Announcing: The Next Four Cook the Books Selections!

Hello Cook the Books Friends!

Here are our next round of Cook the Books selections to kick off 2015 reading and cooking season. Your hosts Rachel, Deb, Simona, and Debra have picked out the following books for your inspiration and we can't wait to see what delectable dishes they inspire.  

Here are the titles we have picked and why we chose them in each host's own words:

December 2014 / January 2015 Round, hosted by Rachel of The Crispy Cook

Sustenance and Desire: A Food Lover's Anthology of Sensuality and Humor by Bascove. (2004) 

 

"As a bookseller and reader, I have long admired the dust jacket art of Bascove, whose

most familiar illustrations are to be seen on the covers of Ellis Peters' wonderful Brother

Cadfael mystery series and the novels of Robertson Davies. I did not know that this singularly named artist was also an anthologist, and so I am pleased to invite you all to join me in reading and cooking from: Sustenance and Desire: A Food Lover's Anthology of Sensuality and Humor. This collection of poetry, short fiction and essays is adorned with some of her luminous paintings. We can all look forward to savoring the writings she has gathered from various classic and contemporary authors during the chilly months of December and January (our Hawaiian CTB members may not be so chilled as we are in the North Country!)."

--Rachel

Deadline for this selection is Monday, February 2nd.

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February / March 2015 Round, hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen: 

Comfort Me With Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl (2001)

"Longtime Cook the Books participant and my fellow Hawaii dweller Claudia of Honey From Rock requested we read a Ruth Reichl book a while back and so my pick this round is dedicated to Claudia. It was not difficult to choose Ruth Reichl, but picking just one of her books to read was a bit harder. I read and reviewed her first fiction book 'Delicious!' this year and enjoyed it but it made me really want to go back and reread one of her memoirs. I love learning how people get to their chosen dream foodie career and so I finally selected 'Comfort Me With Apples'--which tells of her journey from chef to food writer. Although this book takes up after her first book, 'Tender at the Bone' it isn't necessary to have read that one first (although it is wonderful too). This may be a reread for many of you too, but I look forward to seeing what this both funny and moving memoir inspires you to create."

--Deb

Deadline for this selection is Monday, March 30th.

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April / May 2015 Round, hosted by Debra of EliotsEats: 

The Feast Nearby: How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, and eating locally (all on $40 a week) by Robin Mather. (2011)

"Imagine this: Your husband wants a divorce and you lose your job. What would you do? This scenario actually happened to Robin Mather so she packed up, moved out of the city into a small cabin by the lake, and embraced a simpler life. Mather writes of  her journey in The Feast Nearby, a book of essays and recipes. In the author's words, it is a chronicle of "How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering and eating locally (all on forty dollars a week)." I will qualify this pick by saying it isn't a preachy locavore treatise. Instead, it is a book about living simply, quietly, and fully while reevaluating life. The Feast Nearby is a simple read that I hope you all enjoy. Although Mather’s essays are not necessarily strung together, there is a flow to the book as she chronicles her life from spring to winter on the lake. And, there are some spectacular recipes here!"

--Debra

Deadline for this selection is Monday, June 1st.

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June / July 2015 Round hosted by Simona of Briciole:  

The Wedding Bees: A Novel of Honey, Love, and Manners by Sarah-Kate Lynch (2014)

"A few years ago, I read 'Blessed Are the Cheesemakers' by Sarah-Kate Lynch and quite enjoyed it. In fact, I featured it in a post. I therefore grabbed on to Betty's note on our suggested reading page to read another novel by Sarah-Kate Lynch, The Wedding Bees. 'Sugar Wallace has been running from her past for years, but in the nicest possible way.' Me: is there really a nice way of running from one's past? If so, I want to hear about it. 'Every spring she moves somewhere new and lightens the lives of whoever she meets using her magic weapons: good manners and honey.' Me: that sounds like a great plan. I want to read Sugar's secret. This is enough for me to want to learn more about Sugar and her honey. I was already a cheese maker when I read Blessed Are the Cheesemakers: who knows, maybe reading The Wedding Bees will get me interested in becoming a beekeper. Sweet reading!"

--Simona

Deadline for this selection is Monday, August 3rd.

We hope you join us for some great reading, cooking and community. As always, we welcome everyone to join in. The only requirement to join in the Cook the Books fun is to read the book and blog about it, including making a dish inspired by its pages. 

Aloha!