Topic Books and Blogs
My Favorite Asian Cookbooks: Recipes, Traditions and Travels.
I love my cookbooks – they’re like children. And, like children, I love some of them more than others. At least that’s how my mother explained it. Cookbooks are wonderful
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Baked Kale Chips: Snacking, Purified.
Have you ever baked kale? I mean, baked it for a snack. To munch on by the bowlful while watching PBS’s Sherlock? Yeah, just like popcorn. It’s crazy good.
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Hungry for More Alexander Lobrano?
I love how he plays with phrases, uses unexpected references and concentrated details, injects bits of history, and pulls in memories of his picky-eating youth, providing a little good-humored
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How to Backpack Through Paris in a Little Black Skirt, Part Deux
My little black skirt theory still holds true. A little black skirt is light, comfortable, versatile, doesn’t take up much suitcase room, and with the appropriate accessories, it can take you
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Edna Lewis, the Grand Dame of Southern Cuisine
My favorite excerpt from The Taste of Country Cooking by Ms. Edna Lewis: “I will never forget spring mornings in Virginia. A warm morning and a red sun rising behind a thick
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‘Cue: the Fanaticism, the Feuds, the Sheer Fortitude
In the South, barbeque is not just a food, “…it’s a cultural ritual, practiced with a kind of religious fervor among various barbeque sects, each of whom believes their
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Southern Cuisine: A Culinary Obsession
…In the South the history of the region is all pervasive and embraces the cuisine. Southern food is not just food cooked south of the Mason-Dixon line. It is
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Atlas Shrugged & Russian Pelmeni: A Book Report with Food
My assignment was to read Atlas Shrugged. Solely studying the culinary arts for the past several years, if a book isn’t food-centered, it probably hasn’t gotten my attention. Perhaps
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Domaine Ste. Michelle Luxe Sparkling & A Good Book
Today is the first snow day! Merely getting out of the driveway was a white-knuckle exercise in frustration. Wintery days usually call for something warm like tea or hot
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Where Are All The Women – by Laura Shapiro
Women have come a long way from the days of discrimination in the work place, but there are other factors influencing women chefs from rising to the top in
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The Passionate Epicure
The cordon bleu’s eye, with an odd gleam of interest and evident enthusiasm, pleasurably caressed all the complicated and ingenious appointments. Dodin followed her gaze and dissected it with emotion.
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Cynthia Nims’ New Food Blog, Mon Appetit
(Photo of Cynthia from her website.) She said she’d never do it, but she went ahead and did it anyway. Freelance writer and cookbook author, Cynthia Nims, recently debuted her new food blog, Mon
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Gourmet Magazine’s New Website
Gourmet Magazine has its very own website, free from the generic assemblage of Epicurious. It’s great. It’s perfect! It finally feels like Gourmet! The change is way overdue. I bought my very
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Feast: A History of Grand Eating by Sir Roy C. Strong
From the nude acrobats who entertained dinner guests in ancient Greece to the quiet rituals of medieval monks, from Roman debauchery and excess to the restrained rigor of the
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Chicago: More Than Great Deep-Dish, And Yes, Pretty Windy
I knew about deep-dish, but I can’t say I’d ever had an authentic one. Deep-dish, the biting winds and Charlie Trotter’s were all I really knew about Chicago. I’m embarrassed to
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Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook
Mom always said, “if you can’t say anything nice…” – you know the drill. If a book isn’t my cup of tea, I won’t write about it; I’m not a book critic
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Rizzoli: Another Great Manhattan Bookstore
Known for publishing stunning coffee table books and their spectacular two-story window, Rizzoli Bookstore on 5th Avenue is a New York institution. In 1974 Rizzoli published books on art, architecture, haute couture,
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Kitchen Arts & Letters: New York’s Best Cookbook Shop
Really great cookbook shops are hard to come by – only a handful of cities have one. Of course, thank God Gore invented the internet and Bush hasn’t banned it
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Chez Pim, Haute Couture Chickens and Eggs
(Photo borrowed from Pim’s Website, chezpim.com) Pim, blogger extraordinaire, does a lot of good with her food blog, Chez Pim – this year alone she united food bloggers everywhere and raised over $60,000 for
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Earthly Delights: Feast on Delectable Words
Photo: Wendy C. Ortiz of Earthly Delights Wendy has her way with words, a way that beckons and lures even the most accidental of skimmers to Earthly Delights. Years ago Earthly Delights was my first food
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The Psychological Ramifications of Food & Wine Pairing
This morning I woke up to gray clouds, a light drizzle and a slight chill. The grumblings in my stomach were for more than just sustenance; I needed comfort food.
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How to Backpack Through Italy in a Little Black Skirt
Slang for Looking Good & Eating Well on a Budget I’m willing to concede that I may be a touch high-maintenance, and that backpacking through Italy wearing jeans every day would probably
Continue Reading→Interview: Cynthia Nims, Food Writer & Cookbook Author
Cynthia’s career in the culinary arts is illustrious indeed — she has studied here in Seattle and France (her home away from home); authored & coauthored several cookbooks on local products
Continue Reading→Interview: Grace Young, Cookbook Author
Sitting over a bowl of steaming noodles and reading Saveur magazine, I was drawn into an article about Grace Young and her new book, The Breath of a Wok – Unlocking the Spirit of
Continue Reading→Penelope Casas, Mistress of Spanish Cuisine
For Spanish cookbooks, the authority on the subject is Penelope Casas. Born in New York, Penelope has traveled throughout Spain for more than 35 years writing numerous books encompassing her experiences
Continue Reading→James Beard’s Delights & Prejudices
At the beginning of her career, Leslie Mackie, of Macrina Bakery, spent a summer reading James Beard’s Delights & Prejudices. Following her lead, I did the same this summer. Delights & Prejudices is a wonderful gastronomic
Continue Reading→The Auberge of the Flowering Hearth
By Roy Andries de Groot In October 1967, Mr. de Groot was looking for answers to Chartreuse, the secretive green elixir produced by silent monks in the hills near Voiron, a
Continue Reading→The Passionate Epicure
by Marcel Rouff translated by CLAUDE “If, like the man whose saintly existence I evoke in these chapters and like myself, one admits that cookery is the art of taste as
Continue Reading→Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook
By Leslie Mackie & Andrew Cleary Collecting wonderful cookbooks for many years now, I remember the exact moment I was bit by the proverbial bug. One particularly sweltering summer day, I
Continue Reading→The Duchess Who Wouldn’t Sit Down
An Informal History of Hospitality By Jesse Browner This book is highly entertaining – a must-read for anyone interested in hospitality. Browner takes us on a compelling ride through the history
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