Books!

Surely one of the best things about the holidays is getting stuff. While my actual Christmas list is relatively small, I do keep an up-to-date list of books I'd like to buy here on my blog. I've examined almost all of the books first hand to determine if it's a book that I think is worth spending money on. Actually, the only book I haven't fully looked through is the Young Man and the Sea.

Here are the books that I've recently received (gotta love Amazon):

Herbs and Spices by Jill Norman.
This is arguably one of the best books on herbs and spices out on the market. It discusses the origins, uses for, ways to store, etc. The other book that could argue this title is The Contemporary Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices: Seasonings for the Global Kitchen by Tony Hill, but I've yet to actually locate this book, probably because I have no idea where the reference section is in my library.

This book is great for me because I'm forever trying to figure out to properly store herbs and spices. I have established my own way to store herbs though. I wrap them in paper towels when I bring them home and then keep them stored in their grocery store store produce bag in a crisper drawer. When the paper towel begins to get too moist, I replace it along with any slimy bits of herb. It seems to keep my herbs better, except for basil which appears to go bad within a week no matter what I do. I tried the "stick basil in a cup of water" thing both in and out of the fridge, but it just became a wilty mess either way.

The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters.
I've been reading that this is one of those books that a foodie just has to have. While other books, such as books by Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, and Eric Ripert, also fall into the "must have" category, I've really been drawn recently to the whole local organic movement. To promote the book, Alice Waters has appeared featured in articles and videos and I've really enjoyed reading her writing. I'm really looking forward to poring through this book.

The Tenth Muse by Judith Jones.
The memoir and collection of anecdotes and essays by the editor with the vision to publish Mastering the Art of French Cooking at a time when no one else was interested in such a huge undertaking. I'm really looking forward to reading this book also.

The Essential Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy.
Once I flipped through this book, I knew that it was as essential to my collection as The Joy of Cooking. J and I have recently begun cooking more Mexican food, enjoying days on end of tortilla-filled goodies with fresh height-of-the-season ingredients. No more taco kits with tired old ground beef for us.

The Seventh Daughter by Cecelia Chiang.
I first read about this book in Gourmet in a feature about the newest food books out on the market. Owner of The Mandarin in San Francisco, Chiang has a reputation for really bringing authentic Chinese food to America. When I flipped through the book at Borders one day, I was struck by how the book seems to be 60/40 stories to recipes. Perhaps it's even 70/30. One of my favorite things about The Chinese Kitchen by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo is not only the recipes, but the detailed stories that go along with them.

Even my sister and J, who don't have that much exposure to the book yet, have expressed interests in hearing about the book. J actually keeps walking in to flip through it, but I only prepped it for reading this afternoon. (I like to flip through books at small intervals and press on them lightly to open them properly so that the spines don't crease or break at certain spots. I once found a website to explain what I was talking about, but I can't find it now so, too bad.)

While I've been typing this, the sauce for my shredded pork tacos has gotten pretty thick so it's time for me to wrap up and go check it out.