By Debbie Mitchell
For anyone who is a fan of cookbooks, today's Foodie Friday is for you. I have always enjoyed collecting cookbooks, all types of cookbooks as you can see from the picture above. My aunt Joyce has had her copy of The Joy of Cooking for over 30 years and says it has everything she needs in it. She uses it to check, how to cook something, but never for it's ingredients, aunt Joyce uses her own seasonings. My mom is a great cook who cooks by taste and know how. She does not measure the ingredients but just knows how much is needed in a recipe. I learned to cook as a kid from watching my mom and today follow the same method. While she never ever used a cookbook to prepare a meal, I did some of my best experimenting with the recipes found in cookbooks.
During the days before you could download a recipe online, I would watch a cooking segment on television, write down the recipe or buy the featured chefs cookbook. Then I would actually plan a menu and choose several dishes from different cookbooks. This was always my favorite part of planning Thanksgiving dinner, identifying the dishes, finding and buying ingredients, which I probably would only use once and following the steps to make my perfect dish.
During the days before you could download a recipe online, I would watch a cooking segment on television, write down the recipe or buy the featured chefs cookbook. Then I would actually plan a menu and choose several dishes from different cookbooks. This was always my favorite part of planning Thanksgiving dinner, identifying the dishes, finding and buying ingredients, which I probably would only use once and following the steps to make my perfect dish.
The problem with collecting cookbooks is that you can run out of space to store them, which I have in my New York City apartment. Once recipes became available online, I began to download them, but find it is just not the same as having the recipe in a book on the counter as you cook. During a recent panel discussion, at the #TECHMUNCH food blogger conference , entitled Digital Bites:The future of the cookbook, panelists talked about the evolution of the cookbook over the years, from passing along recipes orally to todays books filled with lots of food photos to accompany a recipe. While the audience questioned whether cookbooks will go the way of the dinosaur as a result of the Internet, panelists reassured the group there will always be someone who wants and needs a book with recipes. The digital recipe is not for everyone. Cookbooks run the gamut and I have come across a few since I've started to write my blog. Since I've run out of space to store my own, maybe you can check these out and buy a few to add to your collection.
If you want to try a few new recipes with fruits and vegetables this book is for you. The last few weeks we've watched First Lady Michelle Obama make the media rounds to promote her new book American Grown:The Story of The White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America. The book tells the story of the 1100 square foot fruit and vegetable garden Mrs.Obama planted on the White House lawn in 2009. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to the National Park Foundation while the promotes healthy eating. It's a picture book that she hopes will help kids and families eat healthier and promote better nutrition. For a few good recipes check out this book and for a summer salad recipe click here.
Now, from healthy to not so healthy, but fun. Food blogger Shauna Sever has a new book out Marshmallow Madness. Sever who blogs at Piece of Cake was in New York in March promoting her book when my friend Lora of Diary of a Mad Hausfrau and I dropped in to say hi and lend support. When it comes to salty and sweet, I tend to lean towards salty. I have always found marshmallows too sweet for my taste but enjoy a few small ones in a cup of hot chocolate now and then. Sever says that she's loved marshmallows since she was a child and that marshmallows made from scratch taste nothing like the ones bought in the store. She was right, her samples included flavors like concord grape and vanilla bean and tasted pretty good. Sweet, but in a fresh and spongy way. If you love marshmallows this one is for you.
While there we checked out a few other books by food bloggers that are out right now.
At the IACP Conference Book & Blog Festival and Culinary Expo in New York City earlier this year I found La Figa: Visions of Food and Form a photography table book. I wrote about the sensual photos a few weeks ago which also has recipes by James Beard award winning Chef Tiberio Simone.
Finally you should pick up a copy of the book Southern Biscuits. Nathalie Dupree, a fellow James Beard Broadcast and New Media award committee member has authored eleven cookbooks and her latest is Southern Biscuits , co-authored with Cynthia Graubart. If you have a favorite cookbook, leave tell me about it when you leave a comment or tweet me.
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| Me with author Nathalie Dupree, JBF Broadcast Awards 2012 |
TV/Social Media Producer Debbie Mitchell is an Emmy nominated producer who is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and is currently a member of the James Beard Broadcast and New Media Awards committee. If you are blogger or brand interested in blogger outreach campaigns or a personality interested in television placement follow Debbie Mitchell @TVProducerDeb or contact http://TheBloggerConnection.com.
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