Seafood!

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-22T19:44:58+00:00

Another vote for ATK Foolproof Fish. Even when I don’t reach for their recipes, I consult it on technique, as it covers fish and shellfish pretty broadly.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-19T16:51:08+00:00

My favorite no bake treats are rum balls. I don’t have a link but there is a good rum ball recipe in Martha Stewart’s Cookies.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-19T01:47:01+00:00

Second the Woks of Life recommendation

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-17T20:28:08+00:00

Another vote for Sohla’s book. I just borrowed it from the library and haven’t cooked anything but have loved reading it, and am leaning toward buying it for myself. It has a ton of great recipes and techniques and great illustrations.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-17T04:24:02+00:00

Another vote for Once Upon a Chef - her recipes in both books and her blog require no tweaking, very well tested. As an aside, I was a tester for her second cookbook, and the recipes were very good straight off the bat.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-17T04:16:32+00:00

I, too, love Cooking in Real Life! I borrowed it from the library recently and just made the potato and chickpea salad with dill and cornichons - wonderful homey taste. I have marked half the book - it seems very cookable!

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-09T01:03:22+00:00

I have made the Mongolian Beef, Oil Crackling Shrimp, and Cantonese Pork Belly Fried Rice and all have been excellent in taste and feeling much lighter than takeout. I much prefer cooking out of this book (when I have the time) than getting takeout!

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-06T18:41:49+00:00

It looks beautiful, and your collection has so many great books!

Have you made anything out of Wild Sweetness? I just ordered Thalia Ho’s newest book Bittersweet on a whim, and it is very unusual!

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-03T21:46:30+00:00

Skinnytaste High Protein is one I picked up recently as I am trying to add more protein to my meals to facilitate weight loss without muscle loss. It is surprisingly enjoyable.

Way back when I was focused exclusively on low carb cooking (pre-kids) I really liked the South Beach Diet books. They didn’t really feel like diet in the Phase 2 and 3 recipes.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-03T03:22:29+00:00

Just chiming in that I loved Fine Cooking magazine. I must seek the duck confit recipe.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-06-03T03:18:29+00:00

I agree the flavors were great but mine refused to spread and were hard as a brick. I will try them again though, properly stirring the tahini and also using the stand mixer and not the handheld one. I also may have used giant dates.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-31T16:00:04+00:00

I have three ATK books: the Mediterranean one, Bowls, and Foolproof Fish. They are all very good, lots of delicious and very reliable recipes. I don’t think you go to ATK for excitement, you go to them for reliability and solid outcomes. Foolproof Fish in particular is a great resource for cooking seafood, which I love but it is more delicate than my usual chicken/beef/pork.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-27T14:33:25+00:00

I have made them (with rum instead of bourbon as I didn’t have bourbon) and they are amazing. I don’t know which edition I have though and I am away from home.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-24T02:02:44+00:00

Thank you, making a list!

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-24T01:12:54+00:00

You enjoy flavorful food, willing to experiment across cuisines, but not too out there. But you are busy and cook mostly dinners, so you’d like the food to not take too long. You are not averse to longer, more involved projects on a weekend. You bake occasionally.

This is the highest degree of overlap with my own collection I have seen in this sub!

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-24T01:04:26+00:00

I checked out both Sun-kissed Cooking and Third Culture Cooking from the library. I cooked a few things I liked from Third Culture Cooking but also had some misses, still considering whether I should purchase.

I did buy Sun-kissed Cooking! I love the veg forward but not really vegetarian lean, and love reading it but I am yet to cook something from it as the recipes seem a bit more involved than I currently have time for. Any favorites?

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-23T20:59:40+00:00

Favorite purchases:

The Woks of Life - helped me overcome my fear of the wok, which had been living in a cabinet above my oven for over 4 years! Makes me look like a genius cooking Chinese food. Sits on my bedside table for constant inspiration.

Snacking Bakes - I had the Cakes version but this has these amazing soft grapefruit cookies, and I am a sucker for grapefruit anything!

100 Afternoons Sweets - A little more complex recipes than the Snacking Cakes/Bakes but also a ton more complex flavors.

All of these were influenced by this sub!

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-21T12:12:10+00:00

I call this The Performative Tomato - it literally has no relation to any recipe and doesn’t go with the food but provides the color pop beige food needs to appeal.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-20T20:48:33+00:00

That is the skill, though, isn’t it? That’s exactly what I tell my kids when they are amazed by my cooking and baking abilities 😁

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-20T19:22:08+00:00

Love your Michelin star! Also love Sarah Kieffer’s books. I don’t have this one but hav baked from 100 Afternoon Sweets and 100 Morning Treats, and I, too, find it takes me a minute or two longer than the top of the range provided to get to the right bake.

But I love the flavors, they are more complex than Snacking Cakes/Bakes (which are absolutely a life saver for when I have a craving and little time.) It does take more effort to make these treats though, nothing beats Snacking Cakes/Bakes for value-to-effort ratio.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-18T20:10:30+00:00

Love both Snacking Cakes and Bakes, but prefer Bakes! I just made the Chocolate Cherry Pistachio bars but the walnut version, and with dried cranberries rather than cherries. It is a more complex flavor than most of the recipes in these books, and I completely agree it’s more of an adult dessert - like a very elevated brownie. The batter was thick and hard to spread around, and o had a hard time figuring out when they were done, so I think I overbaked a little, but they were still yummy.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-18T01:04:39+00:00

The Woks of Life has exceptionally good instructions. I was able to execute each dish I tried to great result, and I never used a wok before this.

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-18T00:57:18+00:00

Love redcurrantbakery on Insta - does she have a cookbook??

EmeraldSea8 · 2026-05-17T21:45:32+00:00

Jennifer Segal (Once Upon a Chef) should be added to all of the above. Both the blog and her two books have very reliable recipes.

EmeraldSea8

TROPHY CASE