There’s something undeniably attention-grabbing about a “Best of” list. 2022 is ending and, people want to know about the noteworthy cookbooks. This year I’m going to try something a little different – not quite a gift guide, yet not a “Best of” list either. Where I want to go with this post is simple – help home cooks find a little joy in their kitchens. Joy is what moves me forward and, it’s never steered me wrong when I’m talking about cookbooks (it was one of the favourite parts of my conversation I had with Lindsay Cameron Wilson on her The Food Podcast this year (link here). However, my joy may not necessarily be someone else’s joy because we all have our own personal set of criteria concerning joyful kitchen experiences. So, through the next 8 sections, I’ll briefly discuss some of the books that stood out to me this year. For any books that I’ve already reviewed, I’ll add a link so that you can visit that review for more information. There will be books I haven’t reviewed yet but still deserve a mention. Continue reading “Joy and Cooking: The Cookbooks of 2022”
Tag: Penguin Random House Canada
Book Club Tuesday: Good & Sweet
When a copy of Brian Levy’s Good & Sweet arrived in the mail, I felt leery about the subject matter. To be honest, I am tired of the narrative of sugar being unhealthy – has there ever been a time when someone ate sugar because it was healthy? I find that these narratives set up sugar as a false opposite – while refined sugar is “bad,” books go on to convince home cooks of the Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Good & Sweet”
Book Club Tuesday: The Two Spoons Cookbook
It’s been said, many times before, food brings us together, and there is nothing better than being able to share a good meal or a tasty dish with our loved ones. Hannah Sunderani knows this ethos well and, when coming up with a name for her blog, she wanted people Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: The Two Spoons Cookbook”
Book Club Tuesday: Cake & Loaf
“…when we sat down in that coffee shop and laid out our bakery dreams to each other, they were really about creating a space we wanted to go to every day. To build something that would address as many of the systemic issues we had seen in our own bakery jobs as possible. A place to foster creativity and feminist ideals. A business that would give more than it would take from the community and that centred sustainability in all its decisions. The results have not always been what we intended, and we are still learning how the systems in which we operate affect our biases and how we can continue to be better. It has been a financial challenge. Trying to operate in an effectively non-profit way in a capitalist system is fraught with compromises and disappointments. Luckily, we are resourceful folks and have had the honour of working with many amazing people over the years, so we feel like we have won the life lottery.” (4)
Over a decade ago, Nickey Miller and Josie Rudderham opened the brick-and-mortar version of Cake & Loaf in Hamilton, Ontario and now, they have a newly published cookbook (of the same name) to share with home bakers. I’m new to the Cake & Loaf world but as I read through the introduction, I learned that Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Cake & Loaf”
Book Club Tuesday: Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple
More than any other cookbook this year, Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple: A New Way to Bake Gluten-Free is the book I’ve gotten the most DMs about — mostly, people are requesting a review. I know what the concern is: is the gluten-free baking in Aran Goyoaga‘s book good? Being a vegetarian, I can understand what people who eat gluten-free go through because as a vegetarian, the way I eat is seen as Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple”
Book Club Tuesday: Maman – The Cookbook
What I’ve come to realize about myself since the pandemic with its myriad lockdowns — I truly am an introvert. While I love the idea of being out with my friends and family for beautiful, leisurely weekend brunches, in the back of my mind that little voice quickly reminds me: “Uh oh! People!” Which is why I love cookbooks from Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Maman – The Cookbook”
Book Club Tuesday: How to Eat With One Hand
I was very curious about How to Eat With One Hand by Christine Flynn and Emma Knight. While I reviewed and enjoyed Knight’s earlier The Greenhouse Cookbook, I wondered if, at this point in my journey as a parent, since I am neither new nor expectant, if this book was for me. It wasn’t until I saw Knight in conversation @thelabourdept on Instagram live that I was convinced I needed to take a look at this cookbook. Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: How to Eat With One Hand”
Book Club Tuesday: Super Natural Simple
I think I did a doubletake when I read the publication details of Heidi Swanson‘s Super Natural Cooking and Super Natural Every Day in the introduction of her latest book in this series: Super Natural Simple. 2007 and 2011, respectively. Really, has it been 14 years since the first book in the Super Natural series was published? Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Super Natural Simple”
Book Club Tuesday: Dessert Person
Baking, like anything else in life, is a skill acquired and developed through practice. I used to say when asked, “I can cook but I’m definitely not a baker!” because it always Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Dessert Person”
The Eatworthy Books of 2020
For my 2020 year-end round up I opted to write about all the cookbooks of that year instead of picking just a few for a gift guide (likely why this is being posted in January -ha!). Summing up a whole year of cooking isn’t like choosing a “Best of” list either, I find myself Continue reading “The Eatworthy Books of 2020”