cookbooks
Over my birthday and the holidays, I received some cookbooks from friends and family. I've had a chance to use them and thought I would report back (even though my parents don't read my lj).
The Breakfast cookbook is super nifty because it has all sorts of brunch hosting ideas in it, making me want to throw a sleep-over or something just as an excuse to try things. Even so, I've tested some of it out on Jim and I and have liked it greatly. The recipes I've tried that aren't for just two reduce well, and the food is some tasty stuff I wouldn't have thought to do on my own. Also, best pancake recipes I've encountered in a long time (although the number they make is a little off).
The Moosewood cookbook is also one I can flip through and drool over recipes. The number of bookmarks currently in it is a little disturbing. This week is actually it's major trial run, as we're having dinner via that book most nights this week. I actually planned ahead my grocery shopping so that we'll have what we need. Normally I just buy the same things over and over. so far we've only tried two recipes, but they were both tasty. Although the quantities of some of the ingredients called for were way off. Luckily it was stuff like grated cheese. Because Jim and I are cheese fiends, we keep a lot of it in the house anyway and can always grate more. The end result was tasty enough that I just penciled in the changes to the ingredient list.
My parents also bought me a bunch of Alton Brown stuff, including his cookbook and a bunch of DVDs. Because they are the old ones where episodes are grouped by topic instead of season, I'm sure they were cheap, because they bought me like nine of these things. The plus side is that they have the recipes from the shows in them. And they are just as tasty as they look. But you can't really cut corners, so if you don't know the basics of your way around the kitchen, you might feel a little overwhelmed. Still, yay, cooking for geeks!
The Breakfast cookbook is super nifty because it has all sorts of brunch hosting ideas in it, making me want to throw a sleep-over or something just as an excuse to try things. Even so, I've tested some of it out on Jim and I and have liked it greatly. The recipes I've tried that aren't for just two reduce well, and the food is some tasty stuff I wouldn't have thought to do on my own. Also, best pancake recipes I've encountered in a long time (although the number they make is a little off).
The Moosewood cookbook is also one I can flip through and drool over recipes. The number of bookmarks currently in it is a little disturbing. This week is actually it's major trial run, as we're having dinner via that book most nights this week. I actually planned ahead my grocery shopping so that we'll have what we need. Normally I just buy the same things over and over. so far we've only tried two recipes, but they were both tasty. Although the quantities of some of the ingredients called for were way off. Luckily it was stuff like grated cheese. Because Jim and I are cheese fiends, we keep a lot of it in the house anyway and can always grate more. The end result was tasty enough that I just penciled in the changes to the ingredient list.
My parents also bought me a bunch of Alton Brown stuff, including his cookbook and a bunch of DVDs. Because they are the old ones where episodes are grouped by topic instead of season, I'm sure they were cheap, because they bought me like nine of these things. The plus side is that they have the recipes from the shows in them. And they are just as tasty as they look. But you can't really cut corners, so if you don't know the basics of your way around the kitchen, you might feel a little overwhelmed. Still, yay, cooking for geeks!