Yes, I still buy cookbooks. Even with all of my food blog reading, I still love the idea of pulling out a physical book to help inspire me. All of the recipes are in one place (versus floating around my email inbox) and the pictures are just so pretty. I respond to a rad food picture like a toddler to something shiny.
Even though I love buying cookbooks, I don't know if I'll go on another buying binge again anytime soon. I've found some great gems this month that have already proven their worth and need to get more use before I switch to something new.
The Better Bean Cookbook by Jenny Chandler: I found this book through an NPR post and had to jump on it. I've been looking for interesting ways to use beans more, and this book brings new life into the lowly bean. This book is by no means a vegetarian and vegan cookbook. I'm looking forward to making some of the beans and pancetta/bacon recipes during my summer vacation. However, some of the ingredients get a little out of my price range or out of the local grocery store, which loses convenience with me.
Score: 4/5
The Blender Girl by Tess Masters: I got this free when I bought a blender, and it's made a great addition to my cookbok shelf. The smoothie section is probably the smallest section in the entire 300-something page book, so you're getting a lot more blender ideas for your money. The book also goes over many common smoothie and juice ingredients and helps you figure out your own combinations, which is great for me. Some of the recipes barely use a blender (I'm looking at you, salad section), but there was a lot more than I was expecting.
So far I've only made a couple of the smoothies, but I'm planning on testing the no-pumpkin pie soon. That'll be interesting considering I'm the queen of the pumpkin season.
Score: 4.5/5
The Cocktail Club by Maureen Christian-Petrosky: This book has rekindled my love for cocktails again! I've wanted to make more fresh fruit cocktails and just generally eliminate the excess added sugar that comes with pre-made mixes. This book focuses on a specific liquor and drink type each month and even provides recipes that match the palate and theme. I'm trying to follow the months the best I can, and I love that June is tequila in the book. I've only tried two of the June drinks and none of the food, but the drinks were amazing! I'm looking forward to trying new frozen drinks in July with my new blender.
Score: 4.5/5
The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon: I've been a big fan of Angela's Oh She Glows blog for a while now, but I sat on buying this book for a bit because her blog has so many recipes already. I finally went for the book on a whim and I'm so glad I did! Yes, this is a vegan cookbook, but very few of the recipes call for ingredients that require a trip to a specialty store. I've made five recipes from this book and never once stepped inside of Chuck's Natural Market. Everything came from my normal grocery store. Being an avid reader of OSG I knew this would be the case, but some people shy away from vegan cookbooks because of the strangeness factor.
Anyways…I highly recommend the Tex-Mex casserole and creamy avocado pasta from this book. You'd never believe that you're eating vegan food!
Rating: 5+/5
The Urban Pantry by Amy Pennington: I'm not going to lie…I'm a little disappointed in this book. It's smaller than I was expecting, and it focuses on very basic staple ingredient recipes. I don't know, it's just not as inspiring as the books above. I do see this book becoming an asset when I haven't been to the store in a while and need to pull dinner out of my you know what. I haven't tried any of the recipes, but they look simple enough. The barley risotto with mushrooms and leeks will help me (finally) use up an old bag of barley.
Score: 3/5
Do you have any cookbook suggestions? I have a soft spot for vegan books (especially anything by Isa Chandra Moskowitz), but I'm usually open to anything.
Sarah Abbatiello 