What it is: A three book collection that puts Alton Brown’s
cooking show into book form.
Why I love it: These books are wonderfully informative. 60%
food science, 30% recipes, and 10% miscellaneous trivia. Let me give an
example. Sure the chapter on chocolate chip cookies includes Alton’s idea of
the perfect recipe but even better, it includes a chart of standard cookie
ingredients and how they affect the end product (like how the white to brown
sugar ratio affects the crispy/chewy factor).
What I don’t love: The books are organized the way the show
was. Meaning seasons = chapters and sub-chapters = episodes. It is fun but I
often find myself flipping through the indexes of all three books before I can
find the specific information I need. My dream book would reorganize this set
into a food encyclopedia organized by subject instead of by episode.
(Mostly just available from Disney's resorts etc but you can find it second hand online)
What it is: A collection of recipes from Disney’s resort and
cruise line restaurants. I picked this up on my honeymoon to Disney World
Orlando.
Why I love it: Personally, it’s a lovely memory from our
honeymoon; I love that I can cook a meal we enjoyed on our honeymoon to celebrate
an anniversary. In general, Disney food is pretty darn good!
The organization is nicely done. Each chapter includes
recipes from different parks and then arranges them from
drinks/breakfasts/appetizers to main dishes/sides to desserts. Each recipe
includes a note on which restaurant it is featured in and, in some cases,
cooking tips, drink pairings, and/or history of the dish’s origins.
What I don’t love: A lot of these recipes are really pricey
(pork tenderloin, crab cakes, crème brulée…). I usually only use it when I can
afford to splurge a little. It is not a college student-on a budget-weeknight
kind of cookbook for the most part.
What it is: A guide to 1830s New England cooking. This book
adapts recipes from early 1800s New England and puts them into a format modern
readers can follow. Why buy it then since most of the source books are public
domain (The American Frugal Housewife, New England Cookery)? Take a look at
those books and you’ll see why. Although they make for a fun read, you have to
be pretty familiar with the end result of a lot of the recipes to decode the
instructions. The old books usually don’t include exact measures or cooking
times and often instruct you to do something “in the normal way.” I learned this the hard way when I discovered
that “molasses to taste” in an Indian Pudding meant something like a cup; I’d
only used two tablespoons!
Why I love it: This is another sentimental book to me
because I interned at Old Sturbridge Village this past summer. If you are ever
near Massachusetts go check them out! I’m also a history nerd so a book of
historic recipes and food ways is obviously attractive. My favorite feature,
however, is that each recipe includes: original instructions from a period
source, a modern method “translation”, and a hearth cooking method! Okay, so
maybe I don’t have a hearth of my own, but it is pretty fun to read and often
could be accomplished on a campfire if you have the right equipment.
What I don’t love: I know I said I love that the recipes are
historic but that’s also sometimes a downside. Unless you are feeling
adventurous, some of the recipes don’t always sound appealing. Carrot Pie
anyone (it’s actually pretty good)? Also, ingredients that were commonplace in
the 1830s are a little harder to come by these days. In some cases that just
means adding a few things to the spice rack that you don’t often see in modern
recipes (inconvenient but do-able) but other times it means that it is really
hard to find necessary ingredients like currants.
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