Back to Basics was released in 2008 and has become one of my favorites of Ina Garten’s books even though it doesn’t really have many “new” recipes in it. Most of the recipes are, in fact, things that good home cooks make in rotation, but what Ina Garten does so well is really study what we’re cooking and give us tips and ideas to heighten the flavors and make our same-old, same-old into something really special. Read more…

I received my first copy of this classic as a wedding shower gift when I was just learning to cook. My second and third copies were inherited from my mother and mother-in-law, but their conditions weren’t so good—with well-worn dog-eared pages, stains and cracked and stringy bindings proving just how valuable they had been to their original owners. Read more…

I was in my early twenties when I discovered this wonderful cookbook and it redefined how I thought about cooking and food. My interest in learning to cook had already started at the elbows of my grandmother and my mother. Read more…

In the cookbook section of my library and bookstore, there are a couple of shelves of books that feature titles about food history, famous chef memoirs and books by famous food writers and critics. That’s where I found this one. Read more…

This isn’t a new book—it was first released in 1997, but my nightstand stack is high and I’m not always current.  But new doesn’t matter with this story.  Reading Michael Ruhlman’s The Making of a Chef is a really great “armchair” way to fulfill a lifelong fantasy that I’ll bet a whole bunch of us avid home cooks share Read more…

Reading Mark Bittman’s new book, Food Matters feels as good as cleaning out a closet—it’s so energizing to get rid of some of the old stuff and make room for something new and fresh.  His wisdom follows along that of Michael Pollan Read more…