I'm probably dating myself horribly by the fact that the first suggestion that popped into my head for your list is "Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously," which was a book version of a blogging-for-a-year memoir. At the time, the Philadelphia Inquirer described it as "irresistible" and "Bridget Jones meets The French Chef." In 2009, the 2005 book -- see what I mean by dating myself?!? -- was adapted into a movie starring Amy Adams as Julie and Meryl Streep as THE Julia Child.
You aren't dating yourself! (Or if you are, I'm right there with you.) I did read Julie & Julia and also loved the movie. Did you read the author's (Julie Powell) book, Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession? I was sad to hear that Julie Powell passed away in 2022. As we are talking about Julia Child, have you seen the series, Julia, on Max? It's so good!
Unfortunately, I haven't done either. The book because I'm more a fiction reader and I just read the first one because of the movie coming out. The series because we lost our access to HBO Max when my oldest moved out to his own house a year and a half ago. On the plus side though, I recently began slowly converting his old bedroom into my sewing/needlework room.
My other suggestion comes from the almost 3 years I wrote about agriculture in the Mid-Atlantic region for a weekly ag newspaper. During the summer of 2019, my editor asked me to explore the various avenues included in value-added agriculture, a big part of which is food preservation. As part of those journalistic adventures, I came across Ann Acetta-Scott, a well-respected blogger about homesteading, and her then recently published book, "The Farm Girl's Guide to Preserving the Harvest." I found it to be a really readable book about food preservation with lots of tips and tricks about the different food preservation methods.
(For those who want to read a little more, here are links to two of the resulting articles:
One last suggestion prompted by your listing of "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Gamus, which as you may or may not know involves a fictional 1960s-era TV cooking show at its heart. My similar suggestion, "Love and Other Disasters" is a contemporary queer romance that involves two contestants in a current version of a cooking show a la Top Chef. It's also a fun behind the scenes look at the way these shows are filmed/run.
Yay! I love this so much! Reading food books and cookbooks is one of my hobbies (obsessions?) too. I loved the Will Write For Food book! As for recs, I enjoyed Love & Saffron by Kim Fay, Tastemakers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food In America by Mayukh Sen (great on audio), Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach, Good Enough by Leanne Brown, and of course My Life in France by Julia Child (great on audio). Good luck!
I love this list of books. I am not a food writer but love cookbooks and even if it’s just one thing I get out of a cookbook I will still have that book.
I'm not sure about the class so I can't weigh in on that.
I love cookbooks too. Sometimes they have just as good as writing. There are also memoirs & essays that have recipes. Homecooking by Laurie Colwin always has a recipe with the essay, for example.
I would definitely be interested in following along with your class! I recommend “Heartburn” by Nora Ephron (the movie is good, too) along with anything by Judith Jones, although I especially like her cooking for one book.
I was fortunate enough to be in a workshop with Diane Jacobs when I first started my food blog, The California Table. My dear friend Liz knew her (I think through Food52) and she organized a workshop with Diane - I learned so much. I need to go back and revisit her book. My goal this year and next is to write a cookbook with recipes, stories and photos from my childhood.
Hi Laura!
I'm probably dating myself horribly by the fact that the first suggestion that popped into my head for your list is "Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously," which was a book version of a blogging-for-a-year memoir. At the time, the Philadelphia Inquirer described it as "irresistible" and "Bridget Jones meets The French Chef." In 2009, the 2005 book -- see what I mean by dating myself?!? -- was adapted into a movie starring Amy Adams as Julie and Meryl Streep as THE Julia Child.
You aren't dating yourself! (Or if you are, I'm right there with you.) I did read Julie & Julia and also loved the movie. Did you read the author's (Julie Powell) book, Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession? I was sad to hear that Julie Powell passed away in 2022. As we are talking about Julia Child, have you seen the series, Julia, on Max? It's so good!
Unfortunately, I haven't done either. The book because I'm more a fiction reader and I just read the first one because of the movie coming out. The series because we lost our access to HBO Max when my oldest moved out to his own house a year and a half ago. On the plus side though, I recently began slowly converting his old bedroom into my sewing/needlework room.
My other suggestion comes from the almost 3 years I wrote about agriculture in the Mid-Atlantic region for a weekly ag newspaper. During the summer of 2019, my editor asked me to explore the various avenues included in value-added agriculture, a big part of which is food preservation. As part of those journalistic adventures, I came across Ann Acetta-Scott, a well-respected blogger about homesteading, and her then recently published book, "The Farm Girl's Guide to Preserving the Harvest." I found it to be a really readable book about food preservation with lots of tips and tricks about the different food preservation methods.
(For those who want to read a little more, here are links to two of the resulting articles:
https://shorehomeandgarden.com/2019/09/01/learn-how-you-can-can-falls-bounty/
https://americanfarmpublications.com/adventures-with-food-preservation-canning-field-to-craft/ )
Thanks! I do love to read homesteaders and occasionally fancy myself a suburban one.
One last suggestion prompted by your listing of "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Gamus, which as you may or may not know involves a fictional 1960s-era TV cooking show at its heart. My similar suggestion, "Love and Other Disasters" is a contemporary queer romance that involves two contestants in a current version of a cooking show a la Top Chef. It's also a fun behind the scenes look at the way these shows are filmed/run.
Thanks Joan! You've been immensely helpful with your suggestions.
Yay! I love this so much! Reading food books and cookbooks is one of my hobbies (obsessions?) too. I loved the Will Write For Food book! As for recs, I enjoyed Love & Saffron by Kim Fay, Tastemakers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food In America by Mayukh Sen (great on audio), Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach, Good Enough by Leanne Brown, and of course My Life in France by Julia Child (great on audio). Good luck!
Thanks so much for your article. I tell everyone about it! It's been a game changer in getting all the books read, show watched, and learning done.
Hi Laura,
I love this list of books. I am not a food writer but love cookbooks and even if it’s just one thing I get out of a cookbook I will still have that book.
I'm not sure about the class so I can't weigh in on that.
Good luck and keep going in your direction.
I love cookbooks too. Sometimes they have just as good as writing. There are also memoirs & essays that have recipes. Homecooking by Laurie Colwin always has a recipe with the essay, for example.
Kitchen Yarns: Notes on life, love and food by Ann Hood. I love all of her books.
How funny that you mention that! I'm reading The Knitting Circle by her right now! I'm loving it so I will definitely get Kitchen Yarns next.
Yay! LOVE that book!
It almost makes me want to try to learn to knit again. At the very least, I might pull out my knitting loom and make a scarf.
I would definitely be interested in following along with your class! I recommend “Heartburn” by Nora Ephron (the movie is good, too) along with anything by Judith Jones, although I especially like her cooking for one book.
I was fortunate enough to be in a workshop with Diane Jacobs when I first started my food blog, The California Table. My dear friend Liz knew her (I think through Food52) and she organized a workshop with Diane - I learned so much. I need to go back and revisit her book. My goal this year and next is to write a cookbook with recipes, stories and photos from my childhood.
I love this! I also am hoping to read more food-related books this year and I love your idea of creating a syllabus.
It worked really well for me. It was a good way to keep myself on track, but then, I used to love to school...