What the Geek is Reading

Food journals, magazines, travelogues and mysteries

I love reading. Books and magazines mostly. I DO make some exceptions for a couple of blogs that I happen to like. But I am mostly a Luddite when it comes to reading. I like words on paper and don’t get me to change my mind. Don’t even get me started on audio books.

Frontier Cooking Lessons from Laura Ingalls Wilder

Last month, I decided I wanted to read for fun again. NO books on food, not directly anyway, and no books on politics or anthropology or sociology, no biographies and no Shakespeare either. Just fluffy easy reading. I was at my local library and found myself at the book sale section where they have a little metal box with a slot for money along with a price list for the books on the shelf. I’m a sucker for library book sales. I skipped the heavy subjects and came upon the section for ‘Young Readers’ and came across this..

Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll

Cheese is the reason my cholesterol score will never be good. I have been a consumer of cheese for years but this time, I would like to be a maker of cheese. I’ve made simple cheeses like yogurt cheese or lebne, paneer, farmer’s cheese, but I really craved being a Cheesemaker.

Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon

Now this is the book I have been waiting for. I have been making many things already in this book, but I love that it’s all kept together into a tidy little volume.

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman

I was first introduced to this book by my brother when I came over to his place to give him a lesson in Cooking from the Pantry. It’s not so much a ‘cookbook’ as much as it is a master recipe or ratio book. The book is organized in sections- muffins, breads, popovers, biscuits, etc.

My Favorite Political Food Books

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal by Eric Schlosser This was THE book that turned me into a more conscientious cook and eater. I read this 12 years ago and it really did change my life and modify a lot of my food habits. I still love fast food, but I [...]