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Mary G
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I know it sounds crazy, but I enjoy (occasionally  ) reading cookbooks ... especially those written with lots of asides, wisdom, tidbits, etc.
I just finished reading one of the best of this ilk: Simple Food for the Good Life: Random Acts of Cooking and Pithy Quotations by Helen Nearing. Helen Nearing and her husband Scott left NY in the early 1930s to homestead in Vermont and then Maine ... they lived a self-sufficient life for almost 60 years.
Helen tends toward the dogmatic as far as what she considers proper eating and drinking (no meat and not much more than water to drink), but her recipes and tips on preserving the harvest, cooking with natural ingredients, and generally cooking simply (ergo the title  ).
So, what good cook books have you read?
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MaryG
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CrunchyMom
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I have LOVED Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads! I just got it from the library this month.
I try to follow a Traditional Foods/Nourishing Traditions diet, and his delayed fermentation method for making whole grains taste better also makes them NT friendly.
He has recipes for so many breads (cinnamon rolls, stollen, pita, pizza dough, focaccia) made from whole grains that we have missed having more regularly.
He explains the science and process of it all in an Alton Brown/geeky way that I like. I find it fascinating that the same process that makes whole grains more digestible and nutritious also makes them taste better!
He also seems to be Catholic. In the Introduction, he references earlier days as a cook in various monasteries including one where they started a Harvest Festival in an attempt to bring back Michaelmas and he made a traditional bread from that celebration. Plus, the bakery he founded was named St. Junipers.
He also includes a recipe for Santa Lucia Bread that is a sweet bread in a scroll shape to represent her eyes.
The Catholic element has been a nice bonus/surprise since I am so used to cookbooks in this "area" coming from a more wacky, pagan perspective.
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Lindsay
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stefoodie
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I love Peter Reinhart and that book too. I don't think he's Catholic (Eastern Orthodox) but he sure has a lot of Catholic recipes and traditions.
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chrisv664
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Also from Peter Reinhart: Brother Juniper's Bread Book: Slow Rise as Method and Metaphor. I received it as a gift last Christmas and he has lots of thoughts to ponder on how bread baking is a metaphor for life. If you like "readng"' cookbooks, this is for you! Another cookbook that is a nice read for a rainy day is The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook by Christopher Kimball. He begins each chapter with essays on his life growing up in a small New England country town. He is the host of a PBS series called America's Test Kitchen, so all his recipes are well tested and delicious.
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Mary G
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OOOOOO, those books look great. His Whole Grain Breads looks really good ... and I love to make whole-grain bread! I've got his American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza on request at the library.
Another great cookbook to read, and one that is definitely Catholic (he's a priest!), is Fr. Leo's Grace Before Meals is another great one. He has a blog, Grace Before Meals is lots of fun to read.
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MaryG
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Mary G
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Chris,
Thanks for mentioning The Yellow Farmhouse -- I love reading essays aobut people's pasts ... and linked to good food, what more could you want?
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MaryG
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Lisa R
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I love, love, love anything from Gooseberry Patch!
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Nigella Express. I got this book for my birthday and ,when I was sick and recovering from surgery, I curled up on the sofa and read this book. I love her tips and discussions at the start of each chapter and as a prelude to each recipe. I had visions of warm, cosy family life. 
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Sparrow
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Loretta Lynn has a cookbook that I just absolutely love! Lots of little tidbits from her and pictures as well. I haven't cooked much out of it but I loved reading through it
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Sparrow
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Oh here's a link to it, sorry!
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amethyst
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Any of Nigella Lawson's books - she was the first cook book author I ever read who encourages you to write notes through the book.  She's also a storyteller, and reading her cookbooks is like chatting with an old friend.
A book I love, though not just a cookbook, is Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Domesticity. It is the kind of book you curl up with, a cup of tea by your side, and a notepad to write down all her amazingly simple and beautiful ideas about cooking, sewing, knitting, crochet, designing, decorating, refurbishing...everything! It's modern but old-fashioned if that makes sense. 
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amethyst
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Just thought of another one, though again, it's not strictly a cookbook. Living The Good Life is written as a 6-month diary of an Australian family who decided to not spend any money for six months, but live entirely off their 3/4 acre lot.
I loved the book! I laughed so much, but I also learnt heaps about living off the land, making cheese, making tofu, raising goats, solar power, natural toiletries, AND they homeschooled.
They have since moved to Tasmania and are now building a hay bale home, still self-sufficient and living in a caravan.
Here is an article about them.
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Jenny in Australia
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Mary G
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amethyst wrote:
Living The Good Life is written as a 6-month diary of an Australian family who decided to not spend any money for six months, but live entirely off their 3/4 acre lot.
I loved the book! I laughed so much, but I also learnt heaps about living off the land, making cheese, making tofu, raising goats, solar power, natural toiletries, AND they homeschooled.
They have since moved to Tasmania and are now building a hay bale home, still self-sufficient and living in a caravan.
Here is an article about them. |
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They sound just like the kind of thing I love to read ... thanks so much for posting about this! And Book Depository ships free so I might just have to buy it thru them!
THANKS!
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MaryG
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Mary G
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Looks like Living the Good Life is available thru Amazon US!
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Shari in NY
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Back when I only had two little girls I used to read and re-read Carol Flinder's essays and commentary that run through the Laurel's Kitchen cookbooks. Her vision of being home and taking care of the kitchen really helped form me as a mother and homemaker. We are no longer strickly vegetarian but I still return to these books (Laurel' Kitchen, The New Laurel's Kitchen and The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book)frequently. And as all good cookbooks do, they are falling apart at the seams!
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Natalia
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I went to bed last night reading the More with Less Cookbook. I had it in my shopping cart at Amazon and forgot to take it off. I am glad though. I looking forward to trying some of her recipes.
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Shari in NY
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I just googled Carol Flinders to see if she had written anything new in the last decade. Well, yes she has. It seems she has jumped into the metaphysical (and possibly anti-Catholic) deep end of the pool. While her earlier writing mentions her study of Eastern philosophy it is not an overriding theme. Good food, the importance of kitchen work, the health and well-being of your family and friends--these were the themes as I remember them. I most emphatically don't recommend any of her later non-cookbook writng! I though I'd better clarify!
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mavmama
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Natalia wrote:
I went to bed last night reading the More with Less Cookbook. I had it in my shopping cart at Amazon and forgot to take it off. I am glad though. I looking forward to trying some of her recipes.
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This is my favorite cookbook, and it was given to me by a homeschooling family waaaay back when we were dreaming of this lifestyle. I use it nearly everyday for something or another.
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Liz
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Natalia
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Liz,
what are some of your favorite recipes from this book? I am trying to decide what to try first.
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Natalia
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mavmama
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Natalia wrote:
Liz,
what are some of your favorite recipes from this book? I am trying to decide what to try first.
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Here are some we love:
Broccoli Rice p.128
Pizza Rice Casserole p.129 (this is a rave!)
Hamburger Helper--Home Style p.121
Spanish Noodle Skillet p. 121
Basic Spaghetti or Pizza Sauce p. 119
Basic White Sauce p.118 ( I never buy cream soups anymore with this)
Apple Cinnamon Crunch p. 91
Simple Granola p.90
Cinnamon Topped Muffins p.71
Master Baking Mix p.68 (makes fabulously easy pancakes)
Basic Steamed Rice p.125 (this is the BEST way to cook rice, hands down)
Coating Mix for Oven-Fried Chicken p. 179 (tastes like my grama's)
Liza's Tomato Sauce, Rice and Eggs p.127
Cheese Pizza p.142 (this is the recipe I use for canning pizza sauce)
It is funny, I let my book fall open to the wrinkled, stained pages, and there were our favorites
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Read any good cook books recently?
