Books My Kitchen and Stomache Cannot Live Without

During the engagement/newlywed period, people were under the impression that I wanted to use a cookbook. WRONG! For quite a few years, they collected dust in various locations of our unorganized house, until I finally found a proper home for them in the kitchen. At this juncture of the marriage, the foods I thought I would cook forever are boring and practically unpalatable. We began to approach dinner with the same enthusiasm an employee or student broaches the cafeteria menu with, nil.

Amongst those trusty books, I found recipes, information, tidbits and other insights to guide me along this culinary journey. Below are my favorites. I anticipate updates-check back!

• Real Simple Celebrations: I think the wheel in the back of the book is pretty sweet. Be sure to play with it. From this book, I found my Thanksgiving dinner recipes for turkey and mashed potatoes. The menus are truly simple and classic. In this world of fusion-this and combination that, it was a refreshing book of tasteful foods over which my family drooled. My greatest compliment was from my brother, who said "Tell whoever catered dinner that it was great." Real Simple is Real Awesome!

• Williams-Sonoma Casual Occasions Cookbook: a gift from the most fantastic person I met in graduate school. While I must admit that I have not tried too many of the recipes, mainly because I have not had the need to host all of the casual occasions discussed in the book, there are a few that stand out in my mind. For my fabulous bridesmaids, I made the Paella and Sangria. It is recommended for an engagement party. I rationalized that shopping for bridesmaids dresses was due to my engagement, and being with my friends was party enough for me. I also highly recommend the hazelnut biscotti recipe. Delish!

• Martha Stewart Homekeeping Handbook: gift to myself. Although not previously discussed here, I must profess my enthusiasm for Ms. Martha Stewart. Anyone who can create the empire she built out of the daily tasks of the household (and the daily tasks of a household on super steroids) is a genius in my book. Was she perfect? No, but did I ask for perfection? Nope! I just want to know about "Good Things" and how to remove rust from the lovely knives my husband placed in the dishwasher. Martha, thank you for all "The Good Things" you have taught me! Keep 'em coming, for the Shady Kitchen in Awesometown is waiting!
  

• The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: bridal shower gift from my European adventuress partner. She shares my love of cupcakes and round food, as well as brown food (more to come later on eating by shape, color and other categories. It will change the way you view food. Awesome!). This book is worth reading as a novel, it should not be used as a mere reference guide for a few recipes. Who knew that when a recipe calls for milk it assumes the baker will use whole milk? Or when a recipe calls for eggs, it means large eggs at room temperature? All of this information and more can be found in this book, along with my staple recipe for chocolate buttercream icing.
  

• Clippings from Cooks Illustrated. Wow! CI is not only filled with delicious recipes, but also includes useful knowledge for working your way around a kitchen. Before each recipe, the writer spends a few pages describing what worked and what did not work while preparing the recipe. It is a cooking lesson on paper. In my opinion, reading about the food prior to preparing it educates the cook enough to cook with confidence. Knowledge is power, and CI does a fantastic job of making their readers who actually execute their recipes very powerful indeed.
  

My kitchen bookshelf holds more books than listed above. Those are my go-to books for the "kitchen table magic" I enjoy sharing with others. I am not fancy or eclectic in my kitchen. I am not very exciting foodwise. Using Saffron was about as exotic as I get, and I must say, it still makes me feel exotic just writing about it here! Spanish Rice was the first rice I ever bought aside from white rice. I moved to Jasmine and brown rices from there, and there has been no turning back since.