Book Club Tuesday: The Vegan Week

Cooking for my family seems like a breeze now compared to when my daughter was a toddler, and I was trying to figure out what to make for meals. Although I’m a vegetarian now, I didn’t grow up as one and, I found that once my daughter was born, I wasn’t sure how to be one. Sure, I knew I wasn’t going to feed her animal-based dishes, but I realized that my husband and I had a vegetarian diet that consisted of tofu, cheese, and pasta (with some frozen pizzas thrown in for good measure) — light on the “vege”, heavy on the “tarian”. While I was trying to figure out Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: The Vegan Week”

Book Club Tuesday: Smitten Kitchen Keepers

The success of Smitten Kitchen should be a surprise to no one. Since 2006, when Deb Perelman started her blog, her inviting tone and delicious recipes have engendered confidence and trust in her readers. From the beginning, Perelman began writing about her experiences as a home cook and, it’s from this place that she connects with people. She understands her audience – people who are Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Smitten Kitchen Keepers”

Joy and Cooking: The Cookbooks of 2022

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”

Book Club Tuesday: Green Kitchen – Quick + Slow

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If David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl at Green Kitchen Stories have a cookbook coming out, then I’m always here for it! From the beginning of my site, I started sharing my experiences with cooking and feeding my family because, there are no better conversations than the ones about cookbooks. Cookbooks feed us, sure, but they also tell stories and connect us to Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Green Kitchen – Quick + Slow”

Book Club Tuesday: Snacks for Dinner

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Inspiration often presents itself in the unlikeliest of places, and for Lukas Volger, the inspiration for his latest cookbook, Snacks for Dinner, happened while on vacation in California. He and his husband, Vincent, went for lunch at a friend’s home and what started with an assemblage of things — cheese, cut vegetables, dips, salads — ended up being a Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Snacks for Dinner”

Book Club Tuesday: Your Daily Veg

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I am part of a vegetarian family: my husband has been a vegetarian for over twenty years, I joined along almost 12 years ago, and my daughter was born into it 8 years since. When my daughter was born, I wondered what vegetarianism would look like for her? When I became a vegetarian, the cookbooks at the time were very faddy and, what I really longed for was good food: plain and simple. Sometimes I feel that calling food “vegetarian” is like adding a Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Your Daily Veg”

Book Club Tuesday: Grist

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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”