I don´t know wether J is fabulously entertaining, or else terribly high-maintenance. Whichever it is, the fact remains that with him out of town, I have masses of time to kill.
And so one lazy weekend morning I ran amok on Amazon and ordered a tall pile of cookbooks that have arrived in a steady trickle, keeping me very well amused.
(Strict Freudians, I know what you´re going to say, and beleive me, I hear you. But it was either the books or chocolate by the slab, and we don´t want to go down that road.)
I´m going to be lazy and not link to the books. I think if anyone´s very interested they can look for them, I´ve had a long long day, but here are some mini reviews.
The kitchen diaries, by Nigel Slater- I quite like Nigel, though he can sound a bit bossy in his slap-happy "I´m so unfussy way". This book is weird, because it has blog shape. The sort of stream of consciosness, rummage around the fridge, this is what I cooked yesterday thing, in book form. But good
Breakfast, lunch, tea by Rose Carrarini- This is the book of the Rose Bakery, and an odd one to have chosen. I´m not a finicky baker, nor a lover of chef or restaurant cookbooks. I can´t remember why I bought it, but I have to say that it looks gorgeous and certainly makes me want to go to the Rose Bakery, a lot.
Picnics, by Claudia Roden. I just had to have this. I love Claudia Roden, I love picnics, it just stands to reason. It´s what you might expect from her, snippets of history, fragments of memoir, and lots of recipes you want to make. And because the theme is more general, she comes out of her cumin-and-yogurt ivory tower, which is very interesting.
Good things, by Jane Grigson. I bought this because Laurie Colwin talks about it so much. It´s a classic, a proper English cookbook, full to the brim of love for French food, written before chillies and lemongrass swept the board. I think I´ll probably love it, although I´m annoyed by the cover, which looks much more modern than the inside and just makes no sense.
The River Café pasta book was a total impulse buy, but actually looks really good. The other books from the RC seem to me to be too full of stuff I´ll never make, quails and impossible Italian fish, but this is a compilation of all the delicious pasta recipes I think I might make. Looks very good.
The bowl in the picture held stewed plums and yogurt. Very nice it was, too.
13 comentarios:
I love my 'Good Things'which I also bought because of Colwin! It's an old, old, smelly copy from the '70's that has a note inside the cover that says it's a present to one woman from a husband and wife. Very good reading too! Marion Cunningham's 'Lost Recipes'(also superb) quotes from 'Good Things' about how cooking is a better creative outlet than painting. It's lovely!
It happens to the best of us... Amazon is addictive! I have also purchased heaps of cookbooks when bored. Fun, though sometimes expensive, hobby!
What a lovely list of books. I haven't seen the Claudia Roden picnic book, but I'm very excited to read about that.
One of my favourite food memoirs is Nigel Slater's "Toast: the story of a boy's hunger". It's a beautiful funny and yet sad story of his childhood and adolescence. Plus the conversion from horrible English processed food to the delight and revelation of real cooking.
ahahh, I would have taken the books and the chocolate! I am also alone this week, and like you, I find myself with much more time in my hands ;-)
Love your choices. I'd always take books over chocolate, unless having both was an option. I'm a late night Amazon shopper, too.
High-maintenance J :) I think all men are high-maintenance on some level, don't you?
I've got Kitchen Diaries (lovely book), and I think I have to get Claudia Roden's new book now - I love her previous ones..
You didn't get Nigella's new tome?
anónimo:darn, that´s the sort of copy I wanted, but second hand were selling for more than new. I´ll be looking into Lost recipes now, thanks!
Christianne: I know, well, it could be a worse habit, I guess.
Kathryn: I liked Toast, too, but I prefer his recipes, there´s always something really delicious around the page.
Bea: I might (just might) have had a few bites of chocolate...
Lydia: with me it´s more of an early morning thing. even worse
Pille: yep, I think on most levels men are high-maintenance. And yes, I got Nigella´s a couple of weeks back, that´s why it´s not on this post. It´s good.
I'm reading Nigel Slater's Toast right now and plan to pick up The Kitchen Diaries next. It's such a gorgeous book. And I hear about you about new book covers on old books--it just seems so incongrous and lazy of the publishers--either redesign the whole thing or just leave it alone.
I officially declare you my cooking-books Guru. Amen.
completely with you - i've been in that place sooo often! especially after just resigning from work, with my pregnant body sitting heavily on the sofa, feet up upon doctor's orders and what do i do? spend a salary that doesn't exist anymore on cookbooks and pregancy books and more cookbooks! glad the bank statements come addressed to me, not the husband!
Amazon may be my undoing. It makes it way too easy to buy all sorts of cookbooks that I've never even heard of before being introduced to them by Amazon. (The Amazon recommendations I seem particularly susceptible to.) And I get such a thrill every time I come home and find a package of books waiting for me in my vestibule.
I like your choices. Kitchen Diaries is on my wishlist and I don't know why the Jane Grigson book isn't because I've been interested in her ever since reading about her in Laurie Colwin.
Soy súperfan del libro de arriba, el carrot cake de Rose está de morirse de bueno, y también del de Nigel, he hecho un montón de recetas de ese libro y salen todas estupendas, el brownie, la ensalada de garbanzos y la crema de lentejas especiada. .. un saludo jorge fogonazo!
Publicar un comentario