Drinks, Cocktails, Punches, and Glogg - The New York Times Essential Cookbook

I love a cookbook that acknowledges that drinks are part of the meal, and, of course, Hesser does not disappoint. This is a very thorough drinks section. My only complaint? So many of the recipes involved alcohol mixed with milk or cream, something that makes me shudder.

There are fun things in here too though. The onset of the smoothie. Iced coffee obsession. Gourmet hot chocolate. Possible solutions to the mint problem I have going on in my garden.

This week I’ll share what I made!

Acknowledgements and Introduction - The Essential New York Times Cookbook

I’ve read a few books by Amanda Hesser and I’ve always enjoyed her style. So, I loved this section about the process of creating a collection of recipes that spanned 150 years. In it she dishes about her husband’s irrational hate of biscotti (he despises its unfriendly crunch) and what it was like to test thousands of recipes while pregnant with twins.

My favorite part was the amazing timeline. It was interspersed throughout the section and it contained mind blowing tidbits about food history in the US. (I am so happy I live in a time when I can get Florida strawberries.)

Today I learned: meats cook 2 times as fast as they did 100 years ago because the way we raise them now makes them more tender. Sorry vegetarians for grossing you out; I found that fascinating.

This is going to be fun!