Friends of the Shop Sale: Friday, January 27 from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Dear friends,

On this day only, commencing at 9:00 a.m., we are having a book sale for our supportive friends. We are offering a 20% discount generally, with deeper discounts on selected items. If you are not able to attend in person, you man e-mail or telephone with your credit info and we will take care of your wishes. When the clock chimes 5:00 p.m. the corks will pop!

Sale prices apply to all in-stock items only. Unfortunately, we will not be able to hold or reserve merchandise.

Sincerely,
Your enthusiastic cookbook specialists,
Barbara-jo
Mark
Barb
Carol
Joan
Lawren

Saturday Pop-up Market with The Ivy Oven

Drop by the shop on Saturday, January 28th from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. to enjoy some delicious sweets from local farmers market baker Lori Murray of The Ivy Oven. Lori will be bringing in her freshly baked cranberry & orange scones, maple oat & pecan scones, her signature 'rugelach', and other sweet surprises for you to taste and take home. Enjoy a little taste of fresh market sweets while you shop for your favourite baking books - how sweet it is!

'Tis the Season for Baking!

The cool, brisk weather of winter is the finest time of the year to squirrel away to the kitchen and bake. This past Sunday morning, we began our winter baking season with a recently-revised classic, The Italian Baker by Carol Field. Chef Lawren Moneta transported guests to Italy for a tour of classic Italian baked goods. Guests were impressed with the whimsical yet surprisingly easy-to-make grissini or breadsticks and they learned about the secrets of making a versatile olive oil bread.

Inspired to bake? We are offering a fantastic line-up of of baking classes this week that will suit your every whim...

Short & Sweet on Sunday, January 22 at 10:30 a.m.In the UK, author Dan Lepard has become a household name. Best known for his innovative approach to baking, Dan takes classic British baking recipes and updates them with new flavour combinations and techniques that produce stunning results. This morning Chef Lawren Moneta demonstrates a variety of recipes from Short & Sweet that highlight the best of the book. Spots at this class are $100.00 and includes a  copy of Short & Sweet.

How to Make Bread on Monday, January 23 at 6:30 p.m.This evening baker Chris Brown of the popular Rise Artisan Breads will be demonstrating bread baking basics from How to Make Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreau. How to Make Bread sets out to teach everyone, right from the most inexperienced beginners, how to make basic yeasted breads, wheat free breads, sourdoughs, pastries and sweet treats in a very simple, clear and intelligent way.  As with all of his classes, Chris will give guests a broad base of knowledge about ingredients, chemistry and technique for successful bread-baking at home. This evening is $105.00 and includes a copy of How to Make Bread.

A New Year of Culinary Adventures

All of us at Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks wish you and the ones you hold dear a Happy New Year. What better way to celebrate the beginning of the year than to embark on new and interesting culinary adventures. This month we offer an inspiring selection of events that will delight your palate and warm your soul, including visits from special out of town authors.

Sunday Baking: The Italian Baker on Sunday, January 15 at 10:30 a.m.
Join us for a culinary baking tour around Italy with Chef Lawren Moneta as she demonstrates classic recipes from The Italian Baker by Carol Field. In this groundbreaking classic—now thoroughly updated for today’s modern kitchen—Carol Field introduces artisanal doughs and techniques used by generations of Italian bakers. This class is $100.00 and includes a copy of The Italian Baker.

Four Seasons of Sunday Suppers: Winter beginning on Sunday, January 15 at 5:00 p.m.
Welcome Winter with a robust celebration of All About Roasting by Molly Stevens. We have a few memberships still available for our Winter season that includes a copy of All About Roasting and Sunday suppers featuring recipes from All About Roasting held on the third Sunday of January, February and March. Membership for the season is $295.00 more information about our Four Seasons may be found here.

Whitewater Cooks with Friends with author Shelley Adams on Monday, January 16 at 6:00 p.m.Author Shelley Adams is in the shop for an evening of good food and libations to celebrate her latest book, Whitewater Cooks with Friends. Join us for hors d'oeuvres from Whitewater Cooks with Friends while Shelley shares her fabulous cooking and entertaining tips and ideas. Tickets for this event are $45.00 and include a signed copy of Whitewater Cooks with Friends.

Don't Buckle Under Pressure on Wednesday, January 18 at 6:30 p.m.
Surprisingly fuel efficient, pressure cooking with local, sustainable ingredients opens up an eco-delicious world. Join us for a great evening of creative pressure cooker ideas, pointers and tips with Chef Glenys Morgan. Each guest will receive a copy of The Easy Pressure Cooker Cookbook by Diane Phillips. The cost of the evening is $105.00.

Knife Skills Saturday on Saturday, January 21 at 10:30 a.m.
Start off your New Year on a sharp note at our popular hands-on Knife Skills class. Chef Glenys Morgan will teach guests about the proper, precise handling of knives and guests will have hands-on practice time to work on their new skills. *Please bring a chef's knife to class*. Guests will each receive a copy of Mastering Knife Skills by Norman Weinstein. This event is $85.00.

Sunday Baking: Short and Sweet on Sunday, January 22 at 10:30 a.m.
Short and Sweet by UK baker Dan Lepard mixes science with old-fashioned kitchen wisdom to produce delicious home baking. This morning Chef Lawren Moneta walks guests through some tried and true recipes and shares some of Dan Lepard's cutting edge techniques. This class is $100.00 and includes a copy of Short and Sweet.

How to Make Bread on Monday, January 23 at 6:30 p.m.This evening baker Chris Brown of Rise Artisan Breads teaches guests the fine art of bread baking from How to Make Bread by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou. Chris will discuss and demonstrate the keys to good bread: why flour, yeast and temperature are important, and which kitchen equipment makes life easier. The cost of the evening is $105.00 and includes a copy of How to Make Bread.

The Guy CAN Cook on Thursday, January 26 at 6:30 p.m.
This is an all ages, all guys evening for fellows who want to learn some cooking basics and how to cook some no-fail, simply great food. Chef Glenys Morgan will teach kitchen basics and easy recipes and will help any guy think outside the takeout box. This event is $95.00 and includes a copy of The Guy Can't Cook: Over 350 Fantastic No-Fail Recipes a Guy Can't Be Without by Cinda Chavich.

Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs on Sunday, January 29 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Calling all budding chefs! Join renowned New York chef Rozanne Gold and her sous-chef daughter Shayna Rose for a fun afternoon of teen cooking. Shayna and Rozanne will demonstrate tasty recipes from Rozanne's fun cookbook for teens, Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs. This event is free, please call 604-688-6755 to RSVP.

A Radically Simple Sunday Supper with Rozanne Gold on Sunday, January 29 at 5:00 p.m.Join our special guest, author and chef Rozanne Gold for a cozy radically simple Sunday Supper. In Radically Simple, Rozanne creates bold, sophisticated dishes bursting with global flavors by using ingenious techniques, methods and surprisingly simple ingredients. This evening is $120.00 and includes a signed copy of Radically Simple.

For more information about these and other upcoming events, visit our Events page and please call 604-688-6755 to register

Bits & Books with Jennifer McLagan

On her recent visit to Vancouver we were treated to a number of events and meals celebrating author Jennifer McLagan's wonderful new book, Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal. Jennifer and I took a moment to chat about her book, along with a few others that have touched her life and influenced her in her culinary journey. You might be surprised by the cookbook on her ‘wish list’ for this year...

Enjoy! 

Barbara-jo

Interview with author Jennifer McLaglan by Barbara-jo McIntosh of Books to Cooks in December 2011.

Cookbooks Stores: Best Cookbooks of 2011

Curious about what are some of the best cookbooks of the year? The folks at Cookbooker have compiled a list of the best cookbooks of 2011 according to cookbook shops around the globe.

Books to Cooks carries all these and many more wonderful titles so if any of these books whet your holiday appetite, drop by to pick one up or give us a call if you to reserve a copy.

Make a Very Special Cookbook Even More Special this Holiday Season

Give yourself the gift of year round recipes or give a unique gift for the foodie on your list and support food based charities in your area.

Thursday, December 15th join some of Vancouver’s top chefs for an exclusive book signing of Vancouver Cooks2, with wine and canapés, from 5pm – 7pm at Vancouver’s acclaimed cook book store, Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks.

Vancouver Cooks2 is a Chefs’ Table Society of BC collaborative cookbook with recipes from top chefs and top restaurants across British Columbia. Using local ingredients from across the region, celebrity chefs, top restaurant chefs and rising stars have created a book both wonderful for giving and wonderful for keeping. With recipes tested by home cook expert Joan Cross, the recipes are sometimes exotic, sometimes down to earth and always “doable”.

Your donation to the Chefs’ Table Society, benefiting BC Food Banks, “Project Chef” and “Growing Chefs”, of $10 gets you a chance to mingle and nibble with chefs, have your book signed, see some cooking demonstrations, and for those who purchase the cookbook, your $10 is deducted from the cover price which makes purchasing the book a very reasonable gift cost - Soft cover $25 ($15 after $10 donation); Hard cover $40 ($30 after $10 donation)

Thursday, December 15th
5pm – 7pm
Chefs’ Table Society of BC at Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks
1740 West 2nd Avenue (half a block east of Burrard)
Vancouver, BC 604-688-6755
www.bookstocooks.com
bookcook@intergate.bc.ca

Vancouver Cooks2
$25 soft cover ($15 after $10 donation) $40 hard cover ($30 after $10 donation)

Drop-ins welcome, reservations appreciated (so we can prepare enough food!) at info@chefstablesociety.com or by phone at Books to Cooks at 604-688-6755

Had a Glass or Two...

Everyone’s favourite wine guide is back just in time for the holiday season. In a new, pocket-sized format, Had a Glass by James Nevison is the ideal stocking stuffer or gift for Dad, brother, sister, friend, you... Packed into this wee package are the top 100 wines under $20 for 2012. Whites, reds, pinks, and fortified, there’s a wine pick for every taste and budget  - don’t go a BC liquor store without one.  Drop by the shop soon to pick up a few copies; these little gems are selling faster than a bottle of Tranchero 2010 Moscato d’ Asti at 5:45 on December 31st.

Cheers!

Trifle, Tripe and Tipple with North by Northwest

The shop was turned into ‘Studio One’ last week as we hosted a trio of interviews with Sheryl Mackay for CBC North by Northwest. First up at the microphone was Anna Olsen to talk about her fresh release, Back to Baking. With this book Anna felt she got back to her real passion in the kitchen and shares the joy in the process of baking. With all new recipes, created, tested, and photographed at her home using her own dishes, it is her most personal book yet. Anna prepared a lovely Apple Crisp Trifle that is a new and distinctly Canadian twist on a classic holiday treat. Anna encourages home bakers to have fun improvising with the recipes and their presentation – no trifle bowl? A tall glass vase is a good substitute; it’s elegant looking and allows room for a few extra layers.

When asked which book she most turns to for inspiration and ideas, Anna chose a well-worn and beloved classic, Joy of Cooking.

After morning trifle we turned to meatier fare as author JenniferMclagan joined Sheryl to share the wonders of culinary odd bits. Third in her ‘trilogy’ of books for unabashed carnivores, Odd Bits is an inventive, informative, and humorous cookbook that celebrates those often overlooked, yet downright tasty cuts of meats. She made believers of us all as she plated a delicious serving of beef tongue with salsa verde. 

Moving on to afternoon cocktails we next welcomed authors Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.  This charming husband-and-wife writing team— he is a chef, she a journalist — has produced four books in the past six years, and their latest, A Food Lover’s Guide to Wine is sure to be another bestseller. They shared some of their own food pairing ideas with Sheryl, along with some of their own more memorable wine moments (Valentines Day…champagne…chocolate…). Andrew and Karen encouraged readers to have fun trying new and different wine pairings and recommended we all keep our fridges well stocked, as they do, with Reisling as it is a good go to wine for most cuisines, and goes particularly well with spicy dishes. Their cookbook choice for Sheryl was also, The Joy of Cooking.

Check back to the CBC website to listen to a complete podcast of each interview in the coming weeks.

Celebrating Odd Bits with Jennifer McLagan

This week we were pleased to welcome back award-winning author, Jennifer McLagan, to celebrate her latest book, Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal. Jennifer is known for bravely tackling unfashionable culinary topics such as bones and fat. It is only natural that she tames the rest of the animal with this third book.

Odd Bits truly embraces the philosophy of nose to tail eating. Jennifer's rationale about using these less celebrated cuts is simple: if we are to slaughter an animal for food, it is only moral and respectful to use all of it. The more common "prime cuts" comprise of merely half the animal, so as a moral carnivore, it is important to utilize all of the animal's perfectly good protein.

On Sunday evening, guests gathered at Books to Cooks for an intimate Sunday Supper featuring a delectable menu of odd bits. As Chef Lawren Moneta served delicious morsels including poached tongue with salsa verde, Peruvian heart kebabs and braised beef cheeks, Jennifer gave guests a culinary anatomy lesson from snout to tail. In the evening's discussion, Jennifer emphasized how imperative the quality and freshness of these delicate cuts are and thus how important it is to make friends with a trusted local butcher. By the end of the evening, Jennifer's enthusiasm and humour ensured guests that these odd bits are really not all that odd. We've just lost touch with them and it's time to reacquaint ourselves.

The next evening, dinner guests gathered at Cibo Trattoria for an Odd Bits inspired menu prepared by Executive Chef Neil Taylor. A true odd bit enthusiast, Chef Taylor was delighted to treat guests to a menu featuring such delicacies as lamb's brain ravioli with brown butter and sage, crispy pig's head and trotter salad and grilled calves liver and ox heart, all prepared with an Italian flare.

Jennifer's visit to Vancouver wound down with a sumptuous gathering with members of the Vancouver Club. Chef Sean Cousins prepared a delicious menu from Odd Bits that shone a spotlight on some of the least celebrated yet most delectable cuts. As the evening began, guests whet their appetites with the lusciously crisp but creamy "Cheese and Just a Little Brain Fritters." Guests also found themselves enjoying gently braised lamb neck with quince and turnip.

One common theme for all three evenings was the chefs' choice of dessert: Jennifer's chocolate blood ice cream. At first this combination may conjure images of amorous blood letting vampires. The use of blood as a thickener for a chocolate custard, however, is no more unusual than using the protein in egg yolks to thicken and add richness.

While Jennifer was here, we learned that Odd Bits made it onto the New York Times list of Notable Cookbooks of 2011. Congratulations, Jennifer, and much thanks for taking the odd out of those bits.