I am constantly in search of inspiration and education on food, cooking, nutrition, and meal planning. I pick up ideas everywhere. I have been focused on food from my earliest memories. I have three latest sources of inspiration:
1. New library books: I like to read all kinds of books on food, so here is sample of the books I checked out this week from the library:
- Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, by Bob Spitz (a biography of one of my personal favorites)
- The Essential James Beard Cookbook: 450 Recipes that Shaped the Tradition of American Cooking by James Beard (Kimberly and I are traveling to Gearhart, Oregon, James Beard’s birth place, and I wanted to find some recipes to make in honor of the “father of American cooking”)
- The James Beard Foundation’s Best of the Best: A 25th Anniversary Celebration of America’s Outstanding Chefs (a gorgeous compendium of the winners of the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Chef Award for the last 25 years with personal profiles, kitchen photos, and recipes). I don’t think I will try any of the recipes in the book, but I enjoy reading about the chefs and seeing the photos of their restaurants and kitchens.
- Eat Your Way to Happiness: 10 Diet Secrets to: improve your mood; curb your cravings; keep the pounds off by Elizabeth Sommer, M.A., R.D. (As other parents of young children may have noticed, it’s really hard to keep self-care a top priority. I spend a large amount of my energy on feeding my family nutritious meals but have noticed in my energy and sleep-deprived state that I have been looking for the fast and easy high (sugar) and have been ignoring the advice that I know – and give to others. I decided to get back in balance with a reminder of core nutrition and diet guidelines.)
2. Gift of a new cookbook: I just got a copy of Cafe & Bakery La Boulange: Cafe Cooking at Home by Pascal Rigo. It is a beautiful and highly instructional cookbook with detailed step-by-step photos of each dish featured in the book. The recipes look incredible, and the photos show how doable it is to make them. I have an enormous number of the pages tagged for trying soon.
3. Cooking websites/blogs: I get the daily emails from Everyday Food with Sarah Carey, and while I’ve found the recipes enticing, I just tried my first one, Barbecued Chicken, and it was delicious.
I also use a fantastic site, Table365.com, and just tried the Basil Strawberry Iced Tea that Kimberly posted in the q&a section last week. I took it to a Fourth of July BBQ, and it got rave reviews. I’ll be making it all summer. It’s so much fun to find new recipes that are easy and crowd pleasers.
I was recently given a cookbook called Share: The Cookbook that Celebrates our Common Humanity put together by Women for Women International. The mission of this organization is to empower women from war-torn countries. The book includes a great variety of recipes from supporters of various humanitarian causes, as well as stories and recipes from the different countries in which the organization is working. It is inspiring to read the stories of the incredible women featured, and I love learning about dishes from these different cultures. I haven’t tried the recipes yet (ah, time), but I have been cooking a greater variety of dishes lately!
