Top Ten Tuesday: Books that made (make) me hungry.
Since I don't recall many novels with references to sumptuous food that made me hungry as I read them, I have filled up my list with favorite recipe books. Why not? They are books, aren't they?
1. Finding Yourself in the Kitchen: Kitchen Meditations and Inspired Recipes from a Mindful Cook by Dana Veldon. I just finished this book. There aren't many recipes but the ones she included made me want to jump up and make especially since all of them use few ingredients and sound very wholesome.
2. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo. This YA novel is about a teen mom who works overtime to make her dream come true---to become a chef. The food she mixes up sounds delicious.
3. The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way of to Live Well by Meik Wiking. Though there are few references to specific foods, there are lots about preparing food with friends and family. The time spent in the kitchen together bonds people and gives us a since of community.
4. Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley. I read this graphic memoir years ago yet I think of it every time I saute mushrooms.
5. Chocolat by Joanne Harris. The descriptions of chocolate-related foods and candies made my mouth water.
6. A Taste of Oregon by the Junior League of Eugene. This recipe book was a wedding gift. We have many, many tagged recipes in it that are go-to meal ideas.
7. Bake from Scratch: Artisan Recipes for the Home Baker by Brian Hart Hoffman. A recent acquisition. It is a beautiful, big recipe book on every type of baked goods. My daughter just made a Tres Leches pound cake from it yesterday. It is to die-for good.
8. The Perfect Cookie: Your Ultimate Guide to Foolproof Cookies, Brownies, and Bars by America's Test Kitchen. What I love about this recipe book is the explanation by the Test Kitchen why to do one thing and not another. For example, they explain why to melt the butter before adding it to the ingredients, compared to just adding softened butter on certain recipes. It makes me a better baker.
9. Simply Scones: Quick and Easy Recipes for More Than 70 Delicious Scones and Spreads by Leslie Weiner and Barbara Albright. This is a tiny little recipe book that often get lost on the shelf among other large ones. I got it in the early 1990s and set out to make all 70 types of scones. I lost my way on that project but I did make notes on the pages of the ones I did make. It is fun to read those notes as much as the recipes themselves.
10. My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud-Homme. The descriptions of food prep and meals served by this famous cookbook creator are sumptuous.
-Anne
