From Tuscany with Love by Lauretta Avina -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

From Tuscany with Love by Lauretta Avina

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

In the tapestry of my life, there exists a thread of duality, a delicate interplay between the old world and the new, the familiar and the foreign.

-- from From Tuscany with Love by Lauretta Avina. Memoir cookbooks are my favorite! Especially one highlighting Italian food. Yum! 

Lauretta Avina was born in Tuscany and emigrated to the USA when she was a child. Her father wanted to leave the relative poverty of Italy and memories of WWII behind, so moved his family to Gilroy, California in 1972.

In From Tuscany with Love, Avina discusses her childhood and family history in Italy and her challenges as a young immigrant in a time when Italians were still looked down on in America. Her stories are intwined with family recipes aimed at the home chef, as well as many photographs. The book isn't a slick production, but it is warmhearted and engaging. I love it and can't wait to try the recipes.   

See the Publisher's Description below for more details.  

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from From Tuscany with Love:

Like many other Italian towns during WWII, my hometown in Tuscany was occupied by the Germans. Today, various monuments in my small town and surrounding villages remember those innocent civilians who were murdered by the Nazi Germans.

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

From Tuscany with Love is an emotional memoir capturing the heartfelt journey of a scared, little girl from the rolling hills of Lucca to the bustling life in America. Through evocative stories and cherished family recipes, the author pays tribute to the rich culture, love, and flavors that shaped her life. This memoir beautifully blends personal reflections on family, resilience, and the timeless traditions of Tuscan cuisine, offering readers a deeply personal and flavorful look at an immigrant's path to finding a home and a sense of belonging in a new world.

A Thank You Windfall -- BOOK HAUL

BOOK HAUL

A Thank You Windfall

A lawyer colleague sent me an Amazon gift card as a thank you for referring a client to him. That was very nice of him! I used it to buy this stack of books I’ve had my eye on. Apparently I was hungry when I ordered, since all but one of these is a food book. 

See any here that catch your eye?

• Greenfeast: Spring, Summer and Autumn, Winter by Nigel Slater. I've had in mind for a while to find a new vegetarian cookbook (or two). I only have two on my shelves, The Greens Cookbook from the famous vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco, and The Moosewood Cookbook from the famous vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca. Both are classics and I bought both at the restaurants, after eating in them. But I need some new ideas!

• Elizabeth David’s Christmas, edited by Jill Norman, with a Foreword by Alice Waters. David pulled together a collection of articles she wrote about Christmas cooking and traditions, along with related recipes, planning to publish it all as a book, but died before she completed the project. Her literary executor Jill Norman completed the book after David died in 1992. This edition is edited for American readers. I am currently reading and completely enjoying David’s essay collection, An Omelette and a Glass of Wine. It makes me want to read more of her work, although I plan to save this one until Christmastime. I added it to my stack of Christmas-themed books.

• The Ha-Ha by Jennifer Dawson (1961) is my only non-food book in this stack. Dawson won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for this autobiographical debut novel. I’m working my way through the list of winners. I haven't been able to find a used copy of this one.  

• Bedside Companion for Food Lovers: An Anthology of Food Delights for Every Night of the Year, edited by Jane McMoreland Hunter. I’m a sucker for a day-by-day anthology, especially one as pretty as this. Now I want to get the other two books in the series, Bedside Companion for Book Lovers and Bedside Companion for Gardeners (even though I don't garden!). 

I almost never buy new books, almost always used. How about you? A stack of spiffy new books is a real treat for me.

It’s my turn to host book club tonight. Which explains why my dining room table is all gussied up, with flowers and everything. The book is Lost for Words by Edward St. Aubyn, a very funny book by the author of the very serious Patrick Melrose books. Apparently St. Aubyn wrote Lost for Words, a comic satire about literary prizes, after he was passed over for a Booker Prize for one of his Patrick Melrose novels. Lost for Words deservedly won the P.G. Wodehouse Prize for best comic novel.  

An Omelette and a Glass of Wine by Elizabeth David -- BOOK BEGINNIGNS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

In thirty five years of writing about food and cookery I have contributed articles to a very various collection of publications.

-- from An Omelette and a Glass of Wine by Elizabeth David. I admit that opening sentence doesn’t grab me!

I love food writing. My favorites are the classic American food writers, like M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and Ruth Reichl. Elizabeth David is the English version of these favorite authors, but I’ve never read any of her books. I have her famous books, including A Book of Mediterranean Food and French Provincial Cooking, on my TBR shelf. But I’ve never tried any of her books.

I decided to start with this one, An Omelette and a Glass of Wine. It is a collection of her newspaper columns and other articles. I love the cover on my American edition.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. Please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings if you share on social media.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from An Omelette and a Glass of Wine:

All this seems to be typical of the uneasy phase which English cooking is going through. As soon as any dish with a vaguely romantic sounding name (you may well ask why anyone should associate Vichy with romance) becomes known you find it’s got befogged by the solemn mystique which can elevate a routine leak and potato soup into what the heroine of a recent upper-class-larks novel refers to as “my perfected Vichyssoise.”

This is from a November 5, 1961, article in Punch. Elizabeth David wrote during the bad old days of British cooking, when post-war rationing was still in place or cooks were still acting like it was. She writes often, and with scorn, about canned (“tinned”) food, skimpy supplies, and generally bad cooking.

Notes from the Larder: A Kitchen Diary with Recipes by Nigel Slater -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Man! I have been off my blogging game for a while now! Do you go through blogger slumps? I just realized that my only blog posts for over a month have been Book Beginning posts. I love Book Beginnings! But There's more to Rose City Reader than this one post every week. Or, there should be! 

Oh well. Summer. Work. Life. Things happen. I'll get my blogging mojo back one of these days. What do you do to get back in the blogging groove when you fall out of it?

In the meantime, it is time again for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Let's share the first sentences (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Or just books we feel like highlighting. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

The mistletoe — magical, pagan, sacred to Norsemen and the Druids — is still hanging over the low doorway to the kitchen.

-- from the first chapter, January 1, "A humble loaf and a soup of roots," in Notes from the Larder: A Kitchen Diary with Recipes by Nigel Slater. 

I've seen Nigel Slater's name pop up as a favorite food writer on British blogs and Instagram accounts. But I hadn't seen any of his books (other than his memoir Toast) at local shops until last week when I was poking around Vivienne, a darling cookbook store near my office. They had a copy of Notes from the Larder, described as the companion to his three volume Kitchen Diaries series. It's my now-favorite kind of cookbook, a combination of essays or memoir and recipes. It looks absolutely wonderful! I am excited to add it to my cookbook library. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please leave a link to your Book Beginning post in the Linky box below. Please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings if you share on social media and I will try to find you. Make it easier for me by tagging me on twitter @giliondumas, Instagram @gilioncdumas (new account), or Facebook at Rose City Reader and I can share your posts. 

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THE FRIDAY 56

Freda at Freda's Voice hosts another teaser event on Fridays. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book they are reading -- or from 56% of the way through the audiobook or ebook. Please visit Freda's Voice for details and to leave a link to your post.

MY FRIDAY 56

From Notes from the Larder:

I have always loved the color gray. Peaceful, elegant, understated; The color of stone, steel, and soft, nurturing rain.

Flavours of Greece by Rosemary Barron -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

It's raining and raining all week here in Portland! This sunny cookbook of Greek recipes is exactly what I need to lift the grey clouds.

What is your week looking like?

Please join us here on Book Beginnings on Fridays to share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading. Or share a book you want to highlight. Leave the link to your Book Beginnings post in the linky box below. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

It is impossible for me to think of Greece without thinking of the colours, sites, aromas, and, above all, the flavours of Greek cooking.

-- from the Foreword to Flavours of Greece by Rosemary Barron (2021, Grub Street).

Those who know Greece, even if only from a brief acquaintance, are aware that there is a vigorous culinary tradition in the country, with a distinct identity and character.

-- from the Introduction.

For modern Greeks olives and bread are the basic necessities of life, as they have been for centuries. The olive groves of modern Greece -- still, mysterious, and peaceful places -- date back to around 450 BC when olive oil was first recognized as a valuable export commodity and the land was given over to olive cultivation.

-- from part one, The Greek Kitchen, chapter one, Ingredients.

Rosemary Barron started a cooking school in Greece in the 1980s and has been championing Greek food ever since. This redo of her best selling cookbook, The Flavours of Greece, is a must-have for any lover of Greek food who wants to cook at home. 

The book is as lush and gorgeous as the dishes it promises. Barron starts with an inventory of a Greek pantry, including instructions on how to make such staples as yogurt and preserved lemons. She then moves through recipes from mezzes (appetizers) to desserts and miscellany. The recipes are as simple as a mezze of aromatic figs made by layering dried figs with bay leaves and cracked black pepper tightly in a jar for several days (intriguing!) to the more complicated, like Duckling Thessalia-Style, which involves roasting a duckling with lemons and pine nuts and things. None of the recipes are difficult and all look delicious! 

With over 250 national and regional recipes, dozens of color photos, fresh green and orange accent colors, and easy-to-follow instructions, Flavours of Greece will be your go-to Greek cookbook. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

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THE FRIDAY 56

Another fun Friday event is The Friday 56. Share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your book, or 56% of the way through your e-book or audiobook, on this weekly event hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

From The Flavours of Greece:

These little pastries, filled with a creamy nutmeg-spiced spinach mixture, are perfect picnic food. You can make them with either pastry dough or with filo and they freeze beautifully (freeze before cooking). 

The recipe for spanakopita seems like a classic Greek recipe, and one a home cook can handle.  

Create Beautiful Food at Home by Adrian Martin - BOOK REVIEW

 Create Beautiful Food at Home by Adrian Martin (MercierPress)

Adrian Martin is a young, popular Irish chef. His new cookbook, Create Beautiful Food at Home, takes reasonably easy to make at home recipes and makes them look very, very fancy. His breezy explanations and the lovely photographs have me convinced it is possible to make food at home that looks like it comes from a swanky restaurant.

Which is not to say I'm convinced I want to. I'm more of a bistro food home cook than a haute cuisine home chef. So I'm probably not the target audience for Martin's new book. But for home chefs looking to learn something different or polish up restaurant-worthy skills, this is a terrific, must-have book.

You will get an idea of whether this is the book for you from a partial list of Martin's suggested "Necessities for the Kitchen," which will "make your life much easier if you are making the recipes in this book":

•  Squeezy bottles (for purées, dressings, etc.)
• Tweezers (for picking herbs and micro salads, and for plating up)
• Blowtorch
• Mandoline
• Fish slice
• Different-sized melon ballers
• Oyster knife
• Ice-cream churner

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against ice cream. I am even willing to make ice cream. I own a mandoline. And I own a single melon baller in one size. But I do not know what a fish slice is. And I cannot imagine using tweezers to plate individual herbs or "micro salad" or a squeezy bottle to decorate a dish with puree. That's just not me.

But I know people who would LOVE this kind of thing, love it down to their toes. I can think of five or six friends who would be tickled to get this for Christmas. And if you are like them, you too will love this book.

The recipes are all beautifully presented – that's the point. They range from simple, like a fresh pea risotto with asparagus and basil purée, to elaborate, like individual chocolate and hazelnut tarts with chocolate tuiles and chocolate hazelnut ice cream (above). Some use the simplest of ingredients, a few rely on extravagant ingredients like fresh oysters, lobster, or foie gras. None are overly difficult, but they require attention to detail and a focus on timing and presentation.

If you have always wanted to make food as pretty as on cooking shows or in posh restaurants, Create Beautiful Food at Home is the perfect book for you. Please invite me over for dinner!

NOTES

Create Beautiful Food at Home would make a perfect gift for the home chef who likes to replicate fancy restaurant meals -- the kind of home chef who already has a mini blowtorch for making the burnt sugar top on creme brulee. 

I'm happy to have a copy of Adrian Martin's book in my Cookbook Library and plan to challenge myself to make some of the simpler recipes for my next dinner party. When we can next have dinner parties. 

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Weekend Cooking is a weekly blog event hosted by Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader. Beth Fish Reads started the event in 2009 and bloggers have been sharing book and food related posts ever since.

Beach House Dinners: Simple, Summer-Inspired Meals for Entertaining Year-Round by Lei Shishak - BOOK REVIEW

 

Beach House Dinners: Simple, Summer-Inspired Meals for Entertaining Year-Round  by Lei Shishak (2020, Skyhorse Publishing)

Beach House Dinners: Simple, Summer-Inspired Meals for Entertaining Year-Round is a pretty cookbook offering 80 recipes for the kind of food everyone loves to eat, focusing on dishes made to share. Whether you are making dinner for family or a dinner party for friends, Lei Shishak's new book is an excellent cookbook for easy, tasty recipes.

Because the theme is dinner, the chapters are divided by type of entrée: Poultry, Seafood, Read Meat, Pork and Ground Meat, Vegetarian, Pasta, Soups and Sandwiches, and Salads. Each recipe for a main dish comes with suggestions and recipes for what to serve with it to make a whole dinner. For example, Lei's recipe for Lemon Garlic Chicken includes instructions to roast quartered red baby potatoes with the chicken thighs and a recipe for a Shredded Brussels Sprouts side dish. Other recipes are a complete meal in themselves, like the scrumptious looking Shrimp and Potato Fiesta.

Lei Shishak is a chef, baker, and cookbook author in Southern California. She is the founder of the Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, California. Beach House Dinners is her fourth cookbook. As with her two earlier "Beach House" cookbooks, Beach House Baking and BeachHouse Brunch, the theme is good food by the beach. The book is filled with beautiful, dreamy pictures of beach life – picnics, seashores, palm trees, sun drenched cottages, and sun-bleached decks. But the book doesn't require summer and a beach house so much as evoke that summer-at-the-beach vibe everyone can enjoy, and enjoy year round.

Because the recipes are mostly for yummy, comfort food that anyone can make at home, Beach House Dinners would make an excellent gift for a new couple or a young person setting up house. Extra features that make it a good pick for a new cook are a list for a well-stocked home pantry, a list of kitchen tools to make all the recipes, a section of helpful tips, and lined spaces for notes after many of the recipes.

I am happy to add Beach House Dinners to my CookbookLibrary.

NOTES

Beach House Dinners is a perfect book for Labor Day weekend, but really does have year-round recipes great for entertaining friends or just cooking for family. 

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Weekend Cooking is a weekly blog event hosted by Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader. Beth Fish Reads started the event in 2009 and bloggers have been sharing book and food related posts ever since.

 

Beach House Dinners by Lei Shishak and Always an Immigrant by Mohammad Yadegari on Mailbox Monday

 

I've been MIA on Mailbox Monday lately. Something about coronatime has caused blogging to slip through my fingers, along with my gym membership, clean laundry, and 40 other things I could list if I remembered how to make lists.

Meanwhile, new books continue to drift into the house. A couple of them are: 

Beach House Dinners: Simple, Summer-Inspired Meals for Entertaining Year-Round by Lei Shishak. This pretty cookbook offers 80 recipes for the kind of food everyone loves to eat, focusing on dishes made to share. Whether you are making dinner for family or a dinner party for friends, this new book is a nice cookbook for easy, yummy recipes. The pictures are beautiful. A nice touch is lined space for notes after many of the recipes. 

Lei Shishak is a chef, baker, and cookbook author in Southern California. She is the founder of the Sugar Blossom Bake Shop in San Clemente, California. Beach House Dinners is her fourth cookbook.

I am happy to add Beach House Dinners to my Cookbook Library.

Always an Immigrant: A Cultural Memoir by Mohammad Yadegari with Pricilla Yadegari. This is a memoir in the form of personal stories and anecdotes about growing up in the Middle East in the the 1940 to early 1960s. 

Yadegari was born in Iraq in an Iranian family. At 18, he mover to Iran to finish high school in Tehran. He came to the United States for college and graduate school and has lived here for the last 55 years. He's a good storyteller and the book is full of humor and real life wisdom. 

MAILBOX MONDAY

Join other book lovers on Mailbox Monday to share the books that came into your house last week. Or, if you haven't played along in a while, like me, share the books that you have acquired recently. 

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Martha of Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Arzak + Arzak by Juan Mari Arzak and Elena Arzak - BOOK REVIEW

Arzak + Arzak by Juan Mari Arzak and Elena Arzak (2020, Grub Street Cookery)

Restaurante Arzak in San Sebastian is legendary. The family eatery started in the same building over 120 years ago and the restaurant has had three Michelin stars since 1989.

I’ve never been to Spain, San Sebastian, or Arzak. But I am fascinated by San Sebastian and Restaurante Arzak since I watched an episode of Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain when he visits Arzak and tours San Sebastian with Juan Mari. Juan Mari is the third generation of chefs at his family's eponymous restaurant. His daughter Elena joined him 20 years ago and is poised to take over.

Arzak + Arzak is a gorgeous new book celebrating New Basque Cuisine, the Arzak family, and Restaurante Arzak. It tells the story of Juan Mari, who earned his first Michelin star in 1972. Juan Mari has been a cutting-edge chef since then, focusing on fresh, local ingredients in innovative, even avant garde presentations. He put San Sebastian on the map and inspired generations of young chefs. The book also follows Elena Arzak's career from her training in other famous kitchens to co-chef with her father as Restaurante Arzak looks to the future.

The first half of the book is narrative, broken into five chapters, set off by striking, behind-the-scenes, black and white photographs, most of them full page. The first chapter, "Arzak-Enea: A father, a daughter and a Basque restaurant," describes the building that has housed the restaurant since 1897 and describes a day in the life of Restaurante Arzak.

Chapter two, "The Dining Room: Juan Mari and the history or Arzak," describes Juan Mari's typical day at the restaurant and gives a biography of his fascinating career. Juan Mari was one of the founders of the New Basque Cuisine movement, which took root in the 1970s, around the same time Alice Waters pioneered a new "California cuisine" and Nouvelle Cuisine was taking off in France. He has always held onto the familiar flavors of Basque cooking, but with inventive twists.

The third chapter is called "The Laboratory: A recipe for creativity" and takes the readers inside El Laboratorio, the creative center of Arzak.  Part test kitchen, part science lab, it is here where Arzak comes up with more than 50 new dishes every year, to keep its cuisine evolving.

Chapter four, "The Chef's Table: The Extended Family," is my favorite chapter because it describes the beating heart of the restaurant – the big table nearest the open kitchen:

The long marble chef's table is, in effect, the control centre where the daily business of the restaurant is orchestrated and played out.

The staff eats breakfast at this table; family members like Elena's husband and two kids stop by for lunch; old friends, journalists, and visiting chefs linger here in the afternoon. It is also where Elena and Juan Mari hold meetings with purveyors, their sommelier, and staff. But in the evening, the Chef's Table is set for guests because it is the most requested table in the house.

The last of the narrative chapters is "The Kitchen: Elena Arzak and the future." Elena has gradually taken over from her father as she worked with him over the past 20 years. Not yet 50, the future of Arzak is in her talented hands. This chapter gives her culinary biography and vision for the restaurant.

The recipe section is gorgeous and certainly beguiling, even if daunting to all but the most ambitious of home chefs. Each of the 64 recipes is accompanied by a dramatic color photo, most of them full page. While extraordinarily complicated, reading the recipes drives home what Arzak is all about. The laborious effort that goes into each dish is extraordinary, which is why Restaurante Arzak exists and keeps its three stars year in and year out.    

For those diners lucky enough to enjoy Arzak in person, the Arzak + Arzak book would be a perfect keepsake. Even for readers like me who have never been there, the story of Arzak and its father/daughter chefs is absorbing. It is exciting to learn about running a famous restaurant with a history tied so deeply to a particular region.

NOTES

Arzak + Arzak now has pride of place in my Cookbook Library, even if I will never cook any of the recipes from it. I'll probably display it as a coffee table book instead - it's beautiful enough.

Arzak + Arzak and Create Beautiful Food at Home: BOOK BEGINNINGS

It's Friday! Time to share the first sentence (or so) of the book capturing your attention right now. For me, two new cookbooks have captured my attention.

Please share your Book Beginning on Friday by adding the link to your post below, or leaving a comment telling us where to find you on social media. Or just leave a comment with the opening sentence and name of the book.

Please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings so we can find each other.

MY BOOK BEGINNINGS

Arzak + Arzak by Juan Mari & Elena Arzak (Grub Street Books)

Arzak has been a household name in Spain since the 1970s and Juan Mari Arzak, who presides over the family restaurant, is the innovative force behind its rise to the upper echelons in the world of culinary art.

-- from the Introduction by Gabriella Ranelli.

Restaurante Arzak in San Sebastian is legendary. It has had three Michelin stars, the most awarded, since 1989. I’ve never been to Spain, San Sebastian, or Arzak. But I am fascinated by San Sebastian and Restorante Arzak since I watched an episode of Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain when he visits Arzak and tours San Sebastian with Juan Mari. Juan Mari is the third generation of chefs at his family's eponymous restaurant. He has shared chef duties with his daughter Elena for 20 years.

This new cookbook is half a history of the New Basque cuisine that Juan Mari pioneered, and half featured recipes from the last ten years. The photographs throughout are stunning. I will most likely never cook out of this book, but I will read it cover to cover.

Creating Beautiful Food at Home by Adrian Martin (Mercier Press)

Food is something that keeps me up at night. I dream of the perfect, balanced recipe.

Adrian Martin is a young, popular Irish chef. His new cookbook takes reasonably easy to make at home recipes and makes them look very, very fancy. His breezy explanations and the lovely photographs have me convinced.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

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THE FRIDAY 56

Please also share a teaser from page 56 of your current book on The Friday 56, hosted by Freda on Freda's Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56s

From Arzak + Arzak:

During the development process, a dish's foundation may depend on a specific ingredient or technique that fascinates the team, but something keeps it from coming together. Time marches on, the search continues until a new element arrives, if it ever does. 

From Create Beautiful Food at Home:

Mushroom soup made from wild mushrooms has the most extraordinary, intense flavour. Don't be afraid to mix and match the mushrooms here. 

WEEKEND COOKING

Hosted by Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Weekend Cooking is a weekly blog event hosted by Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader. Beth Fish Reads started the event in 2009 and bloggers have been sharing book and food related posts ever since.

Book Beginning: The Joy of Cooking from Cloud & Leaf Bookstore

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

This edition – our family’s ninth since Irma first published Joy of Cooking in 1931 – is the result of more than nine years of recipe testing in nearly five years of outlining, researching, and writing by my wife, Megan, and me.

-- Joy of Cooking by John Becker, Megan Scott, Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker.

I’m set for the corona quarantine, thanks to the Cloud & Leaf Bookstore!

So many small businesses, including independent bookstores, are taking a bad hit right now. Cloud & Leaf Bookstore is one of my favorites so I ordered a book to do my part. I figure if everyone who can gets one book from an independent book seller during coronavirus time, it will help.

The new Joy of Cooking was my choice because I love the old edition I’ve had since law school, but I wanted this 2019 updated edition. John Becker is the great-grandson of the original author, Irma S. Rombauer. Becker and his wife, co-author Megan Scott, live here in Portland, which is another reason I wanted a copy.

Do you have a favorite Joy of Cooking recipe? I’m all about comfort food right now. My husband made the traditional meatball recipe from our old book last weekend and they were delicious!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

SOCIAL MEDIA: If you are on Twitter, Instagram, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up. Please find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

Process briefly to blend. If desired, stir in:
(1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, finally chopped)

That snippet captures the "voice" of Joy of Cooking. The recipes are short, to the point, and usually tell you quick and easy variations. When I think of JOC, I always think of the typical instruction, "heat over, not in, hot, not boiling, water."

Mailbox Monday: Cloud & Leaf Bookstore Bookstack

Oregon's own Ann Patchett is Deborah Reed, the author of seven novels and the owner of the Cloud & Leaf Bookstore in Manzanita. Hubby and I sneaked away for a couple of days at the Oregon coast and I came away from the Cloud & Leaf with this enticing collection of new books.

Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook by Alice Waters. This is Waters's memoir about her years before opening Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Of course I want to read it!

The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes. I've loved the few books of his I've read so far and want to read more.

Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo by Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston wrote this book about the last man brought to America on a slave ship after interviewing him in 1927, but it was not published until 2018.

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler. The description of this reminded me of M. F. K. Fisher's With Bold Knife and Fork, one of my favorite books, so I had to get it.

Provence, 1970 : M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste by Luke Barr. I recently read a book about American food writers in France that talked about the events described in this book, so I want to read it.

Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose. A book about books -- I can't resist.

What new books came into your house last week?

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Martha of Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf.

Mailbox Monday: On Cussing, The Friend, & Cape Mediterranean

I gathered a random assortment of books last week. What about you? What books came into your house last week?



The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. This book won the 2018 National Book Award for Fiction, which is a list I am working on.

It sounds like a sad story but a good book about a woman who adopts her friend's Great Dane when her friend dies.



On Cussing by Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love. This is right up my alley, since the one thing law school taught me was how to swear. I found a copy of this gem, out last year from Tin House Books, at one of my favorite book stores, Cannon Beach Book Company.



Cape Mediterranean: The Way We Love to Eat by Ilse van der Merwe. This new cookbook comes out in February. I got a review copy because it sounds fascinating and yummy:

Cape Mediterranean food/cooking is a South African style of cooking and entertaining influenced by one of the oldest and arguably also the healthiest cuisines in the world. It has developed naturally from within the Western Cape due to its Mediterranean climate and the abundance of classic Mediterranean-style local produce. This book features more than 75 delectable recipes, from breads, dips and tapas, to lavish salads, succulent roasts, freshly made pastas and heavenly desserts. The recipes bring seasonal produce to the fore and the balance of dishes and ease of preparation will have you inviting friends and family over in no time to share in this veritable bounty.

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Martha of Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf.

Author Interview: Amy Goldman

Author and gardener Amy Goldman is an zealous advocate for heirloom seeds, fruits, and vegetables. Her latest book, The Melon, is an expanded revamp of a book on melons she published years ago. This new version is glorious. It should be a top pick for gardener gift giving.

I got a copy of The Melon and was so enchanted by the pictures and melon stories that I immediately ordered copies of Amy's Heirloom Tomato and Compleat Squash books. AND I DO NOT GARDEN! I just love these books.

Amy recently talked with Rose City Reader about her new book, heirloom varieties, and all things melon:

What are “heirloom” vegetables?

Heirloom vegetables are oldies but goodies. Varieties of value that breed true from seed and can be handed down to the next generation. Standard and open-pollinated, heirlooms differ from modern F1 hybrids, which don’t breed true from harvested seed.

What is your background and how did it lead you to write your book, The Melon?

I grew up in a family that celebrated fruits and vegetables. Melons and watermelons are a lifelong love and calling. Ten years after my first melon book was published, I decided to write another, since I’d grown and learned a lot more.

Really, watermelons are not melons? Please explain.

Melons and watermelons are vining crops that belong to two different species within the cucurbitaceae or gourd family of plants. Recent phylogenetic studies show that the cucurbits most likely originated in Asia over 70 million years ago. Various lineages found their way time and again to different continents by transoceanic long-distance dispersal. Picture gourds afloat! Watermelon’s more recent place of origin in Africa; the wild progenitor of melon has been found growing in India.

What else will readers learn from your book?

The Melon teaches you everything you need to know about growing and harvesting melons and watermelons; picking and choosing the best specimens in the market; saving and sourcing seeds; and using melons in cookery (there are twenty wonderful recipes included). Readers will learn about 125 rare and fascinating varieties from all over the world. Their stories are as diverse as the fruits themselves.

The photographs in your book are luscious. And you’ve worked with photographer Victor Schrager on some of your other gorgeous books, including The Heirloom Tomato and The Compleat Squash. Tell us a little about your collaboration with Victor.

It’s been a tremendous privilege and pleasure to work side by side with Victor Schrager during the past twenty years. From day one we’ve been on the same page. Together we’ve created four books on heirloom vegetables that celebrate their beauty, flavor, history, and diversity. Victor remains amazingly fresh in his approach. How he works his magic with my homegrown veggies still boggles my mind!

In addition to writing about heirloom fruits and vegetables, you advocate for seed saving and plant breeding in general. Can you give us a thumbnail explanation?

I’ve been a food gardener since my teen years. The more heirlooms I grew over time, the more devoted I became to their conservation. Heirloom fruits and vegetables are treasures worth knowing, growing, and saving. About thirty years ago I became a member of the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE), which is the nation’s premier non-profit seed saving group based in Decorah, Iowa, its mission is to conserve and promote America’s culturally diverse but engendered garden and food crop heritage for future generations by collecting, growing, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants. I eventually joined the SSE board then morphed into a special advisor.

Heirlooms are the building blocks that plant breeders need to make further crop improvements and keep us well supplied with nourishing and delicious food. Numerous melon and watermelon varieties featured in The Melon hold great promise (or have already proven their worth) in breeding more resilient “climate smart” melons worldwide.

What are you working on now?

Victor and I are working on a book on peppers and another on squash.

THANK YOU, AMY!

THE MELON AND AMY'S OTHER BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE. OR ASK YOUR LOCAL BOOK SELLER TO ORDER THEM. 

List: Cookbook Library

Heading into the holidays always puts me in the mood to cook more elaborately, which has me poking around in my cookbook library this week. Of course, just when this mood to cook fancy dishes strikes, time evaporates.

I have a moderate-sized cookbook library, mostly kept on open shelves we had built in the kitchen for the purpose, with overflow in a cupboard. And I like to cook. For a while, I was making a halfhearted effort at making one recipe from each cookbook. Then I started my own law firm about six years ago and that project got set aside.

I still make dinner most nights, but I make things I know how to cook. Some things I make are specific dishes I learned to make from these books, but I don’t need to look at the recipe anymore. Most things I make are based on cooking techniques and skills I learned from my cookbooks, or my mother, or trial and error.

My cookbooks are now there for consultation -- for when I need inspiration or a detail like how long to boil a crab (I can NEVER remember that one). And I need a cookbook when I bake anything other than a fruit pie. But I don’t use them very often.

There is little rhyme or reason to my cookbook collection. There are old standbys, like The Joy of Cooking; splashy coffee table "food porn"; kitschy, often politically incorrect, vintage favorites; ethnic and regional books reflecting a series of passing fancies; and quite a few "ladies' auxiliary" type cookbooks from Junior Leagues, civic organizations, and the like, just because they comfort me.

Here is a list of the cookbooks on my shelves. Titles in red link to posts about that book. This is a work in progress, because I know there are cookbooks missing from this list. 

The ABC of Canapes by Edna Beilenson

All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking by Molly Stevens

Amber Waves, published by the Omaha Junior League

American Cookery by James Beard (notes and recipe here)

The American Everyday Cookbook by Agnes Murphy

America's Best Lost Recipes: 121 Kitchen-Tested Heirloom Recipes Too Good to Forget, from the Editors of Cook's Country Magazine

The Amish Cook at Home: Simple Pleasures of Food, Family, and Faith by Lovina Eicher (reviewed here)

Appetizers, published by Bon Appetit Magazine

The Ark: Cuisine of the Pacific Northwest by Jimella Lucas

The Art of Grilling: A Menu Cookbook by Kelly McCune

Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

Barbecuing the Weber Covered Way by Carol D. Brent

Bayerisch Kochen by Brigitta Stuber (from my Bavarian cousins)

Beard on Birds by James Beard

The Best of Martha Stewart Living: Weddings by Martha Stewart

The Best of Scanfest: An Authentic Treasury of Scandinavian Recipes and Proverbs by Cheryl Long

Betty Crocker's Cooking Calendar (A Year Round Guide to Meal Planning with Recipes and Menus)

Betty Crocker's Cooky Book

Betty Crocker's Hostess Cookbook

The Beverly Lewis Amish Heritage Cookbook by Beverly Lewis

The Cafe Brenda Cookbook: Seafood and Vegetarian Cuisine by Brenda Langton (notes and recipe here)

Cafe des Artistes : A Pictoral Guide to the Famed Restaurant and Its Cuisine by Fred Ferretti

The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Cape Collection, published by the Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod

Casserole Treasury by Lousene Rousseau Brunner

Caviar, Truffles, and Foie Gras: Recipes for Divine Indulgence by Katherine Alford

The Chafing Dish Cookbook by John and Marie Roberson

Charleston Receipts, published by the Charleston Junior League

The Cheese Plate by Max Mccalman

Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook by Alice L. Waters

Chopsticks, Cleaver and Wok by Jennie Low

The Christmas Cookie Book by Judy Knipe

Classic Crafts and Recipes: Christmas with Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

Classic Crafts and Recipes Inspired by the Songs of Christmas by Martha Stewart

Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes from Around the World by Richard Sax

The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan

Classics From a French Kitchen, by Eliane Amé-Leroy Carley

Classic Spanish Cooking: Recipes for Mastering the Spanish Kitchen by Elisabeth Luard (reviewed here)

A Collection of Traditional Amana Recipes: Family-Size Recipes of the Foods Prepared and Served in the Amana Villages, published by the Ladies Auxiliary

Connecticut a La Carte by Melinda M. Vance

Consider the Oyster by M. F. K. Fisher

A Cook's Tour of San Francisco: the Best Restaurants and Their Recipes by Doris Muscatine

The Cooking of Germany, published by Time Life Books

Cooking with a Foreign Accent, published by Sunset Magazine

Cooking With Caprial: American Bistro Fare by Caprial Pence (reviewed here)

Cooking with Wine and High Spirits: a Lighthearted Approach to the Art of Gourmet Cooking by Rebecca Caruba

A Cordiall Water: A Garland of Odd and Old Receipts to Assuage the Ills of Man and Beast by M. F. K. Fisher

Crafts and Keepsakes for the Holidays: Christmas With Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

Creme De Colorado Cookbook, published by the Junior League of Denver (discussed here)

Cucina Rustica by Viana LA Place

Desserts: Our Favorite Recipes for Every Season and Every Occasion: The Best of Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

Easter Treats: Recipes and Crafts for the Whole Family by Jill O'Connor

English Bread & Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David

The Escoffier Cookbook and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery for Connoisseurs, Chefs, Epicures by Auguste Escoffier

The Esquire Cook-Book, published by the Editors of Esquire

The Esquire Party Book by Scotty and Ronnie Welch

Esquire's Handbook for Hosts, published by the Editors of Esquire (1949 edition)

Esquire's Handbook for Hosts: A Time-Honored Guide to the Perfect Party, published by the Editors of Esquire (1999 edition)

Fabulous Foods, published by the Assistance League

Favorite Greek Recipes, published by the Daughters of Penelope

Favorite Recipes from Great Midwest Cooks, published by Midwest Lving

Finger Food by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern

Fishes and Dishes: Seafood Recipes and Salty Stories from Alaska's Commercial Fisherwomen by Kiyo Marsh, Tomi Marsh, and Laura Cooper (review and notes here)

Flavor It Greek by Maria Boyer

Fog City Delights, published by the Letterman Auxiliary (notes and recipe here)

The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller

A Fresh Taste of Italy: 250 Authentic Recipes, Undiscovered Dishes, and New Flavors for Every Day by Michele Scicolone

From Julia Child's Kitchen by Julia Child

The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas by Jeff Smith

The German Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Mastering Authentic German Cooking by Mimi Sheraton

Gifts from the Herb Garden by Chris Mead

Glorious American Food by Christopher Idone


Good things: The Best of Martha Stewart Living by Martha Stewart

The Gourmet Prescription for Low-Carb Cooking by Deborah Friedson Chud

Great Beginnings and Happy Endings: Hors D'Oeuvres and Desserts for Standing Ovations by Renny Darling

Great Parties: Recipes, Menus, and Ideas for Perfect Gatherings by Martha Stewart

Greek Island Cookery by Rena Smith and Linda Salaman

The Greens Cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine from the Celebrated Restaurant by Deborah Madison (discussed here)

Grill Cookbook by James McNair

Hawaiian and Pacific Foods by Katherine Bazore

Hors D'Oeuvre and Canapes by James Beard

The How to Keep Him (After You've Caught Him) Cookbook by Jinx Kragen and Judy Perry

Italian Casserole Cooking by Angela Catanzaro

The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Jacques Pepin Celebrates by Jacques Pepin

Jake's Seafood Cookbook, published by McCormick & Schmick's

Theory & Practice of Good Cooking by James Beard

Japanese Country Cookbook by Russ Rudzinski

Jean Anderson Cooks: Her Kitchen Reference & Recipe Collection by Jean Anderson

Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer

The Joy of Eating: A Simply Delicious Cookbook by Renny Darling

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home by Julia Child

Key to Greek Cooking by Barbara L. Christou

La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio by Wanda Tornabene

License to Grill: Achieve Greatness At The Grill With 200 Sizzling Recipes by Christopher Schlesinger (notes and recipe here)

Lost Recipes: Meals to Share with Friends and Family by Marion Cunningham

Louisiana Kitchen by Paul Prudhomme

Louisiana Tastes: Exciting Flavors from the State that Cooks by Paul Prudhomme

Malcolm Hillier's Christmas by Malcolm Hillier

Marcella's Italian Kitchen by Marcella Hazan

The Martha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes for Every Day by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Christmas: Entertaining, Decorating and Giving by Martha Stewart

The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook: A Collection of Favorite Holiday Recipes by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts by Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's Quick Cook by Martha Stewart

Master Recipes by Stephen Schmidt

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 by Julia Child

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 2 by Julia Child

Metropolitan Cook Book, published by the Editors of the Metropolitan Life Company

Mexico's Feasts of Life by Patricia Quintana

More Remarkable Recipes by Antoinette Kuzmanich Hatfield

Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania by Arthur Schwartz

The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso

New Casserole Cookery by Marian Tracy

The New Complete Book of Cookery by Anne E. Marshall

New Fish Cookery by James Beard

The New Making of a Cook: The Art, Techniques, and Science of Good Cooking by Madeline Kamman

The New York Times Cook Book by Craig Claiborne

New York Times Heritage Cookbook by Jean Hewitt

Pacific Flavors: Oriental Recipes for a Contemporary Kitchen by Hugh Carpenter

Papas' Art of Traditional Greek Cooking by George and Chrisoula Papas

Parties and Projects for the Holidays by Martha Stewart

Party Receipts from the Charleston Junior League: Hors d'Oeuvres, Savories, Sweets by Linda Glick Conway

Paso Robles Main Street Family Cookbook, edited by Russ Restine

Pasta Classica: the Art of Italian Pasta Cooking by Julia Della Croce

Pasta Cook Book, published by Sunset Magazine

Patio Daddy-O: '50S Recipes With a Modern Twist by Gideon Bosker

Patricia Wells at Home in Provence: Recipes Inspired by Her Farmhouse in France by Patricia Wells

Paul Bocuse in Your Kitchen by Paul Bocuse

Picnics: Over 40 Recipes for Dining in the Great Outdoors, from Mercedes Benz, edited by Heidi Cusick

Popular Greek Recipes, published by the Ladies of the Philoptochos Society

Pork, Sausage and Ham Cookbook, published by Better Homes and Gardens 

The Prudhomme Family Cookbook: Old-Time Louisiana Recipes by the Eleven Prudhomme Brothers and Sisters and Chef Paul Prudhomme

Real Cooking, by George! by George Jacobs

Remarkable Recipes: From the Recipe File of Mrs. Mark O. Hatfield by Antoinette
Kuzmanich Hatfield

Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant flavors of a World-Class Cuisine by Rick Bayless

San Francisco Encore, published by the Junior League San Francisco

San Francisco Firehouse Favorites by Georgia Sackett

Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making by James Peterson

Sausalito: Cooking with a View, published by the Sausalito Woman's Club

Seasoned America by Paul Prudhomme

The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso (notes and recipe here; review here)

Simply Simpatico: The Home of Authentic Southwestern Cuisine, published by the Junior League of Albuquerque

The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen: Recipes for the Passionate Cook by Paula Wolfert

Southern Accent, published by the Charleston Junior League

Special Occasions by John Hadamuscin

The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Star-Spangled Cooking, published by Chateau Ste. Michelle

Stews, Bogs and Burgoos: Recipes from the Great American Stewpot by James Villas

The Stinking Rose Cookbook: The Layman's Guide to Garlic Eating, Drinking, and Stinking by Jerry Dal Bozzo

The Sunset Cook Book; Food With a Gourmet Touch, published by Sunset Magazine

The Tapas Cookbook: Seventy Delicious Recipes to Capture the Flavours of Spain by Adrian Lissen

Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain by Penelope Casas

A Taste of Oregon, published by the Eugene Junior League (discussed here)

The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces by Diane Seed

Trader Vic's Book of Mexican Cooking by Victor Jules Bergeron

A Tuscan in the Kitchen: Recipes and Tales from My Home by Pino Luongo

Veneto: Authentic Recipes from Venice and the Italian Northeast by Julia della Croce

What's for Dinner? Dinner Menus with Some Very Special Recipes by Maryana Vollstedt

Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest by Cory Schreiber

Williams Sonoma Complete Entertaining Cookbook by Joyce Esersky Goldstein

With a Jug of Wine by Morrison Wood (discussed here)

With Bold Knife and Fork by M. F. K. Fisher

With Love from Darling's Kitchen: Treasured Recipes for Family and Friends by Renny Darling

The Wok: A Chinese Cookbook by Gary Lee

World in Bite-Size by Paul Gayler

OTHER COOKBOOK LISTS

(If you would like your cookbook list included here, please leave a comment with a link to the post and I will add it.)