Cookbook Reviews: Joy the Baker and Dorie Greenspan

One of my favorite things to do in my spare time is to flip through cookbooks, search for new cooking blogs, and mark recipes to try out someday. Joy the Baker, blogging since 2008, was one of the first blogs I followed religiously. It was no surprise to me when she came out with her first cookbook, Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes, and when she announced her most recent cookbook, Joy the Baker, homemade decadence: irresistibly sweet, salty, gooey, sticky, fluffy, creamy, crunchy treats (seriously - does that title not make you want to bake all weekend?!). Today you can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, with the latter being my favorite with the endless images of foods and scenes from the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Honestly, if I had all the time in the world I would try every single recipe from this book, and I have marked many. A few of the recipes my husband and I have enjoyed so far include:

• Roasted Potato Breakfast Nachos (p. 101)
• Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Roasted Sea Salt Cookies (p. 157)
• Chocolate Dipped Banana Bread Biscotti (p. 179)

Come visit the library either in person or on our app to check out this book - now!

Roasted Potato Breakfast Nachos - Joy the Baker, Homemade Decadence

Chocolate Dipped Banana Bread Biscotti - Joy the Baker, Homemade Decadence

Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table: more than 300 recipes from my home to yours was gifted to me years ago from a family member, but it was not until recently that my husband and I began cooking regularly from this title. You know how you can find music and book reviews telling you whether to buy, borrow, or trash certain titles? This is one you want to first borrow from your library, and then buy to keep forever.

As I flip through this book to find page numbers for the recipes listed below, I am finding more than a handful of recipes I have yet to try and am mentally making a list of those I want to cook and bake this weekend. You cannot go wrong with any of Greenspan's books, of which she has written over ten books, including those for which she was awarded the International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook of the Year Award and the James Beard Foundation Award.

Some of our favorite recipes from Around My French Table include:

• Quiche Maraîchère (p. 158)
• Hurry-Up-And-Wait Roast Chicken (p. 202)
• Chicken Breasts Diable (p. 217)
• Chicken, Apples, and Cream à la Normande (p. 218)
• Broth-Braised Potatoes (p. 358)
• Salted Butter Break-Ups (p. 400)

Chicken, Apples, and Cream à la Normande (p. 218) - Around My French Table

Chicken in a Pot: the Garlic and Lemon Version (p. 206) - Around My French Table

Everything we have tried has been excellent and always easier than expected. One of my husband's favorite cookie recipes comes from Baking: From My Home to Yours.  She recently published a new baking cookbook, Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from my Paris home to your home anywhere, which I am excited to eventually borrow from the library.