Some Sweet Culinary Reads

So yesterday in the mail came my very first copy of Mastering The Art of French Cooking by Julia Child and company. I was overjoyed! I immediately found the pages for Coq au Vin and Boeuf Bourguignon and folded them so I'll be able to zip right over next time I make my French favorites. I also found a recipe for a chocolate almond souffle cake that I'll be making for a certain friend's birthday coming up! Very excited to try that! One of the really interesting things about Julia's book which I never knew, (since I'd never read it) is that her ingredients are listed in the margin as you go through the recipe. So it keeps the recipe length very concise. There is no list of ingredients on top followed by a long recipe. She has organized them in columns that line up, which I think is very crafty indeed.

Another interesting foodie book coming in the mail for me is Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton, who is the executive chef and restaurant owner of PRUNE here in New York City. Her book is an autobiography about how she became a chef. According to Hamilton her love of food began growing up in rural Pennsylvania where her family would have a huge lamb roast every summer in their expansive meadow of a yard. (Sounds amazing!) She talks about the collapse of her parents marriage and how that affected her life dramatically. Other highlights of the book include her memories of her first couple if years in New York City, being broke and hungry, living off stolen ketchup packets from McDonalds! Makes me grateful for this Manhattan roof over my head! Anyway the book looks very interesting and it's garnering a lot of support and attention from the foodie community here in NY.  According to an interview I heard on NPR yesterday, Hamilton's restaurant PRUNE has fed some of NYC's top chefs such as Mario Batali, and Daniel Boulud.  Here is an excerpt from the New York Times.


Here's a great blog to check out!

I have to make a personal recommendation here because this author is one of my dearest old friends. Katharine Ballas is a young author who lives in Los Angeles and is the creator of the blog:
"Meal Muse - food related musings of a culinary notice and food enthusiast" 
Her blog is wonderful and really worth a read! 

Do you have any favorite Culinary Reads? Favorite Foodie Books? Memoirs? Cookbooks? Let us know!