As I mentioned in the “previous entry”:http://metacookbook.com/archives/159-The-Herbfarm-Cookbook-by-Jerry-Traunfeld.html two books actually arrived yesterday. One was yesterday’s entry, The Herbfarm Cookbook and one was this one, Urban Pantry. I mentioned in yesterday’s entry that I wasn’t sure if Urban Pantry was a cookbook or not.

It is. It’s also a few other things, but it looks like it is, at its heart, a cookbook.

So, this was also a gift from my parents, though this one I was expecting. I did have this one on my Amazon wishlist too, so when my mother said that this year was the year she just asked us what we wanted for Christmas, I pulled that up for her. And, in chatting with her, I selected three things that I was sure I’d enjoy for the upcoming year, but probably wouldn’t buy for myself. This book was one of those three items.

From the review (and wherever I found out about it, since I just don’t remember), I have to honestly admit that I knew it could be a cookbook, but that it might also be mostly a collection of tips on how to garden, preserve, grow and more in an urban space. I liked the idea of that tip-book, which is how it ended up on my wishlist.

Now, I’m thrilled to pieces to have this book, but I’m also feeling a touch guilty about it with regards to this challenge. I’ve sworn off buying cookbooks for myself until I cook a bunch of recipes out of my cookbooks, and I haven’t. But is explicitly asking for a cookbook for “an event” too close to the line? I don’t know. I know I’m comfortable putting things on a list and having that be out there.

I’m not going to return it or feel too guilty this time, given I wasn’t sure if I was requesting a cookbook or not. However, I’d love to know what you guys think of that sort of thing going forward. It shouldn’t come up often, so I’m not too worried about it, but I’m curious.

As for the givers, this was also from my parents. I’m just as pleased to have this one (though less surprised) as The Herbfarm Cookbook. I have to say this is the first one that I’m looking forward to just plain reading. All cookbooks have an introduction and a collection of tips and so on, and those would be good things to read. However, I rarely do. This one, though, is going to happen with this book. It’s short and does look so helpful in the tips (as I’d hoped it would). This book will end up being my “novel” that I carry with me.

Thanks, Mom & Dad.

Number of recipes in this book: 73 (Counted from her list of recipes in the front.)
Number we’ve made: 0

You can click the tag “urban pantry” below to see all the recipes we’ve made from this book.