cookbooks

a little pastry sampler from dorie greenspan’s paris sweets

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

“For anyone who loves pastry, Paris is the center of the universe. Not only can you find a pâtisserie or boulangerie on every street, but the odds are tremendously in your favor that you’ll find a good, perhaps great, pastry or bread shop, and that it will turn up just when you most need a buttery croissant or a bittersweet chocolate cookie. Like sidewalk cafés, street-corner kiosks, and every famous monument from the Eiffel Tower to Sacré-Coeur, pâtisseries are part of what makes food lovers, bon vivants, and romantics cherish Paris.” ~ Dorie Greenspan, Paris Sweets

 photo of Dorie at the ALA Convention, June 2010 (ALA photostream).

 

Mais, oui! Enchanting deliciousness around every corner.


Ladurée pastry by w_a_b.

Breathtakingly beautiful pastries, jewel-like in their precision and artistry, beckon from bakery shop windows. Each bite a little ecstasy, connecting you to the most magnificent baking tradition in the world. Sigh.

If you cannot go to Paris just now, let Paris come to you in Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the City’s Best Pastry Shops, by inimitable food writer, editor and cookbook author, Dorie Greenspan.

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lovin’ on mr. brown (who’s got a lovely daughter)

~ jama

“Direct yourself to greatness. Answer your calls. Answer to yourself.” ~ Warren Brown, founder and owner of CakeLove

Far be it from me to seek out certain cupcakes just because the baker happens to be extremely dishy  fair of face. *cough*

I’m all about serious research, focus, eyes on the product, heart in the food. Remember Bakeshop owner Justin Stegall? I only found out how cute he was after the fact (and six divine cupcakes). While I love researching the backstories of all these bakers, in the end, it’s supposed to be about the cupcakes. Right?

Maybe.

I didn’t know anything about CakeLove’s Warren Brown before embarking on these Cupcake Capers back in March. I had not seen him on Food Network’s Sugar Rush (2005-2007), nor did I know about his popular cookbook, CakeLove (2008). I actually learned about Mr. Brown because of the recent Washingtonian Cupcake Cup (Georgetown Cupcake took top honors yet again).

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SOUP’S ON: Arnold Hiura in the Kitchen Interview!

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

Kau Kau: the all-purpose Hawaiian pidgin term for food (derived from the Chinese “chow chow”).

photo by Shuzo Uemoto

I’m very pleased to welcome Arnold Hiura to alphabet soup today, not only because he has written a fabulous new book about Hawai’i’s culinary history, but because this interview has given me the opportunity to reconnect with an old college classmate.

Arnold and I were both English majors at the University of Hawai’i, where we took the same Shakespeare class in grad school. I was no fool — I made sure I sat next to him, hoping that some of his brains and writing talent would rub off on me. ☺

After graduation, Arnold taught English for a few years at Punahou, a prestigious private school on O’ahu. One of his students was none other than a certain Barry Obama. Fast forward to last December, when the Obamas were in Hawai’i for Christmas. They dined at one of their favorite restaurants, Alan Wong’s in Honolulu, at which time Chef Wong gifted the President with a copy of Kau Kau: Cuisine & Culture in the Hawaiian Islands. I love how things come full
circle — how small and friendly the world can be, how food brings people together.

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i could eat this up: the little big book of comfort food

~ jama ~ 22 Comments


    

Here’s a little book that’s bound to make you squeal with delight.

Seriously. I try to avoid using the word, “cute,” but this cookbook is cute and then some — let’s say, charming, adorable, cuddle-worthy, friendly, cozy, and totally yummy — everything a cookbook featuring Comfort Foods should be.

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more literary cookbooks for kids (and hungry adults), part two

~ jama ~ 14 Comments



So, I see you’re here for the Second Batch.

Now we know you love to eat books. Don’t deny it. I saw you drooling and licking some of the cookbooks from the First Batch. Oh, you don’t actually eat the books, you just like to make and eat the food from the books?

Alrighty then, dig in:

THE LOUISA MAY ALCOTT COOKBOOK, compiled by Gretchen Anderson, pictures by Karen Milone (Little, Brown, 1985). How I love this little book; it contains 28 recipes grouped with scenes from Little Women and Little Men. What is especially notable is that the recipes were initially researched, tested, and compiled by Ms. Anderson when she was just nine years old! She did this for a school project, combining her love for Alcott’s books with her favorite hobby, cooking. So, we start out with the famous Christmas morning scene, where the March girls decide to take their breakfast to a poor family. To authentically recreate this, you might try Buckwheat Cakes, Muffins, or Farina Gruel. Or, remember when Marmee was sick in bed with a cold and the girls fixed her breakfast? They made an Omelet with Baking Powder Biscuits.

 Now, if you’re like Jo, with the best of intentions, but a disaster in the kitchen, you’ll need more practice (with the Fire Department on alert). But if she could make Molasses Candy, so can you. The recipes from Little Men are solid, traditional American fare, such as Gingerbread, Steak and Potatoes, and Apple Pie. Can’t go wrong with those, and all the recipes are rated for level of difficulty. A word about Karen Milone’s pen-and-ink drawings: brilliant! Aside from book scenes, she’s diagrammed some of the cooking techniques — little eggs cracked in bowls! Little rolling pins! Squee!

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