averythingcooks;49460 wrote:Thanks for asking! I read the EYB comments first (of course!) and then read some online reviews for each book. Also, I do have a few America's Test Kitchen titles on my shelves and as much as I like reading them for tips and do really like some of the recipes, I'm not always sure that the actual recipe outcomes justify the somewhat step laden methods. Erin Jeanne McDowell's book seems more...homey?? (not sure if that is the word I mean...maybe heartfelt??) while also being knowledgeable/instructive & creative at the same time :)
I know what you mean about “homey”— I just have one ATK book, from when Christopher Kimball was still running it— 100 Recipes— and it’s great but it does feel more like a textbook from a cooking lab (which, I guess, it is) than like an individual cook’s collection of recipes. Obviously that’s what I was looking for when I bought 100 Recipes, and it’s very good, but most of the time I’m drawn to books that have more of someone’s personality and quirks along with instruction and knowledge and creativity, as you said. Lately I’ve been enjoying Bee Wilson’s The Secret of Cooking, for example, which is very much an excellent home cook’s musings. But I get a lot out of reading 100 Recipes— they both have their place.