Three Foodie Fiction Reads for Your Friday....

This is not a review post.... I am merely sharing three books from my list of books that I recommend when someone asks me what to read in the realm of foodie fiction.  In anticipation of the read-a-thon on Saturday I decided to share books today.  I have a huge list but today you get three of my favorites.  

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

Bauermeister has actually written several novels in the foodie genre but this is the one I have read.  I have two more of her books in my NOOK for roadtrips reading.

My second recommendation would definitely be...

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I love the format of this book because it uses the format of letter writing back and forth between characters for a large part of it.  I savored this one and actually need a reread soon.

The third one for today is...

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

This is more than a foodie book... it is also a Paris book, a book about books, travel in Europe and a love story.

I have many more on my shelves that are unread and have a plan to read most of them in 2017 as my own personal challenge.  Would anyone else be interested in a foodie reading challenge with me?

Please feel free to share your favorites with me in the comments so I can look for them to enjoy them, too.  

A Little Topical Reading.... Food Writing

I took some time to go through my books earlier this year.  I cleaned out all of my cookbooks, fiction, nonfiction... all of it.  

This was the recent mountain I climbed before dwindling things down

I have managed to haul over 20 boxes of books out of this house.  

These three pictures are all that is left after the purge.  LOL  I know it is still a lot.  I might do another purge again before Christmas but for now this is the collection of a chef/home cook/foodie

I am trying to clear my life and my brain because, for a very long time, I have neglected writing and blogging about food.  I love doing both of those things and it has been missing in my days for far too long.  

I gathered this little stack for me to work through over the coming months.  

It is a jumping off place for me to get back to doing something I love doing.

I plan to write another 31 day series in October and I think it will be food related for the entire month.

Do you have something you have neglected for far too long?

Is there something you love doing but just don't take time for anymore?

How can you work it back into your life?

Are you, maybe, doing the 31 days of blogging series, too?  If you are please let us know what you are doing when you have a plan!  :)

Foodie Fiction...

I have been searching for foodie books lately and a friend recently sent me this book...

What a fabulous story!  The premise is that Lillian, the restaurant owner of this little place in a small town, has a cooking class that she offers.  It draws this cast of characters from a variety of backgrounds and tells their stories.  It is beautifully done!  Loved it very much and want to say thank you to Cathie Jo for sending it to me!!!  :)  Check it out for yourself if you get the chance.  It is delicious!  

My fascination with food...

I cannot help myself. There is just something in me that would rather read cookbooks than fiction. It started at a very early age for me I suppose. Maybe it was watching my grandmother pour all the love she had into a pot of black-eyed peas or homemade biscuits or those fabulous pies she used to make just for our family when we would visit. Maybe it was the comfort foods that just made life seem tolerable when nothing seemed to go right. It could have been the way my Mama and I would watch Julia Child on a Saturday morning on PBS or the way my Daddy would make the most plain and simple foods melt in your mouth with just the right ingredients and herbs and spices. Food has been a HUGE part of who I am for my entire life.

I remember baking with my Mama and my Meemaw as a little girl. It was hard to get into the kitchen with my Daddy because he was such a perfectionist but when I went away to college and began my own food and cooking journey he was ALWAYS the one I called for instruction. I called when I needed to make a roast or cook a brisket. I called when I was making vegetable soup and potato soup. I called for just the right way to cook squash and carrots and any other vegetable I remember eating as a child.

It was not always pretty.... I remember as a newly wedded wife burning spam! LOL My precious husband ate whatever I put in front of him and never complained one bit. If something was really good, though, he would say that it needed practice and wink. I knew that meant it was a hit and I should hang onto that recipe to use again and again. He still says that, btw, but now it is just about every meal. He is truly encouraging and precious! He tells me that if I had a bed in the kitchen I would NEVER leave it!!! He is probably right... ;)

I can honestly say that I am a cookbook addict. It is true... with over 200 cookbooks and counting my shelves are buckling under the weight. LOL See?...

I am also the recipient of a few foodie magazines, too...
* Gourmet
* Vegetarian Times
* ACF Culinary Journal and Student Journals
* and Cook's Illustrated which is a gift from my Mama every year.... I love her!

With all of these cookbooks you better believe that I have Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volumes 1 and 2... thank you very much! ;) (this is my copy... 13th printing the year I was born so my copy is as old as ME! lol )


I started reading Julie and Julia today, too.... (this is my copy, btw)


and I now have a hankerin' for some good old fashioned Potage Parmentier (Onion and Potato Soup). I think of all the foods my Daddy made for me that is the most wonderful... he made it for us after we had been ill with just about anything... there was something very healing in it and to this day I crave it after a bought with whatever virus has plagued our home. I have not been sick lately but I might just need a bowl of comfort just because. I will try Julia's recipe this time... in the spirit of the book I am reading and in preparation for that movie coming on August 7th.

I will share if I do... :)

A Toast to Julia!!!

I am pulling this book off the shelf today...

Because this movie is coming August 7th...



You cannot even come close to imagining how totally thrilled I am to see this movie!!!

Julia Child inspires me SO very much as a middle aged culinary student and wife and mom. I want to be her when I grow up!!! LOL

We interrupt your Christmas Foodie Posts for this important announcement...

CYNTHIA NELSON OF TASTES LIKE HOME HAS A COOKBOOK!!!

Yes, this is some free publicity for a fellow foodie that I adore because I think she is magnificent and has beautiful food and a beautiful spirit. Cynthia has just had her first cookbook published based on her exquisite Caribbean Cuisine that she writes about each week on her blog and in her articles for the Stabroek News.

This book would make a wonderful Christmas gift for that foodie in your life or a nice treat for yourself. The link should be up at Amazon.com anytime and I will link it to the graphic above as soon as I have it... and as soon as I order it!

Congratulations to you Cynthia!!!

Some new direction...

I have a new design on it's way! I am so excited about it and it is so very beautiful!!! I also have some ideas for some blogging direction. I am still recovering and had a bit of a setback but I am hoping in the next week to be getting back into my kitchen on a regular basis. It has been about a month since I have really been able to do much. That is NOT good for someone who gets their therapy from cooking. LOL

I find that as soon as I make a plan I often deviate from it but I do want to try to have a monthly theme and start trying a new recipe from one of my many cookbooks several times a week. I want to take part in some Weekend Cookbook Blogging and do some more FOODIE CHALLENGES. I will have to think about that a bit and decide where to start. I think the theme might need to be soups this month because that is my most recent batch of cravings and maybe chocolate for February.

Speaking of soups Dan made a really great vegetable and barley soup tonight for dinner. It was so nourishing and healing... He can really cook when he wants to or needs to. He has done amazing while I have been out of commission.

I want to do some more fun things and share a bit more from school than I have. I am only taking one culinary course this semester. The second class I am taking is an online accounting class so I only have to be at school two days a week. I am hoping that will give me more time to be home and cook for my family and friends as well as do more "foodie" reading. I need the time to continue healing from this recent surgery. I have some non-cookbook reads lined up. I also want to do some more cookbook reviews but that requires that I cook more from them than I have been. LOL I am going to start by trying more vegetarian things from some recent purchases.

Look what my MOM got me for Christmas, btw...

a subscription to...


Here are some reads I want to sink my teeth into that are currently on my shelves

Here are some books I hope to get as gifts this year because I am on a book buying freeze!!! LOL