November Non-Fiction CAT: Food, Home and Recreation

November Non-Fiction CAT: Food, Home and Recreation



This is a broad category. I jumped at the chance to volunteer for this topic because I love to read cookbooks. I don't own many because my local library has a ton and I borrow as I need and jot down my favorites. As I thought about this challenge, I thought that the food topic isn't just about cooking, but can be about the subject of food as well, including food poverty. Home and Recreation also offer a large range of topics as well. So here are few ideas for our challenge this month.

FOOD
Cookbooks
How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Time to Eat: Delicious Meals for Busy Lives by Nadiya Hussain
Methods of cooking
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving by Judi Kingry
Types of diets such as vegetarianism or gluten free.
Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Gluten Free: The definitive resource guide by Shelley case
Food poverty
Food and Poverty: Food Insecurity and Food Sovereignty among America's Poor by Leslie Hossfeld
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

HOME
Anything you could think of in regards to your home.

Decorating/Design
Lawn and Garden
Crafting
Home Repair
Carpentry
Buying and Selling a home/Real Estate

Another topic under this category could be the social inequality of home ownership.
Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

RECREATION

Think of activities you would do at home or at your local parks and recreation.

Tennis
Basketball
Volleyball
Walking/Running (I'm leaving hiking to next months adventure category, but walking and running could go there too.)
Lawn Sports Games

I look forward to see what everyone is going to be reading. I think you know what I'm going to pick!

I'm going to start with The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen. My household has gone from 5 to 2 so it has been a challenge cooking for 2. I do like cooking in large batches and freezing, but I would love a couple of recipes that I can also put in my rotation that would be just enough for 1 meal.

There's a library book I have my eye on for this (which, if it's as good as it sounds, I will probably end up buying!), namely Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which is a year in her and her family's life, trying to only eat local and grow their own food. I'm not going to get it out till the start of the month though, as I have too many other reads lined up for October and it'd disappear from my ereader before I'd have the chance to finish it if I take it out now. Hopefully nobody else will check it out meantime.

If I have time, I also hope to get to The Weekend Homesteader: A Twelve-Month Guide to Self-Sufficiency by Anna Hess.

The new Ina Garten cookbook arrived last week, and I haven't had a chance to look at it or read it, so I suspect it will be my first November read for this category!

I was thinking of reading one of my knitting books that is a "reading" kind of book. Will that fit in this category? It's kind of homey, and for me it's a form of recreation.

Something like Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up or Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering might work, I'm thinking. (Also, I love the Ron Swanson pic!)

>3 Jackie_K: - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is one of my all-time favorite books. Although, some of the information may be a little outdated because it was published in 2007. Still, I'm sure you'll like it.

ETA: I need to think about what I might read.

Earlier in the year I read Brewed in the North: A History of Labatt's, the history of the Canadian brewery responsible for Labatt Blue and Labatt 50. (And yes, I paired the book with a 50.)

I plan to read The Bad Food Bible which has been on my TBR list for ages. I have read other books by this physician and enjoyed them immensely.

>3 Jackie_K: Animal, Vegetable Miracle is a great book. I gave my copy to my niece. The homesteader book sounds really interesting.

>4 thornton37814: Please let me know what you think of it and also any recipes you try.

>5 NinieB: Knitting is absolutely perfect. I'm going to amend the "sewing" comment above and make it crafting.

>6 christina_reads: Those books fit this category perfectly. I love this particular photo for this challenge because they are in a grocery store (food) and he is from Parks & Recreation, but also Nick Offerman is a wood craftsman. Trifecta!

>7 dudes22: It is a great book. Good luck with your choice for this challenge. There is a lot to choose from.

>8 rabbitprincess: Cheers!

>9 LadyoftheLodge: That sounds like a good plan. I like the premise of this book. Bad foods get a bad rap and I'm all for moderation.

>10 luvamystery65: Sewing comment--oops, I didn't notice it! Skimming too quickly. Crafting is good, though, because I also have The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine, which is another possibility.

>5 NinieB: I love reading my knitting books! Tudor Roses is one of my all-time favourites.

>7 dudes22: >10 luvamystery65: excellent, glowing endorsements for Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, so I really hope nobody checks it out! It sounds like I'll end up buying it anyway though 😊

>12 JayneCM: I gave my mother that one. She was thrilled!

I had a plan this year to "read" the cookery books that I'd skimmed, then put aside, by making two recipes from each of them, but I haven't started yet! I blame the pandemic, because the only new things I've cooked have been the result of googling the weird combinations of ingredients maturing in the fridge.

I'm starting now with The Silver Spoon Quick and Easy Italian Recipes: linguine with broccoli and pancetta. Secondly I might make fennel, celery and apple salad, because I've never made anything with fennel. I also plan to cook a couple of dishes from The Lebanese Kitchen.

I hate to cook, so I'm hoping this one will help!
How to Cook Without a Book / Pam Anderson

Also, my library has this on audio, so I might do it, as well:
The Tao of Martha / Jen Lancaster

I have plenty of cookbooks to read but will need to find a book about recreation.

>15 pamelad: I think I'm going to have to buy The Silver Spoon Quick and Easy Italian Recipes, because both of the recipes you mentioned sound delicious!

>16 LibraryCin: That book sounds hilarious! Sort of like Julie and Julia which I read on an airplane years ago and also saw the movie.

I would like to read another Ruth Reichl book. I thoroughly enjoyed Save Me the Plums. I may go back to the beginning and read Tender at the Bone.

> My fave Ruth Reichl book is Garlic and Sapphires which I also listened to on audio.

>21 LadyoftheLodge: Thank you! Maybe I'll choose that one.

I’m hoping to read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.

>11 NinieB: >12 JayneCM: >14 NinieB: Great to see all the love for crafting. My mom crocheted beautifully. Unfortunately it did not pass down.

>13 Jackie_K: I hope you like it.

>15 pamelad: Good luck with your recipes. >18 christina_reads: They do sound delicious.

>16 LibraryCin: How to Cook Without a Book is right up my alley. I love home cooking. I'm so fortunate to have learned a lot from my late grandmother. She rarely made anything fancy, but her food was flavorful and satisfying.

>17 mnleona: Let us know what you decide to read.

>19 LadyoftheLodge: After I saw the movie Julie and Julia, I checked out Mastering the Art of French Cooking from the library and made beef bourguignon. It was delicious, but these days I use my crockpot and add some red wine to the pot roast.

>20 beebeereads: >21 LadyoftheLodge: >22 beebeereads: >23 LittleTaiko: I am loving the food memoirs.

>24 luvamystery65: I did not start knitting until I was somewhere in my mid-late 30s. Now I don't know how I lived so long without it.

>15 pamelad: I've made linguine with broccoli and pancetta. A success, and simple enough to add to the regular repertoire. One more recipe to go so I can count this cookery book.

Voting for next year's CATs has started here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/325375#7306315

>15 pamelad: In the end I made three recipes from The Silver Spoon: Quick and Easy Italian Recipes, so am counting it as read. I'll probably make a few more. Quick and Easy is the key; looking a the long lists of ingredients and steps in The Lebanese Kitchen has put me off, so I'll search the shelves for another, simpler cookery book.

I finally picked up Wiener Küche where a blogger collected some of her best recipes and talks about Viennese cooking. I'm planning to cook a proper goulash from this.

>25 NinieB: My 32 year old niece has recently taken up knitting and loves it. I have given her all my grandmother's knitting needles and her knitting bag. I love to see her take this skill up and so happy my grandmother's things are with her great-granddaughter.

>26 pamelad: & >27 pamelad: I'm all for quick, easy and delicious. Adding The Silver Spoon to my list.

>28 MissWatson: Let us know how your goulash turn out.

>28 MissWatson: >29 luvamystery65: Here's my report:
You need patience for this, as the cooking takes several days. She learned this while jobbing at a Viennese "Wirtshaus" where the food is plain and the drink usually is beer.
The meat is beef shank, deboned and chopped into big chunks, the same amount of onions finely diced, two different kinds of paprika (lots of sweet, little of hot) and a glass of dark beer is optional. You brown the meat over a high heat (in lard or concentrated butter) and take it out to rest, turn down the heat and very slowly sweat the onions in the casserole, in two batches, with a bit of sugar to caramelise them. They should become very, very soft, takes at least 20 minutes. Add beer (if you want it) or a little water, boil to reduce the liquid, stir in the paprika and then put the meat back in. Add some boiling water so the meat is covered two-thirds, close the lid and put it in the oven at a low heat. And there it stays for hours. The longer, the better. Let it cool down in the oven, store in a cold place overnight (this is obviously a winter dish for a family, a tavern would put it in their cold storage). Reheat the next day, slowly, add salt and serve just with fresh rolls. The meat melts in your mouth, and the gristle provides the gelatine to thicken the sauce. I was very pleasantly surprised! You can reheat this several times, it just becomes better.

>30 MissWatson: It sounds so delicious! Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

>30 MissWatson: The goulash sounds wonderful, and well worth the effort. Boned beef shank is called gravy beef in Australia, and it's become my favourite cut for making stews and casseroles.

>31 luvamystery65: My pleasure.
>32 pamelad: I have only used it for making broths until now. My loss!

Here's the link to the December thread, https://www.librarything.com/topic/326325

I just finished Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and you were all right, it was a wonderful book! Definitely one to buy so I have my own copy, I'm sure I'll be reading it again. I found it inspirational, but also just so full of joy.

I read Reichl's Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir last winter and loved it. Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table is her early childhood memoir. It is structured around her memories of food. I don't really go for this genre often, but some of the descriptions of place and time were wonderfully detailed. The story hung together and left me wanting to hear more. The recipes didn't invite me in, but again, not my genre. I prefer reading about the finished dishes as they are served and enjoyed. She included all of that and more.
>21 LadyoftheLodge: I will definitely read Garlic and Sapphires at your recommendation. I enjoy her writing, a refreshing blend of story and humor.

How to Cook Without a Book / Pam Anderson
3.5 stars

This book basically gives tips on cooking. The idea is that if you know how to do a few things without needing a recipe, you can change up those things to make it interesting, and you don’t need as much time to cook. The tips are more than the “formulas” for cooking the various things without a recipe; there are other time-saving tips, as well.

It was good. I had the ebook that I looked at on my 2nd generation Kobo (Touch), so the photos, unfortunately, were black and white. I bookmarked some things to make a note of before returning the book to the library (though it says “without a book”, it will take a few tries to make some of the things before I can go from memory).

I don’t like cooking. Some of these things will still take more time than I’d like, and I rarely eat meat, so I kind of skimmed over some of those parts. I did appreciate that for some things, she did make vegetarian/vegan suggestions, as well. In addition to the formulas, the author gave examples. For instance, a formula might say XX amount of starches, XX amount of protein, etc. Then she would also list a bunch of starches or proteins you can use (which is helpful when you don’t cook!).

I don’t tend to just read cookbooks, so I was glad that this book was more than that. Although it says “without a book”, I do feel like this is a useful book to own to go back to for the tips. That being said, I don’t plan to go buy it.

I read and enjoyed Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain even though it made me a bit uncomfortable at times. I couldn't help but hear his voice as I was reading.

I have finished Porcelain, a history of the industry in Germany, from Meissen figurines to false teeth.

Thank you to everyone that participated in last month's topic.