The First Annual Christmas Cookbook Contest Page Two

Thanks to all of you who entered the contest. Entries are now closed, but please feel free to scroll through the comments on this page, and 'Page One' of the contest for some interesting reading on our Canadian cookbook preferences.

Comments

[Linda Dzubas]

Cookbook Contest,

C.B.C. Windsor, Ontario listener.

My favourite cookbook is Traditional Ukrainian Cookery by Savella Stechishin. When I use this book for recipes such as "Easter Babka" and "Pirohy", I remember my grandmothers cooking. Even though I am a good cook, I still don't think I compare with her expertise in the kitchen. This book always returns me to my grandmother's kitchen.

Linda Dzubas, 3190 Wahcna Drive, Windsor, Ontario, N8T 2A1.

[Dara Tomasson]

Currently my favorite cookbook is New Recipies From Moosewood Restaurant. I grew a garden this year with a friend and we were very successful in growing all types of squash and zuchinni and not much of anything else. I don't own this book yet, however I thought that after signing out a library book and renewing it over the period of four months there should be some sort of earned ownership, alas. Christmas is coming and I can only hope. I love this cookbook because the recipes are simple, natural ingredients so my 11 month old can eat with us, there is a variety of world cuisine and the recipes are so good that my husband will eat it all-squash included.

[Shirley Dye]

My favourite cook book is called, "Alex's Guide To Good Food" it was made by my 5 year old grandson as a gift to his mother and other grandmother.
Sample recipes
Chicken
Cut off his beak after you shoot him. Pull all the feather out and the brain. Put it in the oven and cook it. Then rest it and eat eat.
Kool - Ade
You put a bag of kool-ade, but don't put the bag, in a jug. Put plain water in it and sugar in it. Pour it in a glass. Drink it.
Moose
Cut the moose up. Take all the guts out and the heart, take all the slime off. Throw away the bad bits. Put it in the oven. Take out. Rest it. Eat it.

Alex dictated these 11 recipes to me, I wrote it down as accurate as I could. (he was 5)
Other recipes include: BAnan Bread, Milk, Chicken, Bread, Cookies, Kool-Ade, Carrots, Pizza, Chicken Noodle Soup, Drum Sticks

[Dave Woollerton]

Hi Don …

I heard on Mark Forsythe’s CBC noon-hour program this past week that you were looking for great cookbooks. Well one of the more recent treasures we found was "Simply Thai Cooking" (second edition) by Wandee young & Byron Ayanogru. The title says it all … “Simply” … and the recipes are really simple in both ingredients and preparation … and they also work producing some fantastic dishes! Hope this helps in your search …


Season Greetings …

Dave

[Jan Newman]

As a young bride, just arrived in Alberta from Australia, I received from my husband his already well-used copy of "Joy of Cooking", by Irna Bombauer, and a cast iron frying pan. I have used this wonderful cookbook (1962 edition)for just on forty years. The lamentable lack of a Pavlova recipe reminded me that I wasn't in Oz any more, but then, I already knew how to make a Pavlova. Ms. Bombauer was my neighbourly adviser on North American food. Both her book and the frying pan served me well -- and never as a weapon.

[Betsy Neily]

My current favourite cookbook is "Simple Vegetarian Pleasures" by Jeanne Lemlin. The recipes contain ingredients I have in my kitchen, are generally fairly quick to put together and always reliably delicious. As a long-time vegetarian, I have many vegetarian cookbooks on my shelf (including two other excellent ones by the same author). This book is the one from which I'm consistently asked to share recipes with non-vegetarian friends. (Even the tofu recipes!)

[Cynthia Pang]

Hi Don,

Being a long time foodie, I'm always searching for
the latest trends in restaurants, cookbooks and
gadgets. Although I sometimes think my cookbook
collection rivals Barbara-Jo's, I'd have to say my
favourite (or certainly most utilized by the
number of dog-earred and food splashed pages) is
LaVarenne Pratique, by Anne Willan. It's a
fabulous quick reference book for looking up such
things as how to de-bone something that you
haven't tackled in years or how to identify those
chanterelles that we discovered on a fall walk in
the woods. It has lots of good photographs and
has been a staple in my library for over 10 years.

Love your program. It just needs to be longer.

Happy holidays,
Cynthia Pang

[Kathe Izen-Mondlak]

My favourite and most used cookbook is Diana Kennedy's "Mexican Regional Cooking".
My husband is Mexican and unfortunately in Vancouver, the only really good Mexican food
available is made at home. Mexican food is so diverse and uses so many ingredients besides
cheese and tortillas. While some of the recipes are quite laborious, they are well worth the time and effort.

[Roz Walls]

Its hard to think of a favourite cookbook as each of my well worn books has at least one loved recipe so it came to a sentimental choice rather that exquisite recipes. When my mother passed away in 1999 I inherited her well worn Watkins Cook Book. This cook book had been well used by her as she raised her 6 children on home cooked meals and canning. She made special notes and messages about recipes she loved and changes she made to specific recipes are written in her special and often unreadable scrip,food spills are found on pages as is some of our childish scribbles. It holds her in the pages and provides me with memories of her nurturing and love of good food.

[Marilyn Szarko]

My current favourite cook books are a two volume set of a regional 4-H recipe collection, "4-H Favourites". I enjoy the regionally compiled tried and true recipes from the contributing cooks from many surrounding communities and these books involve everything from salads and soups to homemade breads, desserts and pastries and use ingredients most of us currently have available in our cupboards. Recipe compilation books are always interesting to me and these are a real treasure trove of good food ideas!

[Glen Plummer]

There are a number of great cookbooks that have influenced my cooking over the years - The New Basics, The Joy of Cooking, Beer Can Chicken, and many others. My friends and I love to cook and, like many cooks, we are eclectic in what we cook. I really can't point to any single cookbook as being the be all, end all. However, one site that has been an influence on my cooking lately is www.8legged.com. I love this site with its great recipes, excellent tips and the humour with which it is all tied together. Happy cooking.

[Adam Jackson]

What a great question! I have to mention two: A Return to Cooking and the French Laundry - (both pretty expensive, but worth the price) Not only are these books by North America's finest (Rippert + Keller respectively) but they are full of recipes and presnetations that foodies dream of. Jam packed with sexy and colourful photos and mouth watering ingredients. If you can pull any of these recipes off for your dinner party without revealing your source, your guests will heap endless praise upon you. And if you never cook a single dish from the books they still serve as amazing coffee table conversation pieces.

So far you've got some great comments, I look forward to following the posts.

[Mary Lane]

The "Maritime Inns and Restaurants Cookbook" by Elaine Elliot and Virginia Lee (Formac Publishing, 1990) is definitely a favorite. It features great recipes from some of the best eating places in the Maritimes...you know, you go somewhere and have a great meal and think, wow, I sure wish that I could have that recipe....well, here they are!
It's a real treat to take friends out to dinner at one of the restaurants mentioned because, invariably, someone chooses the recipe that you know is in the book and viola, you can give them their favorite recipe to take home.
I've also found,as a transplanted Maritimer living in Ft. McMurray, that I use this cookbook when I want to prepare something tasty from "down home" for special company. I guess the cookbook is special not only for the food but for the memories that come from sharing the food in ones own kitchen or on the road in one of "their" kitchens!

[Richard Orr]

C.B.C Listner Calgary Alberta
Hi Don,
My absolute favourite cook book of all time is a very battered and gravy stained copy of Delia Smith's Complete Cookery course published by the BBC in 1983.
Delia rescued my new bride and I from the countless culinary disasters we produced for both ourselves and friends during the first year of our marrage.
'Delia' came to us in the form of a christmas gift from a kindly Aunt who had experienced a sample of the best we could produce up to that point. We had not actually poisioned anyone you understand, however the only clean plates to be seen in our house after a meal up to that point were the ones which had just had their contents scraped off into the garbage!.
Delia's book was easy to follow and is full of very useful hints how to produce wonderful meals in an unpretentious manner.
We can now produce many of the standards without reference to the book however when our much loved but tired copy is set on the counter it will inevitabley fall open at one or so of our growing family favourites. How do we know it is a favourite? Simple, the page will have a splash or two of stock /gravy from being too close to the stove while being consulted for the the next step!.
I could never retire 'Delia'completley afterall she has given us 20+ years of such fine service and she has moved with us through a sucession of homes and a move from Ireland to Canda 10 years ago. Perhaps however she does deserve the occasional rest while we try out some new meal ideas.
Richard Orr, 176 Silverview Way N.W. Calgary Alberta T3B 3K3

[Carolyn McDougall]

My favourite cook book is the "Looney Spoons" cook book. It was given to me by my mother when I first went away to college. The recipes are low fat and easy to follow. Everything I have made, from stuffed peppers to chicken thighs made with grape jelly, have turned out fantastic! I love to cook and this book is never out of reach!

[Johanna Griffith]

I love to read all kinds of cookbooks, but when knife comes to fork, some of the best recipes lately have been from Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven. I have all of her cookbooks, but I find this one has the simplest recipes with the fewest ingredients and the freshest flavours - sometimes it's just a little twist on a classic dish, but oh, so tasty.
And for those of you who like the outdoors as much as you like food, try to find a copy of Recipes for Roaming: Adventure Food for the Canadian Rockies. A little gem of a book with good recipes and great advice.
Bon Appetit!
Johanna Griffith, Quebec

[connie saulnier]

I love to cook and I love browsing through cookbooks. My favorite cookbook is Krishna Jamal's heartsmart, Flavours of India. Having spent some time in India and having developed a love for their cuisine I wanted to be able to recreate some of my favorite dishes. I have found that her cookbook is very easy to follow with step by step instructions and best of all, all the receipes I have tried have turned out. To me that is a successful cookbook.

[Norman Gludovatz]

My favourite cookbook is called the Tassajara Bread Book.

It is one of those legendary cookbooks that does not simply pass on recipes, but it passes on passion and technique. Many books are filled with colourful photos, and stylized print, but this book is filled with simple drawings that capture the art of making good warm bread. Bread that when taken out of the oven simply calls out for a dab of butter to be applied to the first slice, and savoured with each bite.

Whenever I pass by a used bookstore, I often venture to the cookbook section to see if this book is on the shelf. It is truly one of the classic cookbooks that should find it's way onto your shelf.

[Rita Tosolini]

I couldn't pinpoint a favourite cookbook because I enjoy so many, however, if I had to choose it would be The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook. You may not believe this, but, I was introduced to her by a colleague a few years ago. I don't watch too much television although I was very interested to see what other people are cooking and creating. This book contains alot of different ideas from desserts to main courses and believe me when I tell you, I have used it alot. I also enjoy her mother's recipes because she reminds me of my own mother. One could not have too many recipes!
Rita Tosolini, Thunder Bay, ON

[Fiona David]

My favorite cook book is How to Cook Everything by
by Mark Bittman. The reason I like it is that it is very chatty and informative, and covers just about everything you need to know. He also gives you ideas to take things off on a tangent.

[michael roberts]

My favorite cook book is Nick Stellino's Mediterranean Flavors. Although it is hard to narrow it down to one book, I would have to say this on is it. I take a liking to this book because the receipes are fairly easy/fast with easy to find ingredients. This i not to say that is cook book is bland, just easy to work with. The receipes are very tasty, the color ilistrations are helpful and pleasing to the eye. I also like the fact that are authors notes to make it more personalized like Nick is in the kitchen with you. Also helpful is wine suggestion at the bottom of every receipe. You may laugh but the cover is inviting that you just wish you where there. That alone draws me into the book itself. Mike Roberts (Montreal, Quebec)

[Kaye Ehses]

Enjoy your show as we both love to cook. Our favourite cookbook of all time is "Joy of Cooking". Have used recipes from it since the sixties, updating copies over the years. We keep returning to it as one of the best reference books for North America. If we need to know how to do something, it's probably in "Joy".(Terrace, B.C.)

[LM Donner]

Hello

I hightly recommend Claudia Rodin's Book of Jewish Food. Of course, she is a great food writer, so it is well-written and the recipes are delicious. But it is much more than a cookbook. She tells the stories of Jewish communities around the world (including three distinct communities in India) through their food.

[Ann Wardle]

Hello Don,
my favorite cookbook is "The Encyclopedia of food & cookery" by Margaret fulton,not only does it have great recipies but it also has lots of useful information on food & dishes from around the world.Ann wardle Ottawa Ontario

[Henri Jover]

My love affair with cooking began more than two years ago, when my late, beloved grandmother, 93 years old, gave me her tattered copy of the Joy of Cooking.
At the time, I was a divorced bachelor, and getting some unruptured eggs with bacon on the table was the highlight of my week.
I swear, I'm a changed man. The Joy of Cooking is my bible, and it's guided me through cooking and baking basics. I think, though, it's time to graduate.
I am ready to dive a little deeper, take on more into culinary adventures. Thanks to grandma's old Joy of Cooking I view the art of eating and making good meals in a new and refreshing light.