Top Ten Cookbooks for Seasonal Chefs

Holiday Season in the Woods

Ideas by Robin and Friends

'Tis the gift-giving season, and cookbooks make fun and practical prezzies for seasoned chefs as well as folks just starting out on their own. I still have the rather bedraggled copy of Joy of Cooking given to me by an employer circa 1982. I had wrapped up a copy for my then-boyfriend (who liked cooking) with a sigh, “it’s the best cookbook ever!” My employer overheard me and made me a happy camper by surprising me with the same gift. Of course, it’s a bit more risky to pick out a book for someone with an established cookbook collection. If you can’t check their bookshelves personally, and haven’t heard a hint about a book they’d like, try giving a bookstore gift certificate tied to an apron, silicone spatula set, metal BBQ spatula, or other kitchen gadget.

Top Ten Seasonal Cookbooks

Here are 10 cookbooks that I like to use, several of which are also recommended by my Facebook friends and fans.

10 Tips on How to Tweak a Recipe

Most Recent Lesson (#6): Don't Add Salt
To Only a Few Ingredients

Derived by Robin via Trial & Error

Ever made a recipe that seemed so right but went so wrong? Even when you followed the directions to the letter? Let’s face it, some recipes are just not that well written. They leave too much to the imagination. Or sometimes the recipe writer’s taste just isn’t the same as ours, even if s/he is featured on The Food Channel or has written a classic cookbook. Can this recipe be saved, and if so, how? Take heart. As well known coach and writer Dianne Jacob discloses in her book Will Write for Food, recipe development is an art, an exercise in non-linear thinking. Here are a few tips for reinventing an almost-good recipe—as a masterpiece.

Easter Fail: 8 Ways to Fail-proof a Recipe

Easter Promise of Regeneration

He is Risen, but Cake has not…

Happy Easter, everyone! During both attempts to make this Easter cake yesterday, I pondered: will I post a new apple cake, or will I post a Fail? My husband said that either way, I would be able to perfect my cake making method. At this point the methodology contains more “do nots” than “dos.”

Top 10 Gifts for Seasonal Cooks

Romanesco Cauliflower Dressed for the Season

Seasons and available foods change, but some kitchen tools get used in all seasons, year after year. ‘Tis the season to be gifting, and I’ve come up with a list of 10 tools that seasonal cooks will appreciate and use year-round. I’ve received many of these as gifts myself. I invite you to comment and add your own favorites. And yes, if you click on a link and buy something (anything) at Amazon, I get a little referral fee, so I’ll be able to retire a little sooner and blog more. *Grin*

Indispensible Kitchen Gadgetry

My Essentials!

You’re in Hawaii for two weeks and have just checked into the condo, or maybe you’re house-sitting at your friend’s country home while she’s in Hawaii. Along the way you were lucky enough (or prepared enough) to find a farmers market and pick up some local veggies to prepare along with fish/meat/rice/pasta/other staple that your friend/husband/kids are picking up at the local store. You’re preparing to cook, but oh no! How could the kitchen be missing a (fill in the blank)? But luckily there’s a (fill in the blank), which you’ve been wanting to have but haven’t been able to buy.

Cooking Disasters

Cheesy Leek Bake: Even a Bad Recipe can Look Good

Recipe FAIL!

The downside of the creative process, whether it’s in cooking or anything else, is that we don’t always get it right the first time. Sometimes it doesn’t taste quite right—the spicing, texture, or combinations of flavors are off—these are opportunities for improvement next time. Sometimes it’s a colossal failure. These recipes might never be saved.

Environmentally Friendly Kitchen Tips

Earth Image Courtesy of NASA

I am taking a break from menu planning and formal cooking (but not from blogging) for a couple of weeks as I work on cleaning out my recently deceased father’s house. Although my Dad didn’t know much about environmentalism, and likely would have considered it a subversive leftist plot, he was quite an organic gardener. He spent much of his youth living on a farm. As his engineering career soared, we moved from the country to the suburbs, where only a small area could be planted. Still he cultivated tomatoes, lettuce, trees, and flowers, and my Mom shopped for produce at the local farm.