Monday, January 2, 2012
2012 Food Challenge, Part 1
I'm struggling to find my way through the haze of mommy-brain and get back into the kitchen. I miss creating. I also miss reading and learning new things. Graduate school was an intellectual challenge, and Kenya was challenging in many ways- socially, calorically, and physically. Now I'm back in the U.S. with nothing on my plate besides raising a tiny, quirky, adorable baby who hates sleeping and who is just starting to eye our dinner plates with curiosity, and (dare I hope) enthusiasm.
I need to get back in the kitchen, both literally and metaphorically.
I've got a list of food-related goals for 2012. Well, three lists, actually. I'm sharing the first list today in the hopes that putting it out there will further inspire my sleep-deprived self to be challenged both in and out of the kitchen.
2012 Food Challenge, Part 1: Read twelve food-related books.
I am a voracious reader. I love reading. On one of our first international trips together, Nathan was astounded by the pile of books I planned to bring and read (I think I brought 8 or 9 books for a three-week trip.) I assured him that I'd finish them, and I did, and I even foraged around the hostel's bookshelves for more. However, something about having a new baby means that I have less time for reading. That's not to say that I have NO time for reading; I don't make particularly great use of his nap times.
So, I've come up with a list of books that I'd love to dive into this year. My goal is to read all twelve (and substitutions are totally allowed- I've only picked 11 books so far, and the list is subject to change) and review them. They're a mixture of cookbooks, food memoirs, and food-related fiction and non-fiction. I also plan to cook at least one dish inspired by each book and blog about that.
Here are the books:
1. Super Natural Cooking, Heidi Swanson
2. The Greens Cookbook, Deborah Madison
3. The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, Ree Drummond
4. The Art of Simple Food, Alice Waters
5. Baking Cakes in Kigali, Gaile Parkin
6. The Flavor Bible, Page and Dornenburg
7. Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer
8. Smitten Kitchen cookbook, Deb Perelman
9. The Gastronomy of Marriage, Michelle Maisto
10. Trail of Crumbs, Kim Sunee
11. The Sweet Life in Paris, David Lebovitz
12. (unknown- any suggestions?)
I'll be back later this week with Parts Two and Three of my 2012 Food Challenge. Let me know if you've read any great food-related books lately!
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love the new look J! if you're finding the physical holding of the book time hard to come boy, try some of the foodie podcasts - i love listening while in the car traipsing across God's country...
ReplyDeleteOooh, I do enjoy "Joy the Baker"'s podcast. That's a good idea! Do you have any favorites?
ReplyDeleteMy Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
ReplyDeleteAnimal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
I absolutely love Barbara Kingsolver and loved that book! I'm not a huge meat-eater, but I'll look into Ozeki's book! Thanks!
DeleteBaking by James Peterson
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'll look it up!
DeleteThe Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting! I don't do as much baking as cooking, so it'd be good for me to expand my horizons!
DeleteAre you interested in cookbooks or food writing? Food writing: MFK Fisher, Elizabeth David, Edna Lewis, Waverly Root, Ruth Reichl for a start.
ReplyDeleteCookbooks? Oh gosh. I own over 1000 so I'd need to know categories and how you like to cook. You need to hang out on the Jessica Biscuits site and browse their bargain books for lots of good deals.
This link will take you to my own posts about food books and this link will take you to my posts about cookbooks cookbooks and this link will take you to my Weekend Cooking feature. Lots of books discussed (note those three links will overlap a bit).
Of course those links lead to books I've read only since I started blogging. The classics are missing because I read them years ago. If you look at those posts and follow the links you'll get a huge list of books to choose from.
Good luck and feel free to email me. BTW: Trish Hey Lady sent me over.
Read The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister... Great food-related fiction that makes you want to cook right away.
ReplyDeleteI read that recently and really enjoyed it.
DeleteIf you enjoyed that book, have you read Molly Wizenberg's "A Homemade Life"? I LOVED it. I wish I could read it again for the first time.
Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time
ReplyDeleteThanks! That sounds interesting- I'll look it up!
Delete