The Art Of Escapism Cooking

In this inventive and intensely personal cookbook, the blogger behind the award-winning ladyandpups.com reveals how she cooked her way out of an untenable living situation, with more than eighty delicious Asian-inspired dishes with influences from around the world. For Mandy Lee, moving from New York to Beijing for her husband’s work wasn’t an exotic adventure—it was an ordeal. Growing increasingly exasperated with China’s stifling political climate, its infuriating bureaucracy, and its choking pollution, she began “an unapologetically angry food blog,” LadyandPups.com, to keep herself from going mad. Mandy cooked because it channeled her focus, helping her cope with the difficult circumstances of her new life. She filled her kitchen with warming spices and sticky sauces while she shared recipes and observations about life, food, and cooking in her blog posts. Born in Taiwan and raised in Vancouver, she came of age food-wise in New York City and now lives in Hong Kong; her food reflects the many places she’s lived. This entertaining and unusual cookbook is the story of how “escapism cooking”—using the kitchen as a refuge and ultimately creating delicious and satisfying meals—helped her crawl out of her expat limbo. Illustrated with her own gorgeous photography, The Art of Escapism Cooking provides that comforting feeling a good meal provides. Here are dozens of innovative and often Asian-influenced recipes, divided into categories by mood and occasion, such as: For Getting Out of Bed Poached Eggs with Miso-Browned Butter Hollandaise Crackling Pancake with Caramel-Clustered Blueberries and Balsamic Honey For Slurping Buffalo Fried Chicken Ramen Crab Bisque Tsukemen For a Crowd Cumin Lamb Rib Burger Italian Meatballs in Taiwanese Rouzao Sauce For Snacking Wontons with Shrimp and Chili Coconut Oil and Herbed Yogurt Spicy Chickpea Poppers For Sweets Mochi with Peanut Brown Sugar and Ice Cream Recycled Nuts and Caramel Apple Cake Every dish is sublimely delicious and worth the time and attention required. Mandy also demystifies unfamiliar ingredients and where to find them, shares her favorite tools, and provides instructions for essential condiments for the pantry and fridge, such as Ramen Seasoning, Fried Chili Verde Sauce, Caramelized Onion Powder Paste, and her Ultimate Sichuan Chile Oil.

Decadent, delicious seasonal comfort foods and desserts you can make at home no matter what your cooking level from the beloved social media star @PreppyKitchen. Preppy Kitchen creator John Kanell delivers his fan-favorite recipes and baked goods so everyone can create them at home. Organized by season so you can shop at peak freshness and embrace new traditions, the dishes featured in Preppy Kitchen are inspired by well-loved staples updated with a touch of Kanell’s signature sophistication. Recipes include: -Chive and Parmesan Buttermilk Biscuits -Pecan Shortbread and Rosemary Caramel Bars -Roasted Garlic and Olive-Stuffed Chicken Breasts -Blackberry-Balsamic Pork Chops -Apple Butter and Marzipan Bread -Chorizo Beef Burgers with Queso and Avocado -Fresh Tostadas with Green Tomato and Mango Salsa -And many more! In addition to the delicious recipes that feature tips and tricks throughout to help save time in the kitchen, Kanell includes special projects, everything from making flower arrangements and winter wreaths to pickling vegetables. Through these mouthwatering recipes, inspirational crafts, and beautiful photography, Preppy Kitchen is sure to delight longtime fans and newcomers alike.

An elegant recipe collection for the changing seasons. — New York Times Fans of Ho’s blog will be happy to see its vibe translates well to print, with plenty of affirming aphorisms sprinkled throughout. This tasteful guide to off-the-beaten-path confections enchants. — Publishers Weekly Trained as an artist, [Thalia] Ho found herself attracted to wildness in nature, and this turned her into a devoted consumer of such flavors. But, for her, wildness doesn’t mean foraging. Thanks to preserving and drying techniques, herbs and flowers can appear in Ho’s cooking all year. Sweets and desserts are Ho’s passion...Any fan of Black Forest cake will find Ho’s deeply chocolate and dried-cherry cookies to be more than simply attractive. — Booklist ...a beautifully photographed and designed cookbook based on seasonal ingredients. Ho’s poetic writing will spark the interest of bakers looking to incorporate more fruits and herbs into their treats. — Library Journal Wild Sweetness is unlike any seasonal cookbook I’ve read before. Its pages are drenched with evocative text and wistful visuals....There are so many delectable dessert recipes in this book, all with enchanting flavor combinations. Wild Sweetness offers nourishment beyond food. — Food52 In Wild Sweetness, Thalia Ho celebrates the delights of nature in her distinctive, ethereal style...Her tempting recipes, with inventive twists on desserts we know and love, will inspire bakers and chefs alike! — Valrhona USA

The Scandinavians excel in comfort – family, friends, a good atmosphere, long meals, relaxation and an emphasis on simple pleasures. They even have a word for this kind of cosiness that comes with spending quality time in hearth and home when the days are short: hygge. Trine Hahnemann is the doyenne of Scandinavian cooking and loves nothing more than spending time in her kitchen cooking up comforting food in good company. This is her collection of recipes that will warm you up and teach you to embrace the art of hygge, no matter where you live.

Witty, warm, and poignant, food blogger Sasha Martin's memoir about cooking her way to happiness and self-acceptance is a culinary journey like no other. Over the course of 195 weeks, food writer and blogger Sasha Martin set out to cook—and eat—a meal from every country in the world. As cooking unlocked the memories of her rough-and-tumble childhood and the loss and heartbreak that came with it, Martin became more determined than ever to find peace and elevate her life through the prism of food and world cultures. From the tiny, makeshift kitchen of her eccentric, creative mother, to a string of foster homes, to the house from which she launched her own cooking adventure, Martin's heartfelt, brutally honest memoir reveals the power of cooking to bond, to empower, and to heal—and celebrates the simple truth that happiness is created from within. "This beautifully written book is both poignant and uplifting. Not to mention delicious. It's an amazing family tale that reminds me of The Glass Castle, but with more food. And not just any food: We're talking cinnamon raisin pizza." —A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically "Life From Scratch is an unconventional love story. This beautiful book begins with the quest of cooking a meal from every country—a noble feat of it's own!—but then turns it into something far beyond a kitchen adventure. Be prepared to be changed as you experience Sasha's journey for yourself." —Chris Guillebeau, author of The Happiness Pursuit

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Terry McMillan comes a “frank, no-holds-barred, humorous look at African-American midlife” (The Seattle Times). “Being a lifetime wife and mother has afforded me the luxury of having multiple and even simultaneous careers: I've been a chauffeur. A chef. An interior decorator. A landscape architect, as well as a gardener. I've been a painter. A furniture restorer. A personal shopper. A veterinarian's assistant and sometimes the veterinarian. I've been an accountant, a banker, and on occasion, a broker. I've been a beautician. A map. A psychic. Santa Claus. The Tooth Fairy. The T.V. Guide. A movie reviewer. An angel. God. A nurse and a nursemaid. A psychiatrist and psychologist. Evangelist. For a long time I have felt like I inadvertently got my master's in How to Take Care of Everybody Except Yourself and then a PhD in How to Pretend Like You Don't Mind. But I do mind.” Today forty-four year old Marilyn Grimes has decided to be something other than a wife, a mother, a sister, or a daughter: herself. But first, she has to figure out exactly who that is....

Winner of an IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award The "Julia Child of Chinese cooking" (San Francisco Chronicle), Barbara Tropp was a gifted teacher and the chef/owner of one of San Francisco's most popular restaurants. She was also the inventor of Chinese bistro, a marriage of home-style Chinese tastes and techniques with Western ingredients and inspiration, an innovative cuisine that stuffs a wonton with crab and corn and flavors it with green chili sauce, that stir-fries chicken with black beans and basil, that tosses white rice into a salad with ginger-balsamic dressing. Casual yet impeccable, and as balanced as yin and yang, these 275 recipes burst with unexpected flavors and combinations: Prawn Sandpot Casserole with Red Curry and Baby Corn; Spicy Tangerine Beef with Glass Noodles; Pizzetta with Chinese Eggplant, Wild Mushrooms, and Coriander Pesto; Chili-Orange Cold Noodles; Sweet Carrot Soup with Toasted Almonds; Wok-Seared New Potatoes; Crystallized Lemon Tart; and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream.

Gerald Samper, an effete Englishman, lives on a hilltop in Tuscany. He is a ghostwriter for celebrities, and a foodie, whose weird tastes include 'Mussels in Chocolate and Garlic' and 'Fernet Branca Ice Cream'. His idyll is shattered by the arrival of Marta, a vulgar woman from a former Soviet republic now run by gangsters, notably male members of her family. She is a composer in a neo-folk style who claims to be writing a score for a trendy Italian film director. The neighbours' lives disastrously intertwine. The entourages of the rock star and the director come and go; mysterious black helicopters bring news of mayhem in Voynova, Marta's homeland; and along the way the English obsession with Tuscany is satirized mercilessly.