A few months ago, I wrote a blog post where I reviewed the second volume of the Bake From Scratch cookbooks. I was able to get this one from my local library and figured it would be best to “try before I buy.” You can read the full review here, but in a nutshell, I wasn’t too impressed with many of the recipes in the book. I did find the book to be well-made and the quality of the food photography is some of the best I’ve seen. However, at that time, I decided against buying that book or any of the Bake From Scratch cookbooks.
While many of you come here for the recipe reviews and occasional anecdotes about other aspects of my life, sometimes I like to switch things up. One of the things I’ve only touched upon slightly is my affinity for the printed word. I’m lucky enough to work in a local public library where I get to be surrounded by books, this is especially true since I work in the cataloging department. It’s my job to get the books ready for the shelf and the public. So you may be confused by the title of this post. “If he works in a library, why does he want his own library of cookbook?” Well, honestly there are a few reasons. But the main one is simple: I enjoy having them.
If you’re a baker and also a reader (like me!) then you may have come across a magazine at Barnes & Noble or your local Walmart called Bake From Scratch. The colorful, bright, and salivating-inducing photography on the covers of the magazines would pique the interest of everyone, not just bakers. After a solid year of trying not to purchase a copy of the magazine, I finally told myself that the time had come.
I can’t believe it’s almost March! I’m a little ashamed to write this post since it’s dealing with some Christmas gifts I received from a very good friend of mine. Who would have thought it would have taken me almost two full months to have an opportunity to bake something with them. One of the very few baking-related gifts I got this year was an excellent cookbook entitled Snackable Bakes by Jessie Sheehan. It was one of New York Times best cookbooks of 2022, and after making a recipe from it, I can see why.
It’s time for another Cookbook Review post! And I am so excited to share this one with you. This is one my all-time favorite cookbooks!!
I discovered The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook by Nancy Harmon Jenkins a few years ago when I stumbled upon online articles discussing the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet. The book sounded wonderful and I had to rush out to a bookstore to get it! Luckily the Barnes & Noble near by college campus had one in stock.
This cookbook continues to be one of the best cookbooks I’ve ever read because, to me, it reads like a novel. Jenkins does a great job of creating an Eat, Pray, Love style narrative about her family’s time in Italy.
Whether romanticized or not, I fell for it and wanted to be her! (Okay, I’ll be honest: I re-read parts of it to write this review and I STILL want to be her!)
One of the other aspects of this book that I like is that it is not just a cookbook. It also explains what the Mediterranean Diet is and how you can “Make the Change” to the lifestyle. Only after around 40 pages do you see any recipes.
But when the recipes do come, let me tell you…YOU WILL LOVE THEM!!
We all experience headnotes in cookbooks. These are the little paragraphs that precede the recipe that sometimes tell how a chef created the recipe or how it can be served. Headnotes in this book are no exception, but Jenkins includes beautifully written paragraphs that also teach the reader how to cook the recipe’s main ingredient, for example. Other times the headnotes are filled with wonderful anecdotes about her time in the Mediterranean region.
One of the positives of this cookbook is in the vegetables section, Jenkins takes the time and space to break down commonly used vegetables in the Mediterranean Diet. Each vegetable has 1 to 3 recipes that feature it, ensuring the budding Mediterranean chef how to incorporate them into their new diet.
Believe it or not, the Mediterranean Diet is not a big fan of the dessert course. I know, right? But this book does include more than a dozen sweet treats to satisfy your sweet tooth. While many are fruit-based, they will almost surely satisfy any sweet-tooth.
Writing this review has made me fall in love with it all over again. I’ll have to make something out of it soon!
If you are a long-time reader of this blog, then you know that it used to feature, almost exclusively, Ina Garten recipes and reviews. It was basically a lifestyle blog revolving around Ina Garten.
Even though I have decided to tweak things a bit (a move that I think will be much more enjoyable for me and my readers), I still want to pay homage to Ina Garten. So, the first Cookbook Review will be of one of her books.
This is not a new feature. I had previously reviewed the first six Barefoot Contessa cookbooks earlier this year. (Hint: on the homepage, click the Category “Cookbook Reviews” to view them.)
This is part of a 12-part series where I review each one of Ina Garten’s twelve cookbooks. The previous reviews can be found earlier in the feed of posts. They come out on Thursdays, usually for 1:30 PM. This is the sixth review in the series.
Who doesn’t love green as the main color on a book? It’s so vibrant and pairs nicely for a cookbook.
Ina Garten’s sixth cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics is another one of quintessential “TV Ina.” But that’s not a bad thing! This is another book that makes Ina related to the home cook, whether they are seasoned or just starting out.
Garten’s fifth cookbook begins what I call “Quintessential Ina.” This was around the time I discovered and fell in love with her cooking show. And I think her best recipes stem from the next few books. The tagline “everyday recipes you’ll make over and over again” rings true for this book since Ina had finally settled into her target audience: untrained, home cooks.
This is part of a 12-part series where I review each of Ina’s cookbooks. A new review drops every Thursday at 1:30 PM.This is the fourth review out of the twelve.
This week I get to talk about my favorite Barefoot Contessa cookbook to date — Barefoot in Paris. This book is different from the others in a few ways. First, this is the only book (so far!) that focusing solely on one type of cuisine: French.
Welcome to the third installment of my Ina Garten cookbook review series. This is week three, so I’ll be reviewing Barefoot Contessa Family Style. This book, published in 2002 has a subtitle that reads: “Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family,” and honestly, I think this book lives up to that statement.
Prior to Ina’s latest cookbook featuring comfort food, I would have to argue that this is her early take on that idea but with a twist that makes it elegant and “gourmet.” (As if we expected anything less!)
