Here's a place to discuss cookbooks, both recent purchases, and
old favorites.  You can brag about how large your cookbook collection
is, too.

85 responses total.

 I've been on a cookbook binge for the last couple of months.  My
two absolute favorites are both by Bert Greene.  I bought "Greene
on Greens" because I'm trying to find ways to cook vegetables that
will actually appeal to me (I've disliked most vegetables all my life,
but my mom basically boiled everything in an incredibly boring
way).  Then last week I got Greene's "The Grains Cookbook."  I
can spend hours reading Greene's wonderful prose.  Apparently,
he used to write plays, used to do all kinds of amazing things
besides cook.  Actually, he died about five years ago, which made
me very sad when I realized it.  The writing in here is very
vital.  So far I have only tried one recipe, for a wonderful
risotto, but I have plans for lots more.  For me, a good 
cookbook is not just a collection of recipes, but also a 
creator of atmosphere, spirit, whatever.  Something that
implies that food is magic...

I'm reminded of when I first bought "The Vegetarian Epicure,"
back in 1982.  The book and its author, Anna Thomas, seemed
surrounded by hazy golden light, evoking the wonders of
moderately counter-culture living, circa 1972 (when--I believe--the
book was published).  I wanted to *be* Anna Thomas, and 
to experience the wonders of her vegetarian food.

I'm not at all surprised you'd appreciate the descriptive or 
prose part of a cookbook.  You've always impressed me as a 
"classical" type of person with a flair for the arts.  Me,
on the other hand, I like to play kitchen chemist and gravitate
toward cookbooks which blend ethnic cusines and unlikely ingredients
to come up with something new.  The narratives aren't what I'm
drawn to.

Leslie, next time you're in the cookbook section take a look at
"Cooking with Herbs" by Tolley.  A little bit of history, travel,
gardening, and a lot of wonderful recipes.  A bit pricey at $40
but a very nice book to have available, especially if you grow your
own herbs.

The last cookbook I purchased was "Cold-Weather Cooking" by Sarah
Leah Chase.  A wonderful collection although (like her colleagues
Russo and Lukins) she tend to go well over the 30% suggested fat
content.  But that's where you get to customize a recipe and make
it your own.  I've also read that Russo ("The New Basics") is busy
putting together a new book with a healthy gourmet theme.  

Hunt down a copy of _The Surreal Gourmet: Real Food for Pretend
Chefs_ by Bob Blumer.

[Speaking of cookbooks, when's the Grex cookbook coming out in print?  :-)]

Just yesterday I saw the "Cooking with Herbs" cookbook I mentioned
marked way down at Borders.  It's with other sale items, on a table
at the top of the west stairway, and it's marked $14.95.  Amazing.

Dang, and I paid full price for it last year.

OOOps, thanks for reminding me to get back on that one!  I need to find
access to a machine where I can print out files and such so that I can do some 
editing.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, maybe, just maybe  .......(thinking here) ...... uh, the
Grex Cookbook Could be introduced into the New Center application
process as a "go with."  ...... hmmmmmmmm ........ 
  
creative thnkers couold run with that idea .......

One cookbook that I have that I like a lot is _James Beard's
American Cookery_.  It also has a lot of history in it, as Beard
comments on early instances of a particular recipe and how the
recipe has changed over the years.

Another one that is destined to become a favorite around here is
_The Romanchik Family Slovak Cookbook_.  My sister, a Slovak friend,
and I are working on it now.

I have my own version of an 'on-line' cookbook with recipes I've saved to
my computer from AOL and other places [haven't gotten many from here yet
since its long distance...].  I've put it into book form and now there are
3 books in print [mine, one I made for my parents and a modified one-->
vegetarian version for part of a christmas present I gave to my friends
[the Gursins, for those of you that may still remember them...].  If I
think of it, I'll bring it along with me when Imake it up to MI next weekend...

Laurel, I found "The Surreal Gourmet..." at Little Professor.  What
a kicker cookbook.  I especially like the recommendations for music
to play while preparing the meal.  Nice touch.

Have you tried any of the recipes?  Before I buy it I'd like to hear
the book is more than just a funky concept.

I haven't tried them, but the guy who bought it for me did and
said they were good.

Music while cooking - that's mandatory - thought it was common knowledge.

I ran across a cookbook the other day in Kitchen Port that came packaged
with a CD.  The title was something on the order of Romantic Dinners for
Two.  The usual war-horse music pieces were present, by a mostly under-known
string orchestra.  The whole thing was shrink-wrapped so I was unable
to read any of the book.  I'd suspect that anyone buying this probably
knows precious little about cooking and even less about music.  But
probably subscribes to Cosmo, faithfully. ;-)

<<or Vanity Fair?>>

Julie Rosso's new cookbook, _The Good Food Cookbook_, is now 
available around town.  I bought my copy today, at Kitchen Port.
Not quite as exotic as the rule-breaking _New Basics_ but an
interesting collection with an emphasis on lower fat cooking.

For those who are into autographed copies, Russo will be at
Kitchen Port on Saturday, April 24, for a book signing.  11:00
to something like 2:00, if I remember correctly.

Opps, goofed up the title.  It's really, _Great Good Food_.

Well, I've been on another cookbook binge for the last couple
of months, yet neglected to mention any of them here.  Just
last week I got a book by the authors of "Bread Machine Magic."
It's called "The Bread Machine Magic Book of Helpful Hints,"
and gives lots of problem-solving and troubleshooting
techniques for bread machine owners.  I haven't perused it
too thoroughly yet, but it looks very helpful.

I also recently bought "The Bad For You Cookbook," but I find
I am uninspired by it.  I was hoping for an antidote to all
the food police I feel surrounded by lately, but it just
hasn't lit my fire (probably too many recipes with mushrooms
in them--I *hate* mushrooms).

Then there's "The Back of the Box Cookbook," which collects
many of those classic recipes clipped from Ritz cracker or
Cornflakes, or Rice Crispies etc. boxes.  They include the
long sought after Mock Apple Pie recipe that used to be on
the Ritz boxes (but which hasn't been printed in awhile).

Well, there are a few more I could talk about, but I'll save
them for next time.  I think I'm drowning in cook books!

but... mushrooms are *good* for you!

I bought _The Back of the Box Gourmet_ (mentioned in #18) on Friday.
Neat book!  It seems like the kind of book someone could collect up
really easily and publish it solely as a moneymaking venture, which
would be fine, but actually the author seems to regard these recipes
as beloved bits of Americana.  He's written an intro for each recipe
that talks a bit about the history of the recipe or of the company that
makes the product.  Did you know Hellman's mayonaise started at a
Mr. Hellman's delicatessen in NYC many years ago?  Their mayo was so
popular that people used to come by and buy it instead of trying to
make their own at home.  Eventually, the mayo became the whole business.
This is described in the intro to a "mayonaise cake" recipe.  The idea
of a mayonaise cake sounds Really Gross until you think about the
ingredients in mayonaise: eggs, oil, and lemon juice, all of which are
normal cake ingredients.  The cookbook says the final cake doesn't
taste at all mayonaise-y, just moist.

I can't wait to make some mock apple pie!  There isn't enough lead time
to do it for today's Grex birthday picnic, but one o' these days I'll
make some and bring it to a Grex event....  :)

YUM!  I haven't had mayonnaise cake in forever.  Try it...It is really
terrific.  Hi popcorn!

There is now a "Back of the Box, II" cookbook out.  I haven't
purchased it, but I browsed it in the bookstore.  Looks like fun,
but I'm trying to keep my cookbook purchases to a minimum for awhile.

I saw a bread cookbook somewhere that had recipes that were made with 
malt (sprouted grain) instead of sugar or honey. But I forget what it was
called or who wrote it.  Has anyone seen this that could tell me what it
is?
        I am drastically changing my diet to deal with hypoglycemia, and 
I want to make my  own bread anyway.  This sounds really good, but when 
I saw it, I didn't have the motivation I have now to buy it. :( 
Thanks for any help you can give me.

It might have been the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book.  Or book 4 of the
Donna German series of breadmaker cookbooks.  Hm.

By the way (you may already know this) when you bake bread, the yeast
eats the sugar in order to form the carbon dioxide bubbles that make the
bread rise.  So, just because you're eating a loaf of bread that started
with, say, two tablespoons of sweetener doesn't mean that you're actually
eating a whole two tablespoons of sweetener in the finished loaf.

Also (and this is also probably a topic you know more about than me, and I
could well be wrong here) I've read that sweetener is sweetener -- it's
still basically one form of sugar or another.  So substituting another
sweetener for white sugar isn't the same as avoiding sugar.  But I might be
remembering wrong, or for hypoglycemia it might be helpful to use a type
of sweetener that takes longer to digest.  I don't know.  I'd be curious to
learn more.

Good luck with the radical diet change -- those are never easy!!

I like Hom's "Fragrant Habour Cuisine," he has good receipe for food I grew up
eating in resturants, well written too.

I bought _The New Vegetarian Epicure_, by Anna Thomas last
night after a cooking class at Kitchen Port.  The class had
nothing to do with this book but when you enroll for a class
you get a discount coupon for 10% on anything you purchase
that day.  Evidently, this book is an updated version of
Ms. Thomas' first version, _Vegetarian Epicure_.  Has anyone
here ever tried any of her recipes?  The recipes look 
interesting, non-traditional, mostly healthy, and not
particularly difficult to assemble.

That was the second vegetarian cookbook I ever bought, way back in maybe 1988
or so.  To tell ya the truth, I made a few recipes out of it, found *all* of
them disappointing, and have left the book sitting in my cookbook collecting,
taking up shelf real estate, unused ever since.  I should look back at it
again and see if it's more interesting now.  Lots of other people have good
things to say about it, so it must have some redeeming features.  I'll be
interested to hear what you think of it, Mary.

We had guests over this evening and when one spotted _New_
on the kitchen shelf she pulled it off and all the while
thumbing through it raved about the earlier edition and
how it brought her some of her favorite recipes - especially
the bread recipes.

But cookbooks are like lids and pots. ;-)

I'll let you know how the recipes come out.  I'm looking
to make one of the soup recipes later in the week.

I made my first recipe out of _New Vegetarian Epicure_, 
a sweet potato and corn soup. It is delicious -
thick, not too sweet, with a single diced jalapeno 
pepper for accent.

i'm getting "baking with julia childs" for christmas...i'm VERY excited...:)

<abchan wonders how eeyore knows what she is getting for christmas, unless
she is getting it for herself...>

When I was about nine, my mama's biggest cookbook, a book called "Cooking For
Today" attracted my attention and I told her then that I would someday take
it and she said fine.  I still want to get it.  It's got a littl bit of
everything.  I wonder if it's dated though.  I believe it's older than me...

Is there a Grex Cookbook?

There's a Recipe Archive online (I have a link from my homepages) that I've
taken some recipes off of but with my tiny kitchen, I haven't had a chance
to try any of them yet.

Re knowing ahead of time what you're getting for the holidays:
In my family, none of us knows each other well enough to have much idea about
what kind of holiday gift the others would appreciate, so we all tell each
other what we'd like.  It's pathetic, but it's also a lot easier to get
someone a gift they'll actually use and enjoy if they choose it.  My sister
and I usually make a shopping expedition together to get each other a Hanukah
gift.  Actually it's a lot of fun.  We see so little of each other that it's
wonderful to have an excuse to do something together.

Nope, Grex has recipe archives, but there is no Grex cookbook.  People have
talked from time to time about putting one together, but so far it's never
happened.  Hey, that could make an interesting holiday-time gift.  Hm....
The hard part is finding a volunteer to put it all together.

 It wouldn't be that hard for me, since I have the time (I'm unemployed) and
my computer can do desktop publishing. Just say the word, and I'll begin
work on it.

Re 31/32 - My parents have already gone over the major things
they want to get me for Christmas, to make sure I'd want them.
A situation made more bizarre by their not telling me what I'm
getting for my birthday next week.  >8)

i saw the cookbook about a week ago, and called my parents instantly to tell
them that it would make a WONDERFUL x-mas present.  the next night, they
stopped by work to say hi, and my mother was hiding a bag under her jacket
(enough was sticking out to see that it was from barnes and noble), and she
made the commant that if i wanted to use their NEW discount card there, to
go ahead.  i think this nmeans that i'm getting the book for x-mas.  :)
(my parents are really cool about stuff like that....:)

In my family, nobody can figure out what anybody else wanted so nobody gave
anyone presents.  It made life a lot easier when growing up.

Now I have to remember silly things like getting *cards* for people for their
birthdays.  I still forget 99% of the time and send off a rushed e-mail.

I know it's just because of my different upbringing but still, I can't help
feeling guilty when looking at the nice jewelry that a very special someone
has since gotten for me...

  I did a little test on this, and it doesn't look like it will be all that
hard to do. Can't laser print, but I can make it look really nice, or maybe
someone can take the formatted pages and run from there.

Cool!  Jim, go for it!  Yell if you want a volunteer to edit/proofread/
whatever.  Neat!

A Grex cookbook would be a really neat project.  I'm sure we could find plenty
more volunteers in we asked.  (Hey, I'd even volunteer, but I'm not sure what
I could do.)

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