sprinklefingers

…at least for some.

here’s a roundup of summer-release cookbooks straight from sam sifton at the ny times.

and if that’s not enough, here are 25 more!

no, this isn’t a post about baker’s twine. or even nests of pasta. it’s a post about my brain. a tangled mess indeed.

while i was physically absent from work last week, i was kept up to date on the goings-on…thanks in large part to email & txt messages. but now that i’m really back, there’s so much to do. for example, my brain is so tangled it absolutely will not let me pick flooring for our new shop. additionally, while chairs got crossed off our list last week, picking tables is making my brain an even bigger mess. and don’t even get me started on countertop material. add to this the fact that i’m woefully behind on menu planning and my brain just feels like it’s going to expire.

and then i get two new cookbooks and suddenly the brain is calmed. amazing that even the thought of food tames me. [well. i guess it’s not that amazing, especially if you’ve been reading this diary for a while.]

while i haven’t yet cooked a single thing from either of these two books, i still highly recommend them. beautiful design, pretty pictures and perfectly written. i’ve been reading them like novels.

first up, chicken & egg by janice cole. i don’t keep chickens. i have no plans to keep chickens. but my lack of chicken husbandry doesn’t mean i don’t like reading about chicken coop drama - and this book is full of it. in addition to tales of actual hens, the book is stuffed with recipes…and i can honestly say that there isn’t one recipe in the entire book that i don’t want to make. my upcoming easter brunch features a dish from this book - of course i’ll tell you all about it in due time.

look at that cover! so adorable!

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and second, the glorious pasta of italy by domenica marchetti. with photographs by my favorite food photographer, france ruffenach. i cannot wait to make the spring pea soup recipe. and, hello, a sauce made of zucchini? FINALLY something new to do with the abundance of zucchini my friends grow each year.

don’t you just want to eat this cover?



more to come after i get cooking!

yesterday i posted about kitchen bibles. it took me a while to think of mine.

i write my daily post in my office, and to the right of my desk lives my cookbook collection. a collection containing, as of this moment, just under 400 titles. but not all of them can be considered my favorites. not even close.

that said, here are the books i pull from the shelf first - when i have question, when i’m looking for something delicious…you get the picture.

1. laurel’s kitchen - standout, go-to recipe: tennessee corn pone. a delicious combination of beans and cornbread.

2. vegetables every day - standout, go-to recipe: duxelles. blow-your-mind delicious mushroom preparation that’s so good when stuffed under the skin of a roasted chicken.

3. the rodale whole foods cookbook - standout, go-to recipe: quinoa with butternut squash & sausage. easy and tasty and guilt-free. comes together so quickly it’s perfect for a work-filled week.

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ps: i realize baking books are missing from my bible list. why? because that’s an entirely different post. but, for the record, the only baking book i’d ever consider to be a bible is the pie and pastry bible. the first cookbook i ever read cover-to-cover like a novel. rose still influences my every baking move. forever and ever, amen.

there was a package waiting for me when i got home yesterday. it contained this:



adorable, isn’t it?

and inside? this:


can’t quite make out the print? it’s a ‘recipe’ for curing your own bacon!

the entire book is jam-packed with amazing ideas for getting your kids involved in the kitchen…it’s all accomplished through a series of ‘projects’ - whether it’s curing your own bacon or making your own salt or creating your own butter or building an ice cream maker or growing tomatoes or hosting your own pancake race - every project is so much fun and so interesting that i’d bet even the pickiest kids would love getting involved. even my husband.

seriously, this book is so much fun that someone should start a blog about it.
speaking of blogs about things, i wonder how lawrence is doing…

i arrived home yesterday only to find a package of books on the front stoop. is there anything more exciting? (uh, don’t answer that. i’ve told you about 93 times that i don’t get out much - therefore the arrival of books truly is exciting.)

inside?

the latest offerings (in the US) from the supergreat hugh fearnly-whittingstall - the brains (& most often the brawn) behind england’s river cottage. now, don’t worry if you have no idea what i’m talking about. river cottage is a place AND a movement AND a way of thinking - all started by UK journalist hugh fearnly-whittingstall. basically, he bought a farm and grew his own food then started telling people about his adventures via his writings and a television series. but it was much more than work to him. today he has grown river cottage into a champion of the local, seasonal, grow-your-own food movement. at the headquarters near Devon you can take cookery & butchery classes, learn to grow vegetables, shop for seasonal produce AND enjoy a delicious local, seasonal meal at the canteen. and this is just a smattering of their offerings. check it out!

anyways, inside my package was river cottage preserves (us version) - and there is literally so much good stuff in there that i almost couldn’t sleep last night. my favorite? a very descriptive method for testing how much pectin is in a specific fruit so that you can make your own pectin ‘broth’ for jam-making. amazing. and incredible. and something i’ve never, ever thought to do before. cannot wait to experiment.

i’ll leave you now with hugh’s column from the guardian - this particular issue discusses muffins. i know you’ll thank me once you see the recipe for the red onion, cheddar and bacon version. you’re welcome.