Kitchen Creativity: Unlocking Culinary Genius-with Wisdom, Inspiration, and Ideas from the World's Most Creative Chefs by Karen Page is one of my top cookbooks of 2017. You may find that inclusion a bit odd as this title contains no recipes, but what is great about this title is that it guides cooks to more inventive and intuitive approaches to cooking without recipes! 

"How does one get to be a great cook?" People have often asked me if I've gone to culinary school or how did I learn to cook so well? I've always been a good cook, but I would say that I am now a great cook because I've learned to cook with confidence. In Kitchen Creativity, the author reveals the secrets and techniques that the best chefs use to create memorable, delicious meals and those tips can help you build confidence as well.

As Page shows, good cooking is not just the right recipe or ingredients: it's a mental approach we can all cultivate. Her two decades of culinary experience coupled with more than a hundred interviews with leading chefs from around the world make this book a cook's dream come true. All of the author's books display a profound intelligence and intuition about the world of food, chefs, and cooking and they are supported by an extraordinary set of personal and professional connections.

Page's The Flavor Bible is another book that every cook needs in their arsenal as it draws on dozens of leading chefs' combined experience in top restaurants across the country to share their knowledge on seasoning ingredients to coax the greatest possible flavor from them. Once a cook learns basic techniques, the art of seasoning and flavor profiles - the rest is gravy. 

We are pleased to offer three copies of this fantastic book to our members in the US as well as two special items that can spark additional creativity for you - Gneiss spices and great kitchen tools from Kuhn Rikon. Read about these items and then scroll down to enter our contest. 

Fresh spices make all the difference in cooking and Gneiss Spice offers a modern, and attractive, way to keep fresh spices close at hand. 

All of Gneiss Spice spices are certified organic, kosher and sustainably and ethically harvested, unless stated otherwise. You can build your own spice kit from a collection of over 200 seasonings! I love that the jars are about 1/4 cup size which ensures that we use  the freshest product possible.

Do you remember growing up and mom's rusty can of poultry seasoning looking back at you every time you opened the spice cabinet? I'm not even sure that spice can was ever opened - it became a rancid relic. Rancid spices are not a concern with these gorgeous little jars.  Just imagine how gorgeous the display above would look in your kitchen? That photo is the selection of spices on the side of my refrigerator. I have the rustic wall plate but since we are moving I didn't want to install it in this house. 

The attention to detail in this product is amazing. I love the metal lids punched with the spice names, the cute little bottles with GS embossed and the quality of the spices. Since I have put these spice jars on my fridge, I have used spices a great deal more than normally because I don't have to spend valuable minutes searching through my spice racks on my pantry door. Yesterday, I used the all-purpose seasoning on a roast and it was the best all-purpose blend that I have ever used. Whether it be Gneiss' blend or the freshness - it was stellar. Gneiss Spice is offering EYB members 10 percent off their products using the code EYB17! 

Kuhn Rikon is a cookware production company operating in Rikon in Zurich for almost a century. Their cookware products are of the highest quality and their history of good works is legendary. When Switzerland took in 1,000 refugees from Tibet in 1964, the Kuhns provided jobs and company housing and in 1967 they founded the Tibet Institute Rikon. Even today, among the employees of Kuhn Rikon many workers are of Tibetan descent. I have several of Kuhn Rikon kitchen tools and I never hesitate when looking for a new item to purchase their brand because I know it will be the best.

Kuhn Rikon was kind enough to send me their Chef's Kitchen Tools Set which consists of the High Performance Epicurean Ratchet Grinder, the Standing Stainless Steel Strainer and the Stainless Julienne Peeler.  I already owned one of their grinders and use it for black pepper. I love it, it works incredibly well and looks great. I donated my other strainers and use the Kuhn Rikon standing strainer all the time and it hangs from my pot rack in the kitchen. The peeler is sharp and does an incredible job - no more flimsy peelers for this girl. 

 
Now for the giveaway! 


Little, Brown is offering three copies of Kitchen Creativity,  Kuhn Rikon is offering three sets of the Chef's Kitchen Tools, and Gneiss Spice is offering three seven jar sets of their spices (with your choice of spices) to our members in the US. Three winners will win all three products! One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

What do you do when you need to spark creativity in the kitchen?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won't be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on January 13th, 2018.