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Jun 17, 2022Liked by Stained Page News

What cookbooks do you buy for a person who has all the cookbooks? Do they even want cookbooks? For me, the answer is that I always cookbooks but I want the really excellent ones that I don't have. We have move internationally periodically a lot so my physical collection is small but my ebook collection is very large. With that in mind these are the criteria for a physical book. I made a google doc I share with people to ensure good physical books are selected. 1. Please check that I don't already have the book. A simple "what do you think of X's latest?" can help. 2. Please check that I want the book. This is where the list comes in. Books that I want come in 3 categories (1. Books that are unavailable as e books that I love ie Hetty McKinnon, Olia Hercules, out of print favourites. 2. Books that i loved so much as an e book that I want a physical copy; I have a list of these in a google doc. 3. Books from other countries that are not available for purchase in the USA/Canada. For me these are mainly Australian and British books that I can't get as an ebook in Canada. The same criteria applies, I have to want the book and be excited about it! things like Maggie Beer and Beatrix Bakes by Natalie Paull are in this category. Lastly please don't buy me physical charity and compilation books! Some are good but most are mediocre. I would prefer you donate to the charity on my behalf. I keep a running list of books I would love in physical form in a google doc and this has helped immensely though I did have a couple of hiccups this last Christmas! Sadly it is almost impossible to buy someone in another country an ebook on amazon which is incredibly frustrating.

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Jun 17, 2022Liked by Stained Page News

For fruit desserts I also highly recommend the recently published The Last Bite by Anna Higham. She was the pastry chef at Lyle's and the River cafe in London and it is an absolutely exceptional book for home cooks and also for industry people. I am going to put it out there that I think this book is going to be up there as a classic in the league of The Last Course by Claudia Flemming. Anna goes through the year in fruit, starting with strawberries and what I have cooked so far has been nothing short of exquisite! Highly recommend

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Jun 16, 2022·edited Jun 16, 2022Liked by Stained Page News

If we are discussing “project” cookbooks, it is hard to not recommend Michael Ruhlman’s From Scratch. Best example of how project-y it is: He makes a BLT, which involves curing his own bacon, baking bread from scratch and growing the other stuff in his garden. He makes the mayo on that BLT from scratch, as well. (And yes, he also provides recipes for just buying good bacon at the meat market, too.)

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