Category Archives: Cookbooks

Everyday Thai by Parragon Publishing House

Cover of Everyday Thai by Parragon Publishing

It will surprise no one to find that this was Bill’s cookbook before we started dating. He’s a man who loves his Thai food. If I could have somehow convinced myself that “Thai Street Food”:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158008284X?ie=UTF8&tag=metaco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=158008284X was actually a coffee table book and not a cookbook, I would have gotten it for him for Christmas this year. He loves his Thai food.

Oddly, for a couple who likes us some Thai food, and in particular for a man who enjoys it so much, we never attempt to make it at home. This is the third Thai cookbook we’ve listed (fourth if you count “Asian Cook”:http://www.metacookbook.com/permalink/asian-cook.html), and we’ve yet to use any of them. Even with recipes like “Squid with Bell Peppers”, “Chicken and Peanut Curry” and “Pineapple and Lime Sherbet” waiting for us.… Continue reading →

The Urban Pantry by Amy Pennington

Cover of Urban Pantry by Amy Pennington

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.… Continue reading →

The Herbfarm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld

Cover of The Herbfarm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld

Poor Bill. He’s going to find out the same way the rest of you do about this. This?

This falls in the category of, “Well it was bound to happen, and one night it did. Papa came home and it was just us kids…”

Wait, no. That’s just the song that got stuck in my head when I saw this wonderful present from my parents this evening. Why? Because it was bound to happen.

Bill and I have been given another cookbook. This one. Possibly two others; I have to take a closer look at the other book I got and see if it’s a cookbook or something else. I requested the other one thinking it was a book with some recipes in it, but the back cover is making me think I actually asked for a cookbook.… Continue reading →

The Complete Book of Cookies

The Complete Book of Cookies, edited by Deborah Grey

This is the other book in the set of two given to me by Kevin, Suzie and their children. I also love this book, mostly due to the family that gifted it to me, but partially also because it feeds what Angelique calls my “hereditary cookie madness.”

See, I know I’ve mentioned before that my sister recently got married. What I only touched on, though, was the cookie baking this entails. And I’m not going to go into much depth here, but suffice it to say that weddings in my family generally include a LOT of cookies. See, our Grandmother B. is Italian, and there’s a tradition of having a cookie cake at Italian weddings. Or at least at that set of Italian weddings. So we get cookies too.… Continue reading →

The Complete Book of Italian Cooking

The Complete Book of Italian Cooking, edited by Anne Hildyard

Once upon a time, when I was very young, my parents left me in the care of a family friend, Kevin. I was, in fact, too young to remember the events in this story, so everything I’m relating to you is effectively second-hand. (For example, was my sister there too? I just don’t know.)

Kevin very kindly made me spaghetti for dinner that night. While I know better now, I apparently hadn’t yet learned some of the finer points of etiquette as regarding visiting another person’s home. So when he put the plate of spaghetti in front of me, my response was the appropriate and polite “Thank you; looks delicious!”, but rather, “Yuck!” My understanding is that I then insisted I didn’t like any spaghetti but what my mother made and refused to touch his.… Continue reading →