Eat First

Used but not abused cookbooks: the winners are...

Jenna K. Andrews, Alison Fromme, Beau Harbin, Amber Smith, Suzanne Ellis and Michelle Breidenbach are the winners of used-but-definitely-not-abused cookbooks in the first-annual Eat First January Cookbook Clean-Out and Giveaway.

Jenna, Alison and Beau: Check your e-mail for a message from me. Amber, Suzanne and Michelle: See you soon.

Congratulations to all! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to enter. And stay tuned for more giveaways.

 

 

 

Cookbook Giveaway: Weeding out and trimming back

January is a good time to take stock of things and do some housekeeping. Today, this involves the kitchen bookshelf.

I love cookbooks and take great pleasure in their company. They're like friends, there when you need them (for a recipe, to answer a cooking question or take you back to a special time and place) and there when you don't need them, per se, but take comfort in their presence just the same. 

But there comes a point when there are just too many of them (cookbooks, not friends!) and you have to do some weeding out and thinning back. Which brings me to my first-annual January Cookbook Giveaway.

I'm parting with about a dozen gently used food books to make room for a couple new titles ("The Gourmet Cookie Book: The Single Best Recipe from Each Year, 1941-2009'' and "The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century'') and to bring a couple titles up from the basement ( "Dishing Up Vermont,'' "The Essential Baker'') now that there's a little more room upstairs.

Titles range from "Joey's Italian'' by Joey DeCuffa (of the Carrier Circle restaurant of the same name) to the "Coyote Cafe Cookbook'' by Mark Miller to "Blue Plate Specials and Blue Ribbon Chefs,'' by Jane and Michael Stern of "Roadfood" fame.

There's a book about wine, a book about cheese, a book about chocolate, a book about soups and stews, a teeny-tiny book about muffins and a petite book packed with 50 appetizer recipes.

In all, 11 books are up for grabs!

Here's how it works: To be eligible to win, leave a comment in the comment field below (one entry per person, please). The deadline to enter is noon Thursday, Jan. 27. The winner will be notified by e-mail and must be able to pick up the book in person over the weekend or sometime next week.

Good luck!

Note: The books pictured above and below are part of my collection but not necessarily part of this giveaway.

 

 

Give World Peace Cookies a chance

Linda O'Boyle, owner of Metro Home Style at the Regional Market Commons, is a busy lady this time of year.  She's working long days and having extended hours at the store on Wednesdays during December, but still carving out time to bake.

She writes: "Any suggestions for a cookie that will add some pizzazz to the holiday cookie tray that doesn't require frosting and freezes well?''

Answer: Yes, yes and yes! How about a batch of World Peace Cookies?

The recipe is the brainchild of master baker Dorie Greenspan, and it's included in her wonderful book, "Baking: From My Home to Yours.''

The beauty of these cookies -- besides their rich, double-chocolate, combination sweet and salty flavor -- is that you can make the dough in advance, roll it into cylinders and stash it in the freezer.

Later, all you have to do is slice and bake.

World Peace Cookies get a lot of coverage in the media and in the blogosphere. Click here for the recipe, which is included in "The Splendid Table'' recipe box.

Enjoy! If you make the recipe, stop back and let me know what you think.

 

Season's readings

 

Some people have visions of sugar-plums dance in their head this time of year. I just have visions of sugar. In the form of Christmas cookies.

I still miss Gourmet magazine, especially its December issue, usually devoted to cookies and other sweets of the season.

But there are other sources of inspiration, like classic recipes from Mom's file (Snickerdoodles, Pecan Sandies, Peanut Butter Blossoms), the annual Land O'Lakes magazines (recipes developed by a leading butter maker can't be bad, right?), and, of course, cookbooks.

Betty Crocker's "Cooky Book," with its vintage, slightly garish photos, is always fun to thumb through, and there are some excellent recipes in there, too. Martha Stewart's "Cookies'' causes dreaming and drooling. "Sweet Maria's Italian Cookie Tray'' is a slim volume with dozens of mouth-watering ideas: almond paste cookies, almond crescents, biscotti, you name it.

                 

A food blogger who loves to bake finds plenty of inspiration online, too. Some sites you might want to visit:

• Smitten Kitchen's "all cookies'' section:  Hazelnut Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies, anyone?
• Food52: The online community of cooks and food lovers, launched by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, is a fabulous resource for real recipes from real people. A holiday cookie plate HAS to have something ginger-y on it. I'll be trying Food52 contributor Jenny Steinhauer's recipe for Ginger-Spiced Molasses Sugar Cookies.
• You knew there had to be a website called Christmas-Cookies.com. It's broken down into categories: rolled cookies, refrigerator cookies, drop cookies, decorated cookies, bar cookies, no-bake cookies -- more than 500 recipes in all.

Happy baking -- bring on the butter, flour and sugar!

Ready to roll (and slice and bake later): Two batches of World Peace Cookies, from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours." 

The winner of "Simple, Fresh & Healthy'' is...

Drumroll, please: The winner of  "Simple, Fresh & Healthy,'' Linda Hafner's seasonal, local and recently published cookbook, is Joanna Giansanti, of Syracuse.

How right she was to point out that the book would come in handy after a trip to the Regional Market in Syracuse. Congratulations, Joanna!

To everyone else who left a comment here for a chance to win the cookbook: Thanks for stopping by and stop back again for more giveaways.

Consolation prize: I have my own copy of the book, and would be happy to loan it to you.