Addiction...other than coffee

Is it possible to read six books at a time? Well, thanks to large pictures and indexes it is.  Yep, cook books.  I love cook books; I find myself daydreaming about cauliflower gratin, grilled eggplant and homemade ketchup.

My addiction starts with questions like, "How do you cook vegetables?" (This is an important question because if you want your kids to eat and LIKE their vegetables they should be cooked deliciously), "How can I limit my dependency on pre-made products?" or even better "How should food be consumed?".  Two of the books pictured are going to be apart of a rant that I plan on having soon.  But the rest of the books are the kind to reference when preparing your weekly menu.  

For the most all around useful cookbook, I have to give it to REALSIMPLE Easy, Delisousy, Home Cooking; Every weekday (aka easy enough to make during the week) meal is paired with a side.  All the recipes are organized by season and also include ideas for holidays, parties and desserts.  I really like this book because not only are the recipes refreshingly AMAZING but since we get alot of produce from our CSA which means we are dependent of seasonal produce; you just find Fall and find a meal and volia! Dinner is served! 

If your are still hoping to keep the summer going by grilling your dinner (we are weird ones that grill all year long :) ) then The Gardener and the Grill is your bet.  It has some great rubs and marinades that made me droll when I first read through them.  It too has dinner ideas with the perfect vegetable pairing.  This is a fun book not only because it teaches you how to grill but I don' t know if you have seen many grilling books they are mainly focused on meat whereas this one focuses on the lost art of preparing vegetables.  Something I learned was that you should salt eggplant before grilling so it will release it's juices and caramelize better than if you didn't salt.

The Homemade Pantry is one of those books for people who just love making things from scratch (we are the people whose DIY on Pinterest is really full).  I have to admit that after making my own instant oatmeal I was prouder than if I was just eating plain instant oatmeal.   This tactic of making things from scratch is also great on your budget AND if you just might be running low on something you could always make it (not like that ever motivated me...okay it motivates me a lot.  I just don't want to have to run to the store for one thing!).

Chez Panesse Vegetables answers my question on how to prepare vegetables.  This truly is a dying art, and eating vegetables is following suite which I blame on bad preparation of said vegetables.  But I want to enjoy my vegetables and I want my family to enjoy them with me.  I don't want to hide them in their food or try and trick them into eating them.  I want them to know what they are, eat them and like them.  This book has recipes starting with asparagus and ending with zucchini so it is a great reference for all things vegetable (even for some vegetables that you may have never hear of).

The Art of Simple Food and French Kids Eat Everything are going to be apart of a rant that is starting to fester in my soul.  The first book is a wonderful guide to eating locally, artfully, and wonderfully.  Every time I read it I just wish I had a glass of wine or a candle lit; the recipes and ideas are so romantic.  I just want to kiss it and then move to Paris!  It starts off teaching you the basics of running a kitchen as well as basic recipes that include Bread, Soups, and Sauces (I KNOW SAUCES ARE SOOO ROMANTIC! Sorry I just geeked out right there.).  Then once you get these recipes under your belt she (Alice Waters. Also the author of Chez Panesse Vegetables) introduces you to more recipes in the already mentioned areas.   It is a book that embodies how you should run your kitchen and cook.

French Kids Eat Everything is not a cookbook; it is a story of an American mom moving to France with her family and learning (the hard way) how to feed her family.  This is a great book, very entertaining and eye opening, and also apart of my rant.  But if you happen to have picky eaters this books helps with getting rid of some of the American thoughts about food so kids can stop being picky and start enjoying one of God's greatest gifts, food.

If you have read this far into this post or if you are wanting just another cookbook to add to your list of books you would like to read, my lovely sister-in-law Michael has another one that you might want to check out here.     

so, my name is Adrienne and I am addicted to cookbooks.