December 2017 Cookbooks

The Hygge Life by Gunnar Karl Gislason and Jody Eddy

I didn't realize when I put this book on hold that it was a cookbook. The author gives a brief overview of the Scandinavian concept of hygge - loosely translated to "coziness." Then the book is divided into a few categories - Starting the Day, Caring for Yourself, Staying In, Easy Gatherings and Holidays, and Getting Out. All of these chapters give an overview of how you can add hygge to each of these areas and then have a collection of recipes. I liked how the book was laid out and there were a lot of recipes and ideas in each chapter. There weren't a lot of recipes I want to try, but I still think it's a unique hygge cookbook.

The Harvest Baker by Ken Haedrich

The Harvest Baker focuses on all aspects of baking - not just sweets. Ken Haedrich covers everything from bread, pizza, tarts, pies, and more both savory and sweet and all with a focus on freshly harvested produce. The cookbook is divided into four parts - For the Love of Bread, Crusty Entrees, The Baker's Sweet Tooth, and Top It Off and then each section is further divided into chapters with more specific category recipes. If you enjoy baking or what to try your hand at baking this is the cookbook for you. Haedrich gives a lot of information at the beginning about ingredients and baking tools that is very helpful for the beginner or someone wanting to take their baking to the next level.

Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden

Many seasonal cookbooks divide the year into 4 seasons - spring, summer, fall, and winter. But in Six Seasons Joshua McFadden divides the year into 6 - spring, early summer, mid-summer, late summer, fall, and winter and I think this really works especially if you garden. There is a big difference in what is coming out of the garden in early summer versus late summer. Each season has 3-5 recipes featuring an ingredient that is available during that season. This is a great way to focus on seasonal eating/cooking and make the most of whatever produce is available and at peak freshness. Definitely a few recipes I want to try in here!

Bobby Flay Fit by Bobby Flay

Obviously you can look at Bobby Flay and see he's doing something right - he's in his fifties in a very high pressure field and looks great. He explains how he changed his eating and exercise habits when he turned 40 and realized he wasn't as healthy as he wanted to be and needed to be for his career. The first chapter is called Healthy Basics and covers making basic dressings, sauces, condiments, and basic healthy cooking techniques, then the rest of the book is divided into your basic cookbook chapters - breakfast, snacks, lunch, etc. There weren't that many recipes I wanted to try, but it's definitely worth checking out if you want to focus more on whole food cooking.