I love the word cookery. It brings to mind heavy bottom pots, wooden spoons, and pies cooling on the windowsill. There is something folksy and also modern about it. Cooking and baking is such a pleasure in life; It is creative & intuitive, mathematical & technical. It takes skill and artistry. Cooking is undoubtably love, and brings joy to those who give and those who receive. I've developed quite the addiction to reading and watching and hearing about cookery. If I was somehow able to finagle a living out of it, I would happily watch cooking shows and read food blogs 24-7.
My initial TV cooking love was Jamie at Home. Of course, Ina (Jeffrey, too!) and Giada were on rotation, and let's not forget about The Pioneer Woman (side note: I sat directly in front of her on a flight from MSP-LGA once. She ordered the omelette and then was very friendly to all her fans that approached her in the airport bathroom line). But these days you can find me marathoning episodes of A Chef's Life on PBS. You get glimpses into Vivian's world as a chef, a mom, a daughter, a wife, a boss, and how it plays into her food. She also has a beautiful tome of a cookbook (seriously, you could use it as a weapon) that brings back happy memories of the show.
PBS also got brownie points with its documentary series American Masters' Chefs Flight, highlighting four iconic chefs of our era. With the celebrity chef culture and social media food pics of today, it's fascinating to compare what the culinary world looked like mere decades ago.
Top Chef will always be DVRed at my house. Season 15 is around Denver. I've been awaiting this location for a few years now - should be a good one!
Reading about these comestible topics is also inspiring and interesting - they delve into so many aspects other than what's on the plate. It just goes to show that food is life. Some of my favorite books have been Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, the memoirs of Top Chef judges Gail and Padma (Talking with My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater and Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir, respectively), and former NYT food critic Ruth Reichl's, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise. I highly recommend the audio versions - just make sure not to listen on an empty stomach.
Next on my list is Amy Thielen's Give a Girl a Knife: A Memoir. I've been thoroughly entertained by her past ventures, and am looking forward to learning a bit more about this fellow Minnesotan-NYCer-back to Minnesotan.
Of course, I'm always on the hunt to add actual cookbooks, both fresh and classic, to my shelf.
Print: Jane Mount - Ideal Bookshelf
Some that I have my eye on include:
The name alone sells it for me.
Check. Check. Check. Check.
I walked by this shop and always meant to pop in!
I could make an unending list of food blogs I stalk, but Food52 is my one stop blog for recipes, supplies, and articles of interest.
Even Instagram has become a foodie's paradise. I first was introduced to Lucinda Scala Quinn when she demonstrated a recipe on the Martha Stewart show. I was in the audience and they gifted us a magazine that included the recipe. It was for a simple, but packed-with-flavor, garlic pasta dish. My boyfriend at the time couldn't get enough of it. Lucinda moved on to greater things (as did I, that boyfriend is long gone, good riddance!), and I lost touch with her career. But then came Instagram stories and her presence has brought my obsession to watching people talk and deal with everyday food to a whole new level. She is clearly a talented chef, but I think what makes her "stories" so watchable is the messy (who cleans up that stove top afterward??) and tactile manner in which she assembles and showcases her meals. Her Upper West Side (hello, balcony envy!) apartment feels real and there is always groovy music and vibrant conversation in the background.
In fact, I need to go check out what she is up to right now - follow LSQ HERE.
My next foodie frontier is the land of podcasts. Do you have a favorite food and cooking related podcast? I want to hear about it!
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