8.28.2008
Drink of the Moment: Lillet
Thanks to Amy and Lisa for this lovely summer cocktail: Lillet over ice with a splash of seltzer and a slice of lemon (or I've also used lime in a pinch). When I was introduced to this drink, Lisa used the white Lillet (the only kind I thought existed). However, when Adam came home the other night with a fresh bottle, he had bought the red. Both are refreshing on a hot summer evening. Cheers!
Eat, drink, and enjoy the last days of summer
Comfort Food and Before Sunset
The Husband being so rad, he volunteered to pick up Kiddo from camp and take her out to dinner so I could have some Grown-Up Time. Which, naturally, meant cooking and turning on one of my Top 3 favorite movies: Before Sunset (warning: do not watch before seeing Before Sunrise!). I made myself Jamie Oliver's summertime pasta and it was just what the doctor ordered. Click on the link to get the recipe (hint: it's vair vair easy). I did, however, change two things: 1) I used a 1/2 c. of plain ol' extra-virgin olive oil and a 1/2 c. of lemon olive oil, and 2) I used fresh spinach fettuccine from Eli's, as opposed to the tagliatelle that Jamie calls for. This allowed me to use fresh pasta already in my fridge but, unfortunately, it didn't allow for the nice color contrast between the white pasta, the green parsley, and the bright yellow lemon:
I poured myself the last bit of the 2007 Campos Reales Tempranillo we already had open: I should have known that a Spanish wine was not going to be the perfect pairing for an Italian dish. It wasn't bad - just meh. So for my second bowl of pasta (I told you people I was depressed), I poured a 2007 Kris Pinot Grigio from Italy. Result! The bright fruitiness really refreshed my palate and cut through the richness of the pine nuts and the olive oil in the pasta.
This meal - and the three glasses of wine consumed with it - was the epitome of the term "comfort food." Enhanced with movie lines like this:
"Happiness is in the doing, not in the getting what you want."
And:
"There are so many things I want to do...and I end up doing not much."
Eat, drink, and take comfort in food, wine, and romantic movies
8.27.2008
New York Times: Pirate Restaurants
The theme of the article: underground restaurants*.
The idea is that people – however many you can realistically feed in your own home – pay you a “donation”, they come to your place, and you make them dinner. The article calls it the “anti-restaurant.” People bring wine so then you aren’t selling them any. The idea, of course, is to have the cozy, intimate, community-based experience that a restaurant rarely, if ever, gives you. The concept is like a bed-and-breakfast…only you don’t let people spend the night after the meal.
I’m so passionately, insanely in love with this idea. I love cooking for people, I love trying new recipes, I love planning menus, I love scouring cookbooks and I even love cleaning dishes (it brings the whole dinner experience full-circle for me). I love having people laughing, drinking, eating in my home. I love my dinner table and I love my Crate and Barrel linens. Shopping for ingredients is sensual (All the eye candy! All the touching of things! So many choices!) and strategic (get the heaviest items last, make sure nothing goes bad between store and home, substitute ingredients on-the-fly if something you want isn’t available). I want to have great conversations and cook creatively without the Kiddo telling me she sees a speck of green or a visiting relative wanting their meat cooked well-done.
So I want to have an underground restaurant. That’s ultimately what it boils down to. I have enough good music, good books, good wine, and good food in my house to make this really enjoyable. I want to be part of a community of people who enjoy home-cooked meals as much as I do. I want to meet interesting people who have interesting jobs who love interesting food. I know they exist in this city…I just haven’t met them yet. Maybe an anti-restaurant is the solution for me... If not having one in my house - like I have the time! - then certainly going to one in someone else's home.
See? I told you: the article “got me where I live.”
Eat, drink, and never dismiss your crazy ideas too quickly…
NOTE: The article mentions one of the cooks wears a t-shirt that says “Meat is Murder – Tasty, Tasty Murder.” While I’m not ballsy enough to actually wear that shirt, I sure wish I was…
8.26.2008
Bacon and Chocolate: an inspired pairing
- Last but not least, look what the Husband brought home from work:
Seriously, the bacon spins around...
Eat, drink, and realize bacon really does make everything better
Reading Wish List
Additionally, there are books I have never read. They have been on my “to-read” list for ages upon ages, and I’m hoping that someday…someday…I’ll actually be able to read them. In most cases, I already have these books sitting in on my personal bookshelves, spines uncracked, waiting for someone to open them.
So here is my wish list of books I want to read again…or for the first time:
1. Harry Potter series. I read the whole series so voraciously, so impatiently, that I really didn’t enjoy it, you know? I’d like to start over and really savor the whole experience.
2. Lord of the Rings trilogy. I read it because I was so hyped up on the movies. Now that the movies have come and gone, I’d like to re-read it. Though I don’t see how I’ll ever get Viggo Mortenson and Orlando Bloom out of my head. Naturally, I don’t mind if they stay…
3. Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. I’ve never even looked inside this book. I suppose it’s because I know I don’t have the right amount of time in my life now to really enjoy it, soak it all up, and learn all I want to. I want to show it proper respect. And best as I can tell, I won’t have time for this until I retire.
4. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. In high school, I had all the time in the world to sit in the local coffeehouse in Placerville, CA and read this cover-to-cover. Oh, to have the time to do that again!
5. Discovery of France by Graham Robb. As a self-proclaimed Francophile, I desperately want to read this. It sits on my shelf at home, mocking me, reminding me that such a small fraction of time is my own. It’s become so much more than a book about France to me: it’s become a symbol of all those passions I have so little time to pursue. Seriously.
6. L.M. Montgomery (everything). Again, back in high school when I had nothing but time to read, I read every one of her books sitting in the local coffeehouse. The coffeehouse had a cute patio with a fountain, and I’d sit out there on sunny-but-freezing winter days, wrapped in a thick wool sweater and gloves, cradling my mocha and getting lost in PEI. And I’m longing to do it again.
7. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I fell in love the first time and want to fall in love all over again.
8. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers. I was obsessed with the movie as a kid. So much so that I've never read the book because I feared it would taint my nostalgic, sentimental, warm memories of the Julie Andrews classic. Nevertheless, I’m determined to read this before I leave this earth, childhood illusions be damned.
Eight books…which doesn’t even scratch the surface…
Eat, drink, and revel in your younger years when you were able to fill your time with books
8.25.2008
End of last week: Dinner with the Lutz family
One of my go-to summer meals: Chicken and Peaches Platter (Real Simple, July 2006). Really, no recipe is necessary. One rotisserie chicken (antibiotics/hormone free from Fresh Direct, already roasted), almonds (I've used slivered or sliced, whatever you have on hand...the recipe actually calls for chopped whole), blue cheese (I use gorgonzola), 2 peaches, salad greens. For the dressing, I pour a couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil, a tbsp (or so) of white wine vinegar, and salt and pepper into a bowl and whisk with a fork. I dip a piece of lettuce into the dressing and taste for seasoning. Then pour over the platter. This dinner is the working mom's DREAM. The Kiddo eats the peaches, almonds, and cheese only - the grown-ups eat it every delicious morsel.
Remember I told you all about Mario Batali going to "the Goog"? Well, all "Googlers" got a free copy of Mario's Italian Grill. Bastards. So this is the first recipe I tried from the cookbook: Portobellos with Arugula and Parmigiano. Grill 6 portobellos on the grill (or on your stovetop castiron griddle, in my case. Mario's recipe calls for 6 shrooms...I only used 2) for 5-8 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk 1/4 c. evoo, 1 tsp anchovy paste, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, and 1/2 tsp dried thyme, crumbled. Spoon this mixture over the grilled mushrooms and let sit for 30 minutes (just enough time to give the Kiddo a bath!). Once the Kiddo was out of the bath, I tossed arugula (enough for 2 adults) with evoo and lemon juice, salt and pepper. I put the arugula on the platter, added the mushrooms, and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano on top. Mario's recipe calls for 6 mushrooms (as stated earlier), but I only bought 2 since it's just us. I did, however, make the full amount for the marinade, which worked well. In the future, I will probably add another tsp of the anchovy paste - there was lots of sweet balsamic but not enough salty, fishy anchovy paste.
This is another Mario Batali recipe from Italian Grill: Fresh Robiola Wrapped in Mortadella. Forget the fancy name - I couldn't find robiola so I used fresh ricotta from Cheeses of the World. Or you can use fresh goat cheese. Have fun experimenting with Italian cheeses. I bought a dozen slices of Italian mortadella from Cheeses of the World, along with the ricotta. Make burrito-esque packets: lay the mortadella down, shape the cheese loosely into a log, place a basil leaf on top. Fold the bottom of each slice over the cheese, then fold over the sides and roll the cheese up in the mortadella. Try to get the mortadella w/o pistachios. However, if you have no other option (like me), just double it up (so I actually only made 6 packets out of my dozen slices). Place the packets on the hottest part of your grill (or stovetop cast iron grill) for 2 minutes on each side. You want grill marks and a crispy exterior. Place on platter. Toss some salad greens with evoo, red wine vinegar, and sea salt. Serve right away. These were so rich that the Husband and I ate only one packet each. The next night I had one of the packets for leftovers: put it under the broiler for about 3 minutes and you get all the gooey-cheese-crispy-meatness from the previous night. Delectable leftovers.
Eat, drink, and revel in easy-to-prepare weekday feasts!
Mock Caldecotts 2009: First Elimination Round
As the children’s materials specialist, I chair the children’s book selection committee (CBSC). Among many duties, one of the perky fun things we get to do is plan the Mock Caldecott Awards in the winter. In July, we started our first round of reviews. Frankly, there weren’t a lot that stood out tremendously, nothing truly special…in our opinions, anyway. As a result, we were incredibly wishy-washy on a lot of the titles. As of now, here are the books definitely in the running:
- Drive by Nathan Clement
- How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz
- A Kitten Tale by Eric Rohmann
- Before John Was a Jazz Giant by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus by Sean Qualls
And here are the books that we labeled, wishy-washily, as “maybes”:
- Building Manhattan by Laura Vila
- I, Matthew Henson: Polar Explorer by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus by Eric Valasquez
- Lady Liberty by Doreen Rappaport, illus by Matt Tavares
- My Friend, the Starfinder by George Ella Lyon, illus by Stephen Gammell
- Planting the Trees of Kenya by Claire Nivola
Lastily – and I’m sure to hear some cries of surprise and, perhaps, outrage on these ones – here are the definite “no” votes. Which means we won’t consider them for our final Mock Caldecott discussion and voting:
- Big Plans by Bob Shea, illus by Lane Smith
- A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee
- Fartiste by Kathleen Krull, illus by Boris Kulikov
- Grasshopper’s Song by Nikki Giovanni, illus by Chris Raschka
- Grump Groan Growl by Bell Hooks, illus by Chris Raschka
- House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson, illus by Beth Krommes
- Imaginary Menagerie by Julie Larios, illus by Julie Paschkis
- Kids Like Us by Carole Lexa Schaefer, illus by Pierr Morgan
- Market Day by Carol Foskett Cordsen, illus by Douglas Jones
- On the Farm by David Elliott, illus by Holly Meade
- Searcher and the Old Tree by David McPhail
- Singing to the Sun by Vivian French, illus by Jackie Morris
- United Tweets of America by Hudson Talbott
- We Are the Ship: the Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
- What to Do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley, illus by Edwin Fotheringham
- Wonder Bear by Tao Nyeu
As I’m sure you can see, there are a lot of stellar books we haven’t looked into yet (Wabi Sabi and Steel Town immediately come to mind). Also, all those books listed above certainly weren't unanimous votes - there were lots of dissenters and advocates for certain books. Our next “elimination round” is coming up in October so I’ll keep you posted!
8.24.2008
"The good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge." ~ Bertrand Russell
* Cheese photo courtesy of Wendell T. Weber and Food and Wine
** I discovered from Louise Rennison's site that my luuuurve match is Dave the Laugh. This is not a surprise in the least to me. In fact, I couldn't be any more predictable. Masimo and the original SG? Puh-leez. Give me someone who makes me laugh any day.
8.22.2008
Poetry Friday: the wine edition
A DRINKING SONG
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.
~ W.B. Yeats (found here)
Eat, drink, and read wine-related poetry
Slightly OT: mad people, international languages, and kids' empty heads
Two-year-olds: Plop them in front of the TV and give them a Coke!
I have mixed feelings about this. For one, I’m against government legislating the way in which people should parent their children; they’re integrating themselves into households in a scary, Big Brother sort of way. Not to mention that you can’t legislate good parenting. Do you really think that just because parents won’t be able to use BabyTV as a babysitter they will, instead, spend lovely quality time with their children? Ummm, somehow I doubt that. Why do I suspect that they’ll either 1) find some other activity to keep their kids out of their hair, thus not spending more time with them, or 2) they’ll still park their kids in front of the TV, only watching something wildly inappropriate for their age range?
On the other hand, it’s frightening when Big Business starts treating young children as consumers. There’s a whole hook-‘em-when-they’re-young mentality to all this baby programming that sends up red flags all over the place for me. And if their parents aren’t going to look out for their best interests (and, really, preventing very young children from watching TV for hours a day is in their best interest), isn’t it up to society-at-large to take care of them? And society-at-large is certainly going to be affected when all these TV-fed children are unleashed into its folds. Stations like this do not exist for the good of the children, as much as Big Business and some parents would like to think so. Instead, they exist for the convenience of the parents and to create consumers.
8.21.2008
Yet another playlist to add to my iPod...
"I swear, you'll LOVE this!"
However – and here’s the conundrum – the person you know would love the book the most…is averse to kidlit. It doesn’t have anything important to say. Or, perhaps even worse, they don’t have any feelings about children’s literature at all. They haven’t read it since they were kids. You say “a kids’ book” and you watch their eyes glaze over. Oh, you know the types. Then to take it even further, let’s say that, by describing the book, you’ve sold your friend on it. Yes! Victory! So you show them the book and, sure enough, it has a “kiddie” cover…theeeeen the eyes-glazed-over effect takes hold. Damn. I almost had ‘em.
This has happened to me too many times to count – I still haven’t convinced the Husband to read any Scott Westerfeld, which irks me to no end. The reason this is fresh in my mind now, though, is because I couldn’t get the Soul Twin interested in Louise Rennison’s Georgia Nicolson series when she was visiting this last weekend. This is a woman who cried with laughter while reading Bridget Jones’s Diary (helllllloooooo, Helen Fielding, when the hell are you going to write a new one and show that Sophie Kinsella how it’s done?!). I read passages to the ST, I used British slang all weekend (“sheer desperadoes”), I told her about Angus and Gordy (the ST is a vet)… Nothing could pull her back from the Land of Glazed Eyes and Pasted-On-Uh-Huh Smiles. Nothing.
What kind of a readers’ advisor am I?! Wait, don't answer that. But have you had success "selling" a children's and/or YA title to a non-believer? If so, what book were you pimpin'?
8.14.2008
Can great writing actually be taught? Or does it only come naturally?
I often read a book while stirring risotto...
Thanks to Shelf Awareness (who got it from the NY Times) for this piece of news that still has me scratching my head…
-- I have recently discovered Café Tasse. And I think I’m in luuuuurve.
-- I anticipate my monthly issue of Saveur with bated breath – it is hands-down my favorite foodie mag. The latest issue proved why: there is this fabuloso article about how Saveur changed offices and now they’re in the East 30's here in NYC. Naturally, that means they had to design a brand-spankin’-new test kitchen. The article mentions the words “food editor”… and “kitchen assistant”… They talk about walnut chopping blocks and kitchen islands on wheels (multiple islands...I just want one). They talk about making the space warm and welcoming, yet functional. They mention that, when they’re working late at night, people will just sit on the countertops, chat, and generally hang out. Naturally, the article is chock-a-block of beautiful photos of said test kitchen. So here’s my question: what in the hell do I have to do to work there? I’m considering selling my soul… Which I suppose I couldn’t do because part of the reason I love food so much is because I’m an incredibly soulful person. But…whatev. I’m just trying to convey to you how badly I want a job like that…
-- Liz B. brought to my attention the issue of posting book jackets on blogs (or library websites, Amazon, etc.). Copyright law gives me such a headache; I find it endlessly confusing. I probably have quite a few things posted on my blog that I shouldn’t…but they add to my content, I’m not claiming the images as my own, and I’m receiving no money for them. And I’m not publishing the work in its entirety (i.e. the book). Doesn’t this count as fair use? My final thought is that I’m sure that if I was using something illegally, it would certainly piss people off and I’m sure they’d let me know.
I’ll probably be off for a couple days – my Soul Twin (BFF, if you must) is visiting from North Carolina. We’re basically going to spend the next three days eating and walking ourselves into a stupor. Which is my favorite thing to do with the Soul Twin. And my favorite thing to do in NYC…which is why I moved here.
Eat, drink, and do both as often as possible with your chosen family.
8.13.2008
Newspaper Food Sections Around the Country
San Francisco Chronicle: * Earthbound spinach won a taste test for the best bagged spinach. * Plums are all over the place lately and, in addition to lots of info about the different kinds of plums, this article has a recipe for Grilled Plum Salad with Brandy Mint Vinaigrette. Just what the doctor ordered this summer! * Like most foodies, I love cooking over an open flame, and this article reminisces about cooking sloppy joes over a fire at Brownie camp. Which made me think of making “banana boats” at camp. Anyone else? We’d split a banana with a knife, through the peel on one side without cutting through to the other side, and we’d place it in a piece of foil. Then in the crevice of the banana we would shove as many mini-chocolate chips and mini-marshallows as possible. Wrap up the whole thing with the foil. Then we would literally throw the packages in the campfire. A couple minutes later, a camp counselor would fish the “boats” out of the flames, and we would carefully unwrap them once they had cooled a little bit. I’m sure you can imagine the hot, gooey, sugar-sweet mess inside… Grab a spoon and enjoy!
Washington Post: * I liked the article titled, “The Prodigal Tomato’s Triumphant Return.” It’s written by Tim Stark, who also wrote Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer. * Speaking of tomatoes, the recipe for Pasta with Fresh Tomato, Roasted Garlic, and Brie sounds delectable, especially the idea of letting the sauce sit 1-2 hours to let the flavors really develop (though this step isn’t necessary). Hell, I’ll eat anything that has Brie in it.
Chicago Sun-Times: * If your kitchen is anything like mine, you also throw away a ridiculous amount of produce each week that has gone bad. This article includes some ideas for using all your fruit and veggies, buying the right amount, and saving money and waste.
Eat, drink, and enjoy all the brilliant food-writing available to you
8.12.2008
Good things to greet you in the morning...
* WhileI was drinking my coffee, I sifted through the cool pile of F&Gs that I recently got from Scholastic's Spring '09 list. Barbara McClintock...Jeremy Tankard...Mark Teague...Sara Varon...At this point I am so loving my job. And then I unearthed Tillie Lays an Egg by Terry Golson, photographed by Ben Fink, which features hilarious pictures of Golson's own hens. I have no cover art or pictures because it's so new, but take my word for it: this book is a hoot. What I can show you, though, is Terry Golson's so-cool "Hen Cam" (yeah, Susan, I am totally thinking of you right now) and Ben Fink's photography site (no info about the book yet). Look for Tillie in January 2009.
* This isn't the first time I've wanted Rebecca's job over at Cooked Books: today she is featuring a menu from McDonnell's Drive-In, a popular L.A. restaurant in the 30's and 40's. A couple things: 1) what is a Broadway soda??? The text is blocked and I want to know!, 2) a double-decker peanut butter and jelly sandwich...with lettuce? Intriguing..., and 3) I love the quote on the menu - "Good food is good health." Indeed.
* We Are Never Full has a fantabulous post up re: Forbes' Top 10 Richest Celebrity Chef list. Not surprisingly, Rachael Ray is at the top of it, worth $18 million clams a year. Now, I'll confess here that Rachael Ray doesn't bother me as much as she seems to piss off most people: in fact, I'll defend her because we "perky" gals need to stick together (Katie Couric is part of our clan too). What I do take issue with is that Rachael Ray just isn't really a chef anymore. Heck, I'd argue she's hardly a cook anymore. She is a brand. Get her off this list. Here are the rest:
2. Wolfgang Puck - $16 million
3. Gordon Ramsay- $7.5 million
4. Nobuyuki Matsuhisa - $5 million
5. Alain Ducasse - $5 million
6. Paula Deen - $4.5 million
7. Mario Batali - $3 million
8. Tom Colicchio - $2 million
9. Bobby Flay - $1.5 million
10. Anthony Bourdain - $1.5 million
I was mildly surprised that Mario Batali was as low as he was, and I was annoyed that Deen was on there at all. But as a commenter said over at We Are Never Full: "All I can say is at least Sandra Lee isn’t on that list…because if she was, a vein in my head would burst…" Ditto.
Eat, drink, and make peace with Food Network's success
8.11.2008
Cue "Eye of the Tiger": I can't give up yet!
So you can imagine how out-of-this-world-excited I was today when I saw that NYU had posted the booklist for my first Food Studies class. Because I’m soooo geeky that way.
Wine Notes from Oregon
So I had a few glasses of wine in Oregon (snicker, snicker), though I didn’t actually go wine-tasting (seeing as I don’t want to take Kiddo with me, Adam is a beer guy, and the pretensions of wine-tasting are definitely not my mom-in-law’s thing). Instead, we did something much more our style: we drove to Cost Plus and picked out local Northwest wines there.
8.10.2008
REVIEW: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
So after a marathon reading weekend, I have finished reading Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn. And now I’m going to talk about it so LOOK AWAY if you don’t want to read the spoilers!!!
- I also agreed with Entertainment Weekly's review. And Teen Book Review put it well when she made a distinction between loving a book and enjoying your time reading it: I also did not love this book but I did enjoy reading it this weekend. Dear Author also had a good review with some interesting discussion going on in the comments section: with Bella getting married and pregnant at 18 years old, can we ignore the "inadvertent subtext informed by the religious culture of the author"? Another commenter also wrote this: "A masochistic girl who is in love with a gay vampire while a pedophilic werewolf loves her." This made me snort-laugh and reminded how silly all of this is, really.
8.01.2008
Off on another mini-holiday
In the meantime, read "Touched By a Vampire," Laura Miller's article over at Salon.com. Laura obviously doesn't think much of the series, but her article is thoughtful and articulate. Which I much prefer to the flaming and trolling, thank you.
Eat, drink...instead of hanging out at a Breaking Dawn party tonight!
Top 10 Cooking Books
So you see what’s coming, right? Yep, I have to do a Top 10 of my own. These are the 10 Books I Could Not Live Without in my Crappy NYC Kitchen:
1. Barefoot Contessa (all of them) – Ina Garten. I have all but Parties! and I use them multiple times a week. Most recipes are manageable for the novice cook. Note: her recipes aren’t terribly friendly for the one- to two-person family; her serving size is usually for 6-8 people, which always makes for a ton of leftovers for our 3-person family.
2. Field Guide to Produce: How to Identify, Select, and Prepare Virtually Every Fruit and Vegetable at the Market by Aliza Green. Truly, I couldn’t live without this. It tells you the origin of every fruit and vegetable, including when it is in season, how to store it, what to look for when buying, and complementary flavors. Amazon has the Look Inside feature on this one so you can browse through it.
3. Patricia Wells’ Trattoria by Patricia Wells. Tough call because I love her Vegetable Heaven as well, but Trattoria is still my go-to book for simple, fresh, easy recipes. No beautiful pictures in this one…just beautiful food.
4. The French Market: More Recipes from a French Kitchen by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde. Classic French food without being pedantic or clichéd. Beautiful color photos of France.
5. The New Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. Another resource I can’t live without. Especially when my daughter asks me, every meal, which foods contain vitamin C – I’ve looked up apples, mushrooms, and many more… Also gives brief histories and discusses different varieties and preparations.
6. Timing is Everything: The Complete Timing Guide to Cooking by Jack Piccolo. I don’t live and die by the times listed in this book; however, when I have dealt with an unfamiliar cut of meat or a new vegetable, this book has been invaluable at giving me a cooking guideline.
7. What to Drink with What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. As I mentioned before, the definitive guide.
8. Cooking with Jamie and Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver. I’m hooked. Some recipes are super-simple (Fifteen Christmas Salad) and some appear to be so difficult that I can’t attempt them until I have a proper kitchen. A little something for everyone…
9. Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentiis. I know, total cliché, right? Nevertheless, her recipes are a godsend for a full-time working parent. They’re easy to make with easy-to-find ingredients, not to mention that it actually includes recipes my Kiddo will eat (yay, pasta!). For better or worse, this continues to be one of my go-to cookbooks.
10. I know not technically cookbooks, but I could not live without Saveur, Gourmet, Food and Wine, Cooking Light, and Bon Appétit. I tear out the recipes and keep them in a notebook, which I wrote about here. If you can’t afford subscriptions to all these, your local library should have most, if not all, of them (and they all have lots of content on their websites). But for heavens’ sake, PHOTOCOPY the recipes! Do NOT rip out the pages of the library’s copy. Sheesh, people.
Note: I just checked out Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes from the library and, from my first glimpse through it, I think this could be a new favorite. Cream Puffs in Venice reviewed it.
Eat, drink, and cultivate your food library.