One of the things I really miss, though, is the ability to slip cool pages between my fingers, getting the feel of a book. Indexes draw me first - how weird is that? - I look up a few key things that give me an idea of the tone and intended audience of a book. If it is a kid's cookbook, I look for pizza: Is there a crust recipe or simply an instruction to split an English muffin? (Don't get me wrong, I love English muffins. Yet the resemblance between them and pizza crust is nominal, at least it should be.) Another key point is the ratio of sweet to savory. Books dedicated to sweet treats are great, but if a general cookbook is half sugar-laden concoctions, it gives me pause.
From there, I move on to the Table of Contents to see how the author organized the book. How many pages are devoted to a given topic? What are the key points being covered? (I never gave the TOC of a book much thought beyond the obvious until we wrote the first edition of Understanding Directory Services (2nd Edition)
Photographs matter in cookbooks, too. I really like books that have photos of most, or all, recipes. When I was contemplating writing a cookbook, this issue loomed large. Photographs are expensive to print and publishers are loathe to do a book full of them. Fortunately for me, I snagged a spot in a photo-heavy series, allowing me to do step-by-step photos of each recipe. (Sort of like Pioneer Woman, but with only a handful of photos per recipe...less butter...nutritional information for each recipe. No cows. Definitely no cows. There are cute punks, though. Lots of them.)
I must confess, I also read Acknowledgments. Sometimes I read them first. This one is simple: having written a number of books, I realize that any book is teamwork; I like to see the team get its props. Agents, editors, production teams, graphic artists, and that all important indexer are a good start, but how about the people who kept them fed and in clean clothes while the book absorbed their life? If the book is by a blogger, did they acknowledge their peers and fans? (No person is an island seems more true for bloggers than many folks. If your book bears your blog's name, you had a lot of people who helped you make the deal; they are called readers. Tell them thanks.) Peter Reinhart is really good at this as I discovered one day when I searched for my name at Amazon and discovered it in two of his books. I was a recipe tester, but figured I was one of a couple hundred, far too many to list.
This is all a long way of saying that, while I can't slide a book through the tubes of the Internet to let you turn the pages for yourself, I can give you a peek at my Table of Contents. I hope it gives you a bit of a clue about what I was going after with the book. More importantly, it has the complete list of recipes. (I also put links to a few reviews after the TOC, just in case it piques your interest.)
Picture Yourself Cooking With Your Kids
Picture Yourself in the Kitchen Together
Parents: Picture Yourself in the Kitchen with Your KidsBut If I Let My Let My Kids In The Kitchen…
A Cook's Primer
What's To Eat?
Organic Food
Food for Thought
Helping Your Kids Eat Better
What to Eat: Using Common Sense
Nutrition: Fuel For Your Body
Dealing with Picky Eaters
House Food Rules
Defensive Shopping
Stretching Your Food Budget
Grow Something!
Making a Kid-Friendly Kitchen
Age Appropriate Cooking
Food Safety
Kitchen Equipment
Basic Techniques
Making a Meal
In the Larder
A Collection of Tips
Off To a Good Start
Breakfast Matters
Ricotta Pancakes with Strawberry Balsamic Compote
Eggs Ahoy!
Sleepover Steel-Cut Oats
Berry Berry Smooth
Nutty 'Nanner Chip Smoothie
Apple PuffCake
Eggs Berkeley
Orange Glazed Bacon
Coconut Almond Granola
Too Cool For School Breakfast Parfaits
Rise and Shine Ham and Cheese Strata
Light and Fluffy Oat Pancakes
Bananas for Breakfast!
The Lunchbox
Marvelous Midday Meals
Skamokawa Salmon Burger
Crunchy Chicken Cranberry Pockets
Pasta Primavera Salad
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew
Gobble It Up Turkey Kabobs
Seriously Good Stuffed Tomatoes
Squish Squash Soup
Chef's unSalad Wraps
Ants in an Apple!
Magic Microwave Mac 'n Cheese
The Main Dish
Family Dinner Matters
Pasta with Spring Greens and Asparagus
Mary Had a Little Lamb Burger
Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Stuff Yourself Silly Squash
Canadian Bacon and Cheese Soufflé
Pizza Your Way
Meatballs and Salsa Marinara
Sides and Salads
Eat Your Vegetables
Sweet Potato Sticks
Tex-Mex Bean Salad
Wild and Crazy Rice
Good Zuchs!
Sweet and Sour Copper Pennies
Garlic-Braised Winter Greens
Roasted Cauliflower
Nap'ple Slaw
Salsa Verde
Sunny Spinach Salad
Greek Village Salad
Goin' Green Salads
Back to Basics Vinaigrette
Blue Cheese Salad Dressing/Dip
Bee Yourself Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Dreamy Creamy Herb Dressing
Knead Something!
The Basics of Bread
Tools and Techniques for Making Bread
Exploring Yeasted Bread
Flaky Biscuits
Savory Cheese and Scallion Scones
Pita Pocket Bread
Rosemary Fans
Cheddar and Caramelized Onion Breadsticks
Snap'Em Up Snack Crackers
Sweets and Treats
The Case for Cookies…
Craisy Nutty Brownies
Amaretti
Ginger Applesauce Cake
Rhubarb Gingerberry Crisp
Marcella's Pie Cookies
Strawberry Ice Cream
Butterscotch Pudding
Minty Cool Chocolate Cake
Mini-Pavlovas
bethCookies
Creating a Personal Cookie
Not quite the same as standing in the aisle of your favorite bookstore but you don't want to be there right now anyway. Seriously. I've been following @theStew, who is live-tweeting Black Friday from an undisclosed mall - makes shopping from the couch seem better by the tweet!
A few reviews:
- Amazon (5 stars!)
- Apartment Therapy
- Joy of Desserts
- Spatulatta
- Seriously
If you would like to buy a copy, check out the book at one of these stores:
Amazon
Powell's Books: Picture Yourself Cooking With Your Kids
The Elliott Bay Book Company: Picture Yourself Cooking With Your Kids
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