Good Eats

Confession: I am a sucker for cookbooks. I love paging through recipes, looking at the pictures of perfectly created dishes (Cookbooks without pictures? Not interested.). I also love books about food and cooking (see posts about my love for Anthony Bourdain). Over the years, I have amassed a fairly large collection of recipes and cookbooks. In my fantasies I am able to create beautiful, elaborate meals (with very little mess) that amaze my family and cause them to proclaim me the best cook in the world. True, the likelihood of that happening is zero and most of the recipes in my collection have never been attempted, but that doesn't mean I'm not always on the lookout for the next cookbook to add to my collection. A girl can dream, can't she? The James Beard Foundation Awards (considered the Oscars of the food world) were recently announced and are a great resource for reading suggestions. The winners are:

Cookbook of the Year: The River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Cookbook Hall of Fame: Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Asian Cooking: My Bombay Kitchen: Traditional and Modern Parsi Home Cooking by Niloufer Ichaporia King

Baking and Dessert: Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor by Peter Reinhart

Cooking from a Professional Point of View: The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine by The French Culinary Institute with Judith Choate

Entertaining: Dish Entertains by Trish Magwood

Americana: A Love Affair with Southern Cooking by Jean Anderson

General: Cooking by James Peterson

Healthy Focus: The EatingWell Diet by Jean Harvey-Berino with Joyce Hendley and the Editors of EatingWell

International: The Country Cooking of France by Anne Willan

Reference: A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North America by Rowan Jacobsen

Single Subject: The River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Wine and Spirits: Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar by David Wondrich

Writing on Food: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

Photography: The Country Cooking of France by Anne Willan; Photographer: France Ruffenach