Adventures in Cooking, Eating and Being: bookshelf

No, you're not dreaming. It's gotten bigger and is no longer contained on a single shelf.

Sadly, the wish list seems to grow proportionally to the amount of books already on my bookshelf!

On My Bookshelf

Cookwise The Hows & Whys of Successful Cooking, The Secrets of Cooking Revealed, Shirley O. Corriher
I ordered this on my phone at 3 am when I couldn't sleep because my mother's dog didn't want to lay down. I'm a bit of a food science nerd so this seemed right up my alley.
Cookwise The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking, with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes, Shirley O. Corriher
This just arrived on my doorstep (with the title above). Litterally. I'm not sure why UPS decided that was appropriate (especially for an apartment-dweller) but it came a day early (oh thank you, Amazon!) so I suppose I should just stop grumbling and be grateful.
Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers, Dorie Greenspan & Julia Child
I very recently got this book for the Tuesdays With Dorie group that started up again on February 7, and I'm super excited to be cooking my way through it! I'll replace this with a proper review/blurb as I get a chance to delve into it a bit more.
Pure Dessert, Alice Medrich
This is (almost) my latest cookbook acquisition, and I have to say, I just love it. Alice Medrich is a woman after my own heart with her less is more approach to dessert in this book. Though I love complicated meals and desserts that are visually stunning and wow the palate with complexity, some of my very favorite meals are the simplest ones in my repertoire. Letting the flavor of the ingredients really shine through is what this book is all about, and that's something I can definitely on board with.
Baking: From My Home to Yours, Dorie Greenspan
Reading this feels like you're sitting around the kitchen table with a friend, sipping coffee and discussing family recipes. The anecdote she tells about burning down her parents' kitchen as a young teenager and then not so much as making cookies for the next 6 years makes me laugh out loud every time I reread it.
In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Baker's Companion, Regan Daley
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, Michael Ruhlman
The idea behind Michael Ruhlman's book Ratio is to free home cooks from recipes by giving us the ratios behind them so we can create our own. It's a great tool to use as a jumping-off point, especially for things you've never made before, because it breaks things down to their simplest form. I used his ratio for bread to make flatbread for a pizza and it's now my husband's favorite pizza. Ever. But he didn't just give me a recipe; he gave me a ratio that I used to create something totally new and the ability to play with my food.
Eating for Pregnancy: The Essential Nutrition Guide and Cookbook for Today's Mothers-to-Be, Catherine Jones & Rose Ann Hudson
While this isn't strictly a cookbook, it does have several recipes and suggestions of how to pair different recipes together. One of the things I love about this book is that it explains what nutrients you need during pregnancy, why, and how pairing certain foods will help best absorb those nutrients.
The Everything Guide to Being Vegetarian: The advice, nutrition information, and recipes you need to enjoy a healthy lifestyle (Everything Series), Alexandra Greeley
The Best Life Diet Cookbook: More than 175 Delicious, Convenient, Family-Friendly Recipes, Bob Greene
The Joy of Cooking, Irma Rombauer
Cooking with Too Hot Tamales, Mary Sue Milliken & Susan Feniger
I love Mary Sue and Susan (and not just because Susan set Mary Sue up with her ex-husband, who has now been married to Mary Sue for over 25 years). I got super excited when the duo appeared as guest judges on season 9 of Top Chef for a chili pepper quickfire, and I loved watching them compete on their respective seasons of Top Chef Masters. The recipes in this book are absolutely inspired and give new life to things like ribs. Though I didn't eat them myself, my husband loved them, and believe me, he's a pretty tough critic.
Vegan Holiday Kitchen: More than 200 Delicious, Festive Recipes for Special Occasions, Nava Atlas
The Everything Family Nutrition Book: All you need to keep your family healthy, active, and strong (Everything (Health), Leslie Bilderback &

Sandra K Nissenberg
The Flexitarian Diet: The Mostly Vegetarian Way to Lose Weight, Be Healthier, Prevent Disease, and Add Years to Your Life, Dawn Jackson Blatner
I got this book a few years ago when I wanted to focus my daily diet more on vegetables, and it turned out to be a great reference; I learned creative ways to get more veggies into my meals and that legumes by themselves aren't a complete protein. The recipes she gives made incorporating more meatless meals into my diet much easier than I thought it would be.
Vegetarian Cooking & Vegetable Classics, Roz Denny & Christine Ingram
Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes, Giada de Laurentis
This was one of my first cookbooks, and I still reach for it often. Giada's food is simple enough to not be intimidating to novice cooks but still flavorful and satisfying. I've used her Spicy Tomato Sauce recipe as a base for several different pasta sauces, including our very favorite arrabbiata sauce and the soups are so comforting on a cold day.
Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites, Giada de Laurentis
The Olive Oil Muffins in this book are one of my favorite muffins to make and I swear I made the Linguini with Shrimp and Lemon Oil at least once a week for a months when I first got this book. True to Giada's style, this book is filled with simple recipes that really focus on flavor.