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Must Read: 2009 Food & Wine Annual Cookbook

partysugar — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:15:50 -0700

Food & Wine magazine is one of my favorite glossies. I love it so much that at the end of the month I page through each issue and rip out interesting and delicious recipes.

Little did I know that the fabulous folks over at Food & Wine have already done the dirty work for me! Every year they release an annual cookbook ($29.95) with an entire year's worth of recipes.

Lucky me: I got my hands on 2009's copy. To find out what I thought of the compilation of over 700 recipes, read more.

Pros:

The book reduces paper waste. Now I don't have to rip out of the magazine or print up a recipe from online.
It's like a nostalgic look back on the year. Many of the recipes I've already made or remember thinking I wanted to try them.
No topic is left uncovered. There are recipes for everything from vegetarian starters to Thanksgiving dinners to pitcher cocktails.
Each recipe has a different author resulting in a wide range of cuisines and culinary point of views.

Cons:

There's something lacking in terms of organization. While it's broken up into sections (including breads, pizzas, and sandwiches; breakfast and brunch; and beef, lamb, and game), they're hard to navigate.
With so many recipes, sometimes the pages feel crowded.
Without the accompanying magazine story or headline, some recipes seem out of place.

Recipes: The recipes are written in Food & Wine's straight forward, easy-to-follow style. Here are some I hope to make:

BLT salad with blue cheese
Creamy asparagus soup
Sticky marmalade-glazed baby-back ribs
Pop-open clams with horseradish Tabasco sauce
Warm potato salad with arugula
Sour-cherry gin slings

Imagery: Not every recipe has a picture, but the book's smooth pages are filled with photos. Each image is in color. Some are full sized, while others take up only a quarter or half of the page.

Overall: If you're a fan of the magazine, you'll enjoy this book. Because there is a year's worth of recipes, it also makes a good basic cookbook.

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Homemade Baby Food Straight From the Grocery Store

LilSugar — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:00:04 -0700

While homemade baby food may be back en vogue, mamas know how much time and effort it takes to steam and puree baby's first solid foods. Baby cookbook authors claim that the purees take just a little more forethought than their store-bought counterparts, but factor in the prep and cleanup time and it's easy to see why many busy parents and caretakers turn to jarred goods.

For parents with limited time and cooking skills who still wish to give their lil one's the freshest and most healthy first foods, we've rounded up some of the best mass market chilled and frozen baby food available.

Homemade Baby offers a line of freshly prepared, kosher, and organic baby food that comes in refrigerated recyclable grab-and-go containers and are convenient for an on-the-go lifestyle. Available in three stages depending on a tot's chewing readiness, the line is available at Whole Foods and other national grocery stores.
Tasty Baby blast–freezes their 10 organic recipes at peak flavor - giving the fare farm freshness and nutritional value. Sold in recyclable and biodegradable wrapping and available online with free shipping, our testers loved the taste and convenience of these single-serve containers.
Pomme Bebe flash-freezes its small batch organic meals to lock in freshness and nutrients. The company rotates its menu according to seasons, to ensure the optimal taste of each single-serving and only recommends storing them for three months.
Hip Hip Puree may be limited to vegetables, but their purees can be used as both first foods and mix-ins for stage two and toddler meals. The four currently available flavors are great introductions to solid foods.
Happy Baby produces fresh-frozen organic meals in 15 varieties. With meats, veggies, grains and fruits, the line – which is endorsed by Dr. Sears – is made without nuts, soy, dairy, sugar and wheat in BPA-free trays.

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Kate Arrives Back to a Taste of London

PopSugar — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:30:14 -0700

Kate Moss was escorted by a handful of Virgin employees earlier today at London's Heathrow Airport. She's back in the UK following her trip to NYC for the huge Topshop opening and all the related parties, though Kate of course isn't slowing down yet. On top of word that she's set to record a song with the Lemonheads, there are also rumors she's looking to write a Jewish cookbook - we'll believe it when we see it, but Kate never ceases to surprise.

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Bauer-Griffin Online and Flynet

Gwyneth Nabs Cookbook Deal

YumSugar — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:30:09 -0800

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow's career may be headed away from the silver screen. The movie star is set to pen her first book, a cookbook, to be published in 2010.

Publishers Janklow & Nesbit have described the cookbook, entitled My Father's Daughter, as one that "focuses on the importance of togetherness at mealtime, emphasizing that cooking for your family is the ultimate expression of love."

In her tome, the movie star will undoubtedly pay homage to her late father, Bruce Paltrow. Last year, she told Us magazine that she was experimenting with favorite family recipes.

"My dad was an insane pancake maker," she said. "I'm just working on a recipe right now. I'm adapting it to make mine slightly more healthy."

Paltrow abandoned her famously stringent macrobiotic diet when pregnant with daughter Apple, and admitted that she "couldn't look at brown rice. It made me throw up." Last year, the actress starred in a documentary series, Spain . . . On the Road Again, with celebrity chef Mario Batali, and the two traveled the Iberian Peninsula, sampling regional Spanish cuisine. Around the same time, the actress also launched an online lifestyle newsletter, entitled Goop, which includes seasonal recipes and the star's favorite places to dine.

What do you think of the news? Would you pick up a copy of My Father's Daughter to try out some of the actress's original recipes?

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Off to Market: Fall Cookbook

partysugar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:00:28 -0700

Lately I've been feeling a little depressed about Summer coming to an end. I need something to get me excited for Fall, and I think a cookbook will do the trick. Not just any old cookbook, though. I want one that features Fall's most fabulous flavors, like Lou Seibert Pappas's A Harvest of Pumpkins and Squash ($15.95).

Can you help me find one? Look for cookbooks with recipes that feature Fall ingredients and hearty dishes. Save the books you discover in the Yum Market on TeamSugar with the keyword tag Fall cookbook. Happy hunting!

Please read geeksugar's explanation for more on how to bookmark. If you don't know where to start searching, check out a list my favorite online shops when you read more.

Bed Bath & Beyond
CB2
Cooking.com
Crate & Barrel
Ikea
Linens 'n Things
NapaStyle
Pier 1
Plum Party
Pottery Barn
Sur La Table
Target
Restoration Hardware
Williams-Sonoma
Wishing Fish
World Market

Must-Read: Giada's Kitchen

partysugar — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:30:08 -0700

Last week Giada De Laurentiis fourth cookbook, Giada's Kitchen ($32) hit bookshelves. The book release coincided with the relaunch of her website, Giadadelaurentiis.com. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of the glossy hardback with Tiffany-blue interior. Yesterday I spent some time reading the book - which is full of pretty pictures and delicious-sounding recipes - to see what I thought of it, read more.

Pros:

The book is loaded with clear, tantalizing pictures. Most recipes include a picture.
At the back of the book, there's a section devoted to menu ideas. There's a bunch of different themes (Aprés-Ski, Italian Picnic, Elegant Vegetarian Dinner, etc.) with dishes from the book. The menus are carefully thought out and make me want to host one of the parties.
This is the first book where De Laurentiis devotes a chapter to (not) just-for-kids food. Many of the recipes look scrumptious!

Cons:

The recipes are written in paragraph form, without any steps, making them harder to follow. It seems more like a showy book you would read, rather than actually cook with.
The aforementioned menus section does not include page numbers. So if you want to make the Tuscan Mushrooms for a Game Day viewing party, you have to look in the index to find out what page the recipe is on.
Many of the recipes have appeared on Giada's Food Network series, so a lot of them - like this orange ricotta pound cake or this chocolate and brie panini - can be found on the Internet.

Recipes: The recipes are classic Giada with the most delicious-sounding ones being her California-Italian-style dishes. The recipes listed below are on my must-make list:

Appetizers and Cocktails - pecorino crackers, apple and thyme martini, crostata with mushrooms and pancetta
Salads and Vegetables - parmesan potato pancake, artichoke gratinata
Meat - chicken scallopini with saffron cream sauce
Desserts - hazelnut crunch cake with mascarpone and chocolate

Imagery: The pictures are beautiful. The double page snapshots of Giada performing several steps of a certain recipe are especially helpful because they demonstrate the recipe's techniques.

Overall Rating: Mixed. While I'm a huge fan of Giada and I love her recipes, the fact that many can be found online makes me wonder what is the point of a cookbook? If you collect cookbooks, I suggest you get your hands on a copy. But if you can't afford the splurge, check out Giada's recipes on FoodNetwork.com.

Have you checked out Giada's Kitchen? What did you think?

Adventurous Cookbook Gets the Ball Rolling

YumSugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:00:43 -0700

When I need culinary inspiration, I turn to one of many cookbooks. But unless I'm feeling extraordinarily creative, I'm not sure I'll be turning to the latest cookbook to hit the circuit. The Testicle Cookbook: Cooking With Balls was just published by Ljubomir Erovic. Erovic is a chef in Serbia, a country where testicles are a prized delicacy. In the mood for goulash? Then why not experiment with a testicle version? Love pizza? Make his cheese, onion, pepper, bacon, and bull's testicle pizza. Of course, the art of eating testicles is nothing new: around the world, they've long been touted as aphrodisiacs.

According to Erovic, who organizes an annual testicle-cooking championship, the tastiest testicles come from bulls, ostriches, and stallions, although he claims, "All testicles can be eaten. Except human, of course."

What's your reaction to this? If you're really curious, you can view a bit of the book online. Do you have the balls to try any of the recipes?

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Yummy Links: From Twice Baked Potatoes to Real Sugar Pepsi

partysugar — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 06:50:34 -0800

Double stuffed baked potatoes are comforting and delicious. - Cooking With Amy
Ten dishes to make when you are cooking alone. - Chow
Time has come up with a list of the world's best food blogs. Did your favorite make the cut? - Time
Food Network is now showing full episodes online. - The Kitchn
Next Fall the Council of Fashion Designers of America plans to release a cookbook. - Eat Me Daily
Take this fun quiz to find out how much you know about food reality TV. - Time Out New York
Eating more soy could help save the planet. - The Epi-Log
Pepsi and Mountain Dew "Throwbacks" will be made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. - Serious Eats

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Let's Dish: How Do You Organize Your Recipes?

YumSugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:00:13 -0700

From recipe card filing systems to customized innovations like the tastebook, there are many ways to organize recipes. Still, if you own more than a dozen cookbooks, keep some of your family's recipes on record, and have limited kitchen space, maintaining an organized cooking library can be tough.

I've always struggled to arrange my kitchen paperwork - treasured family recipes, cookbooks, personal creations, recipes I've come across online, and appliance instruction manuals - all in one place. The closest thing I have to a solution is a binder full of sheet protectors that are sorted by course, so that I can insert any printout, clip, handwritten recipe, or manual. It sits next to a shelf full of cookbooks with recipes that have been tabbed.

How about you? Have you found a recipe organizing solution that works for you? I'd love to hear about it!

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Gwyneth Paltrow Branches Out Into Books

Molly — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:30:57 -0800

Gwyneth Paltrow treated herself to a solo lunch at a London pub earlier today. She's now known as a foodie because of her show Spain. . . On the Road Again and the food-themed GOOP emails, and she's set to branch out further into the world of cuisine. She signed a deal to write a cookbook, which will be called My Father's Daughter in honor of her late dad Bruce. It's just the latest project for busy Gwyneth, who's heading to the US this weekend in order to appear at Sunday's Grammys - whether or not she appears alongside Chris Martin.

To see more of Gwyneth in her rain gear just read more.

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