The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser

I grew up near Boston in a home where you could be forgiven for anything except rooting for a New York sports team. I’ve stayed true to my father’s wishes even though I probably still follow Max Scherzer’s career more than he would like. Dad never told me not read read The New York Times though, and over the years I’ve developed a real love for their food section.

Until all of their recipes went behind a paywall.

I was so, so very happy when I found out Amanda Hesser published a doorstop of a cookbook in 2010 that contains the most noteworthy recipes from the 1850’s to the early 2000’s. And my library had it! For free! Take that New York Times paywall. (Yes I know I should be willing to pay for good content. I’m just in a mood. So many subscriptions taking tiny chunks of my paycheck every week. I’ve had enough.)

You guys, I love this book. I know it’s been around for 22 years now, but it’s new to me, and it’s fabulous.

I’ve been reading a bit of it each night, and even though time and budget constraints keep me from cooking everything in this book, I’ve enjoyed reading the story behind each and every recipe. For the month of May I’m going to be all about this book, so expect to see a lot of it here!