What's up with France?!
I thought it was my imagination at first, but book after book seems to insist: France is back - in case you ever thought it went away. Maybe it's because we're all sick of winter and dreaming springtime-in-Paris dreams.…
Shelf Life With Susie
Gear Books
Whether your own microclimate has bought into it or not, spring is here, which means that in theory publishers will be taking their annual 8-week hiatus from publishing slow-cooker cookbooks so they can concentrate on…
What's the Number One thing you look for in a cookbook?
Those of us who collect cookbooks are seekers. We must be, because not one of us could argue that we need another cookbook -so we must be looking for something when we acquire another. When I think about the cookbooks…
New edition of a classic cookbook
Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone first came out in 1998, quickly attaining canonical status among both the meat-free and the pro-vegetable. 10 years later, there was an anniversary edition, and now,…
"Recipes and Stories"
In early 2011, I was scratching my head trying to think of an appropriate subtitle for my book, A Spoonful of Promises. I know! I thought. I'll use "Stories and Recipes"! That sounds like something I'd want to read. I…
E-cookbooks: Love 'em or hate 'em?
I hear that every year, more e-cookbooks are published and sold. Yet few people I know seem to use them (even though everyone seems to use online recipes at some point or another). It occurred to me that maybe I just…
Postcards from the Cake Frontier
As longtime readers of this blog know, I have a sort of fascination with the excesses of cake decorating (I'm not immune to decorating excesses myself, but my weakness lies on the cookie front). Anyway, every once in a…
Valentine's Day: In or Out?
What's a food lover to do on Valentine's Day - especially when it falls on a Friday? On the one hand, you know it would be nice to go out to dinner, particularly if you're a couple and date night doesn't come around as…
How long will it take?
This post appeared at my blog this week. I'm sure Eat Your Books members have a wealth of recipe-testing shortcuts and tools too - feel free to borrow my tips and share your own! --Susie. Like anyone who regularly uses…
Second chance cookbooks
There are some cookbooks that become your favorites right away. They seem to spring into your hands shouting " Use me!", and within a couple of months they get so beat up it looks like they've been in the family for…
Fantasy cookbooks
As the polar vortex shuts everybody in with their seed catalogues and board games, I thought I'd play a little imaginary game of my own. It's my job to test and rate already-published cookbooks. What if I started on the…
Cooking clubs
This year, my eternally-under-renovation kitchen has finally gotten to the point where I can comfortably have friends over for dinner. I can usually squeeze them in between family obligations about once a month, and…