GIVEAWAY: Cookbooks That Inspire
It is pretty hard to pin down how grateful I am right now. I am so grateful my book will be out in a few weeks! (You can preorder a signed copy here from the publisher. It should be available on Amazon in about 2 weeks.) SO grateful for my growing family. Words can’t even touch the dreams and feelings I have for our crew. SO grateful I can eat again!
And so, so grateful for YOU. My super steady and reliable food blog readers. You guys are the best, and I want to show you my gratitude with a GIVEAWAY.
I had been thinking about doing a round-up of the newest cookbooks that are lighting my creative fires in a big way now that I can eat again. People who can inspire others about food are the Magic Makers, and they make me dream big. Even if it is just about flavored crème fraîche (so simple – just add lemon or herbs or capers to it!) and horseradish gremolata. Then I thought, why not share the love? So for this giveaway, I am going to pick ONE reader randomly who leaves a comment here and I will send them the book of their choice from this list.
Ok, here we go:
This book has been sitting in my Amazon Cart for months. I have stared at every page and couldn’t wait until I could cook again to try it, and I am happy to report it is on its way. But I mostly love it because of her attitude. I always think cooking is about small victories (I cooked the beef just right! I learned how to make gravy! I have mastered salad dressing!). Encouraging people to think of it in this way makes my heart sing, since it is all about baby steps and learning, no matter what level you are at in the kitchen.
Ok, this book is for those of you who are looking for something new. You have dinner down pat, you have your family get together favorites. What you are looking for is basically a cooking class for yourself or your loved ones to elevate the nights you are cooking at home with some time, just for pleasure. Enter this book – the techniques are EASY. A sampling of the titles of her ‘sauces’ – Walnut-Parsley Pistou, Tomato Confiture (can’t WAIT to make this with fried polenta), Hazelnut Romanesco, Horseradish Gremolata (sounds fancy, but it has FIVE ingredients). Ok, I just scanned the book again and learned she is a James Beard Award Winning Chef as of 2014. So she knows her stuff. Lucky for us she translates it to the home cook. So inspired here.
If you have been a long-time blog reader, you know about my total nerd fandom going on for Mimi Thorrisson. When her new cookbook came out, French Country Cooking, it was SO sad because I couldn’t even look at it, and couldn’t read her blog, Manger, because of food aversion for the last few months. So now it’s time, as spring is bringing new herbs and vegetables to be treasured, to check out her new cookbook. She has a dream life in the idyllic French countryside, with lots of children and dogs and wine, but I contend that this is all because she herself is a dreamer. Her writing style on her food blog has a dream-like quality, and her love of seasons and seasonal cooking shows in every photo, every bowl of onions that to her are as “beautiful as a bouquet of flowers” (I concur). She inspires me to dream, and I hope you get inspired too.
If there was one book I wish I wrote it is this one. (Ditto for her follow up to this, How To Celebrate Everything). These two books sum up pretty much everything I feel about food, and a few people on Instagram have been raving about how her dinners are totally kid-friendly and doable. I am going back to her book to rediscover my love of cooking dinner ever night. It was sorely missed by all (except for my daughter that likes to eat pasta every night. She was pretty happy).
As I was looking for other cookbooks that light my fire, I kept hitting against the reality that I don’t love having a ton of cookbooks, with 60 different recipes for specific types of pancakes or gratins or cobblers. I LOVE (and hope to steer other people to this) knowing a master recipe, or technique, or basic dough recipe (seriously, this book has a bread dough recipe you can turn into French Bread, Pizza Dough, a Loaf or Hard Rolls). Once you have the basics at your fingertips, letting the flavors of the seasons – apples or asparagus or blackberries – sing in whatever master recipe you know. This eliminates the need for owning a million cookbooks, and it makes cooking a whole lot more fun and creative. Which led me back to this cookbook by Julia. I know I have mentioned this book before, but it really is the one I go to so often. It empowers me, is super simple (and short! It is one of my thinest cookbooks), and most importantly everything is delicious. Her quotes on the back of my copy says it all:
“Once you have mastered a technique, you hardly need look at a recipe again.”
Ok, leave your comment if you would like me to send you one of these beauties. And thanks again, from the bottom of my heart, for every kind word you’ve left on here or Facebook or IG, and for sharing the spark of friendship and the love of good food.
Happy Eating, xoxo Katie
