Dancing Spoon

NY Times Holiday Cookbooks

Cookbooks Best

by J. Michael Wheeler
NY Times 36 Holiday Cookbooks
Summer’s over and the grilling’s no longer easy. So as Christine Muhlke of The New York Times says, “Summer’s homesteading how-to’s and grilling guides have given way to fall’s fearlessly bountiful lineup. It’s the time of year when big chefs send out their big books... It’s also the time for really useful books that will nudge you deeper into the winter kitchen to discover (or rediscover) the secret to no-brainer bread — or find out how much more your co-workers will like you if you bring in a “Naughty Senator” cake."

Here’s an amuse-bouche of Muhlke’s review, followed by the full course of books she’s laid out for our pleasure. All the books listed here are available at Foodie’s Emporium NY Times Holiday Cookbooks.
 
Muhlke begins with Thomas Keller, “...the biggest American chef with the biggest book...is a pro at translating his restaurant menus into lavish cookbooks for the advanced home cook.”  AD HOC AT HOME: Family-Style Recipes

Gordon Ramsay “has also set out to prove he can cook like the little people,” with his new COOKING FOR FRIENDS. This year’s most talked about restaurant book this year is MOMOFUKU from David Chang.

Should a diner who orders a dish called Sound of the Sea listen to an iPod playing waves? Well of course, according to Heston Blumenthal, the chef of the three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck in Bray, England. His new tome, FAT DUCK COOKBOOK  is a “lavish extravaganza.”

GOURMET TODAY: More Than 1,000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen, compiled by the magazine’s editor, the former New York Times food critic Ruth Reichl.

I KNOW HOW TO COOK (Je Sais Cuisiner)  was written in the early 1930s by the Sorbonne home-economics teacher Ginette Mathiot. It is the French “Joy of Cooking.” While I lived in France I sought out such a book and this it the one I found. My copy is the French version. But that’s okay, because if a dish doesn't come out quite right, I can blame it on my tortured French!

LA CUCINA: The Regional Cooking of Italy translated by Jay Hyams

THE PLEASURES OF COOKING FOR ONE by Judith Jones, who  concluded that it’s a delight to cook for one: “I open up the wine and light the candles, turn on some music, and give thanks.” 

New Lines and FREE SHIPPING

Savings Holiday

FREE SHIPPING on Our New Lines
at Foodie's Emporium!
Starting Wednesday, November 25th, at FIVE AM, Pacific Standard Time, ‘til Saturday November 28th, at Midnight, Pacific Standard Time, choose from our wonderful new kitchen lines and products listed here, and Shipping is FREE on purchases over $50 at Foodie's Emporium!

Use promo code THANKFUL at checkout!

Mauviel Mheritage Collection 5 Piece Cookware Set, Cast Iron Handles, with Wooden Crate
Save over $150 with FREE SHIPPING
The strength and foundation for Mauviel's manufacturing expertise is based upon a rich tradition of copper manufacturing that has been handed down from generation to generation for nearly 180 years. The Mheritage collection is a combination of two powerful and traditional materials, copper and stainless steel.The polished copper exterior provides unsurpassed heat conductivity and control, and the stainless steel interior ensures fast and easy cleanup. The handles are riveted to the pan for a durable, solid grip. The Mheritage collection represents the total experience and heritage of Mauviel 1830, and is used by professionals and household cooks throughout the world. Mauviel

Emile Henry Flame Top Round Dutch Oven/Stew Pot, 7 quart
Save over $70 with FREE SHIPPING
Emile Henry's ceramic bakeware and tableware has been made in Marcigny France since 1850, from high fired Burgundy clay found in the region. The natural clay is unsurpassed for conducting and retaining heat. Solid, durable and lead-free, our dishes retain heat to keep your foods warm. They are dishwasher safe, go directly from freezer to oven, and are chip, crack and scratch-resistant. Ideal for use on any type of stove or in the oven, they are also attractive serving dishes at the table. The Flame-Top Dutch Oven / Stewpot cooks evenly and gently when used on top of the stove, in the oven or even in the microwave. Emile Henry

5 Knife Set Handcrafted by Knife Designer Adam Simha
Save  $40 with FREE SHIPPING
Knife designer Adam Simha designs and handcrafts absolutely superb bench-made high-performance steel blades for his knives. These designs feature body geometry influenced by the best of both Asian and Western traditions. The unique grip: MKS knives come with an injection-molded bicycle grip that is tightly fitted over a naturally bacteria-resistant stainless steel tube. They are visually remarkable and functionally exquisite. Free with every purchase: a rawhide honing strap. Foodie's Emporium is proud to be an exclusive online retailer of Adam's amazing knives. Handcrafted in Cambridge, Massachusetts MKS Design Handcrafted Knives

More FREE SHIPPING available on our lines of
Cuisipro Cook's Tools: Cuisipro designers pioneer the use of new technologies and materials to make cooking more enjoyable and time-efficient. Cuisipro products attract the eye with simple elegance and refined and timeless design. 

Little Barrel WineWear Little Barrel Designs is a luxury line of wine-themed accessories, fun and stylish items suitable for people who are into wine and the wine country lifestyle. Using colorful patterns of wine bottles, wine glasses, and grapevines, the designers have created high-quality essentials for any wine-lover's wardrobe. 

Soiree Bottle-top Wine Decanter  The Soiree is a wine accessory that fits into any standard corked wine bottle, and comes with an extra gasket that will work with any screw cap bottle; allowing you to pour, without dripping, directly through the Soiree. Once you place the Soiree in the wine bottle, the Soiree aerates your wine as you pour it. The Soiree allows you to decant just the portion of wine you want - a glass or a carafe. (Free shipping on Soiree is on our single unit only.)

Ravi, the Instant Wine Refresher An indispensible accessory for wine lovers! The Ravi instant wine refresher is a sleek, easy-to-use accessory that is placed on the neck of the wine bottle to chill your wine to your perfect drinking temperature. You cool your wine at the very moment it's served, bringing out all the properties of your wine and not altering the taste in any way. No need to fuss with ice buckets or go back and forth to the refrigerator during meals.

Storvino Wine Storage System The Storvino wine modules are sturdy and stackable, giving you customized flexibility for storing all of your wines. Each module holds 6 bottles and can be positioned vertically or horizontally. GREEN Product: all Storvino modules are made of 100% Post Consumer Recycled HDPE! 

Kalorik Dual Zone Wine Cooler  Keep your wine at the perfect drinking temperature with Kalorik's Dual Zone Wine Cooler. Most wine storage systems control storage temperature, not drinking temperature. (Storage temperatures are much colder than drinking temperatures.) Our Dual Zone Wine Cooler keeps your wine at the best wine drinking temperature: your wines are always ready to drink.

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Everything's Relative

How "local" is local? Seen at our Whole Foods Market. In Swampscott, MA.

June '08 Foodies' Book

Foodies Books for

The Saucier's Apprentice: One Long Strange Trip through the Great Cooking Schools of Europe
by Bob Spitz

The education of a barbarian in the temples of haute cuisine.
In the blink of an eye, Bob Spitz turned fifty, finished an eight-year book project and a fourteen-year marriage that left him nearly destitute, had his heart stolen and broken on the rebound, and sought salvation the only way he knew how. He fled to Europe, where he hopscotched among the finest cooking schools in pursuit of his dream. The urge to cook like a virtuoso, to unravel the mysteries of the process, had become an obsession.

Spitz hit the fabled cooking-school circuit in a series of idyllic European villages, and The Saucier's Apprentice is a chronicle of his exploits. Combining an outrageous travelogue with gastronomic lore, hands-on cooking instruction, hot-tempered chefs, local personalities, and a batch of memorable recipes, Spitz's odyssey recounts the transformation of a professional writer—and lifelong kitchen amateur—into a world-class cook. 30 illustrations.

For more details or to buy click here.

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Flatbreads & Flavors
by Jeffrey Alford
"Two people caught in the grip of wanderlust," as Alford and Duguid describe themselves, this American- Canadian pair has traveled for nearly two decades, singly and together, throughout Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, and North America. As they have pursued their passions for travel photography and culinary research, they have found around the world a shared and nourishing element of culture and cuisine: flatbreads, the simplest, oldest, and most marvelously varied form of bread known to humankind. Immersing themselves in local cultures-from the Malaysian island of Penang and the high Himalayan passes of Tibet to the market stalls of Provence and the pueblos of New Mexico -- Adford and Duguid have studied bread baking and cooking with local bakers, in family kitchens, with street vendors, and at neighborhood restaurants and cafes.

For more details or to buy click here.

2008 Cookbook Winners

2008 Best Books

The IACP Cookbook Awards
The IACP Cookbook Awards annually celebrate the year's most outstanding food and beverage publications. The awards program was created to encourage and promote quality and creativity in cookbook writing and publishing and to expand awareness of culinary literature. The IACP Cookbook Awards have become the industry's most coveted acknowledgment of excellence in the cookbook publishing world.

Cookbook of the Year
Fish Forever: The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood
Author: Paul Johnson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Editor: Justin Schwartz
For more details or to buy click here.

Chefs and Restaurants Category
Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking
Authors: Masaharu Morimoto
Editor: Anja Schmidt and Susan Wyler
Publisher: DK Publishing
For more details or to buy click here.

New: 4.11.08 Books for Cooks

Releases New

Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2008: An Entire Year of Recipes
Almost one million subscribers heartily agree: there’s always something delicious going on in Food & Wine. And it’s all here in the annual cookbook, which includes every recipe published in the magazine during 2007 more than 600 of them accompanied by scrumptious-looking photographs. The contributors remain absolutely stellar, cuisine’s finest, including such cookbook authors, chefs, and food luminaries as Jacques Pepin, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Paula Wolfert, and Al Roker. Plus, this year’s volume is organized seasonally, so it’s even easier to find the right recipe for the right occasion.

For more details or to buy click here.

Mastering Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to the Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen
By Norman Weinstein

As the number of gourmet home kitchens burgeons, so does the number of home cooks who want to become proficient users of the professional-caliber equipment they own. And of all kitchen skills, perhaps the most critical are those involving the proper use of knives.

Norman Weinstein has been teaching his knife skills workshop at New York City’s Institute of Culinary Education for more than a decade— and his classes always sell out. That’'s because Weinstein focuses so squarely on the needs of the nonprofessional cook, providing basic instruction in knife techniques that maximize efficiency while placing the least possible stress on the user’s arm. Now, Mastering Knife Skills brings Weinstein’'s well-honed knowledge to home cooks everywhere.

For more details or to buy click here.

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Newsletter

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Stress Free Wine Shopping

Wine About

by David Haley

Our lives are filled with difficult decisions made on a daily basis at work and at home. Buying wine should be a fun learning experience not a gut wrenching episode of intimidation when entering a wine store. Here are some tips to make your wine buying experience enlightening and enjoyable.

Look
Sounds easy but looks are sometimes deceiving. Good retail stores are well laid out with comfortable surroundings that lend themselves to browsing. Wines should be well merchandised with descriptions of the characteristics and attributes in an easy to read format. Your first observations are usually correct. If the store is not clean and well organized head for the door.

Relax, It's Black Friday

Shopping Holiday

Target 6am, Kohl's 4am, our Kitchen Store, whenever.
Better wrap that post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich to go, because you're going to have to get up real early Friday morning. Black Friday, the day after  Thanksgiving, is the traditional beginning of the holiday shopping frenzy and this year the big boxes are off to an even more ridiculous start than usual.

Target, Macy's, and Kmart want you to be at their stores at six am; Best Buy, Circuit City and Sears want you to start shopping at five am; and the award for the absolutely most ridiculous opening hour is shared by Kohl's and JC Penny: four o'clock in the morning! That's not the day after Thanksgiving, that's still the night of Thanksgiving!

But you can turn off that alarm clock. We're Foodies and we don't follow the herd. We know how to enjoy life. Pour yourself another cup of coffee, or even another glass of wine because you can now do your holiday shopping when it's right for you.

We're online 24/7. We're on your computer. We bring your purchases right to your door. And FREE Shipping on most orders over $25.

Find your perfect culinary gifts for all of your favorite Foodies.
Click here to go to The Kitchen Store at Dancing Spoon

Seed Newsvine

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Have a question or comment? Email me here

Our Kitchen Store Grand Opening!!!

 

We're really excited to announce the GRAND OPENING of Foodie's Emporium, our new online kitchen store. It's filled with thousands of hard to find kitchen and cooking gadgets, products, and ingredients.

In Foodie's Emporium at DancingSpoon you'll find those perfect kitchen things, like chardonnay smoked sea salt, bamboo cutting boards, Dutch Ovens, truffle oils, knife sets, an oh-so-cool French Press, gourmet pastas, and every whisk* you might ever need!

And to make buying quick, easy, and secure, we've teamed up with the most trusted name in online shopping, Amazon.com. You can shop and purchase with confidence using your existing Amazon.com account, or create a new one right in our store. Buy with Amazon.com security.

Shop  Foodie's Emporium where you'll always find that perfect kitchen thing you've been looking for! Check out  Foodie's Emporium. Click here! And right now we're offering FREE shipping on orders over $25 on qualifying items: and most items qualify.

PS: We'd love to know how you like our store and how we can improve it for you. Please add your comments, click here.

Thanks, J. MIchael Wheeler

The Palm Peeler

Stuff Cool

A better mousetrap? We think so. We've got a drawer full of vegetable peelers, and frankly, they all leave something to be desired. Meet your newest kitchen gadget: the Palm Peeler.

It's a peeler that slips over your middle finger with the peel blades beneath. That means that the peeler is an extension of your palm, hence the name. And that gives you great control over the peeler.

Peeling slices of ginger is alway tricky. Last night I took a two inch slice of ginger and within moments, using the Palm Peeler, I had a perfectly naked slice ready to be minced. ( I was making a marinade for grilled chicken: minced ginger and garlic, some mirin (rice cooking wine), soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, a touch of molasses and Tabasco.)

The Palm Peeler is an inexpensive and very cool kitchen tool. It comes in three colors: avocado (shown), cherry, and stainless. Try it and it will become your peeler of choice!