what's cooking???

Having all the time to myself when I was in Seattle, I went to the bookstores and just sat at the cookbook section for hours with a mighty huge pile of books I was interested to check out. I go through waves of buying and getting rid of cookbooks and this time, I wanted to really be sure before I purchased anymore cookbooks. The new Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver caught my eye as I walked into the bookstore and I immediately grabbed it. I am nuts about Jamie's cooking and practically own all but one or two of his cookbooks and use them a LOT! It didn't take me long to check out the recipes and I counted multiple recipes I wanted to try and knew right away I had to get the book. I just love his style of cooking, the fresh ingredients he uses and of course the delicious recipes beautifully captured in his books. I even enjoy just reading his introductions to the recipes, as they are fun.

I also checked out Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express 130 recipes for good food fast and How-Eat The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food which I was also drawn to by her voice of writing and the details of her great recipes. I used to watch her shows on tele a while back and have browsed at her books at the library before but for some reason, I didn't give them too much thought (maybe I was in the no cookbook buying mode) until now. Her new Nigella express book has photos (which is a prerequisite for me when I buy cookbooks) and the other doesn't, but I wasn't discouraged because just reading and understanding her style of writing and execution of recipes drew me in. I must say, as soon as I got home, I ordered both the books from Amazon and hopefully they'll arrive soon because I can't wait to use them.

My last cookbook I got last weekend together with Cook with Jamie was a Cooking School Provence which has very interesting and authentic French recipes. Somehow, am always on the look for a great French home-cooking cookbook to add to my cookbook collection (I have one French: Secrets Classic Cooking Made Easy). This one has a lot of background information about the recipes, tips and tricks to make great recipes at home (Plus, I like the recipe titles in French and I guess I have to put on my imitation of French accent when I serve coq au vin! Silly I know!). It has great photos too. And I love French Food. Period.

I don't know about you but food and and cooking is a big part of my life and I always like to try new things. It gives me so much pleasure when my family sits down for a nice dinner on Sundays and they enjoy the  diverse meals I make for them.

The tomatoes aren't another long story. They're a harvest from one vine I planted in summer in a pot and didn't expect much bounty harvest and I was quite surprised. Unfortunately, I picked them before they were ripe due to weather and I have to figure out what I can make with green tomatoes. Any Ideas?

So, please tell me what your favourite cookbooks are and what you're cooking at home this weekend?? 

Have a great weekend!