Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat


Bee Wilson - 2012
    It can also mean the humbler tools of everyday cooking and eating: a wooden spoon and a skillet, chopsticks and forks.Since prehistory, humans have braved sharp knives, fire, and grindstones to transform raw ingredients into something delicious - or at least edible. Tools shape what we eat, but they have also transformed how we consume, and how we think about, our food. Technology in the kitchen does not just mean the Pacojets and sous-vide of the modernist kitchen. It can also mean the humbler tools of everyday cooking and eating: a wooden spoon and a skillet, chopsticks and forks. In Consider the Fork, award-winning food writer Bee Wilson provides a wonderful and witty tour of the evolution of cooking around the world, revealing the hidden history of everyday objects we often take for granted. Knives - perhaps our most important gastronomic tool - predate the discovery of fire, whereas the fork endured centuries of ridicule before gaining widespread acceptance; pots and pans have been around for millennia, while plates are a relatively recent invention. Many once-new technologies have become essential elements of any well-stocked kitchen - mortars and pestles, serrated knives, stainless steel pots, refrigerators. Others have proved only passing fancies, or were supplanted by better technologies; one would be hard pressed now to find a water-powered egg whisk, a magnet-operated spit roaster, a cider owl, or a turnspit dog. Although many tools have disappeared from the modern kitchen, they have left us with traditions, tastes, and even physical characteristics that we would never have possessed otherwise. Blending history, science, and anthropology, Wilson reveals how our culinary tools and tricks came to be, and how their influence has shaped modern food culture. The story of how we have tamed fire and ice and wielded whisks, spoons, and graters, all for the sake of putting food in our mouths, Consider the Fork is truly a book to savor.

The Happy Cook: 125 Recipes for Eating Every Day Like It's the Weekend


Daphne Oz - 2016
    In The Happy Cook, Daphne Oz makes cooking fun and relaxing, and shows anyone—newbie or seasoned expert—how to celebrate every day with delicious meals that are as easy to create as they are to enjoy.Like cooking with a good friend and a glass of wine, The Happy Cook is filled with friendly advice, expert tips, inspiring ideas, and best of all, 125 simple yet fabulous recipes, all using just a handful of ingredients, that will transform the most nervous or reluctant novice into a happy, confident home cook.Here are recipes for the whole day and the whole week, from Saturday dinner parties to quick-and-easy weeknight leftovers. With The Happy Cook, eating well is a breeze with delights such as:Breakfast—Crispy-Crunchy Honey-Thyme Granola, Chocolate Almond Breakfast Bars, and Coconut-Mango PancakesLunch—Kale and Plum Salad with Miso Vinaigrette, Warm Spring Pea Soup, Seared Garlic-Lime Shrimp Banh Mi and Philly Cheesesteak QuesadillasDinner—Truffle Salt Roast Chicken with Lentils and Squash, Cashew Soba Noodles with Fried Shallots, Sea Bass Roasted Over Citrus, and Apricot-Rosemary Glazed Lamb ChopsDessert—"Outlaw" Carrot Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream, Better Brownies, Sour Apple Juice Pops, and Nutty Banana "Ice Cream"The Happy Cook is all about real-life application—and real-life success. Celebrate every occasion and every meal with mouthwatering, vibrant, easy food. It's not about perfection, as Daphne makes clear. It’s about the confidence to get into the kitchen, have fun, and become a happy cook!

Sex, Death and Oysters: A Half-Shell Lover's World Tour


Robb Walsh - 2006
    Thus begins a five-year journey into the culture of one of the world’s oldest delicacies. Walsh’s through-the-looking-glass adventure takes him from oyster reefs to oyster bars and from corporate boardrooms to hotel bedrooms in a quest for the truth about the world’s most profitable aphrodisiac.On the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Gulf coasts of the U.S., as well as the Canadian Maritimes, Ireland, England, and France, the author ingests thousands of oysters—raw, roasted, barbecued, and baked—all for the sake of making a fair comparison. He also considers the merits of a wide variety of accompanying libations, including tart white wines in Paris, Guinness in Galway, martinis in London, microbrews in the Pacific Northwest, and tequila in Texas.Sex, Death and Oysters is a record of a gastronomic adventure with illustrations and recipes—a fascinating collection of the most exciting, instructive, poignant, and just plain weird experiences on a trip into the world of the most beloved and feared of all seafoods.

Feed Your Pet Right: The Authoritative Guide to Feeding Your Dog and Cat


Marion Nestle - 2010
    Nesheim, Ph.D., a Cornell animal nutrition expert, to write Feed Your Pet Right, the first complete, research-based guide to selecting the best, most healthful foods for your cat or dog.Human nutrition expert and author of the critically acclaimed What to Eat, Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., has joined forces with Malden C. Nesheim, Ph.D., a Cornell animal nutrition expert, to write Feed Your Pet Right, the first complete, research-based guide to selecting the best, most healthful foods for your cat or dog. A comprehensive and objective look at the science behind pet food, it tells a fascinating story while evaluating the range of products available and examining the booming pet food industry and its marketing practices. Drs. Nestle and Nesheim also present the results of their unique research into this sometimes secretive industry. Through conversations with pet food manufacturers and firsthand observations, they reveal how some companies have refused to answer questions or permit visits. The authors also analyze food products, basic ingredients, sources of ingredients, and the optimal ways to feed companion animals. In this engaging narrative, they explain how ethical considerations affect pet food research and product development, how pet foods are regulated, and how companies influence veterinary training and advice. They conclude with specific recommendations for pet owners, the pet food industry, and regulators. A road map to the most nutritious diets for cats and dogs, Feed Your Pet Right is sure to be a reference classic to which all pet owners will turn for years to come.

New England Open-House Cookbook: 300 Recipes Inspired by New England's Farms, Dairies, Restaurants, and Food Purveyors


Sarah Leah Chase - 2015
    Sarah Leah Chase is a caterer, cooking teacher, and prolific writer whose books—including The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook (as coauthor) and Nantucket Open-House Cookbook—have over 3.4 million copies in print. For New England Open-House Cookbook, she draws from her memories of growing up in Connecticut and Maine; her experience living and cooking on Cape Cod; and her extensive travels meeting farmers, fishermen, and chefs. The result is a wide-ranging cookbook for everyone who has skied the mountains of Vermont, sailed off the coast of Maine, dug for clams on Cape Cod, or just wishes they had. It reflects the bountiful ingredients and recipes of New England, served up in evocative prose, gorgeous full-color photographs, and 300 delicious recipes. All of New England’s classic dishes are represented, including a wealth of shellfish soups and stews and a full chapter celebrating lobster. From breakfast (Debbie’s Blue Ribbon Maine Muffins) to delightful appetizers and nibbles (Tiny Tumbled Tomatoes, Oysters “Clark Rockefeller”) to mains for every season and occasion: Baked Bluefish with New Potatoes and Summer Rib Eyes with Rosemary, Lemon, and Garlic. Plus: perfect picnic recipes, farmstand sides, and luscious desserts.

Magnolia Table: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering


Joanna Gaines - 2018
    Magnolia Table includes 125 classic recipes—from breakfast, lunch, and dinner to small plates, snacks, and desserts—presenting a modern selection of American classics and personal family favorites. Complemented by her love for her garden, these dishes also incorporate homegrown, seasonal produce at the peak of its flavor.Full of personal stories and beautiful photos, Magnolia Table is an invitation to share a seat at the table with Joanna Gaines and her family.

Soup: A Way of Life


Barbara Kafka - 1998
    Though the subject is so familiar to us all, her approach is totally original, just as it was in her award-winning Roasting: A Simple Art and Microwave Gourmet. In a wonderfully diverse collection of nearly three hundred recipes from all over the world--some traditional, some newly minted, many so simple they require no cooking at all, each of them very much a part of our spiritual and emotional lives--she offers up a lifetime worth of pleasure:icy soups for steamy days (ceviche soup with ginger) and hot soups for cold days (winter duck soup)rustic potages (great green soup) and elegant consommes (beef madrilene)simple soups to start (Moroccan tomato) and complex soups that make a meal (beef short ribs in a pot)fifteen-minute specials (mussels and tomato soup) and those that simmer all day (pot-au-feu)a magical garlic broth, among other vegetable broths and bases, gives vegetarians hundreds of recipes to enjoy As always, Barbara's intelligence and talent for innovation have resulted in a vast body of ideas to make your life in the kitchen easy and interesting. Nearly thirty stocks are offered, as well as dozens of ways to use seasonal produce to cook and freeze soup bases for year-round fresh taste. You'll find cooking times for everything from dumplings and piroshki to noodles and pasta, simmering times for every possible cut of meat, and yields and blanching times for dozens of vegetables. There are easy-to-follow charts to answer every cooking question.And then there's Barbara's "memory pieces." Woven through the recipes, they form a book within a book, one family's personal and culinary history. They're fascinating and warming and enriching on their own. They also remind us why soup is a vital part of our lives. And why Barbara Kafka is a vital part of our cooking experience.

Foodist: Using Real Food and Real Science to Lose Weight Without Dieting


Darya Pino Rose - 2009
    Foodist is a new approach to healthy eating that focuses on what you like to eat, rather than what you should or shouldn’t eat, while teaching you how to make good decisions, backed up by an understanding of what it means to live a healthy lifestyle.Foodist: Using Real Food and Real Science to Lose Weight Without Dieting is filled with tips on food shopping, food prep, cooking, and how to pick the right restaurants and make smart menu choices.

Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck


Thug Kitchen - 2014
    Beloved by Gwyneth Paltrow ("This might be my favorite thing ever") and named Saveur's Best New Food blog of 2013—with half a million Facebook fans and counting—Thug Kitchen wants to show everyone how to take charge of their plates and cook up some real f*cking food.Yeah, plenty of blogs and cookbooks preach about how to eat more kale, why ginger fights inflammation, and how to cook with microgreens and nettles. But they are dull or pretentious as hell—and most people can't afford the hype.Thug Kitchen lives in the real world. In their first cookbook, they're throwing down more than 100 recipes for their best-loved meals, snacks, and sides for beginning cooks to home chefs. (Roasted Beer and Lime Cauliflower Tacos? Pumpkin Chili? Grilled Peach Salsa? Believe that sh*t.) Plus they're going to arm you with all the info and techniques you need to shop on a budget and go and kick a bunch of ass on your own.This book is an invitation to everyone who wants to do better to elevate their kitchen game. No more ketchup and pizza counting as vegetables. No more drive-thru lines. No more avoiding the produce corner of the supermarket. Sh*t is about to get real.

Live to Eat: Cooking the Mediterranean Way


Michael Psilakis - 2016
    Doctors have extolled the virtues of the Mediterranean diet for decades, but no chef has given home cooks the recipes they'll want to make again and again -- until now. In Live to Eat, Michael Psilakis modernizes the food of his heritage to prove that clean, healthy meals can also be comforting and easy to prepare. Cooking the Mediterranean way means deliciousness, not deprivation: a nearly endless array of satisfying weeknight meals for your family can start with just seven easy-to-find staples, from Greek yogurt to simple tomato sauce.

The Paleo Chef: Quick, Flavorful Paleo Meals for Eating Well


Pete Evans - 2014
    However, following this way of eating doesn't mean sacrificing flavor or spending a long time in the kitchen. In The Paleo Chef, Pete Evans, one of Australia's leading chefs and food personalities, shows readers how to prepare gorgeous food that is satisfying, flavor-forward, and good for you. A graduate of New York's Institute of Integrative Nutrition and an enthusiastic supporter of the Paleo movement, Pete's mission is to revolutionize the way we eat and live. The Paleo Chef is his breakout book, a visually rich collection of more than 100 of his most inspired, no-sacrifice recipes for every meal of the day, from Sprouted Seed Bread to Chia Seed Pudding, Grilled Asparagus with Roasted Bone Marrow to Chocolate Beet Cake, and more.

Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings, and Life


Kate McDermott - 2016
    Here she shares her secrets to great crusts (including gluten-free options), fabulous fillings, and to living a good life. This is the only PIE cookbook you need.

The Taste of Tomorrow: Dispatches from the Future of Food


Josh Schonwald - 2012
    Building upon the knowledge base we have gained from such books as The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Schonwald takes our contemporary conversation about food a step further, debunking myths, clarifying controversies (such as the current storm over GMOs, or genetically modified organisms), and exploring the wild possibilities that food science and chemical engineering are making realities today—from food pills to new species of scratch-built fish.

Happy Healthy Gut: The Natural Diet Solution to Curing IBS and Other Chronic Digestive Disorders


Jennifer Browne - 2014
    Jennifer Browne reveals the common denominator present in almost all chronic digestive angst: food. What we choose to fuel ourselves with has a direct impact on every part of our bodies, starting with the digestive system. Browne urges us to own responsibility for our own health and make conscientious decisions regarding the cause and effect foods have on our digestive tracts. Written in frank, humorous laymen’s terms and sharing her own personal success story along with others’, Browne passionately educates her readers on why a plant-based diet is the only prescription necessary for a happy, healthy tummy. Discover the direct correlation between digestive trauma and factory farming; the incredible benefits of juicing, fermenting, and sprouting food; the reason why GMOs lead to IBS; and what ingredients really just translate to “sugar” or “lab-created chemical.” Heal Your Gut is an easy read that is truly important and highly informative for anyone who has ever dreamed of a perfectly functioning digestive system.

The Candida Cure: The 90-Day Program to Balance Your Gut, Beat Candida, and Restore Vibrant Health


Ann Boroch - 2018
    Seventy million of us suffer from digestive problems like acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or gastro esophageal reflex disorder (GERD). Another forty million have been diagnosed with anxiety and/or depression and a staggering fifty million Americans live with an autoimmune disease. But what is newsworthy is that all of these conditions share a common thread you’ve probably never heard of: candida."Candida" is the term for a group of yeast organisms that have lived in our digestive tract for millennia, in harmony with the other thousands of bacteria, viruses, and archaea that make up our microbiome. But due to poor diets, processed foods, overuse of antibiotics, environmental toxins, and increased stress, our microbiome has been under steady and constant attack for decades. Yeast are of a heartier stock than bacterial microbes, and as bacteria die off, yeast begins to overgrow in the digestive tract, a condition known as candidiasis. Mild and moderate cases of candidiasis present with fatigue, IBS, eczema, depression, brain fog, migraines, and weight gain. Severe cases allow the afflicted to develop autoimmune disease (such as Multiple Sclerosis), cancer, and Alzheimer’s.Ann Boroch’s self-published book, The Candida Cure, has been the #1 resource in candida treatment since 2008. Her program—which she used to heal herself from a life-threatening autoimmune disorder—has stood the test of time, and has become a life-changing resource for more than 65,000 people. Now, in this revised edition,  readers have even more tools, with updated information and case histories, a quick start cleanse, and all-new recipes and eating plans.