5 Books for Food and Drink Lovers (Weekend Cooking)

Hello, my friends. Yes, it's been a long time. Lately, I've been talking about cookbooks on Instagram instead of here--no particular reason except I've been feeling lazy about writing.

Today I want to talk about five books that could make good presents this holiday season. I haven't cooked out of any of these, but I liked what I saw when I was looking through them. I hope you find one or two that catch your attention. (Thanks to the publishers for the review copies.)

The first book is The Christmas Movie Cookbook by Julia Rutland (Simon Element; Sept.). If you wait all year for the chance to indulge in holiday movie viewing, then you pretty much have to look for a copy of this cookbook. Before you plan your movie viewing party, take a look at the holiday menu ideas and entertaining tips before jumping into the recipes.

The cookbook is organized by common categories (such as drinks, salads, appetizers, and mains), and each recipe is linked to a specific holiday film. The introductions to the recipes explain the connections for those of us who aren't up on all their Christmas movie trivia. For example, Pigs in a Blanket is for Shrek the Halls, Old-Fashioned Meatloaf is for A Christmas Story, Really Rich Hot Chocolate is for The Polar Express, Linzer Star Cookies are for Die Hard, and Garlic and Herb Crusted Roast Beef is for How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Recommended for those who love all things Christmas.

Next is The Complete Guide to Food Photography by Lauren Caris Short (RockyNook; Sept.). I was very excited to receive a review copy of this book because I can use some serious help with my food photography. This book may be slightly above my level in terms of gear and technical knowledge, but I think I'll be able to pick up some good tips.

Chapters cover lighting, composition, styling, storytelling, editing, and finding your personal style. Though I don't own special lights or diffusers (and don't have plans to buy them), I was interested in learning about backgrounds, creating shapes (triangles, swirls, diagonals), finding the texture, and creating movement. I also plan to study the editing chapter, so I can at least learn to make the most of what I photograph and the apps I'm using for editing. Recommended for those who wish to take their food photography to the next level.

Next up is Good Housekeeping's 1, 2, 3 Cook! My First Cookbook (Hearst Home Kids; Oct), which includes 50 recipes geared to kids 4 to 8 years old. For brand new cooks, it starts with basic techniques, like how to measure, how to roll out dough, and how to grease a pan. Then it turns to the recipes.

The book designers picked bright colors and a larger font making it easy and fun for young readers to follow. Besides the ingredients and method, each recipe includes a list of needed tools and an estimated cooking time. Throughout the directions are icons that alert young cooks and their adult supervisors to steps that might require extra care (hot pans, sharp knives). The cookbook includes lots of helpful kitchen advice, such as why and how to wash greens, how to hull a strawberry, and how to use a whisk. Fun line drawings and corny jokes make the book a delight to use.

The best part about this kids' cookbook is the recipes themselves. I love that the book teaches children to make real food that anyone of any age would be happy to make, serve, and eat. Examples are chicken salad sandwiches, smoothies, cinnamon rolls, nachos, flank steak with chimichurri, pasta salad, and smoothies. I don't have little ones to cook with, but I'm looking forward to trying some of the recipes. Recommended for anyone who wants to learn to cook, but it's a great pick if you have interested youngsters in your life.

Fourth is Eating Together, Being Together by Julian Clauss-Ehlers and Caroline Clauss-Ehlers (Princeton Architectural Press; Sept.). The husband-wife authors--he's a Michelin-starred chef and she's an award-winning psychologist--want to help busy families find a way to make mealtimes stress-free (or at least less stressful) and to ensure they support family bonding.

The book is full of tips for dealing with issues almost all households face, like trying to feed picky eaters and trying to engage teenagers in meaningful conversation. In addition, each recipe comes with conversation starters and activities for the youngest of kids up to preteens and teens and even for the adults in the household.

The recipes highlight fresh foods and plenty of vegetables, but you'll also find some sweet (fruit-forward) treats and yummy snacks. All the dishes look easy to make and run the full range from grilled cheese to Cajun-style tilapia. Suggested side dishes accompany the main-dish recipes. Recommended for families looking for mealtime help and bonding ideas.

Finally, we have Midcentury Cocktails by Cecelia Tichi (NYU Press; Nov.). This is Tichi's third book about cocktails popular during a specific historical era. This book focuses on the postwar years in America: think Mad Men, the three-martini lunch, the baby boom, the cold war, and the modern housewife.

Of course, the book includes cocktail recipes, but at its core is a cultural history of America. Chapters cover Playboy clubs, bachelor pads, the bar car on commuter trains, the Jet Set, and more. Tichi starts each section with a look at contemporary culture; for example, in the "Green Book" chapter, she cites James Baldwin's story of trying to get a drink at Chicago's O'Hare airport. The chapter about the era's authors and writers delves into women's issues as well as the popularity of the cocktail party.

The drinks recipes that end each chapter are classics: gin martini, brandy Alexander, Tom Collins, the Grasshopper, and the Irish Fix. The book includes New Yorker-like drawings and ends with a bibliography for further inquiry. Recommended for those who like food history, cocktails, and/or American cultural history.

Shared with Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker)

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Weekend Cooking: 9 Books for Food & Drink Lovers

Hello friends! It’s been a hot minute since I connected with my very favorite blogging group—all of you at Weekend Cooking. Part my absence was just needing a break and part is my lack of desire to learn the new Blogger interface. (And at this point I’m not really interested in paying someone to move everything over to WordPress.)

I’ll get the hang of it and all will be fine again.

Today’s post is a round-up of 9 food and cooking books I’ve been exploring since the beginning of the summer. Hope you find something you like here. All these books should be available at your local independent bookstore or library; note that publishing dates are from Edelweiss+ and may not be accurate.

• Modern Cast Iron by Ashley L. Jones (Red Lighting Books; Aug. 18): This book lives up to its subtitle; it is indeed a “complete guide” to cast iron and includes good information on how to buy pans, season and clean them, and even how to turn that crusty flea market find into something you’ll be happy to use. Jones includes a handful of recipes that will take you from breakfast through to dinner (we made the chocolate chip cookie skillet cake--see my Instagram for a photo). The recipes are easy and doable, but the worth of this book is in the excellent advice for incorporating cast iron into your modern kitchen.
• Dirt by Bill Buford (Knopf; May 5): I’ve been a fan of Buford’s since I first listened to his book Heat in 2006. In his newest cooking memoir he shares his journey to learn all there is to know about French cooking; never mind that he didn't really speak the language. His self-directed humor and conversational tone mixed with a natural talent for storytelling, makes Dirt a don’t-miss read. A six-month stay in Lyon, with his wife and toddler twin boys, turned into a years-long learning opportunity. You’ll be craving all things wonderful on your plate, even as you discover the strict rules and techniques that are de rigueur for French chefs.
• The Truth about Baked Beans by Meg Muckenhoupt (NYU Press, Aug. 25): This well-researched look into the culinary world of New England dissects the myths and reveals the truths of the region’s signature dishes. From Native Americans to the Pilgrims and through every wave of immigrants thereafter, every group has made its mark on household New England cooking, and—spoiler alert—most of those dishes are different from those that have gained legendary status. Firsthand accounts reveal the cultural biases, fear of the unfamiliar, and more that shaped the region’s culinary reputation. Well worth your time.

• Beautiful Booze by Natalie Migliarini and James Stevenson (Countryman Press; Aug. 25): I’m usually a wine (and sometimes beer) kind of woman, but other times I’m all about the cocktail. In these days of self-isolation, there’s something fun about coming up with the perfect afternoon, evening, or weekend drink to brighten your day and make you dream about a future when you can invite your friends and family into your house again. The “beautiful” part of the title of this cocktail recipe book isn’t a lie: the photos and the drinks themselves are simply gorgeous. I’m not kidding. The book includes all the expected information about stocking your bar, picking glassware, learning mixing techniques, and making homemade syrups. The drinks look heavenly.
• Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden with Martha Holmberg (Artisan; May 2): This wonderful vegetable-forward cookbook is just what you want to guide you through your year of veggies. I can’t wait until I can go to the farmer’s market again and explore all the freshest produce of the season; when that day happens, this is the cookbook I want by my side. In the meantime, I can use the recipes to make the most of grocery store curbside pickup. Although the recipes are centered on seasonal vegetables, this is not a fully vegetarian cookbook, so if you don’t eat meat, you’ll want to look through this before you buy it. Wondering about the six seasons? Summer is divided up into early, mid, and late harvests.
• The Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook by Lucy Vaserfirer (Harvard Common Press; Aug 4): I’m inspired by this down-to-earth, easy-to-follow guide to making homemade noodles. The techniques sections cover all kinds of pasta makers, from sheeters to cutters to extruders, including stand-alone electric machines, hand-cranked machines, and attachments to a mixer. The recipes look easy and fun, and Vaserfirer provides directions for gluten-free pasta too. I’m waiting for cooler weather to give these recipes a try, although now that I think about it, quarantine is the perfect time to perfect your pasta-making skills. Great photos and clear directions throughout.

• Unvarnished by Eric Alperin and Deborah Stoll (Harper Wave; June 23): This memoir has been billed as the Kitchen Confidential of the bartending world. That alone would get me to read this, but the book has also won tons of praise for its candid perspective of life on the other side of the bar. Alperin extolls the professional side of his chosen career, dispelling the notion that a good mixologist is somehow in limbo waiting for his or her "real" job opportunities to appear. I haven’t read this yet, but it’s currently at the top of my fall reading stack.
• Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table by Carole Bumpus (She Writes Press; Aug. 18): In this second travelogue, food adventure, memoir mashup, Bumpus takes us to Normandy, Brittany, Loire, and Auvergne, where she met local families, learning about their foods, recipes, and traditions while cooking and talking at the kitchen table. If you’re interested in authentic French foods and wines, have a love of travel, and understand the importance of family, you’ll love Bumpus’s books. I’m reading this slowly, savoring every (tasty) word.
• Women in the Kitchen by Anne Willan (Scribner; Aug. 11): Willan’s books have a permanent place in my personal cookbook collection. Her latest is a look at a dozen women who lived and cooked at some point during the last 300 years and who (as the subtitle suggests) had a major influence on the way we eat and cook. I just received my review copy of this book (as in yesterday!), and I can’t wait to dive in. The book consists of short biographies and then a sampling of each woman’s recipes. I might not make Hannah Woolley’s seventeenth-century recipes, but I’ve already cooked from books written by Edna Lewis, Irma Rombauer, and many of the others. I’m looking forward to learning more!

Thanks to the publishers for providing review copies of these titles. Fuller reviews will be available on Goodreads or Instagram sometime during the following weeks.

Shared with Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker)

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