literary cookbooks

nine cool things on a tuesday

~ jama ~ 30 Comments

1. So of course the first cool thing for 2018 is a teapot. January is National Hot Tea Month, after all, and there are those who simply cannot resist handpainted pottery (who me?). 🙂

This beauty is made by Ceramika Artystyczna in Boleslawiec, Poland, and sold via Slavica Polish Pottery. They have a brick and mortar store in Prague, but you can also purchase their pieces online. They have a full range of tableware and bakeware — teapots, plates, bowls, mugs, serving dishes, etc.

Everything is hand decorated and microwave, freezer, dishwasher safe, chip resistant and lead and cadmium free.

And so pretty! Love their patterns.

Enjoy this video showing how their pieces are decorated.

Check out all their offerings here.

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2. Look what’s officially out today: Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen: The Story of Six Novels, Three Notebooks, a Writing Box, and One Clever Girl by Deborah Hopkinson and Qin Leng (Balzer & Bray, 2018)!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is one of our greatest writers.

But before that, she was just an ordinary girl.

In fact, young Jane was a bit quiet and shy; if you had met her back then, you might not have noticed her at all. But she would have noticed you.

Jane watched and listened to all the things people around her did and said, and locked those observations away for safekeeping.

Jane also loved to read. She devoured everything in her father’s massive library and before long, she began creating her own stories. In her time, the most popular books were grand adventures and romances, but Jane wanted to go her own way…and went on to invent an entirely new kind of novel.

Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen includes a timeline and quotes from Austen’s most popular novels.

Art © 2018 Qin Leng

Who can resist a lovely new picture book biography about the incomparable Jane Austen? I’m a big fan of both Deborah Hopkinson (Fannie in the Kitchen, Independence Cake) and Qin Leng (Happy Birthday, Alice Babette). So happy they teamed up for this one!

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a mixed platter of literary cookbooks for holiday gift giving

~ jama ~ 25 Comments
Elsa Beskow (Emily and Daisy, 2009)

 

It’s November and the holidays are upon us!

And guess what? I’ve FINISHED all my holiday shopping!!!

Stop screaming, I’m just kidding. 🙂

I know this might be true for some of you super organized types out there. But alas, I’m not one of them. The problem with shopping is that when I start looking for things to give other people, I find a million things I want for myself.

Holiday shopping = Danger, Will Robinson.

Though I may be a teensy bit partial, to me the best gifts to give or receive are literary cookbooks, especially if they’re illustrated. You get the best of both worlds — good stories + tasty recipes. What better way to get families to read, cook, and eat together?

Today’s roundup includes books I’ve reviewed, several from my Wish List, and a few I’ll be featuring here in the near future — a mix of new + older titles. Hope you find something to your liking for the big or little people on your list. Sip your coffee or tea and enjoy!

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🍰 A MIXED PLATTER OF MOUTHWATERING COOKBOOKS FOR LITERARY FOODIES 🍩

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[cookbook review + recipe + giveaway] Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts by Paul Yee, Judy Chan and Shaoli Wang

~ jama ~ 39 Comments

Imagine a sumptuous Chinese banquet with thirteen enchanting fairy tales on the menu — centuries-old stories of gods, ghosts, noblemen, monks, peasants, farmers, and merchants all motivated by some aspect of food — having or not having it, growing, cooking, relishing, transforming it.

Each tale is served alongside a tempting recipe and lovingly flavored with gorgeous folkloric illustrations (a visual feast in itself), making this literary banquet something to savor with family and friends across generations time and again.

Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook (Crocodile Books, 2014), is a delightful trifecta of tales by master storyteller and award-winning Canadian author Paul Yee, mouthwatering recipes by Judy Chan, and charming illustrations by Shaoli Wang. While this book is perfect for celebrating the Lunar New Year this week, it’s equally satisfying any time you wish to nourish the mind, heart, body, and spirit.

This is the third in the literary cookbook series following Fairy Tale Feasts (2009) and Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts (2013) by Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple, books that have my name written all over them, as they explore and illuminate the fascinating connections between stories and food. As Jane Yolen says in her Foreword for Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts, the ability to make things up, to tell stories, distinguishes us from other animals:

And the connection between food and stories is profound and clear. Both are infinitely changeable, suiting the needs of the maker and the consumer.

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holiday gift books for literary foodies

~ jama ~ 41 Comments

“My cat, Sneaky Pie, is writing a cookbook for cats, but I don’t think dried mole would be appetizing.” ~ Rita Mae Brown

“My Eldest Daughter” by Carl Larsson (1907)

‘Tis the season for wishing and gifting, feasting and singing, prancing and jingling your tinkly bells. Surely the best holiday gift to give or receive is a book with bite.

For today’s menu, a platter of twelve tasty titles sure to please the literary foodies on your list. Whenever I crave a little smackerel of something, I pull one of these from my shelves and dip, sip and savor. Whether cookbook, anthology or compendium, there’s something here for every appetite, especially for those who, like me, love food trivia and are endlessly fascinated by what writers, other famous people or characters in novels eat and cook. Bon Appétit!

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more literary cookbooks for kids (and hungry adults), part two

~ jama ~ 14 Comments



So, I see you’re here for the Second Batch.

Now we know you love to eat books. Don’t deny it. I saw you drooling and licking some of the cookbooks from the First Batch. Oh, you don’t actually eat the books, you just like to make and eat the food from the books?

Alrighty then, dig in:

THE LOUISA MAY ALCOTT COOKBOOK, compiled by Gretchen Anderson, pictures by Karen Milone (Little, Brown, 1985). How I love this little book; it contains 28 recipes grouped with scenes from Little Women and Little Men. What is especially notable is that the recipes were initially researched, tested, and compiled by Ms. Anderson when she was just nine years old! She did this for a school project, combining her love for Alcott’s books with her favorite hobby, cooking. So, we start out with the famous Christmas morning scene, where the March girls decide to take their breakfast to a poor family. To authentically recreate this, you might try Buckwheat Cakes, Muffins, or Farina Gruel. Or, remember when Marmee was sick in bed with a cold and the girls fixed her breakfast? They made an Omelet with Baking Powder Biscuits.

 Now, if you’re like Jo, with the best of intentions, but a disaster in the kitchen, you’ll need more practice (with the Fire Department on alert). But if she could make Molasses Candy, so can you. The recipes from Little Men are solid, traditional American fare, such as Gingerbread, Steak and Potatoes, and Apple Pie. Can’t go wrong with those, and all the recipes are rated for level of difficulty. A word about Karen Milone’s pen-and-ink drawings: brilliant! Aside from book scenes, she’s diagrammed some of the cooking techniques — little eggs cracked in bowls! Little rolling pins! Squee!

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