

Three cookbooks that I have read recently, and which I whole-heartedly recommend, include The Fat Duck Cookbook by Heston Blumenthal, Get Cooking by Mollie Katzen, and Cooking with My Sisters by Adriana Trigiani. 

Fat Duck is a visual delight, almost more of an art book than a cookbook. Whether for art or recipes, foodies will adore the gastronomic wonders in this book.

Get Cooking cookbookGet Cooking is by Mollie Katzen, author of the perennially popular Moosewood Cookbook. Touted as a book for beginners who want to ‘eat really well all the time,’ this concise and creative cookbook is for novice and seasoned chefs alike. Chock full of everyday recipes, it includes several photographs of the end result, such as the beautiful (and very easy!) roast chicken.

The popular novelist, Adriana Trigiani, who is mostly known for her delightful stories of shoe designers, Italian Americans, and chick-lit romance, also wrote a memoir-cum-cookbook about her family in the kitchen. As Trigiani describes in Cooking with My Sisters, cooking was the centerpiece of their lives — Cooking With My Sistersfor food, conversation, laughter, stories, and the weaving together of generations. With tips from her sisters, letters, irresistible photographs, and the sweetest recipes, such as “Grandmom’s Buttermilk Cake,” you cannot go wrong with this book either in the kitchen or on the couch.

Readers of M.F.K. Fisher, Ruth Reichl, anyone who loves stories about food and life, and those curious to try a new recipe, are sure to enjoy these tasty books!

Kara

What’s for Dinner?

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Spaghetti, eggs and toast, and cereal have become the boring staples of my workday dinners. One of my New Year’s resolutions has been to expand my weekday cooking repertoire with more interesting meals. I have a limited amount of time each evening, and I’m no Julia Child, so recipes have to be fairly quick and simple.  

How to Cook Everything: the BasicsMy tried-and-true cookbook favorite, How to Cook Everything: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman is helping me meet this goal.  I credit his earlier book, How to Cook Everything: the Basics: Simple Recipes Anyone Can Cook, with teaching me to cook competently in the first place. His books feature basic cooking techniques and skills along with great recipes. Instructions are straightforward, adaptable, and never too fussy. 

Almost Meatless cookbookI’ve recently found some fun new cookbooks that have inspired my weeknight cooking. Most of the recipes I’ve tried in Almost Meatless: Recipes that are Better for your Health and the Planet can be adapted for either vegetarians or meat-eaters. The idea is that cooking with less meat helps your pocketbook, your waistline, and the planet, without sacrificing any flavor or texture. I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in eating less meat without going entirely vegetarian.  

Chocolate and ZucchiniAs an unabashed Francophile,  I absolutely adore Clotilde Dusoulier’s Chocolate & Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen. Even if you don’t make a single recipe, this is a charming read. Don’t let the “adventures in a Parisian kitchen” subtitle mislead you. Dusoulier lived in San Francisco for many years, and her recipes are designed for American cooks and kitchens. Recipes are accessible, straightforward and—in my experience—always delicious. The yogurt cake recipe is so easy and such a crowd pleaser, it almost feels like cheating.

Because I’m always finding interesting new cookbooks and cooking magazines to try at the library, I think I may actually be able to stick with this tasty resolution.

Bon Appetit!

Mindy

Stories of the Year

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If you’re looking for last minute gift ideas, or holiday reading suggestions for yourself, look no further than the Everett Public Library. Our Gift Guide points you to book and music buying ideas for all ages and interests. Our Best Books list includes our favorites from 2009.

Here are a few other year-end lists that I will use to stack my shelves:

The New York Times Top Ten is my personal favorite. At just five fiction and five non-fiction books, this is a slim list of outstanding titles.

Library Journal produces a solid list, including genre and how-to books.

Nancy Pearl’s 2009 Under-the-Radar Books is unbeatable. I don’t know about you, but I always benefit from the action figure librarian’s serious crush on books.

Oh, and there’s so many more, such as The New Yorker, Salon.com, and Publisher’s Weekly. How lucky we are to have such rich stories to fill our lives.

From my pages to yours, happy reading and very happy holidays!

Kara