What Food-related Book Should You Read?
Join us in reading Beyond Bestsellers: Cooking to explore food-centric books for all tastes (see what I did there?).
When you walk into a kitchen, what are you hoping for?
Yeah, I store my shoes in that flaming metal box.
Something cozy that will feed my soul.
Cooking is like a personal journey to me. I'm hoping to learn something about myself.
I like to explore places I love or want to visit.
I hope an expert or someone famous will hold my hand.
I'm really just in it for a good time.
I want to have a deeper understanding of where we've come from.
I want to create my favorite fantasies.
What's your general attitude toward food?
It's the best way to connect with others.
It's life.
It's discovery and exploration.
It's necessity.
It's fabulous.
It's a disaster.
It's a long story.
It's fun to play with.
Would you rather:
Build a world in your mind
Talk things through
Travel
Go to the movies
Meet someone famous
See a comedian
Learn about the past
Have something fictional come to life
If you were handed something disgusting and you knew it would be rude to not eat it, would you:
Pretend you're saving the world by consuming it
Try to live to tell the tale
Appreciate the opportunity
Record consuming it on your phone
Wait for someone else to try it first
Distract everyone then dispose of it
Consider why this is too important to say no
Get the recipe
Your best friend asks you to make the food for a very important dinner party. You:
Eventually confess that you've always just repackaged pre-made food at your parties.
Struggle every step of the way, but pull it off in the end. Mostly.
Hire someone else for less than she's paying you
Film the process
Follow the recipes for a meal out of a cookbook
Create epic disaster that you'll (maybe) someday laugh about
Consider the context and make a relevant menu
Attempt to create a feast straight out of Harry Potter
You need to make dinner with what you have on hand. You:
Make some mac & cheese
Make something from your childhood
Try something completely new
Throw something in the microwave
Pretend you're on a cooking show
Make a sandwich
Gather some wild greens from your yard
Spin up some YouTube food videos
You're camping far from modern conveniences. You:
Curl up with a blanket next to the fire
Hope this won't be the end of your story
Embrace it.
Nope.
Go all Bear Grylls.
Set things on fire.
Are totally prepared.
Follow the ways of the Hobbits.
Which celebrity chef are you most interested in cooking like?
Nigella Lawson
Jamie Oliver
Anthony Bourdain
Julia Child
Alton Brown
Rachel Ray
Lidia Bastianich
Ming Tsai
What do you bring to a potluck:
A casserole
Potato or macaroni salad
Something no one else will bring
Chips
A chocolate dessert
Wine
Something you grew
Cookies
Beyond Bestsellers: Cooking Memoirs
Food for the soul? It worked for these memoirists. Read them now!
Beyond Bestsellers: Cooking with Humor
Sometimes cooking and entertaining is a struggle. We get it. These books do too. We hope they help.
Beyond Bestsellers: Cooking Around the World
There's nothing more evocative of a place than the food. Travel the world on your plate.
Beyond Bestsellers: Cooking on Film
Food's great and all, but you'd rather watch other people make it.
Beyond Bestsellers: Cooking with Celebrity Chefs
Sometimes seeing a familiar face offers a needed stamp of approval before we completely mess up our kitchen.
Beyond Bestsellers: Cooking Fiction
Food is a practicality. A metaphor. An expression. A coping skill. A celebration. It's all these things in good stories. Give one of these food-centered novels a taste. Side effects: Hunger
Beyond Bestsellers: Cooking is History
We've always had to eat and what we've eaten says a lot. Learn a little more about food history with these engaging titles.
Beyond Bestsellers: Cooking the Screen
Make your favorite stories come to life on your table with these movie and tv inspired cookbooks.