May 2014 Cookbooks

The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Vegetable Cookbook by Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Brent Ridge, and Sandy Gluck

This book is worth looking at if only for the beautiful photos and illustrations. It made me want to visit the actual farm and see it all in person! There weren't as many recipes I wanted to try as I thought there would be. A lot of the recipes were just not my taste, but there were definitely a few I plan to try. I really like the other Beekman 1802 cookbooks because they all explore heirloom vegetables and recipes which I think are important to keep. If nothing else you can just enjoy all the beautiful pictures!

Surprise-Inside Cakes by Amanda Rettke

This is an amazing book. The author basically taught herself how to create these amazing surprise-inside cakes! But, most of the surprise-inside ones look REALLY time-consuming and complicated. Thankfully she does have some other easier cake recipes too. The "stripe" cakes where each layer is a different color look really pretty and are MUCH easier than some of the others. She also has a few recipes for cakes that aren't "surprise-inside" too. At the beginning she gives some basic cake and icing recipes and tips on how to spread the icing on for a smooth finish. This is definitely eye-candy, but I don't think I'm going to attempt any "surprise-inside" cakes. I will try some of her other easier ideas though.

The Chopped Cookbook by Food Network Kitchens

I LOVED the show Chopped, so of course I had to check out the Chopped cookbook. It was definitely worth looking through and I did find a few recipes I want to check out. There are various broad categories like pasta, chicken, eggs, etc. and lots of good tips about sauces, salad dressings, ways to make variations on the same dish like pot roast. Overall, it was good and if you're a fan of the show you'll definitely like the cookbook as well.