Keys To Good Cooking

Yesterday, a friend and I went to the farmers market. We both have little boys and baby girls so we were quite the site, with our carts full of children, diaper bags, and even some produce. My son was having fun showing off for my friend by helping her- picking up whatever was closest to give her to buy. Between trying to get him to grab the right kind of food, much less the perfect specimens, and taking care of the rest of the kids, we were a little distracted. So, I shouldn't have been surprised when I came home and started cutting some berries and found that even though I thought I'd made good choices, quite a few were under or overly ripe. I'm sure the same will be true of the apples and onions when I get to those. When I consider all the time (and money) I spend planning meals, clipping coupons, shopping, putting away groceries, and finally actually cooking and cleaning, it's a ridiculously huge part of my life! If it's going to be such a big deal (and it is, since I don't see my tall, hungry man giving up food anytime soon) I want to be efficient so I can enjoy the process as well as the end product. That's one of the reasons I'm so excited about a new book that TLC Book Tours asked me to review.

Keys to Good Cooking by Harold McGee isn't another recipe book, although I'll admit I love those. It's all about the right way to cook- from using your tools properly to selecting the best food. We all have different levels of experience, different preferences and products, but everyone can benefit from doing things right. I read through the chapter on meat preparation and appreciated the tips on keeping temperature in check to produce safe and delicious results. I don't want my family or my guests to get a sore jaw eating overcooked meat at my table but I certainly don't want them ending up with food poisoning either! I can't wait to learn more from this book and hope my husband doesn't laugh at me reading another cookbook. I'm not the only one who does that, right?

You can Preorder the book on Amazon and I'll have my final review up in October (You can see the master schedule for the rest of the tour here!) And come back later this week for one of my favorites- Dorie's Dimply Plum Cake.