Urbanarama

Cookbookin’

Something I’ve really been enjoying recently is reading cookbooks. This enjoyment stems from two aspects of my life: 1) I’m done lying to myself about the possibility of reading real books, and with cookbooks you can flip open any page and know exactly what’s happening. 2) I do all of the cooking at our house. This is something that I enjoy, but I’m really interested in actually learning how to cook instead of making the same homemade pizza time after time. 

I’m too cheap to really go out and buy a ton of cookbooks, so my main source has been in the public library, which is pretty much amazing. On my latest library trip I checked out America’s Test Kitchen’s Light & Healthy, ATK’s The Best Recipes of 2007, and Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I feel like Julia Child is way over my head right now, but the America’s Test Kitchen books are EXCELLENT. Each recipe has been vetted by their team of chefs and testers, so they only recommend the best cooking methods, ingredients, and tools. These books help troubleshoot potential problems, and since the explanations are so thorough and technical (as opposed to flowery) I feel like I’m really becoming better at cooking by reading them. 

Anyway, my birthday is just around the corner and I’m asking for a couple of cookbooks. The first book I have my eye on is America’s Test Kitchen’s Best Simple Recipes. Since I really enjoy the format of these books, I know I’ll pick up this book again and again if the recipes don’t require many, many ingredients. This particular ATK book was also recommended by a friend so I’m really looking forward to giving these recipes a try.

The second is the new Gwyneth Paltrow cookbook, My Father’s Daughter. Sure, Gwyneth is everywhere right now and her blog GOOP is little self-indulgent, but guilty pleasures are my thing people. I’ve actually heard that the recipes in her book are tasty, so I will report back on my findings.