Your FAV new cookbook so far this year?

[KYHeirloomer]

It's amazing, when you think about it, how many authors seem to be obsessed with food, and work it in to their tales.

I've been researching food as it relates to detective stories, for instance, for an eventual book to be called The Gumshoe Gourmet. No matter how hard-boiled the main character, no matter how fast the action, there's always time to stop for lunch. Even Sherlock Holmes did it.

The ultimate in this, of course, was Nero Wolf, who only worked at all to support his three passions (food, orchids, and books). Rex Stout, the author of the series, went so far as to actually publishe [I]The Nero Wolf Cookbook[I].

More recently there are several series going in which the protagonists are cooks, caterers, or the proprietors of gourmet food stores. And, in one case, she's the food writer for a major newspaper.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

I have been meaning to ask you how that book is going, it sounds mighty interesting. And you are absolutely correct in that almost every book you read the detailed info is there about what that particular character is dining on! Gotta love it!

[chubbyalaskagriz]

a few years back "Chocolat"? The author of that book is Joanne Harris and she also wrote "Five Quarters of the Orange" which is a tale of the unique saga of a European mother w/ any number of angry & bitter dysfunctions, many of which stem from her WW2 childhood. The tale is busting apart w/ cooking & food- also mystery, intrigue, murder, betryal, lost love, long-unanswered questions, etc. I highly recommend it for folks who enjoy stories that include kitchen happenings very much in the style of Laura Esquivel's "Like Water For Chocolat".

Another fantastic food read that links cuisine & eros is Isabel Allende's "Aphrodite".

[KYHeirloomer]

Could it be that so many novelists fit the "starving artist" image, that their food obsession just spills over into their work?

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Hmmm... good idea, KYH! Nice train of thought...

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Thank you CAG for all the great suggestions, I love a good read---when I get the time, which is not often unfortunatley! But that is why I love good cookbooks they are many times perfect and just what we need to get a good quick read in!

Yes KYH..."starving artists": probably you hit the nail on the head with that one! My favorite dream is to live in Key West and just hang out at Sunset Pier and paint for a living selling all my works to the tourists.............aaahhhh. Probably why I wound up raising my grand - it keeps me grounded in reality, and a more favorable lifestyle to my likings! haha But hey as we all know it never hurts to dream a little!!!

[shipscook]

[QUOTE=KYHeirloomer;17670]I hope Nan sees your post, Chubby. She told me she was going to order it to take aboard ship (she usually takes one new cookbook on a voyage). Seven bucks sure beats 40 any day of the week. But I don't understand those used copies. This is one book I'll never give up.


from Amazon, used for $14 and change. Might be here tomorrow!!!!!!

Nan

[KYHeirloomer]

Still beats paying 40 bucks, wouldn't you say.

Let us know how you like it.

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Nice, Nan... ENJOY! I'm itchin' to get a copy too! Gotta get my order in before the USED ones all go bye-bye!

KYH- I can't tell ya how many "USED" books I've gotten from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Probably well over 50. And I tell ya- I've never received one that didn't look pretty pristine. The most unfavorable condition I have EVER received one in was a black marker "Water-Mark" on the Edge of the pages, opposite the spine. My hunch is that books that sit for a certain period on store shelves without selling eventually go to some "USED" warehouse where they're then offered for next to nothing. Although one would think thay'd have to take up shelf space for YEARS to be termed unsellable, but I've gotten some that were only a year or so old. I just got Martha Stewart's 12-18 month old, jumbo, lavish "Wedding Cakes" volume- a book I'd wanted since the day it came out, but I remained disciplined and forced myself to wait. Got the $60.00 book for only $19.80, but now I see they're offering USED copies for only $30.00, so I got LUCKY! (For anyone interested, this book is now available as one of the ONE DOLLAR BOOKS you can get as one of your 4 introductory volumes for starting-up a new membership at "The Good Cook"! (If I'd only waited a couple weeks longer!)
Items Ordered Price
1 of: Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes [Hardcover] by Stewart, Martha; Kromer, Wendy [Hardcover]
By: Martha Stewart (Author), Wendy Kromer (Author)
Sold by: texasabilene (seller profile)
$19.80

- 1 item(s) Gift options: None

Amazon.com: Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes: Martha Stewart, Wendy Kromer: Books

[jglass]

I have been enjoying The Ultimate Chinese & Asian Cookbook a friend got for me as a thank you for fixing his computer. Everything I have tried from it has been yummy. Lots of great pics and clear easy to follow instructions.