My top three books of 2023: there was an old woman by Andrea Carlisly; Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver; and Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. Count me on Team Julia. I loved Lessons in Chemistry (both book and series), but Julia changed the world in real life. Imagine emigrating to a foreign country, falling in love with their food so hard you decide not only to learn how to cook it, but to evangelize it by writing a cookbook then going on television to teach your home country to cook it too! And she did it in the 1950s and 60s. A hero!
This post for one thing. I about fell off the couch laughing at the pliers request. I read so much this year... it would be very difficult for me to pinpoint 3. I’ll have to think on that.
Cookbooks are a tough one, as I am a collector. I have upwards of 300 now.
I tend towards writers as opposed to one particular book, Elizabeth David, Stephanie Alexander, Mimi Sheraton, Jamie Oliver, but I must say Nigella Lawson helped me get through the worst event of my life in 2009. Her books, her shows, I clung to them like a lifeline and still do. My family call her my “spirit queen”.
I wish I could share with you the annual picture of my husband going at the turkey with a hatchet. It's hilarious. We get a turkey from a local farm every year, run by former students. Because they're free-range, it's hard to predict the size. This year was a 17-pounder. Every year, my husband asks, "Why do we get a turkey?" And every year I answer, "For the pot pie," which I can make at least two of with that much turkey. But, yes, the turkey is in so many ways a pain in the ass.
I have Julia's book. I think I gave away The Joy of Cooking. Neither are great for people who eat meat very rarely. My go-to is Deborah Madison, who taught me how amazingly delicious vegetables can be.
What a pity I cannot post a photo the cover of ‘The Daily Telegraph Cook’s Book’ by Bon Viveur Fanny and Johnnie Craddock, published by Fontana Books in 1968, a book my wife Susan has treasured from the early-70s, when she lived alone. It is full of great tips and illustrated with amusing cartoons. A book for the kitchen and not a coffee table. Simple tips like soaking dried fruit in cold tea improves the taste and how brown paper enables you to avoid a split in the top of a cake. 🐰
I learned years ago that expectations for Thanksgiving would never, ever be met, especially after I lost ALL of my adopted LGBTQ family members. Jorge & I have a planned outing that includes a stop at MO's for a burger & fries. Our expectations are almost ALWAYS met (this year I cooked up the burgers and fries myself at home since we were monitoring our dog, Kali's post spay operation that was conducted the day prior).
I have some tattered recipes from a beloved aunt which I like to look through when I’m feeling low. They remind me of the many happy hours we spent together in the kitchen making jam and chutney. She was an excellent cook and a good friend.
I am team Elizabeth but I do agree that she comes across as cold sometimes. I think this is because she feels too much and needs to keep it contained. Sometimes that can be misconstrued as aloofness.
My favourite books this year were All the Water in the World by Karen Raney, The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue and Stealing by Margaret Verble.
One item I hope to inherit from my mother is my great-grandmother's recipe book. She was born in the 1880's and died the year I was born. Her recipe book is a hard bound blank book printed, I'm guessing in the 40's. It contains her notes for making pickles (if you have a bushel or so you'd like to put up) and numerous recipes using dates. Evidently, she loved dates, so the book is full of directions for date bread, date candy, date cookies. Many of the recipes aren't really recipes, just lists and notes she followed to get what she wanted out of various ingredients. It's a historical and personal record of a woman I know only through stories and this book.
Team Julia forever! Lessons in Chemistry (the book) left me with the same strange emptiness (perfectly named) - I liked it, I think? Didn't love it? A strange emptiness. I may watch the show, though, out of curiosity.
Thanks for tagging me, Elizabeth! I have been in the “Christmas Zone” not unlike the “Twilight Zone” and meant to comment days ago! 😂 I love Julia! I also love learning about all the other people who were part of the period, Judith Jones, Simca, James Beard .... Jacques Brel!!! What is not sitting right with you this season? Inquiring minds want to know! 😉
Such a grand post and wonderful comments to boot!!! I was supposed to be asleep an hour ago! But how does one stop reading? I am such a lightweight compared to the rest of you all. None-the-less, I have collected cookbooks from an early age. I have a much used and much loved Joy of Cooking that was gifted to me when my favorite bookstore went out of business. I suppose that they had seen me using it as a reference book whenever I dropped by. As others have said, it is so hard to pick a favorite.
I have the complete 10-12 volume set that Woman's Day put out with James Beard umpteen years ago. It is fun for all of the local recipes by state as well as the forgotten ingredients of another age. I quite love a little paperback cookbook (circa 1975) by Suzy Benghiat and illustrated in comic strip style by Peter Maddocks. I love that it is so obvious that she makes these recipes often and sweetly reminds you of how to stay on top of what you are cooking! And then there is Whatchagot Stew by Patrick F. McManus. I could say it is included for the sour dough recipes, but it is so much more than that! Highly recommended for anyone who loves the backwoods of America and a good storyteller.
A). Favorite cookbook. Well, it's not exactly a cookbook. It's a special 1970 edition of Family Circle magazine, titled Holiday Helps. The binding no longer holds; it's just a bunch of tattered. pages. It's special because on p. 159 is our family recipe (my mother's, now mine) for our Christmas eve dinner, roast goose with fruit stuffing. A close second, also passed down from my mom: the Joy of Cooking, 1971 edition. Among other things, a great recipe for eggnog with a kick to it. B) Books read this year. 1: "Absolution" by Alice McDemott. Published about a month ago. It takes place mostly in Saigon during the Vietnam War, and is told entirely from the perspectives of American women who were there. 2) "Stella Maris," Cormack McCarthy's last book before he died. Told entirely as a series of dialogues between a beautiful female mathematician and her almost equally brilliant psychiatrist at Stella Maris, a mental institution. 3) "Between a Bird Cage and a Bird House," poetry by Katerina Stoykova (University Press of Kentucky). In 1995, in her early 20's, the author emigrated from her native Bulgaria to the U.S. The book is a memoir in poetry about her adjustment and adventures in her new home, as well as flashbacks to episodes, good and bad, back in the old one. At it's core is the push and pull of the two homes; when she's here, she wants to be there, and vice-versa. Brilliant.
My top three books of 2023: there was an old woman by Andrea Carlisly; Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver; and Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. Count me on Team Julia. I loved Lessons in Chemistry (both book and series), but Julia changed the world in real life. Imagine emigrating to a foreign country, falling in love with their food so hard you decide not only to learn how to cook it, but to evangelize it by writing a cookbook then going on television to teach your home country to cook it too! And she did it in the 1950s and 60s. A hero!
The best nonfiction book I read this year, hands down, is 'Why Fish Don't Exist' by Lulu Miller. It may be the best nonfiction book I've ever read.
Best book reads for 2023: "Lessons in Chemistry," "Caste," & "Horse."
This post for one thing. I about fell off the couch laughing at the pliers request. I read so much this year... it would be very difficult for me to pinpoint 3. I’ll have to think on that.
Cookbooks are a tough one, as I am a collector. I have upwards of 300 now.
I tend towards writers as opposed to one particular book, Elizabeth David, Stephanie Alexander, Mimi Sheraton, Jamie Oliver, but I must say Nigella Lawson helped me get through the worst event of my life in 2009. Her books, her shows, I clung to them like a lifeline and still do. My family call her my “spirit queen”.
I wish I could share with you the annual picture of my husband going at the turkey with a hatchet. It's hilarious. We get a turkey from a local farm every year, run by former students. Because they're free-range, it's hard to predict the size. This year was a 17-pounder. Every year, my husband asks, "Why do we get a turkey?" And every year I answer, "For the pot pie," which I can make at least two of with that much turkey. But, yes, the turkey is in so many ways a pain in the ass.
I have Julia's book. I think I gave away The Joy of Cooking. Neither are great for people who eat meat very rarely. My go-to is Deborah Madison, who taught me how amazingly delicious vegetables can be.
What a pity I cannot post a photo the cover of ‘The Daily Telegraph Cook’s Book’ by Bon Viveur Fanny and Johnnie Craddock, published by Fontana Books in 1968, a book my wife Susan has treasured from the early-70s, when she lived alone. It is full of great tips and illustrated with amusing cartoons. A book for the kitchen and not a coffee table. Simple tips like soaking dried fruit in cold tea improves the taste and how brown paper enables you to avoid a split in the top of a cake. 🐰
I learned years ago that expectations for Thanksgiving would never, ever be met, especially after I lost ALL of my adopted LGBTQ family members. Jorge & I have a planned outing that includes a stop at MO's for a burger & fries. Our expectations are almost ALWAYS met (this year I cooked up the burgers and fries myself at home since we were monitoring our dog, Kali's post spay operation that was conducted the day prior).
Love the Silver Palate Cookbooks—the red one you are missing is likely their second book called "Good Times" and it's by season.
I have some tattered recipes from a beloved aunt which I like to look through when I’m feeling low. They remind me of the many happy hours we spent together in the kitchen making jam and chutney. She was an excellent cook and a good friend.
I am team Elizabeth but I do agree that she comes across as cold sometimes. I think this is because she feels too much and needs to keep it contained. Sometimes that can be misconstrued as aloofness.
My favourite books this year were All the Water in the World by Karen Raney, The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue and Stealing by Margaret Verble.
One item I hope to inherit from my mother is my great-grandmother's recipe book. She was born in the 1880's and died the year I was born. Her recipe book is a hard bound blank book printed, I'm guessing in the 40's. It contains her notes for making pickles (if you have a bushel or so you'd like to put up) and numerous recipes using dates. Evidently, she loved dates, so the book is full of directions for date bread, date candy, date cookies. Many of the recipes aren't really recipes, just lists and notes she followed to get what she wanted out of various ingredients. It's a historical and personal record of a woman I know only through stories and this book.
Ooh the three books I’m most glad I read this year:
1. Revelations by Erik Hoel
2. Stolen Focus by Johann Hari
3. Neurotribes by Steve Silberman
Team Julia forever! Lessons in Chemistry (the book) left me with the same strange emptiness (perfectly named) - I liked it, I think? Didn't love it? A strange emptiness. I may watch the show, though, out of curiosity.
Thanks for tagging me, Elizabeth! I have been in the “Christmas Zone” not unlike the “Twilight Zone” and meant to comment days ago! 😂 I love Julia! I also love learning about all the other people who were part of the period, Judith Jones, Simca, James Beard .... Jacques Brel!!! What is not sitting right with you this season? Inquiring minds want to know! 😉
Such a grand post and wonderful comments to boot!!! I was supposed to be asleep an hour ago! But how does one stop reading? I am such a lightweight compared to the rest of you all. None-the-less, I have collected cookbooks from an early age. I have a much used and much loved Joy of Cooking that was gifted to me when my favorite bookstore went out of business. I suppose that they had seen me using it as a reference book whenever I dropped by. As others have said, it is so hard to pick a favorite.
I have the complete 10-12 volume set that Woman's Day put out with James Beard umpteen years ago. It is fun for all of the local recipes by state as well as the forgotten ingredients of another age. I quite love a little paperback cookbook (circa 1975) by Suzy Benghiat and illustrated in comic strip style by Peter Maddocks. I love that it is so obvious that she makes these recipes often and sweetly reminds you of how to stay on top of what you are cooking! And then there is Whatchagot Stew by Patrick F. McManus. I could say it is included for the sour dough recipes, but it is so much more than that! Highly recommended for anyone who loves the backwoods of America and a good storyteller.
A). Favorite cookbook. Well, it's not exactly a cookbook. It's a special 1970 edition of Family Circle magazine, titled Holiday Helps. The binding no longer holds; it's just a bunch of tattered. pages. It's special because on p. 159 is our family recipe (my mother's, now mine) for our Christmas eve dinner, roast goose with fruit stuffing. A close second, also passed down from my mom: the Joy of Cooking, 1971 edition. Among other things, a great recipe for eggnog with a kick to it. B) Books read this year. 1: "Absolution" by Alice McDemott. Published about a month ago. It takes place mostly in Saigon during the Vietnam War, and is told entirely from the perspectives of American women who were there. 2) "Stella Maris," Cormack McCarthy's last book before he died. Told entirely as a series of dialogues between a beautiful female mathematician and her almost equally brilliant psychiatrist at Stella Maris, a mental institution. 3) "Between a Bird Cage and a Bird House," poetry by Katerina Stoykova (University Press of Kentucky). In 1995, in her early 20's, the author emigrated from her native Bulgaria to the U.S. The book is a memoir in poetry about her adjustment and adventures in her new home, as well as flashbacks to episodes, good and bad, back in the old one. At it's core is the push and pull of the two homes; when she's here, she wants to be there, and vice-versa. Brilliant.
I have my mom’s old Betty Crocker cookbook. I cook from it often. I have all of her handwritten recipes as well. They are treasures.