Dear readers, it has been awhile since I have shared with you my love of cooking and baking. I feel so lucky to be able to use the magical power of my library card to access the hundreds of volumes of cookbooks that the library lets me check out FOR FREE!!!! It saves me money, AND it saves my house from becoming a cookbook hoard! Today I will be sharing with you four titles that I have sampled in the last couple of months. I hope you enjoy!
Bowl by Lukas Volger
I love Asian food. I especially love ramen. I had been looking for a good cookbook to help me make my own ramen dish at home for awhile and was captivated by this cover when I saw it. Look at that beautiful and delicious bowl of food! There are recipes in this book to tickle the palate of anyone looking to make their own Asian food at home. As this book is for making these dishes vegetarian, you will not find meat in any of these recipes. I like chicken, so I added chicken instead of tofu to my chosen recipe anyway. It tasted just fine.
The recipe I chose to make was the kimchi ramen. It turned out splendidly! The kimchi added an extra interesting spice to the broth (which is the most important part of a soup or noodle dish). The addition of the mushrooms, onion, and arugula gave the dish a hearty and fresh flavor profile. One of the most satisfying aspects of this dish was the crispy fried onions on top. When I saw I had to make them, my first thought was “Do I really want to do the extra work and make MORE dishes?” Dear readers, I am glad I did. They added just that extra flavor pop on top that ignited the senses. The toasted sesame seeds also added to the delight of the kimchi ramen recipe.
If you are looking to make ramen, bibimbap, pho, or any other delectable Asian dish, I highly recommend Bowl.
Click HERE to request a copy of Bowl!
1 Mix, 100 Muffins by Susanna Tee
Muffins make me happy. It is one of those treats that I pick up once in awhile for a treat breakfast. I especially like trying muffin flavors that I have never tried before. 1 Mix, 100 Muffins is like an encyclopedia of muffin recipes. There are so many to choose from that all look delectable. It was very hard for me to choose which one I wanted to bake. I finally decided on the Jelly Donut Muffins. A donut muffin? I say that is the best of both worlds!
The bake was pretty easy. I had never made a filled muffin before, so I was a little apprehensive. You do not need any elaborate, fancy baking tools. Simply fill half your muffin cup with batter, add the jam, and then fill up the muffing cup. They turned out really good! I do have to say that they were best fresh within the first day. If Jelly Donut Muffins do not sound like your jam, there are 99 other muffin recipes to try!
Click HERE to place a request for 1 Mix, 100 Muffins!
500 Breakfast and Brunch Dishes by Carol Beckerman
Dear readers, they say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I am a firm believer in being able to have what constitutes a breakfast meal morning, noon, or night. Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorite evening meals. If you also indulge in this belief system, or are a lover of breakfast, this book has everything you need to make the best out of breakfast (or brunch)! There are so many delectable dishes to choose from in this book. There are breakfast drinks, muffins, pastries, pancakes, waffles, egg dishes, and so much more. I was in a baking mood, so I checked this one out for the baking side of it. I chose to make the homemade Danish pastries.
The recipes in this book are easy to follow, and mostly all of them look easy to make. The Danish pastry recipe called for you to make puff pastry from scratch. If you have ever watched The Great British Baking Show, you know how daunting that is. I went back and forth wondering if I should make my own or if I should just buy some to complete the recipe. “Well,” I thought to myself. “You need to experience everything once. Why don’t I try to make it from scratch.” An unnecessary eight hours later I was able to assemble my Danish pastries. My puff pastry was brittle and a tad crunchy. I think I added too much flour, but it kept sticking to my table. Dear readers, if you are considering making this recipe and do not want to deal with the puff pastry, just buy it and use the recipe to assemble your Danishes. Danish pastries are something you can be creative with. I took the book’s first suggestion and went with almond paste, but added a bit of jam on top of that. They turned out lovely! I would definitely use store bought puff pastry next time, but I am happy to say I tried.
Click HERE to request a copy of 500 Breakfast and Brunch Dishes!
$10 Dinners by Julie Grimes
With soaring grocery prices, it can be frustrating to stick to a budget. For tasty and satisfying meals that do not break the bank, check out $10 Dinners! Honestly, I was impressed by how fancy and enticing these dishes looked and how easy many of them seemed to prepare. The recipes in this book take only a few ingredients, are not overly complicated, and do not break the bank. Honestly, this book has a TON to offer. What excited me about this book were the pizza recipes. Yes, I am a pizza fan. I had never made homemade pizza crust before, so was delighted by the easy to follow instructions this book provided. It was so easy! $10 Dinners offers three different crust recipes. I chose to make the Neapolitan crust. The book provides pizza topping recipes to try or you can make your own combination. I actually liked how it turned out so much that I made pizza using this recipe twice in one week! The first I did with traditional pepperoni, cheese, mushrooms, and olives. The second I did with cheese, sausage, mushrooms, and peppers. I highly recommend this book for this and all of the other recipes within!
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