celebrating shared meals
I have had The Homemade Kitchen cookbook for a while now and while it has taken me some time to get around to posting it isn’t because I didn’t like it. On the contrary, this book has been a fabulous read. Like some of the other cookbooks I have loved this one tells a story and offers a personal story about why she loves cooking. Even if you never intend to cook from the book it is worth getting for her writing.
Great new cookbooks are like having trusted friends over for dinner. They are an imaginary friend around the table, look who came to dinner at my house. My new dinner companions are an eclectic group of chefs, eaters, and storytellers. For Christmas, I got quite the collection of cookbooks. Hugh Acheson, Rick Bayless, Ruth Reichl and Audrey Hepburn’s son are my new companions for planning dinner.
Since we are on our Whole 30 adventure to start of the year I haven’t been able to cook from them much yet, but that actually hasn’t been all bad. It is extremely tempting, but it is encouraging me to read them like books. Not all cookbooks are set up to be read like a novel, but my favorites are and a few of these have even made it to my nightstand as evening reading. A turn of events that has my husband thinking I am a little obsessed. [Read more…]
I have read many arguments for eating less meat and more vegetables and I just can’t seem to get in the mood for it. It sounds so boring to be vegetarian like I would be subjected to the same boring dishes day in and day out. No variety and certainly no excitement. If a book could change my mind A Modern Way to Eat would be the book. I will kill the suspense and tell you it didn’t change my mind, and I served most of these dishes as sides, not the main course. This is the first vegetarian cookbook that had me thinking it might actually be more interesting, challenging and fun to cook without meat. I might even add in a few meatless Monday’s because of Anna Jones.
I finished, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, weeks ago and I can’t stop thinking about. I spend a lot of time thinking about food and how it connects people so the fact that I am enamored might not be that surprising given the title. The topic certainly is a big reason the book keeps popping up, but it is the writing style that I keep coming back to.
The book is written from various points of view and each chapter doesn’t necessarily have the main character in it directly. It threw me for a loop as I was reading it, but I grew to love it and I was so impressed by it at the end of the book. I can’t wrap my head around how he pulled it off. Like a complex meal that you can’t imagine cooking blows you away and impresses you with the artists skill, this book had the same effect on me. I am just in awe of his ability to tell a story in such a unique way. I give him kudos for the food part too. He obviously has done his research or has a passion for food that made that a fun back story. He knows his midwest and especially his Minnesota cuisine and hot dishes.
I found out about the book in an article that was heralding great new books. I wish I could remember the articles so I could check out the rest of the books. It turns out I am connected in a six degrees of separation, actually it is 2 degrees, in this case, with the author. He is the childhood friend of one of my favorite people. I knew that while I was reading the book, but this made it even more fun. Added excitement while reading was recognizing my friends favorite bands, places in Minneapolis he talks about and seeing his last name used for a character in the book. If seeing my friends names in the acknowledgments was super cool for me I can only imagine how they felt seeing it in print.
While you won’t have the added excitement of seeing your friend’s name in print, you will get a sweet story centered around food. You can’t go wrong picking up this book.
If you love food, you should read this book.
If you love good story-telling, you should read this book.
If you are breathing, you should read this book.
What book is on your wish list right now, or have you loved recently?
*This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase after clicking on the link.
The first time I heard of monkey bread, I was reading the America’s Test Kitchen cookbook. It was one of the first yeast breads I ever tried to make. It turned out well and one piece lead to another, which lead to another and before I knew it the whole batch was eaten. Seeing a chocolate version in the Back in the Day Bakery Made with Love cookbook brought back fond memories of the cinnamon-y version I made years ago. With my new found confidence from my recent baking class it seemed like a good place to start in my month long journey through the cookbook for the cookbook club. It is also fit right in with #choctoberfest with Imperial Sugar. If you haven’t already signed up head over and enter the giveaway. The prize is sure to help with your holiday baking this year.
I received the cookbook from Artisan Books after I reviewed their book The Picnic. I wasn’t particularly excited to make anything from the book and honestly didn’t open it for months. I finally opened it because when I asked the cookbook club which cookbook they would be more drawn to between baking and vegetarian, baking won. I haven’t stopped thinking about the book since I read it a week ago in preparation of featuring it.
I kind of figured it would be complicated recipes that they only make at the bakery. Nothing I would want to spend hours making. I was wrong. There are some challenging recipes, but most are good for early to intermediate bakers. You can tell it is written by chefs though because there are descriptions like, “mix until a smooth dough forms”. I have no idea what that means. Should it still be clinging to the bowl? should it be shiny? should it be sticky? What exactly does that mean in relation to dough? I rolled with it fingers crossed that I did it correctly.
And the recipe tasted delicious. It didn’t look perfect, but no one in our house seemed to mind. My pan was a little small, they suggest a 9×5 loaf pan and mine was more 7×3, but it still tasted delicious. Like the monkey bread I made before you could do this in a bundt pan instead of a loaf pan, in case you too don’t have 9×5 loaf pan. The bundt pan would allow for the delicious lemon glaze to hit more pieces of bread!
Now that I have cracked this cookbook I am eager to try a few more of these recipes. Banoffee Pie and their trick for making caramelized milk in a slow cooker will be up later this week. I know I need to get the mexican spice cake in the mix and there are some savory recipes like, Sweet Potato PotPie that are irresistible. It is going to be a fun month. To hear more about these recipes come discuss this book and others with us in the cookbook club Facebook group. We would love to have you join the conversation about cooking and find some new cookbooks to try.
I received a copy of this book from Artisan Books. I was not otherwise compensated or obligated to write about this book and the ideas and thoughts here are my own.
*This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase after clicking on the link.
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If, like me, you want to make sure they balls of dough are exactly the same size, weigh the dough in ounces, divide by 16. Then measure out 16 pieces of dough that are that weight. For example my dough weighed 28 oz so I ended up with 16 pieces that weighed 1 3/4 ounces.
Cooking and creating meals isn’t just about what you put on the table. It is also about the behind the scene prep, the organization of the kitchen, the right ingredients and the conversation that happens while you are eating the meal.
I haven’t found another cookbook that combines all of that the way The Kitchn Cookbook does.
This is our August cookbook for the cookbook club. I sat down to start reading it last night and was amazed at the thought they put into making this a book for all levels of home cooks. The recipes don’t start until page 130. The first 129 pages are all about setting up a kitchen, getting the right tools and learning the basics.
If you have been daunted by cooking or just want some great easy weeknight recipes I recommend trying this book out. You can read and cook along with us in the cookbook club.
If you are interested in getting the book you can use the following affiliate link* to get a copy.The Kitchn Cookbook: Recipes, Kitchens & Tips to Inspire Your Cooking
Not a member of the cookbook club?
Join the group today and share your favorite cookbook with us and find some new ones to love. 
*This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase after clicking on the link.
Fried chicken, slaw, pickles, iced tea and crumbles are lying in the pages of The Picnic, the inaugural Wit Wisdom & Food Cookbook club selection. Just waiting for you to turn the pages and plan your summer picnic before it is too late and fall is upon us. Seems like that is far away but we are just over a month away from Labor Day. Around here kids are already heading back to school this week. Whether we like it or not summer is drawing to a close.
If you have been on a lot of picnics or never been on one, The Picnic has all the information a beginner could need and new recipes for the seasoned picnickers. They will clue you in on how to pick the perfect picnic blanket, tips for picking the best spot and how to pack all the tasty morsels you will be making from the cookbook. Overall, I really enjoyed this cute little cookbook. I tried a handful of recipes and found quite a few recipes I still want to try. I will be reaching for this cookbook the rest of the summer. It is a book geared towards an experienced and sometimes expensive palette so don’t expect your run of the mill picnic fare here. If you want to really impress your date, husband or friends this is the kind of picnic food you want to pack.
Excerpted from The Picnic by Marnie Hanel, Andrea Slonecker, and Jen Stevenson (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2015. Illustrations by Emily Isabella.
I made the Smoky Tea-Brinded Fried Chicken which calls for, you guessed it, a smoky tea in the brine of the chicken. It gave it such an amazing smell and flavor. I was worried it would be hard to find a smoky tea, but found it at many of the large grocery stores. Twinings made the version I purchased. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup which is about 10 tea bags. Bonus for using tea bags you don’t have to strain out the tea.
There should be pictures of that tasty chicken, but I learned a few things about frying chicken by making this recipe. 1.) don’t the oil too hot or your coating will burn and your chicken won’t be cooked. 2.) If this happens to you just finish the chicken in a 350°F oven until it is done. Our chicken was delicious both that night and cold the next day it just wasn’t camera ready.
I also made my own version of their Quickles, quick pickles. I used radishes and apple cider vinegar and I am very much looking forward to putting them on a pork tenderloin sandwich tonight. You can almost guarantee that will make an appearance on Instagram. They are so delicious on their own and I am finding it hard to keep my hands out of the jar. There are a variety of Quickle suggestions like fennel, beets and your regular cucumber pickle in the book. They take less than 20 minutes to make and will sit in your fridge waiting for that perfect picnic day. It is a great way to use some of your extra garden produce or in the off-chance (aka likely-event) that you over buy at the farmers market and don’t want anything to go to waste.
The Candy-Striped Beet, Fennel and Apple Coleslaw was good. I didn’t have beets but really liked the flavor of the dressing on the fennel and apple so I am certain it will be even better when I try it with the beets.
If you won’t be picnicking any time soon don’t despair all of these recipe work great in your backyard or the comfort of your air-conditioned home. Want to get really playful spread a blanket out in the living room and have an indoor picnic on a rainy day. Too much? Well at least try the Pecorino Popcorn with Tarragon Popcorn on movie night. Fresh popped popcorn is so much better than microwaved and easier than you think.
Excerpted from The Picnic by Marnie Hanel, Andrea Slonecker, and Jen Stevenson (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2015. Illustrations by Emily Isabella.
Aside from all the great recipes and the cute tips for better picnicking I love this book for the cute illustrations by Emily Isabella. It is refusing to have a cookbook with cute drawings instead of photos. They put me in a whimsical kind of mood that makes me want to pack a picnic basket and go fly a kite.
Let’s go fly a kite, up to the highest heights…. I have a thing for Mary Poppins and this song frequently plays in my head when I get excited about a fun, outdoor adventure that might involve kite flying. This happens to me more frequently than you might imagine.
So don’t hesitate get out there and enjoy one, or maybe a couple of picnics with your special someone, your kids, your dog or just a delicious afternoon by yourself. If you have a little breeze don’t forget a kite.
If you haven’t joined yet what are you waiting for, become part of the club at the Facebook group Wit Wisdom & Food Cookbook Club. The next book will be announced there later today.