New Cookbook Acquisitions

One of my most recent tantalizing acquisions....Mmmm!

There is nothing I love better than to sit down and read a good cookbook. I like oogling the vibrant, mouth-watering pictures, I like reading the descriptions of the foods, I like the interesting anecdotes the author writes about the recipes, and I like getting inspiration for future meals. Between Christmas, my birthday on the 28th, and a used bookstore I found in Mendocino, this holiday season was a real winner for me. Here's the DL on the goods:

From my husband for Christmas:

Julia’s Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking:
We recently watched "Julie & Julia" together, so he got me the "Bible of French cooking" featured in this film. I’m hoping to get out my Le Creuset and prepare a traditional French casserole or stew this winter!

Bon Appetit Fast, Easy Fresh:
This one is cool because all of the dishes can be made in under 30 minutes. The dishes are a bit exotic so it can also double as what some refer to as "food porn" - you know, the glamorous recipes you fantasize about as you eat your bowl of Spaghettios or hot dog or whatever you, in your slovenly laziness, threw in the microwave for dinner.

My Birthday:

Rustic Fruit Desserts:
My sister-in-law Chelsea got this one for me for my birthday. When it comes to dessert, I never turn down anything with fruit in it. This book features just the sort of thing I adore - cobblers, crisps, pies, and slumps, all based on fruit fruits by the season. I can’t wait to start making these for my family!

Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook:
As a working girl, I love to come home and know that dinner is ready for my husband and I. It gives me time to clean up the apartment or work out. ( One of my New Year’s goals is to go to the West Sac Recreation Center gym 3 times a week, so I intend to use this book a lot this year!) Forget about old-school canned soup and artificial ingredients - this book is chock-full of appetizing recipes using fresh, from-scratch ingredients to make everything from Steel Cut Oatmeal to soups to Thai Pork to Peach Cobbler.

Moore Used Books in Mendocino:

Nigella Bites:
Featuring the British author/TV star Nigella Lawson, this is her follow up to the bestseller How to Be A Domestic Goddess. I got this one because most of the recipes focus on local British favorites- nothing I’d prepare myself, but I love to read her interesting commentary on it. Great pictures, too!

Real Simple Meals:
Basic recipes, pared down to the most basic ingredients and steps, just begging to be played with and adapted to the cook’s own individual tastes. I already made one of the recipes - Fettuccine with Bolognese Sauce, and it was great. (See my last blog)

Once Upon A Tart:
Written by the owners of the café by the same name situated in NYC, this book features some inventive yet practical and delicious recipes for soups, salads, dressings, sandwiches, and of course... tarts! Almost all of which sound amazing, I might add. Quirky, helpful, and just my cup o’tea.

That should satiate my cookbook fetish for a while. Anybody else have a favorite cookbook they want to recommend? (Hey, Valentines Day is coming up....) :-)