Welcome to our many new members this month, particularly everyone from Ireland - a mention in the Irish Times and an interview on breakfast radio generated a lot of interest - albeit unexpectedly! That's one of the wonderful things about the internet - word spreads so fast we never know where new members are going to be coming from. EYB now has members from 33 different countries.
It's great to see many of you adding comments on the Forum - mainly for EYB feedback - please keep them coming. We've put up a few topics, but let us know if you'd like to see others added that you'd be interested in contributing to.
A few statistics that might be of interest - there are more than 57,000 books on members' Bookshelves. Several members have over 400 books - the highest being 904. The average EYB Bookshelf has over 40% of books indexed, which should produce thousands of recipes to search in. We are increasing the number of indexed books weekly - priority goes to books which have the most Index Requests and the ones on the most Bookshelves. We are also working on expanding the EYB Library and giving you the ability to add books that aren't in the Library. In addition we are developing a form that will allow you to index your own books if you wish.
Jane & Fiona
Over 950 books indexed and we're always adding more!
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Let me make it clear: I'm not well suited to living in New England. I take after my mom, who grew up in a subtropical part of China - I flinch when the frost comes creeping up the windows. While my daughter runs around the house barefoot in a tutu and my son fetches the wood in a T-shirt (no gloves), I huddle by the wood stove, waiting for spring. I am a toucan in a family of polar bears. What I ought to know by now is that the remedy for winter is soup. It's a one-pot meal, it's filling, it almost invariably feeds a crowd, and its warmth penetrates to your bones in minutes. Pureed soups are an excuse to use your immersion blender, if you have one, because what day isn't better when you get to use your stick blender? And nothing's as undemanding as soup when it comes to ingredients. So long as you've got root vegetables and chicken or vegetable stock in the house--in fact, so long as you've got root vegetables and water--you can make soup. But if you're not in the mood to wing it, there are a number of good soup cookbooks on the market. Here are a few of the ones I'm looking at these days.
Soup of the Day by Lydie Marshall A 2003 favorite, Marshall's book is primarily a Mediterranean-influenced hot soup collection, with some salads and go-withs at the end of the book. The ingredients are easy to find, and because Marshall's a veteran cooking instructor, you know her recipes will work every time. (This is the book that taught me how to successfully soften chickpeas! - soak overnight in boiling salted water.)
New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Clara Silverstein and Marjorie Drucker The New England Soup Factory is Soup Central in the Boston area, and their 2007 cookbook is a great source for soups with assertive seasonings (sweet and sour cabbage soup with dill, potato-watercress soup). There are soups for every season here, almost all of them judiciously herbed or spiced to awaken dull winter palates.
The Best Soups in the World by Clifford Wright You can count on globe-trotting Clifford Wright to introduce you to soups you--even you!--never heard of: kainuu fish soup from Finland, Palestinian freekeh soup, Blackfoot bison and blackberry soup. Wright never lets exotic ingredients prevent him, or us, from exploring a new dish--he just substitutes whatever's handy, so we can travel around the world together without ever leaving our kitchens.
Sunday Soups by Betty Rosbottom Cooking instructor Betty Rosbottom's book is another seasonal soup book, this one full of simple innovations--everyday ingredients combined in new, pleasing ways, like Butternut Squash and Apple Soup with Cider Cream or Black Bean Soup with a Hint of Orange. The photographs alone in this vivid little book are enough to warm up any dark January afternoon.
Whichever soup you make, set an extra bowl aside for the winter-hater in your family. We promise we'll pay you back by not surprising you with our freezing feet when you get in bed.
To read more from Susie »
These great books have recently been indexed - to purchase your copy, click on the book link to find out more about the book, then the Buy Book link. Or just click on the direct link to Jessica's Biscuit below. Jessica's Biscuit are our chosen cookbook partner - they have a fantastic supply of cookbooks and offer fabulous discounts.
More than a cookbook, Clean Food is a feast for the senses that will nourish mind, body, soul...and the planet, too. With more than 200 fresh, seasonal, and tempting vegan recipes, it will help everyone eat the way they want: close to the source.
Nearly 90 recipes in the book will entice readers to cook up bowls of heartwarming Risotto and Cranberry Beans with Pancetta or Caribbean Black Bean Soup. As well as descriptions of the many varieties now available from Scarlet Runners to the spotted Eye of the Tiger beans.
Mollie Katzen provides simple, mouth-watering, healthful recipes and menus for every day of the week, whether you are preparing a sit-down brunch for ten, breakfast-on-the-go for kids running late, a light bite after a late night, or a luxurious breakfast in bed.
View more recently indexed books here »
We amalgamated 49 Best of 2009 lists from TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, Websites, Blogs and Booksellers across North America. Momofuku and the #2 cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller, were neck-and-neck for most of the time, but Momofuku by David Chang and by Peter Meehan just won out in the end. View the Top 10 Cookbooks of 2009»
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"A long time ago I loved to spend a leisurely morning with a cup of tea, leafing through my many cookbooks in search of the perfect recipe for that night’s dinner. After marriage and children I no longer had that kind of time. I was lucky if I had one morning to plan an entire week’s menus and do the shopping! Fortunately for me, Epicurious came to the rescue. The ability to search thousands of recipes quickly was a godsend. Sadly, as a result, my cookbooks began to gather dust and I even gave away a significant number of them. I often mused that it would be such a gift if a service like Epicurious could be devised for cookbooks. So, you can imagine my delight when I discovered EYB some months ago! It was the answer to a dream! Since then not only have my remaining books been dusted off, they have been joined by many more. I’ve rekindled my love affair with cookbooks! And, we’re eating better than ever!"
Just as animals change their eating habits in winter, we do too - warm soups instead of gazpacho, a carrot salad instead of a caprese, beef stew instead of BBQ'd steaks. Taking advantage of what's fresh and in-season locally is preferable to buying expensive out-of-season produce. Why would you produce a cold strawberry dessert in winter when you could have a warming apple crisp?
Cooking indoors becomes preferable when it's freezing outside and having a warm oven producing endless supplies of cookies and cakes is so comforting. There is nothing better than coming in from the cold to the aromas of something warm and wonderful bubbling away on the stove.
Unfortunately just when many of us are trying to rid ourselves of the excesses of the festivities and stick to those unrealistic resolutions we made, the foods we want to eat just aren't going to help. Soup is the answer - various research studies have shown that eating puréed soup aids weight loss and is a lot healthier than the same amount of calories eaten as solid food. So think of all your favorite foods, search for a soup recipe that uses them and get cooking.
It is amazing what you can watch on YouTube - every subject you can think of is covered - and cookbooks are no exception. These are a few videos we've come across - if you know of any that you think other EYB cookbook lovers will enjoy, let us know.