Fresh Cracked Pepper

Cookbooks

How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. This is a great resource for when you want to know what to do with fresh peas from the garden. Bittman has a chatty, cheerful style that makes working with food a joy. He also offers convenient menus in the back, such as “lazy weekend brunch for four” as well as ideas for special occasions and holidays. Because I so rarely cook meat, I turn to this book when I need to know what to do with the pork shoulder I bought from a local farmer.

Looneyspoons, Crazy Plates, and Eat, Shrink & Be Merry! by Janet and Greta Podleski. These three books helped me transition from basic university-student fare to healthy, easy, and inspired cooking. The latter is the most well-developed of the three, and since there is a lot of overlap between them, is my chief recommendation. These books are full of colourful, adaptable, nutritious food, and has made me laugh out loud many times. Some might find the humour over the top, but if you like cheese in your sense of humour as well as in your burritos, these are for you!

Moosewood Restaurant New Classics by the Moosewood Collective. This is my first (of hopefully many more!) cookbooks from the venerable vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca, NY. Chock full of gourmet vegetarian options from stews and sauces to light lunches and brunches, this cookbook also features many useful tips on ingredients and going organic. It’s visually pleasing and conversational.

More-With-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre. This is a staple of every Mennonite’s kitchen, and though I am not Mennonite, I’ve had the pleasure of living with many of them. I eventually bought my own copy of this book, with information about ethical consumption as good as it’s recipes. It’s full of globally-influenced foods that are affordable, healthy, and easy to prepare. Cooks from all over the world offer their stories and tips throughout the book, making it read like a conversation around a harvest table. The recipes aren’t gourmet, but they are simple and delicious. Besides, any book that taught me the granola basics deserves representation here!

Books on Food

Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck. This book really challenged me to think differently about all the industrialized food out there. The daughter of farmers, Nina continued her legacy by starting up the urban green markets London, England. She often takes unpopular and unconventional positions, defending butter, eggs, and whole, unpasteurized milk. Whether or not you follow her wacky, “back to the 1800s” way of eating, her book is an entertaining and informative read for those willing to be challenged on the notion that our food is progressing along with our technology. Includes great sections on fat, Omega-3s, and cooking oils.

A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman. Ackerman writes poetically of the world we encounter every day through the five channels of our senses. She brings philosophy, history and psychology to the table, making this book an educational as well as sensual escapade. Always wondered where the word avocado came from? You might not want to know!

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan.

Women Who Eat: A New Generation on the Glory of Food This book, edited by Leslie Miller, is the tastiest collection of food writing I’ve read in a long time. All the contributors are contemporary female writers, editors, and authors, and this is their collective manifesto on the joys of being a woman and savoring the edible world. Working to dismiss the notion that all women are on a diet, the voices of these women rise to sing the praises of nostalgic childhood meals, cooking for the men they love, and even “being food” for the children they birth. This book is divided into essays, which makes it great indulgent bedtime reading. I would highly recommend it for female “foodie” friends. Although peppered with the occasional recipe, the strength of this book lies in the writing: gorgeous, evocative, and vulnerable as it reflects the passions of feeding ourselves and our loved ones.

Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally, by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, is subtitled “a raucous year of eating locally.” The Vancouver-based couple decided over breakfast one spring morning that they wanted to understand their world better through food. Their tale of giving up pasta, sandwiches, ice cream and Cheerios is a joyful trip into the world of those who do food more seriously than most of us. I was inspired, after reading it, to be even more mindful of where my food comes from. Not, however, to give up chocolate, coffee, or salt!