To say that the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day method changed the way I bake bread for my family is an understatement, because suddenly we had buckets of dough hanging out in refrigerator rather than containers of sourdough starter. My starters always seemed temperamental, or more likely I didn’t do such a good [...]
Three Cookbooks That Focus on Easy, Healthy Meals
November 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Cooking weeknight meals can be challenging for busy families trying to balance work, school, and family, and believe me when I say our family is not immune to those challenges. Some days are so busy that it’s difficult to get us all together at the dinner table or even find time to cook. If you [...]
Hog Wild Chopsticks for Kids
October 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment
My chopstick collection began innocently enough, just a bag of cheap restaurant-style wooden chopsticks to use and reuse at home, but I had long admired the heights of functional artistry that some chopsticks achieve: the sleek design of metal chopsticks, the colorful surface of lacquered chopsticks, the Zen feeling of carefully smoothed wooden chopsticks. They [...]
The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving
October 3, 2009 By 4 Comments
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker
September 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The New Portuguese Table
August 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment
My love for authentic regional foods prompted me to accept an invitation to review David Leite’s new cookbook, The New Portuguese Table. Though I have eaten Portuguese food, I never made it until now, and I somehow managed to miss the Iberian Peninsula on my trip through Europe in the mid 90s. Leite’s book has [...]
Rosa’s New Mexican Table
July 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Whenever I shop at a TJ Maxx, Ross, or Marshall’s, I always check the books section because occasionally I stumble across a good cookbook bargain. On my most recent visit, I found a copy of Rosa’s New Mexican Table for just US$7.99, and knowing the restaurant’s reputation and the book’s James Beard Award nomination in [...]
Back to Basics Electric Ice Shaver
June 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment
When Michael and I went to Hawaii last year, I had my first opportunity to try Hawaiian shave ice, a favorite treat of locals and visitors alike, and we returned home with hope that we might find a machine that could replicate the shave ice we had on that vacation while staying within a family [...]
King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking
June 1, 2009 By 1 Comment
If you have considered adding whole grains to your baked goods, this is a perfect book to get you started. Written by King Arthur Flour Company, this 600-page book is full of recipes, tips, and information about baking with whole grains. This comprehensive volume received a nomination in 2007 from the James Beard Foundation in [...]
Easy Chinese Stir-Fries
May 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment
If you enjoy Chinese food but have never cooked it at home, then Helen Chen’s new book, Easy Chinese Stir-Fries, is a perfect way to start. The book is relatively small with about 60 recipes, but Chen covers a range of basic stir-fries that are the heart of her family’s cooking. Born in Shanghai and [...]
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