I was in the local bookstore to pick something up, and what I was looking for wasn’t there. I browsed around a little since I had a 20% off coupon, and I saw this: The Wizard’s Cookbook. I made an impulse purchase. I regret nothing. This is a cookbook, but all the recipes are based on characters from modern fantasy literature and include everything from the expected Harry Potter and Wizard of Oz to the equally cool but less expected Magica DeSpell, Link, Asterix and […]
Cookbook, picture book, and goodbye
Like a lot of people upon hearing of the sudden and unexpected death of Anthony Bourdain, I decided to read some of his work. I’d read Kitchen Confidential several years ago, so I didn’t feel the need to re-read that (plus, there were quite a few holds on the local library copies already). What was rather surprisingly available was his last cookbook Appetites; this worked well for me since I’d never read one of his cookbooks before. Appetites is written by the same opinionated fearless […]
Not your average cookbook – for the seasoned (food pun!) cook looking to take it up a notch.
This was the May pick of the Slow Food Chicago book club, one of the four (five?) book clubs that I am in. I sometimes lament that I have given away some choice in my reading to these clubs. Luckily this book was one I wouldn’t have picked up on my own, and I found it both interesting and inspiring. That is what I call a resounding success in the world of book clubs. This is a equal parts cookbook, historical text, and flavor bible. […]
Book Exchange Thanks – Officially!
One of the purest joys of the holiday season is doing my best to match the right gifter to the correct giftee. When we manage to to send just the right gift, and the bliss getting a book just for you, is one of my favorite traditions. I have been in a cooking rut, and I knew resident Cannonball Foodie ardaigle would probably have an idea of a cookbook that should be sitting on my kitchen counter. I wasn’t wrong, and it comes with an awesome […]
I’d Eat at Chrissy Teigen’s House Any Day
I have been in a bit of a cooking slump. I am tired of my food and desperately missing having a roommate to share that responsibility with or even just tell me what she wants to eat on days I have no inspiration. In addition, leftovers hang around a lot longer, as a recipe that serves four will now last me four days as opposed to two or three. When I saw a review of Chrissy Teigen’s Cravings, billed as “food you’ll actually want to […]
I stand corrected af.
Chrissy Teigen really is an absolute gift to the world, isn’t she? I’m really late to the party on that one. At some point I realized that I always click posts about her on any blog I follow despite having no special interest in her career or her husband John Legend’s. She just gradually floated into my consciousness as a delightful Twitter personality, but…I’m not even on Twitter. It was a weird situation. So when I saw Cravings here and there, well-reviewed, I figured why […]

