Weekend Cooking: My New Favorite Cookbook & More

Welcome to the last Weekend Cooking of the year. I don't know about you, but I'm spending the weekend cooking and cleaning in preparation for our annual New Year's Eve dinner with close friends. (Read: I may be slow visiting your blogs this weekend.)

Right before I started writing this post, I took some time to skim through all my Weekend Cooking posts from 2017 and was happy to be reminded of all the good things that go on in my food life, from useful cookbooks to interesting documentaries and fun foodie novels.

My New Favorite Cookbook. One of the best things that happened to me in 2017 was being invited to be part of the Abrams Dinner Party. I've really enjoyed having the opportunity to share some truly good cookbooks and recipes with you (here and on Twitter and Litsy), and I've also liked getting to know the other dinner party participants. We've been having fun sharing our cooking and baking experiences.

As I was reviewing my year in food posts, I realized I never wrote about my new favorite cookbook, The Dinner Plan by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion. I discovered this book as part of the Abrams program, and although I've tweeted about the book on several occasions, apparently I never mentioned it on my blog.

Take a look at the photo above and you'll see how many recipes I have marked to try. One of the other Abrams Dinner Party participants says she's on a mission to make every single recipe in the book. Why do we love it so much? The recipes are close to foolproof, the flavors are spot-on, and the directions are easy to follow and use common ingredients. Plus, we love the focus of the cookbook, which is revealed in the subtitle: "Simple Weeknight Recipes and Strategies for Every Schedule."

I'm not going to write up a formal review, but if you're looking for delicious, fast, easy recipes for everyday cooking, this is your book. The Dinner Plan has barely left my kitchen table and has become my immediate go-to source when I start working on my own weekly dinner plan. (Both photos are meals I made from this book.)

The Year Ahead. When I started the Weekend Cooking link-up in October 2009, I had no idea that I'd still be hosting all these years later. It's kind of surprising that I can still come up with a post every week, even after 423 Saturdays!

One guideline I made for myself when I started Weekend Cooking was to try to keep it upbeat and fun. This means that I rarely write about books and cookbooks that were total duds for me; instead I focus on the books that have merit.

Not every cookbook is for me, but if the recipes are solid and the other information is useful and accessible, then I'll review the book. I try to remember to include a "recommendation" line with every review, indicating the best audience for the cookbook, so you can make a decision about whether it may have a place in your kitchen.

Is anything going to change here on Weekend Cooking? Nope. I like the variety of posts I write for the meme, and I love, love, love reading all the different posts you all share: photos, travel, reviews, recipes, chitchat, gadgets -- I look forward to reading every single one of your posts.

Here's to another 52 weeks of Weekend Cooking! I hope you continue to share your culinary adventures and more with us in the year to come.

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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

NOTE: Mr. Linky sometimes is mean and will give you an error message. He's usually wrong and your link went through just fine the first time. Grrrr.
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