OT:Love to cook? Like reading about cooking?

**Brandi** · 05-23-2006, 10:10 AM

I have a couple passions, riding my bike and cooking! Which is a good thing cause then I can burn off what I cook!
I love to read books by cooks too. Not just cook books but about their lives etc...
Anthony Bourdain has written some really good one's. Not only do I not eat brunch any more but I don't order fish on the weekends and I don't want a resturant of my own anymore!
But the reason I am writting this is because of a book I just finished called "My Life In France", by Julia Childs and Alex Prud'homme ( her husbands grandnephew). Now I have never been in to her cause she in my perception was dated. My grandmother used to watch her show on pbs. And i don't know what compelled me to buy and read this book. But I have got to say it was wonderful. She was an amazing women! She didn't come into her own till she was in her late thirties. And when she discovered cooking it was like nothing else she had ever felt. And she went into it with her all. Her stories really made me feel like I was in france with her. That I was learning to cook with her. I was so into this book that I went out and bought a used copy of her very first cook book. Which she writes about writting it in her book. THe blood ,sweet and love that went into that book is amazing. So I had to get my own copy. Now some of the recipes are really dated, but there are some basic cooking instruction that are really good. As a matter of fact I decided to try her scrambled eggs. Nothing special I know but I wanted to see how different it could be. First you whisk them for about 30 sec. Then put in a low heat pan, stir, it takes like three minutes before you see anything happen. Once the eggs start cooking keep stirring until they are cooked the way you like them. Remove from heat then quickly add 2 ta- blespoons of whipping cream ( oh this is about 7 eggs) and mix. These were the best eggs I have ever had! And my husband was shocked as well and asked me to show him on a smaller scale so he could make himself some.
I really recoomend this book. I was sad when it was over. I wish I had paid more attention to this icon of cooking when she was still with us. I just remember Dan akroid doing her on Sat night live. And kinda remeber her show when my grandma would watch her.Oh well, I hope someone here reads it too, toujours bon appetit!

**Trekhawk** · 05-23-2006, 10:16 AM

Love Eating. Love reading a Menu. Hate Cooking.

Sounds like a good book though, perhaps I need to buy it for my husband.

**Brandi** · 05-23-2006, 10:24 AM

ebay has a bunch of them right now !

**Bron** · 05-23-2006, 11:16 AM

Thanks for the recommendation

I will have to get hold of a copy. My husband and I use Julia Child´s "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" a lot. We are doing our bit for the EU butter mountain!
We like good food though, even if shopping and preparation take a bit longer and we burn off anything we eat by cycling, so what could be better?
Bron

**bikerz** · 05-23-2006, 11:19 AM

Julia Child was one of my all time favorite people! Her book "The Way to Cook" is hands down one of the best cookbooks I've ever used. The way it is organized is great - a master recipe, then variations. Everything I have made from that cookbook has been excellent. I even tried French baguettes and they were great (I'm not much of a baker - more of a stovetop person.) And her humor is present everywhere. (My sister got to meet her and spend a weekend with her, and in person she was just how you would think - very dry humor, generous and kind. (I realized I had to change "is" to "was" in this paragraph - I can't get used to the fact that she is no longer with us!)

I love cooking Indian food - it's hard to beat Madhur Jaffrey - she has great stories in her cookbooks of where recipes come from, what she remembers about certain foods, family stories, and so on. I also really like 1000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra - some have been more successful than others, but it's a great source for more obscure (to us!) dishes - the stuff people actually eat at home in India, but you'd never find in an Indian restaurant here.

**Brandi** · 05-23-2006, 11:22 AM

Sorry about all the typo's. I hopefully corrected most of them!

**Brandi** · 05-23-2006, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by bikerz

Julia Child was one of my all time favorite people! Her book "The Way to Cook" is hands down one of the best cookbooks I've ever used. The way it is organized is great - a master recipe, then variations. Everything I have made from that cookbook has been excellent. I even tried French baguettes and they were great (I'm not much of a baker - more of a stovetop person.) And her humor is present everywhere. (My sister got to meet her and spend a weekend with her, and in person she was just how you would think - very dry humor, generous and kind. (I realized I had to change "is" to "was" in this paragraph - I can't get used to the fact that she is no longer with us!)

I love cooking Indian food - it's hard to beat Madhur Jaffrey - she has great stories in her cookbooks of where recipes come from, what she remembers about certain foods, family stories, and so on. I also really like 1000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra - some have been more successful than others, but it's a great source for more obscure dishes - the stuff people actually eat at home in India, but you'd never find in an Indian restaurant here.

Ahhha fellow fan! I can tell you really like her stuff. Now you like indian food (love it) next monday on the travel channel "No reservations with Anthony Bourdain" is doing a two parter on india and the food as well as culture. He's show is really about the food. Check it out! I think it repeats too not sure what day? This weeks was on the boarder of mexico and america. Very interesting!

**bikerz** · 05-23-2006, 11:31 AM

I am a fan! For a long time I didn't know much more about her than that hilarious sketch from SNL - "Save the liver!!" (Anybody remember that?)

Thanks for the TV show tip - I'll try to remember to tivo it.

**Brandi** · 05-23-2006, 03:19 PM

oh my gosh yes "save the liver" so ooooo funny!

**ritualistic** · 05-24-2006, 03:28 AM

I had to learn cooking since I went to live abroad, living alone, far from mom's loving hands..so I can practically cook anyfin well

**Fuji Girl** · 05-24-2006, 07:05 AM

Love cooking and reading about cooking!

I also really like Ruth Reichl's books - she was/is the resturant critic for the NY Times, and her books are great!

I also like "Cooking for Mr. Latte" by Amanda Hesser and "Stuffed" by Patricia Volk.

**mtkitchn** · 05-24-2006, 09:10 AM

My husband and I love to cook, but I've never read Julia Child's book even though I'd seen her on TV a lot. I'm going to go out and get a copy.....thanks for the recommendation, Brandi!
As for Anthony Bordain, that show of his (No Reservations) cracks me up!

Thread: OT:Love to cook? Like reading about cooking?

Thread Tools

Display

OT:Love to cook? Like reading about cooking?

had to learnin cooking

Posting Permissions