cookbooks

New York In a Dozen Dishes

2015, Books in Bed, cookbooks, Non-Fiction /

I totally impulse picked New York In a Dozen Dishes because, duh, #BlogHer15 is in New York. And also because I like New York pizza.

The book was interesting – a look at 12 dishes, their history and their history in New York. Bonus for including restaurant suggestions and a recipe for each one. There’s quite a bit I wouldn’t eat (brains, chowder, blech) but all of the chapters were interesting. And, I have a weird craving for a black & white cookie and I don’t really like black & white cookies.

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I Made Toast For Dinner and I Liked It!

Books in Bed, cookbooks, Daily Dose, Foodie /

Remember how I said I don’t really like toasted bread? Well I also said I was going to make something from that cookbook and if it went well, I’d let you know.

I made something. It went well. I’m letting you know.

I made the Nectarine Caprese Toast for dinner last night, except I left out the tomato (which makes it not so much a caprese, right?) I thought the tomato might be too much? Or maybe I was just feeling lazy and unsure of how the dinner was going to go? I couldn’t really wrap my head around the nectarines and the basil and then there was the whole pan toasted bread thing… that freaked me out. Oh, I also used sourdough instead of a baguette because I just felt like having sourdough. And, there were no white nectarines at the grocery store so I used plain ole nectarines.

THIS WAS YUMMY.

I mean really yummy. I over-toasted a slice of sourdough and was annoyed with myself, but it was ok — TW and I just ate extra slices of nectarine, mozzarella and basil without that piece of toast and we were happy.

I will totally make this again. I’m kind of sorry I don’t have more nectarines because we have plenty of cheese and basil and sourdough — it could be an awesome breakfast. Heh.

If I could just remember to take pictures of food I make (and also maybe learn how to take a decent food photo) I could become a food blogger! hahaha.

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Better on Toast

2015, Books in Bed, cookbooks /

Sassymonkey, of course, was reading Better on Toast so I had to read it too. I loved the idea… until I got the book and then I remembered that I don’t really like anything ON toast except butter. No jam. No honey, no nothing else.

If I’m going to have a sandwich, open-faced or not, I don’t really like my bread toasted. In fact, I’d really rather not, thanks.

That made it hard for me to get into the idea of this cookbook. I asked Sassymonkey if she’d made anything from it — she hadn’t, because it had to go back to the library. She did say that she thought something with mushrooms or figs would be good. I agreed. Except, not so much.

So I’m sending the cookbook back… but, I am thinking about making ONE thing from it. Maybe even this weekend… if it works out, I’ll come back and let you know.

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Eat the Year

2015, Books in Bed, cookbooks, Don't Read This, Non-Fiction /

Besides being a book written by a blogger, Eat the Year, is a book about weird food holidays. I’m a sucker for weird food holidays. So obviously, I had to pick up this book.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past the first few pages. This was not the book I wanted it to be.

As someone who spent years talking to people about food holidays, on message boards, I was hoping for so much more than this. I told TW that this is the book that she and I should have written together… we could have nailed this topic, darn it.

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I’m a Sucker for Books About/By Bloggers, So I Read Two More

2015, Books in Bed, cookbooks, Non-Fiction /

I am. A very big sucker for books written by/about bloggers. Doesn’t matter if I’ve never heard of those bloggers before, I’m into it.

Which is, how I managed to bring Design Bloggers at Home home from the library. I think I’d only even heard of a few of these folks and only one was someone I’d ever read regularly or even remember reading at all. I enjoyed it quite a bit. There was a nice mix of design styles and regions of the world. I was also amused by the little tips and favorite blogs/sites provided by each blogger. And, as an extra bonus, the section on how to start your own blog was nicely done. I’m glad I read this one.

I reserved Sheet Pan Suppers from the library because a) Sassymonkey was reading it b) my mom owns it and loves it c) it’s written by a blogger. A trifecta of influence over me, haha.

I haven’t tried any of the recipes from this one but it did something that very few cookbooks or blog posts about food can do — it made me want to cook something. Not kidding. That’s a pretty big deal because I almost never want to cook. I don’t even mostly care if anyone else cooks. I’ll have some nachos or a sandwich and call that dinner every night, no problem.

So yea. I’m going to cook a few things from this and if it goes well, maybe I’ll even buy this cookbook. (Totally amusing since we are in the beginning stages of Konmari’ing our books right now, lol. Maybe I’ll buy it on Kindle lol.)

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2 Non-Fiction (cooking and gardening?)

1 Comment / 2014, Books in Bed, cookbooks, Favorites, Non-Fiction /

Did I mention the the non-fiction new arrivals are back downstairs where they belong? Heh. This means I’ve got all the fun non-fiction, just picked up because it looked interesting and because I love non-fiction.

First up, a cookbook. A cookbook I loved but TW made bad faces over. Heh. Stuffed: The Ultimate Comfort Food Cookbook. My kind of cookbook. Stuff all the yummy things with more yummy things! I’ve added The Food In My Beard to my feedreader (he wrote this book.)

Next, a book I want to buy but TW kind of rolled her eyes over. LOL. 5 Plant Gardens. I want all the gardens, with all of the plants (well with just five plants in each garden, of course. duh.)

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3 Non-Fiction

2014, Books in Bed, cookbooks, Favorites, Non-Fiction /

Sassymonkey talked about One Skillet, Two Plates so I checked it out. It’s a nice cookbook. A lot of good recipes, nothing super hard or weird. I wish there were more photos. I like photos.

Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable, Nesting Skills was mentioned on a blog I read so I thought I’d grab it. Totally loved it. Very zine-like. I can see a few of my kids really liking this book, (She recommends looking for help/info at Punk Houses, hahaha.) There wasn’t anything new or unusual about the ideas (tinctures, teas, infusions, cleaning, beauty products, first aid) I just liked the voice of the writer.

I reserved Hoosier Mama Book of Pie months ago (like September of last year). And I do mean MONTHS ago. It finally arrived at which point I decided I must have all the pie. Immediately. I don’t even really like pie all that much (except pumpkin) because I don’t really like pie crust. I also finally realized that when RJ talks about the pie shop her father has been going to, she’s been talking about the Hoosier Mama pie shop. (For some reason she says “Who’s Your Mama” not “Hoosier Mama”. lol) Must have all the pie. Seriously. Also… mmmm, Chess Pie. I don’t, however, want to make pie — no matter how interesting or good the recipes sounded.

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