Oatmeal Corn Meal Bread, from The Book of Bread by Judith and Evan Jones
While composing the opening paragraph for a post about my favorite cookbooks I realized I had only two cookbooks that I really really loved, at least in my current collection, plus a handful of hardy go-to books, the recipes and advice of which result in many a speedy or satisfying meal, but don’t possess the material or artistry or style to bring them from 4-star (like it a lot) to 5-star (love it!) status.
The two books I own that I will happily curl up with to read and eagerly anticipate what recipe I shall try next are The Book of Bread by Judith and Evan Jones and White Chocolate by Janice Wald Henderson. It’s not just that I love kneading and shaping and baking and eating bread, or am delighted by the ivoryness, creaminess, and subtlety of white chocolate, but that these are the only two cookbooks I own about foods that I adore and through which I allow myself an occasional flight of fancy.
The Book of Bread, by Judith and Evan Jones
My current cookbook detachment probably stems from most of my choices having been heavily screened by my brain, not my gut or my tastebuds. As a lifelong waist watcher having subscribed to various trendy or tried-and-true truisms about health and weight control, I’ve stocked my shelves with titles such as Secrets of Fat-Free Cooking, High-Flavor, Low-Fat Vegetarian Cooking, The Tofu Cookbook, and Everyday Cooking with Dr. Dean Ornish. Of these four examples, I’ve kept only the Ornish book, thanks to the recipes for Jean-Marc’s oven “fries”, and pumpkin bread, which I liked and made constantly.
As a kid, I went from Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cook Book straight to Betty Crocker’s Low-Calorie Cookbook. As an adult, I’ve rejected dozens of fine cookbooks and hundreds of potentially worthwhile recipes simply because they did not offer nutritional information — the calorie, fat, or fiber counts that have until recentely deemed a book “respectable” or a recipe “doable” in my eyes.
White Chocolate by Janice Wald Henderson
That ends now.
I want cookbook freedom — to read cookbooks and test recipes regardless of the absence or presence of a handful of dietary statistics. Can I do this and still count Weight Watchers points? Of course — the vital statistics (cals, fat, fiber) can be found using NutritionData.com or the points calculated directly through Weight Watchers’s online tools, and serving sizes can always be adjusted to be sensible, if not always satisfying. Opening up the vast world of cookbook cuisine need not mean expanding the waistline . . . at least I hope not. I want to seek out a few new cookbooks based on my favorite foods—be they cookies, cod, or Camembert—and simply appreciate them for what they will be — indulgences, perhaps, but also the honest acceptance of the fact that though I joyfully embrace fresh leafy salads, simply roasted chicken, and refreshing glasses of clear, cold water with lemon, there’s more out there to experience and enjoy and life’s to short to feel guilty about it all.
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