At various times, I've mentioned my extensive collection of cookbooks. Hundreds and hundreds of them. But not until today have I seen a list of cookbooks where I do not own a single one. That's because The Huffington Post has compiled quite the list! A list they call "The Most WTF Cookbooks of All Time."
You have got to take a look at their slideshow of cookbook covers! From a serial killer's cookbook to trailer park down home cooking to cooking with iguanas and a book dedicated exclusively to testicles. And lots of other random, unusual cookbooks.
Now my cookbook collection, as large as it is, feels a bit boring! Maybe I should start eating iguana. Where does one purchase a cooking iguana? And are they kosher?
Oh Kitchn, how I love thee! I read this idea on The Kitchn blog a few weeks ago and have been meaning to comment on it for awhile. It's pure genius! Instead of roasting a chicken on a vertical roaster, why not try using a bundt pan! You're probably more likely to have a bundt pan in your kitchen anyway, plus, the bundt pan lends itself perfectly to cooking a chicken because you can also cook a bunch of vegetables in the bottom and let the bird rest on them. So it's an all-in-one meal.
Vertical roasting, as a technique for cooking chicken, is one of my absolute favorite ways because the chicken comes out extremely juicy. The chicken stands upright on a pedestal and the juices fall straight down, naturally basting the chicken the whole time. Plus, it takes less time to cook and browns the chicken more evenly because it's getting heat from all sides. Trying the same technique using an item I typically use for cakes makes cooking a lot more exciting...not to mention resourceful! I can't wait to try this! Now all I need is a lesson on how to carve a whole chicken. Help? :-)
Go ahead, try the recipe The Kitchn posted for roasting a chicken on a bundt pan. Perhaps you'll start using your bundt pan more often now!
Chuck Siegel, owner of Charles Chocolates, and me!
Full disclosure: I love Charles Chocolates. Oh wait, that's the point of this post. Hehehe.
This Sunday is Mother's Day and whether you've already picked out the perfect gift for mom or you haven't, you should consider one more thing: Charles Chocolates. Truth is, you don't really need an excuse to treat yourself or a loved one to high quality chocolate. But if you buy Charles Chocolates for Mother's Day, the packaging is extra special.
Charles Chocolates, owned and run by Chuck Siegel, is a fabulous gourmet chocolate company based in San Francisco, but available online, too. They recently opened a flagship store in the big newish Westfield Shopping Center in downtown that has the beautiful Bloomingdale's and gourmet food court. This location makes me sooo happy because now these treats are convenient for the cityfolk! Turn your fantasy into a reality? Done! All of the chocolates are made in small batches, maintaining the integrity of the chocolates. And you should see how perfect each one looks as you hold it up to your magnifying glass. Because of course you have a magnifying glass you dedicate just to chocolate inspection. Charles Chocolates is perfection.
There are three gift options that are specifically Mother's Day themed. You could order the Mother's Day Edible Chocolate Box, where everything but the paper wrappers is meant to be eaten. And my Uncle Gary would probably even eat the wrapper if it had a fleck of chocolate on it. For $60, you get 18 pieces of chocolate and the gorgeous edible box they're in. The pieces include fleur de sel caramels and Chuck's famous peanut butterflies, plus more.
Another option is the $20 Mother's Day Fleur de Sel Caramel Collection in a beautiful non-edible blue and brown box. If I were a mom, I'd be thrilled to receive this gift! Future kiddo of mine, I hope you're listening!
And the third option is Three Months of Treats for Mom where you'll hook your mom up with Charles Chocolates from now until July 9th. I might have missed my chance on this one since orders needed to be received by May 5 so Mom could get her first of the three treats right away. That option is priced at $68.
There are lots of great chocolate items available year round that would also make fantastic Mother's Day gifts. One of my favorite Charles Chocolates products is the can of triple chocolate covered almonds for $12. Bite one in half, then examine the cross section, and you'll see just how thick the chocolate coating is around this almond. You will go nuts!
Good luck making up your mind what to order. It's never easy. But it's a good problem to have. Happy Mother's Day and give your mom a big kiss for me this weekend!
The Details: Charles Chocolates Flagship Store 865 Market Street Westfield San Francisco Centre 2nd Floor, on the Nordstrom Side San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 348-8889 Also at www.charleschocolates.com
Ah, Saturday night. I attended a friend's birthday held at The Gorbals, a restaurant-bar in downtown LA run by Bravo's Top Chef Season 2 winner Ilan Hall. You might have heard about Hall's somewhat controversial menu item: bacon-wrapped matzah balls. His father is from Scotland, his mother is from Jerusalem. Go figure! As I don't eat bacon, I didn't order these daring matzah balls and can't testify to their brilliance or ridiculousness. But! I did try the latkes with applesauce and honey and wow they are amazing! I think I might have to drizzle some honey on applesauce every time I eat it from now on!
A menorah is parked at the restaurant's cash register reminding you of some of the menu items
Plus, the cocktails are unusual and feature bourbon and gin in interesting flavor combinations, and the beers on tap are great. I ordered a pale ale that went down light and easy, and then a beer called the Abbey, which was significantly stronger and served in a rounded lowball tumbler glass probably more appropriate for scotch. So fun and unexpected!
The open kitchen allows you to watch Chef Ilan Hall in action
Besides the menu, the atmosphere makes The Gorbals an awesome venue. The Gorbals is located inside the historic Alexandria Hotel of 1906 so be sure to get intentionally lost on your way in or out so you can see some of the neat architecture and design touches (though with plenty of a feeling of abandonment from this no-longer-functioning hotel). The interior of the restaurant includes an open kitchen so you can watch the chef do his thing, and there's a long communal table in the middle of the place for you to sit at unless you opt for a more private dining experience at a table for just your group. The waitress we had was spectacular, super attentive and kind, always offering us water, and making sure we were happy. Hall looked like he was having a great time balancing cooking with stepping out of the kitchen and mingling with the party folk. He's a very friendly guy.
And speaking of friendly, Hall is friends with my friend, the birthday boy. So naturally, what is a chef to do when his friend hosts his birthday party at his pal's restaurant? Hall made a giant castle-shaped bundt cake, deep fried it, drenched it in some sort of vanilla glaze, sprinkled powdered sugar on top, and then finished it off with sparkler candles. Deep frying the entire cake basically resulted in a giant donut. And it was delicious!
The castle cake Ilan Hall made for my friend's birthday
To top off an already fun evening, I said a little hello to somecomedians who came out for my friend's party, sending my celeb interaction quota for the day off the charts. You see, my friend is in the comedy business. In fact, I was told there were plenty more comedians in the room, but unless they're from Zoolander or they're about to host the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, they just look like the next guy to me.
I highly recommend you grab a drink and order some small plates at The Gorbals. And say hello to Ilan Hall. If you two hit things off and become fast friends, maybe he'll make you a giant castle birthday cake donut thingy, too!
The Making of the Giant Castle Birthday Cake Donut Thingy in Pictures:
Deep frying the castle cake
Pouring the glaze over the hot, just fried cake
Sprinkled with powdered sugar, the cake gets some sparkler candles
The candles are lit and the Happy Birthday Song is about to commence!
The Details: The Gorbals 501 S. Spring Street Los Angeles, California 90013 (213) 488-3408
I have been making ice cream from scratch for a few years now. Until recently, I was storing the ice cream in airtight Tupperware containers. It worked fine enough. But one day not too long ago, my mom bought me an ice cream container from Crate and Barrel that advertised it could keep a pint of ice cream frozen for 90 minutes outside the freezer. What!!! Turns out the Crate and Barrel container was just repackaged for the store, but it's actually a Zak Designs Ice Cream Tub. It has insulation in both the tub and the lid that keeps the ice cream from melting! And I know it works as I've tested it! The tub comes in four colors: green, orange, blue, and white, and costs about $12. The lid twists on and off easily. Plus, isn't that spoon on the lid adorable?
Let's just pause for a second on the fact that you can keep the ice cream out for 90 minutes. That's life changing! Earth shattering! It means you can bring it to a picnic and it won't melt right away while you eat your sandwich and potato salad first. It also means you can drive with it to a party, even a party that is 50 miles away, and it won't melt in the car! It's also great at home when you're hosting a party, ice cream social or any theme, and you want to leave the ice cream flavors out so people can serve themselves. Before this tub, I'd take my Tupperware container out, serve everyone at once, and then put the container back in the freezer so the ice cream doesn't melt. If anyone wanted seconds, they'd have to take it out of the freezer. See! Colossal!
Most of the time, I only make one ice cream recipe at a time, but last week I made a few ice cream flavors and only had the one white Zak Designs tub my mom got me at Crate and Barrel. It was then I realized I'd need to place an order for some more tubs...stat! So I went to Amazon and purchased the orange and the blue. I'm still holding off on the green, despite LOVING the color, because sadly it's the one color that is not eligible for Amazon Prime and I refuse to pay for shipping when I don't have to.
If you make homemade ice cream, you really should invest a couple bucks into one of these containers. It will change your life forever and the way you think about ice cream. Heck, you could even buy one for a friend, make ice cream, fill it with that ice cream, and drive it to the friend's house to present it to her with a nice big ribbon. She gets ice cream and a container out of it, plus you've just proven to her that it works as you sat in traffic for 30 minutes to hand deliver it! Ain't that sweet!
This is my little shout-out to Jewish delis! Yahooooo! The James Beard Foundation Awards (which, for those who don't know, is like the Academy Awards in all categories of food) just announced its nominations for 2010 and various food-related books and TV shows and radio shows and people are being written up and congratulated all over the Internet. Some more often than others, maybe because they're trendy or familiar. The LA food scene is celebrating nominations of several Los Angeles chefs and writers. You can view all nominations by downloading this pdf.
But honestly, what excited me most when I read the nominations, was the JBF Awards nomination for Save the Deli by David Sax. I remember when this book first came out and I was thrilled that someone would dedicate his life, at least temporarily, to researching delis across America and even the world. Sounds like a tough (read: awesome) job, but someone's got to do it! And we're talking about a guy who's totally and utterly obsessed with delis. There could be no better person for the job. He has traveled to Montreal, Paris, London, even Poland, to find the best pastrami on rye. He visited the classics in the states, from Katz's in New York, to Langer's in LA, to Corky and Lenny's in Cleveland (which, by the way, is fabulous. You must try their corned beef on latke sandwich!).
David Sax is calling attention to Jewish delis in a big way. If it weren't for his efforts, I wouldn't have even known that there's a decline in deli and they need our help. I'm ready to open the phone lines! Sax's mission statement on his blog is great. Here's the intro:
Save the Deli is a space dedicated to the preservation of the Jewish delicatessen, a hallowed temple of salted and cured meats. The past half century has seen the deli’s numbers decline greatly, in New York, across the USA, in Canada, and Europe. Those that remain are endangered and in need of our support. Though the challenge is arduous, and the deli’s foes are many, we will persevere.
Take a look at this trailer Sax put together for the release of his book last year. It just makes you love him a little more!
When I visited the Amazon listing for the book, I found a letter written by Sax to Amazon customers. It's hilarious and worth a read. Here's one of my favorite excerpts, which will make you realize how much you need to own the book:
Do you know what it's like to be blown away by kishke? It's akin to a religious moment; your mouth is so in love with this crackling fat-stuffed sausage that it floods your brain with endorphins. It's a watershed event. I'd love for you to experience that.
So David Sax, if you're reading this, I just want to give you a big hug and congrats. You are keeping deli on the map. I hope you nab the JBF Award when they announce the winners May 2nd, but the nomination is already a fantastic start! Here's to pastrami on rye for generations to come.
Handel's Ice Cream is some of the best food you'll ever eat in your life. It's mostly found in Youngstown, Ohio, and surrounding areas, but there is one West Coast location in Southern California. On a recent trip to Palm Desert, my mom and I stopped at that one California location, in Upland, about 45 minutes from Los Angeles. We couldn't miss the chance to eat here! My mom is from Youngstown and grew up eating this stuff. There's something about the creamy, soft texture of Handel's that can't be beat, and it's made on the premises. I've visited Youngstown for family reunions and we've been known to stop at Handel's 5 times in 2 days, and other crazy ratios like that. Do the math; that's a LOT of ice cream. Plus we'll get two or three scoops at a time.
My Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Chunk and Mocha Almond Fudge Ripple
My mom's Praline Pecan and Chocolate Malt with Caramel
We are so grateful for this one California location, even if it is not just up the road. In fact, my parents once drove down to LA from the Bay Area to visit and made a trip to Upland to get ice cream. But they didn't just eat there; they went to Albertson's across the street, bought an ice chest and dry ice, then purchased several pints of Handel's to drive all the way back up the state. Now that's true love.
The Upland, CA, location
Handel's ice cream shops always have a window where you order from the street, and then the server gets your scoop from one of the many freezer bins inside the shop. All seating is outside. The servers let you taste samples galore and they don't skimp on scoop sizes. Plus, they're just really friendly people.
At the outdoor ordering window
Handel's was invented in 1945 by Alice Handel in Youngstown, Ohio, and today is headquartered in Canfield, Ohio. USA Today, Chocolatier Magazine, and Travelchannel.com all named Handel's one of the best ice creams in America, and National Geographic named it #1! I feel like a proud mother.
Inside the shop, where only employees go, the ice cream girl scoops our ice cream from freezer bins
If you don't live near one of the Handel's locations, you can have it shipped, though there's a hefty price tag for the care required to mail ice cream. I think I heard somewhere that Bill Cosby gets it shipped. If I had the budget for $90 pints of ice cream, I'd do it, too.
The classic Handel's blue bench!
Handel's offers dozens of flavors and they are often flavors you've never seen anywhere else. Some of my absolute favorites are Banana Cream Pie, Chocolate Malt with Caramel, Buckeye, Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Chunk, Graham Central Station, Coconut Creme Pie, Spouse Like a House, and Heavenly Hash.
The flavor menu
When my mom and I were at the Upland location for this most recent Handel's experience, we tried to stuff our faces full of scoops. We each ordered two scoops to start. My mom got Chocolate Malt with Caramel and Praline Pecan. I got Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Chunk and Mocha Almond Fudge Ripple. We sat in our car to eat since there is no indoor seating and it was cold and rainy outside. When we had both licked our bowls clean, there was this funny moment of silence and then we turned to each other, lifted an eyebrow, and non-verbally communicated to each other, "Well, can you fit another scoop or two into your tummy?" We both were so stuffed we didn't end up going back for more, and we were pretty disappointed in our low threshold.
But there's another family reunion in Youngstown, Ohio, coming up in May. So I'm going to need to organize another trip to the Upland location to work on increasing my tolerance level for several scoops in a short period of time to be ready for Youngstown! There's no such thing as moderation in this plan! Ice cream overload or bust! Come to think of it, both!
The Details Upland, CA location 373 South Mountain Ave. Upland, CA 91786 (909) 946-9077
I had been wanting for ages to change up the look of my blog because I was using a template from Blogger and it did not feel Marni-enough or personal. Good thing I have talented friends, because my wonderful, amazing, can't-say-enough-good-things-about-him friend Hillel Smith very generously offered his time and creativity to redesign my blog!
I think the new look really speaks to the theme and content of this blog. It's bright and cheerful in color and mood, and it doesn't overpower or darken the food photos; on the contrary, it warms everything up! Even the logo at the top has my curly brown hair. What's not to love! And I wouldn't expect anything less from Hillel; you should visit his site and see some of the amazing work he's produced over the years.
Hillel and me
I will be introducing you to Hillel's amazing artistic abilities more in an upcoming post, but for now, since we wouldn't want an elephant in the room, I have to address the fact that no, you are not on the wrong blog, it's just new and improved and, well, Happier Go Marni!
Last night I had a great Shabbat meal at a friend's. He's a meat fanatic so all the time he spent in the kitchen prepping was on the main course (or rather, the several main courses because there were so many meat options). But when we were already stuffed to the brim and rolling in delicious meat gluttony, he cleared the table and presented us with a Rosenfeld's babka. It had been in his freezer since his last trip to Boston. And we made room in our tummies for it.
Rosenfeld's is a kosher bagel shop in Newton, Massachusetts, that also happens to make these incredible loaves of chocolate babka. There's a thick layer of chocolate glaze coating the top, plus chocolate filling, and a powdered sugar glaze also drizzled on top. The babka is pareve, making it perfect as the last taste in your mouth after a nice Shabbat meat meal.
Best of all, my friend sent the rest of the loaf home with me!
Next time you're in Boston, be sure to visit Rosenfeld's Bagels and pick up a loaf of their babka. It freezes nicely so you can pull it out for special occasions. I hear the challah is out-of-this-world, too. And Yelpers give this bakery a whopping 4.5 out of 5 stars. That's impressive. Of course one bite of the babka, and now I see why all the Yelper love.
I just returned from two amazing weeks in Israel (and I'll have more to say about that in upcoming posts). The last day of my trip was spent in Jerusalem, and it was also my birthday. Pretty special to celebrate the day in the Holy Land. This weekend, back in Los Angeles, I got together with friends for a little belated birthday bash at The Tar Pit, chef-restaurant mastermind Mark Peel's latest endeavor, and wow, my first impression was great! The vibe was cool and classy. Giant glass chandeliers, mirrored walls, and beautiful and comfy armchair seating. The drinks were fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed my mint cucumber cocktail.
Being reunited with my friends after two weeks away, and doing so at a neat new bar-restaurant run by a man who's already proven himself to me with Campanile Restaurant and La Brea Bakery, made this birthday celebration a hit. But an unexpected bonus appearance by the real deal, Mark Peel, put this night over the top and gave me what friends pointed out on my face as a giant grin and glow. It's true, I couldn't stop smiling. So this is exactly what happened...
We are surprised and elated to see Mark Peel personally delivering a dessert plate and birthday candle to our table!
I saw a man walk through the restaurant in a white chef coat and I immediately knew who it was. I stretched my arm and pointed him out to my friends. My friends tried to stop me from pointing, thinking I was identifying (and outing) some incognito celebrity who had just walked in. I explained to them that this man was the chef-owner. When they realized the level of excitement on my face, they encouraged me to go up to him and say hi.
I'm about to make a wish...
This wouldn't be the first time I'd met the man. He was a judge at the KCRW Good Food Pie Contest where I took home first place in the Creams category. So I got out of my seat and ran up to Mark Peel and said to him I wanted to re-introduce myself. He was so friendly! I told him it was my birthday party and he wanted to know where we were seated, what we were drinking, what we were eating, and if we were having a good time. Then he came over to our table to say hi to the gang. He told them I was Queen of Cream Pies, which made me blush. I couldn't believe I was chatting with Mark Peel. Then he went off to the kitchen. A few minutes later, he came back out with a yummy dessert plate of banana and coffee ice creams, an assortment of mini cookies, and a lit candle. He placed the plate in front of me, sang happy birthday, and sat down beside me. I made a wish and then got a photo with him. He stayed to chat for a few more minutes. Ain't life sweet!
The delicious dessert plate. Thank you, Mark Peel!
Mark, if you're reading this, you are a gracious host. Thanks for putting my birthday celebration over the top! I will definitely be returning to The Tar Pit; I have unfinished business there, needing to try the dinner menu and other delicious-sounding cocktails.
The Tar Pit 609 North La Brea Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323) 965-1300
More specifically, we all met up at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, where a couple of Chevy Equinoxes and one Chevy Camaro were lined up in the horseshoe, waiting for us. Giant magnet decals stuck to the outsides of the cars that read Best of Tours. That's because we were about to embark on a best-of-Los-Angeles-cupcake-bakeries tour. There were four stops planned: Crumbs Bake Shop, Sprinkles, SusieCakes, and Vanilla Bake Shop. The drivers had their printed-out cupcakeries maps ready to go. We got in the vehicles, taking turns riding in the Camaro because there was only one, and because it was so freaking awesome (bumblebee yellow and black and special Transformers edition with the Transformers logo on the outside of the car and stitched on the leather center armrest).
Our first stop was to Crumbs Bake Shop in Beverly Hills, and Harley Bauer, the owner and West Coast partner of the company, was there to greet us and personally hand us our cupcakes to sample. He was very hospitable, offering everyone coffee, additional cupcakes, and staying to chat. He was also wearing a fantastic t-shirt ("Jews do it for eight nights"), so I was an instant fan. I've always enjoyed Crumbs because they have a great ratio of frosting to cake (in other words, a TON of frosting), they even have fillings, there are tons of flavors to choose from (Reese's Peanut Butter Cup is my absolute favorite), and they stay open later than any other cupcake shop I can think of so you can get your fix late at night. Crumbs is also certified Kosher, and that is one HUGE leg up over the competition in this very Jewish city, and much appreciated, might I add. :-) Getting to meet the owner behind this great brand was really exciting, and for him to turn out to be such a doll and so inviting and friendly only made my experience at Crumbs Bake Shop better. In fact, I can tell you right now, this first stop was the highlight of the tour for me.
But I will blab on a bit about the other three stops because, well, there was a lot more sugar to be had, and I did have other positive experiences.
Sprinkles, just down the street from Crumbs Bake Shop, was our second stop. I really enjoy Sprinkles cupcakes. The ones I love the most are the ones that do, indeed, have sprinkles on them. For the tour, we pre-ordered a couple of boxes so we wouldn't have to wait, and we stood outside the shop to taste these. There is almost no room inside and we wouldn't all have been allowed in at once. Without getting to meet the owners or even the staff at Sprinkles, I simply didn't have the same positive feeling about this cupcakery that I had at Crumbs; it was missing the personal experience. But the cupcake itself was delicious. I had a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles covering every last spot of the frosted top.
Then we were off to SusieCakes in Brentwood. The staff were warm and helpful. The holiday decor in the shop was everywhere, from the full-sized Christmas tree to the shelf displays to the baked goods, and they had a lot of seasonal options, not just in the form of cupcakes. In fact, while I got the gingerbread cupcake with cream cheese frosting, and it was spectacular, I also had my eye on a gingerbread whoopie pie with buttercream frosting sandwiched in between. Wow. SusieCakes makes a great cupcake. I am very impressed with how moist the cake part of the cupcake is.
Seasonal cupcakes at SusieCakes; I ordered the gingerbread ones
on the left with cream cheese cheese frosting
Amazing-looking gingerbread whoopie pies with
buttercream frosting from SusieCakes
My make-shift Tupperware is filling up!
Finally, we stopped off at Vanilla Bake Shop in Santa Monica. There were some cutely decorated cupcakes for Christmas with dyed green frosting, and mini versions of some of the flavors. I opted for a chocolate cupcake with toasted coconut frosting. Yum.
I hope I get to partake in another Best of Tour because I had a lot of fun. It was neat to meet bloggers whom I only knew online via their blogs or on Twitter, plus going to eateries and sampling food is always a good time. And then of course, there's the aspect of being driven around in brand new vehicles with that new car smell...
The Chevy Equinox was a fun ride. Kind of reminded me of a Honda CRV. Outdoorsy and rugged, yet sophisticated enough to work as an everyday car. We even tested out the On Star feature, calling the hotline for directions back to the Pacific Design Center. There was plenty of leg room and the leather was comfortable.
The new Camaro was a great ride and in a totally different way than the Equinox. It was sporty and sexy and bulging with biceps, if you know what I mean, and I could tell people on the streets were paying attention. And we weren't in just any Camaro. It was the bumblebee, meaning bright yellow with black striping detail all the way down the car. And it was the Transformers special edition with logo detailing on the outside and on the leather interior. The only thing missing from the scene was Shia Labeouf.
The sexy bumblebee Transformers special edition Chevy Camaro
Transformers logo embroidered on the interior leather of the Chevy Camaro!
Special thanks to Tara of When Tara Met Blog for organizing the event. Thanks also to Chevy and GM for providing the transportation and to the cupcakeries for putting up with a crowd of chatty, photo-snapping, inquisitive bloggers.
Speaking of these bloggers, if you want to follow some really interesting, opinionated, fun ones on Twitter, why not start with the attendees from this event!
I’ve always loved baking. I come from a family of amazing bakers going back many generations. And I have two large bookcases in my living room, both of them filled only with my 1000 cookbooks. I even considered it as a career and almost attended pastry school in San Francisco after college. But I went the route of digital marketing and got a Masters in Communication Management from the Annenberg School for Communication at USC. So baking is just a hobby. But I take hobbies seriously! And getting to moonlight as a baker is a great thing. I’m very happy.
At various times, I've mentioned my extensive collection of cookbooks. Hundreds and hundreds of them. But not until today have I seen a list of cookbooks where I do not own a single one. That's because The Huffington Post has compiled quite the list! A list they call "The Most WTF Cookbooks of All Time."
You have got to take a look at their slideshow of cookbook covers! From a serial killer's cookbook to trailer park down home cooking to cooking with iguanas and a book dedicated exclusively to testicles. And lots of other random, unusual cookbooks.
