Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Library Loot LXI

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 

It's been a whole week since I last posted anything here. I didn't mean for that to happen! What started out as a small project to rearrange things in the living room to make room for the Christmas tree, I ended up organizing and purging things from my desk, a chest of drawers containing DVDs and CDs, the chest itself, and the coat and game closet. This little project took several days--not several hours like I originally anticipated. So I guess that's what I was doing when I wasn't blogging for a whole week. I have to say It sure feels good to have an emptier and tidier living room, but I sure fell far behind with things online. I'm looking forward to a relaxing week between Christmas and New Years!

I ran into the library to return some books last week and could not resist the lure of the new cookbooks shelf. I am on hold for the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook, for which I cannot wait, but grabbed these beauties to tide me over:

The Truck Food Cookbook: 
        150 Recipes and Ramblings from America's Best        Restaurants on Wheels 
        by John T. Edge 

Who doesn't love food truck food? I couldn't resist pulling this one off the shelf. I'm having fun flipping through the pages in a virtual tour of the countries best food trucks. So many familiar and unique, mouth watering recipes. Honestly, I won't likely make many of these recipes at home. They're generally the greasy, carb dense foods we all love and frankly, I think they'd taste so much better eaten on the streets! That's part of their appeal! At least now I'm inspired to seek out some food trucks in NYC the next time I'm there. At the top of my list is The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, because we all know how much I luurvve ice cream! (They have a shop, too!).

Soup of the Day: 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year 
       by Kate McMillan, photographed by Erin Kunkel 

Literally a recipe for soup for every day of the year. Monthly chapters start with a calendar and a recipe suggestion for each day. Many recipes follow the seasons making the most of seasonal produce, while plenty of them can be made any time of the year. Gorgeous photography rounds out the versatile offering of recipes that can be mastered by any level home cook.

I don't think there's a single recipe in this cookbook that didn't appeal to me. Most recipes call for chicken broth, but vegetable broth or in some cases, water, can easily be substituted for vegetarians. I personally prefer to cook without commercial stock, so I'd have to have a lot of homemade broth on hand to cook from this cookbook daily or even weekly. I hope to try or jot down a few recipes before I have to return the cookbook to the library!

True Food: Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure 
         by Andrew Weil, M.D. and Sam Fox 

The title says it all for this one. This cookbook's mission is to present the most delicious recipes made with fresh, quality ingredients that foster the health and well being of the diner. For someone like me who loves living and eating healthfully but also loves traditional, comforting foods and desserts(!), this cookbook is right up my alley. I'm still discovering all the recipes and essays this cookbook has to offer--it's definitely one worth several library renewals or even a permanent spot on my own bookshelf. The Chocolate Icebox Tart and Pomegranate Martini are just begging for a spot on my holiday menu!

Hope you check out these cookbooks!

What cookbooks have your attention right now?

4 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to the Smitten Kitchen one, myself, Christine :)

    And the food truck - wow, what a trend right now. We have a show up here called Eat Street, which showcases a variety of food trucks from Canada, The United States and London. Amazing food - yep, greasy and carb-dense, but it all looks so yummy. I love that show.

    No cookbook on the go right now - but I, too, love to pick up cookbooks when I go to the library!

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  2. I've seen the Food Truck one but haven't grabbed it. I'm giving myself a break from cookbooks til the new year. Trying to make old favorites or trying new pins.
    I'm interested in that soup cookbook. Always looking for more good soups.

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  3. Oooh, I've never eaten anything from a Food Truck before. That cookbook sounds interesting. However, the soup one has stirred my imagination and I must see if my library has it. Tomorrow I plan to look for a plain pound cake recipe for a 4-H event we're attending. I am sure that somewhere in the many cookbooks I own there is a good recipe. My guess would be the Joy of Cooking...... *g*

    I hope you and yours are happy and healthy!

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  4. I'm so glad you liked the Soup of the Day! The True Food cookbook looks really good, too--I'll have to see if I can find that one somewhere here.

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