Tag Archives: cookbooks

Scrumptious Cookbooks: Scone Queen Bakes and Baking Across America

24 Mar

Scone Queen Bakes: 100 Recipes for Scones, Muffins, Cookies, and More from the founder of The Hungry Gnome
by Danielle Sepsy
After watching Danielle Sepsy compete on the streaming series The Big Brunch, I was excited to try some of the sea salt chocolate chip and white chocolate toffee cookies that her Hungry Gnome supplied to a local delivery service. They were delicious so I was even more delighted to find out she had a cookbook, The Scone Queen Bakes, of 100 of her recipes for a variety of delightful baked treats. On the show Sepsy was dubbed the “Scone Queen” and If you enjoy tea and scones, like I do, then you will be excited; she has one for each month of the year. I am particularly interested in trying her red bean scones with sesame crust and butter pecan scones. She even lets us in on her secret recipe for her famous chocolate chip scones. I’m also a huge muffin fan and she has a variety of tasty muffins including raspberry ricotta muffins, chocolate chip pancake muffins, double chocolate muffins (that include a variation with a bit of cream cheese), and several more. I think people living here in the Hoboken area, with our large Italian American population, will be particularly excited by the family recipes she has from her Sicilian heritage like pignoli (pine nut) cookies. I found the autobiographical details about her childhood learning to bake through starting her own business charming.

Baking Across America: A Vintage Recipe Road Trip
by B. Dylan Hollis
My family is a fan of B.Dylan Hollis fun short streaming cooking videos online where one never knows if the quirky historic recipes he bakes will be hits or misses. His previous cookbook, Baking Yesteryear, featured recipes broken up by decades (1900’s-1980’s). We tried several of the cookies for Christmas and found some that will be regular on rotation in the future including the Anzac biscuits and the Potato chip cookies so we were excited to check out his newest work, Baking Across America. In this work the recipes are organized by regions that each one comes form. New Jersey is represented by a chocolate cake recipe that incorporates tomato soup! Another unusual ingredient recipe is the Hatch Chile and Cheddar Apple Pie from New Mexico. It includes some of my favorites like whoopie pies and beignets. Both those who are looking for nostalgic bakes as well as those who are adventurous eaters will find recipes to try.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Bowls of Fun: Automatic Noodle and Kawaii Cafe Ramen

13 Aug

Automatic Noodle
by Annalee Newitz
Annalee Newitz’s latest novella, Automatic Noodle, is a clever cozy post-apocalytic tale of a group of robots who decide to open up a noodle shop. This a sweet found family story about robots who seek to find their own identity in a postwar California which has separated from the rest of the US and allowed robots limited freedom. Newitz’s creations are all unique; one is described as being octopus like while another appears human from her top half though she has no legs. It is interesting to see the robots explore their world from their programmed human pov and then gradually develop a uniquely robot perspective. Despite its short length it explores interesting concepts of identity and prejudice. With the rise of Ai, it was especially compelling to me, to explore at what point a human created machine might be thought of as a unique individual consciousness. If you enjoy Automatic Noodles, you might also enjoy checking out Newitz’s debut novel Autonomous, which looks at some similar issues with one of the main characters being an indentured robot.

Kawaii Cafe Ramen: Classic, Fun, and Delicious Ramen Meals to Make at Home
by Amy Kimoto-Kahn
After reading Automatic Noodles you will definitely be craving a big bowl of noodles, but if you want to try your hand at making your own rather than stopping by a Shaanxi style BiangBiang noodle shop like in Automatic Noodles or your favorite Pho or Ramen shop, then you will want to check out Amy Kimoto-Kahn’s Kawaii Cafe Ramen. This fun book includes instructions in how to make ramen noodles, a variety of soup bases including miso and tonkotsu as well as how to make a variety of toppings like tamagoyaki (Japanese style omlete), kakuni (braised pork belly), and my family’s favorite ajitsuke tamago (marinated half-cooked eggs). Then of course there are suggestions for complete composed dishes such as a Hawaiian inspired Kulua Pork and Cabbage Ramen, Furikake Salmon Ramen, and even a Good Morning Ramen perfect for breakfast. Rather than having photo illustration there are kawaii manga style drawings of the food some complete with cute smiley faces and adorable kittens wanting to sample the tasty creations. Kimoto-Kahn is a fourth-generation Japanese American who went to Japan to explore ramen in its birthplace as well as getting inspiration from the top Ramen places in her home state of California and old Japanese American cookbooks. My son especially is a huge Ramen fan so I look forward to trying some of these dishes with my family.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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