Having seen how much Jen struggled to identify her ten essential cook books to tide her over until the removal van arrived (she ended up with twenty-three) I thought I'd have a go at picking my top ten.
I've tried to stick to ones that I actually cook from all the time, rather than those I curl up with on a Sunday afternoon and daydream about Nigella-esque dinner parties. So here goes, Kate's essential reading list:
Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favourites
This is the first cook book I bought when I went veggie (10 years ago) and several of the recipes are in constant rotation as midweek suppers - saffron zucchini pasta and Japanese sesame spinach in particular. I love American cook books. Whoever had the idea of chucking the scales in the bin and using volume measures (particularly for baking) was a genius. A cup of this, a spoonful of that, mix it up a bit and ta-dah! Muffins!
Vegetarian Planet - Didi Emmons
Another American book full of gorgeous recipes. There are some really innovative twists on classics, none of which are overly complicated. I particularly love her selection of veggie burgers and this is generally the fist book I reach for when I want to bake cookies.
1000 Vegetarian Recipes - Carole Gelles
This is a fab book full of excellent basic recipes. I bought a copy for my little brother when he went veggie a couple of years ago and would recommend it to any new veggies.
Vegan With a Vengeance - Isa Chandra Moscowitz
Iconic vegan cook book. The banana pancakes are our special Sunday brunch treat and I have many future plans that revolve around cupcakes.
Veg / Vegetable Heaven - Catherine Mason
Technically two books but I love them both. Seasonally focused recipes with beautiful flavour combinations.
The Vegetarian Gourmet's Easy Low Fat Favourites
Ahhhh, banana bread. This book contains the best banana bread recipe ever (low-fat and full of choc chips) what's not to love. Easily veganised and a firm favourite on cake Friday (in my office) I'm sure you'll be reading more about it here in the near future. Oh yeah, there's also loads of other great recipes in here including a fab Hungarian paprikash.
The Low Fat Indian Vegetarian Cookbook - Miridula Baljekar
Dahl. mmmmm.
Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery
I eat Indian food at least twice a week and this book is a classic. I have been buying copies of this in second hand shops for years and distributing them around family and friends.
The Bean Book - Rose Elliot
Rose Elliot is the Delia Smith of vegetarian food. I have fifteen of her books and they're all great. However, as a total legumaniac this is the one i use the most.
Feast - Nigella Lawson
The list wouldn't be complete without at least one of Nigella's offerings and this is my current favourite.
So that's my top ten, only another three hundred and fifty left to review.
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
Old friends, new lives
I spent last night helping one of my closest friends sort through her belongings in preparation for her move from Edinburgh to Ireland (sniff). Jen and I used to be flatmates, when I moved in with her I had been vegetarian for 5 years and owned around three cookbooks. By the time I moved
out a year later I owned a whole shelf full and four years on from that I have enough to fill two bookcases. We have been sharing ideas, books and inspiration for more than five years. Our individual cookbook collections blur and merge around the edges with the constant flow of books from hers to mine and mine to hers. She's the only person I know that can buy me a cookbook for Christmas that I don't have to surreptitiously return as I already own it.
Last night we gathered all her cook books and magazines into the living room ready for packing; retrieving all the precarious piles liberally scattered around her flat. Afterwards we looked at the mountain we had created, photographed it for posterity, and tried to figure out how to make the
collection look smaller before her husband arrived home (she rejected the idea of hiding them at my house). To keep her going until the van arrived at the other end (five days) we packed up her ten carefully selected 'desert island' books (twenty-three in total).
Phase two of the plan found us reclining on a sofa apiece, flicking through a tottering heap of magazines nearly as tall as she was, ensuring that no useful article or interesting recipe accidentally made it into the recycling pile (vital work I think you'll agree). We retired to bed well after midnight satisfied with a job well done - I'm not entirely sure her husband will agree when he arrives today and is faced with the chaos that used to be his living room.
I'm definitely going to miss hanging out with Jen - she's the only other person I know that can spend a whole afternoon reading cook books, talking about food and watching UKTV Food and then order takeout for dinner as there's no time left to actually cook any food.
So that's the purpose of this Blog, to keep Jen up-to-date with the comings and goings on my shelves and through my kitchen and to save on phone bills so that I can afford to fly out to Ireland more often.
Good luck in your new home.
Hugs and cookies.
Veggiekate
out a year later I owned a whole shelf full and four years on from that I have enough to fill two bookcases. We have been sharing ideas, books and inspiration for more than five years. Our individual cookbook collections blur and merge around the edges with the constant flow of books from hers to mine and mine to hers. She's the only person I know that can buy me a cookbook for Christmas that I don't have to surreptitiously return as I already own it.
Last night we gathered all her cook books and magazines into the living room ready for packing; retrieving all the precarious piles liberally scattered around her flat. Afterwards we looked at the mountain we had created, photographed it for posterity, and tried to figure out how to make the
collection look smaller before her husband arrived home (she rejected the idea of hiding them at my house). To keep her going until the van arrived at the other end (five days) we packed up her ten carefully selected 'desert island' books (twenty-three in total).
Phase two of the plan found us reclining on a sofa apiece, flicking through a tottering heap of magazines nearly as tall as she was, ensuring that no useful article or interesting recipe accidentally made it into the recycling pile (vital work I think you'll agree). We retired to bed well after midnight satisfied with a job well done - I'm not entirely sure her husband will agree when he arrives today and is faced with the chaos that used to be his living room.
I'm definitely going to miss hanging out with Jen - she's the only other person I know that can spend a whole afternoon reading cook books, talking about food and watching UKTV Food and then order takeout for dinner as there's no time left to actually cook any food.
So that's the purpose of this Blog, to keep Jen up-to-date with the comings and goings on my shelves and through my kitchen and to save on phone bills so that I can afford to fly out to Ireland more often.
Good luck in your new home.
Hugs and cookies.
Veggiekate
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