The Art of Eating In

Yes, another food book. But I swear there is a good reason for all of these foodie book blog posts, which will hopefully be revealed in a few months.* And, I've been trying to keep my posts only to those that I've really enjoyed, so I hope you aren't tired of hearing about them.

Anyway, I recently picked up The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove by Cathy Erway. For some reason, I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. In fact, I had only planned to skim it, but I found myself drawn into her story and pleasantly surprised at how much I was enjoying it. I even found myself comparing it (favorably) to Julie and Julia. Although not as humorous as Julie and Julia, it has some similar qualities. Cathy is a New Yorker, and although she is not a professional cook, she enjoys cooking. But like most New Yorkers, she eats out for most of her meals. When she realized how much she was spending on eating out, she decided to swear off restaurants and cook for herself. And like anybody who takes up a project these days, she started blogging about it. She experiments with new recipes and cooks meals for her friends and family. She is also introduced to new lifestyles, such as urban foraging, underground supper clubs, and Freeganism, which I first learned about in Tristram Stuart's book Waste. These were fascinating chapters, and although I have been told to "step away" from the idea of trying out Freeganism, I am interested in reading more about (and possibly trying) all of these. Interspersed with her cooking adventures are stories of her friends, family, dates, and moving in with (and later, out) her boyfriend. It's a fun, light-hearted, interesting read and should please fans of Julie and Julia.

P.S. Is it just me, or does it seem like New Yorkers stay up really late? This seemed to be a theme in both Julie and Julia and Erway's book. It seems like they don't get home until late and then they are eating at 10 o'clock at night. It seems common for friends to call or come by after 10pm. Is this a New York thing? Or a young people thing? I'm not that old, but I'm in my PJs well before 10pm and unless ice cream is involved, I rarely go out after 8pm.

*Are you intrigued? Stay tuned.