When Benjamina Ebuehi spoke these simple words – “just for the fun of it”– during a recent online talk hosted by The Book Larder (watch here), she summed up the reason to bake from her books. To be grateful for and take joy from the act of baking and creating moments for yourself and for others. In her latest book, A Good Day to Bake, Ebuehi offers Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: A Good Day to Bake”
People love dichotomies, which exist in infinite number in the world of our kitchens. For example: cooking or baking? Gas or Electric? Cookbooks or websites? Cakes or Cookies? When it comes to this last one, I’ll be brave and say “neither.” Or maybe even: either. Which can I bake, with love, and share it with my family and friends? Baking is a Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: King Arthur Baking Company — The Essential Cookie Companion (Revised + Updated)”
What’s not to love about cake? It’s a season-less dessert that is appropriate for any occasion — my occasion of choice is usually breakfast! Over the past several years I’ve really come into my own as a baker and, I found that cookbooks with inviting, accessible recipes helped me to develop my skills. Therefore, I appreciate Rebecca Firth‘s approach so much — having recipes that are easy, approachable, and (most importantly) fun, Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: The Cake Book”
Grist by Abra Berens is a welcome addition to my kitchen cookbook shelf because it is such a useful guide to cooking with legumes, seeds, grains, and beans. I think Grist can be considered a companion to her earlier book Ruffage (published in 2019; review here), and just as Ruffage is part memoir, part cookbook, so is Grist. Here the home cook is invited to follow along with Berens as she demonstrates, through her recipes, how crucial Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Grist”
When I received a copy of Anja Dunk’s latest cookbook, Advent, near the end of November, I took to my Instagram stories, and I did something I almost never do, I advised people to buy this cookbook before the holidays and not to wait for my review. You see, in flipping through the book and looking at the recipes Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Advent”
What does it take to get people home cooking again? Well, if we look at 2020, it was the situation that brought people back into their kitchens to bake and make, fostering their starters along the way. For some of us home cooking is Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Ottolenghi Test Kitchen — Shelf Love”
As we ate this meal together, I was reminded of why we were really gathered here. The food, the laughter, and the tears were for my mother. She had just passed away. And this meal tasted as if my mum had made it. Tears flooded my eyes as a lifetime of memories, triggered by this food, rushed to my head and heart. Fourteen years ago, I had no way of knowing this was just the start of my food journey. (11)
Reading these words from the introduction to Amisha Dodhia Gurbani‘s Mumbai Modern: Vegetarian Recipes Inspired by Indian Roots and California Cuisine, it shows how deep the connection to food can be. It brings us together to nourish us and, food ties us to so many things — the crucial one being our memories. Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Mumbai Modern”
Much of what cooking means to me has to do with joy — with the food, recipes, the process, and the final reveal as you plate the food and set it on the table for people to enjoy. Part of the delight is feeling grateful for the fact I can cook and have ingredients to do so. I think this is one of the reasons why I am drawn to Mary Berg and her cookbooks. And it’s not just me either — my daughter adores Mary Berg. For Katie, it began with Mary’s first television show Mary’s Kitchen Crush and then that love Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Well Seasoned”
My most distinct food memory of pesto begins in my early twenties when I travelled off to attend school in Eastern Ontario. By then, I knew basic recipes and cooking techniques I learned from my mom and, thanks to the Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Pesto”
Food is intertwined with personal journeys and life stories. It can create a bridge that connects us across borders, languages, and cultural differences. When I cook the recipes in this book — making borș, grilling peppers, crushing garlic for mujdei, making pickles — the fragrances remind me of how Romanian cooking is part of the collective European heritage and landscape. (10)
In my heart, I’ve always seen cookbooks as a way to vicariously travel and experience the world, and since the early spring, when all of the quarantine, lockdowns, and sheltering in place occurred, this method of travel has become even more practical. Upon opening the cover of Irina Georgescu‘s new cookbook, Carpathia, the reader is met with Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Carpathia”
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