BRUCE (AKA The Chef)

MARK (AKA The Writer)

 

DREYDL (AKA The Dog)

Check out this cheeky tome called Ham: An Obsession With The Hindquarter

FINE COOKING calls it "a witty ode to pork's most primal cut." It's our hymn to backsides: American country ham, European dry-cured hams like prosciutto crudo or jamón ibérico, wet-cured hams like the ones from HoneyBaked, and even fresh hams, the best pork roast you'll ever eat. (Click on the cover to get your copy today.)

The Ultimate Cook Book

Our big compendium cookbook--900 new recipes, tons of cooking tips. You'll be an ultimate cook in no time.

Want to see a video on this book. Check it out here.

Cooking Know-How

WINNER OF THE 2009 GOURMAND AWARD at the Paris cookbook show for the "BEST COOKBOOK IN THE WORLD" for "easy recipes." Also starred reviews in both Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal, a main selection of the Good Cook Book of the Month Club, a selection by NPR as one of the best cookbooks of 2009, and a favorite of the San Jose Mercury--that called us "culinary wonks."

Pizza: Grill It, Bake It, Love It!

Our brand-new pizza book. That's the squash, caramelized onion, and pine nut pie. And there are 89 more.

The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book

Cookies galore--and every one of them with chocolate: chips, shavings, cocoa, melted, irresistible.

The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book

America's favorite spread? Yes, but also the world's. Wait until you see all the no-cook Asian sauces, the African stew, the Filipino braise, and a host of favorites from breakfast to dessert!

Cooking For Two

Every dish for just two--and no waste. Cut it, open it--and use it. It's a feast for twosomes.

The Ultimate Muffin Book

Get your muffins! The chocolate chip ones soon became a holiday tradition in our house.

The Ultimate Ice Cream Book

The book that started a whole career. A quarter million copies in print and still going strong!

The Ultimate Frozen Dessert Book

And a follow-up to The Ultimate Ice Cream Book, this time with gelato, sherbet, granita, and a groaning board of ice cream cakes and frozen pies!

The Ultimate Shrimp Book

A one-book compendium for America's favorite seafood

The Ultimate Party Drink Book

Up, shaken, frozen, pitcher punches, shooters--here's a guide to drinks to make your next party a splash

The Ultimate Brownie Book

Fudgy, cakey, you name it--even a chapter on brownie mix doctor recipes--here's a book that'll keep everyone smiling!

The Ultimate Candy Book

A reviewer on amazon called it "an evil book." We could only hope so. Gooey, crunchy, a ton of chocolate barks, fudge, divinity, and it just keeps going.

The Ultimate Potato Book

Spuds forever! We love everything about the potato--and in this book, we made our favorite vegetable front and center since every recipe is a main course with spuds aplenty.

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Our Youtube Channel

Want to see more? Come on over to our youtube channel. We're cooking up a storm! Check it out here.

Get your copy of our seven-step plan to get off processed food!

Click on the book jacket for your copy. Don't miss it. Seven simple steps, a hundred great recipes, lots of motivational help, and all in an easy plan that starts small and could end up changing your life!

THE BLOG ROLL
THE PERSONAL STUFF
JOIN US!

Want to come cruising with us? We're off to Alaska with Holland America on August 4th for a week--leaving from Vancouver (and returning to there) with lots of cruising up the Tracy Arm and through Glacier Bay National Park. We'll be cooking up a storm in classes on board, so come have a blast with us. For more information, click here.

 

REVIEWS OF COOKING KNOW-HOW

Don't take our word for it. Here are some cool reviews of COOKING KNOW-HOW:

weightwatchers.com

In Mama's Kitchen

5 Second Rule

Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Winston Salem Journal

Super Chef

NPR--chosen one of the ten best cookbooks for the summer of 2009

Relish Magazine (although the writer complains that I use too many big words. Heaven forfend!)

And if you want to see an outrageous clip of us on San Francisco TV, check out our appearance on A View From The Bay here.

Or for white bean veggie burgers on the same show--in which I go off on a bizarre jag about the ethics of cruising--click here.

DANCING WITH A COLLIE

brought on no doubt by that empty bottle of wine on top of the fridge

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    Bruce's Blog

    Bruce has his own blog. A knitting blog. Knits Men Want. It's a companion site to his new knitting book: ten rules every woman should know before she knits for a man--plus ten patterns men are guaranteed to like. And I do. I have some of the sweaters. And I wear them. Imagine that. Check on the cover to check it out.

    Entries in ginger (4)

    Friday
    Mar122010

    Coconut Shellfish Curry

    I know: we've already done a coconut curry fish dish on the blog. Listen, don't be a food whore, just in for a series of one-night stands with your recipes. You gotta settle in for some relationships. Because they change over time. And morph. And grow. That's the very essence of life. Cooking, too.

    So today's from-the-sea curry is a different take, a twist on the last one on the blog: a different curry paste, shellfish, some green beans. This one's also more aromatic--and more luxurious. It's just the thing as winter morphs into spring.

    Click to read more ...

    Tuesday
    Dec222009

    Chocolate Bark

    Ours is a mixed marriage. In so many ways. For one thing, I get one of these:

    And he gets this:

    It's what's known in our house as a deconstructed menorah. Every year, we put up eight smaller candles and one large candle, all to celebrate Hanukkah. Basically, it means I've worked my life out to get presents almost every day in December. And people say writers can't figure out how to live in the real world!

    But Bruce and I are mixed in other ways. Some fairly simple. I balance the check book. He tends to go by feel. And others more shameful. He loves chocolate--and I don't care if I ever eat it again.

    OK, don't judge me. I should have said that I used to be indifferent to chocolate. When I met Bruce, I thought chocolate was a big "meh." Then he took me to Maison du Chocolat in New York City. I had one of the earl grey truffles. Holy cow. What did I know, a Texas boy who thought Cadbury eggs were haute cuisine?

    Anyway, now I'm into chocolate. Isn't it funny how a relationship can morph you? I mean: chocolate, me, happy. It was once impossible math. Now it makes sense. I'm sure it's one step on the road to looking like Bruce. You know, those old couples who look alike. They buy matching running suits just to emphasize the obvious. Are we there yet? (Now if I can only grow another half a foot.)

    Click to read more ...

    Friday
    Aug142009

    Vietnamese-Inspired Beef Shanks On The Grill

    If ever there was a recipe that begged for an apology, this is it: a no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners, forget-the-quick-and-easy feat.

    Most of the time, Bruce is on a pretty short leash. I'm always the one playing the food prude:"But it's got to have fewer ingredients (or steps or necessary techniques) for anyone to make it."

    Until our HAM book, that is. There, he was given free rein--and some of the recipes are wild, crazy and wonderful, his creativity on full display. (However, I'll admit that I stuck a sidebar on some of them called "Slash The Ingredient List," all about how to do the same thing with fewer items.)

    Well, here's one of his more fanciful creations and the kind of food he lavishes on me and our weekend guests: a grill/braise recipe with Vietnamese flavors that takes on all comers.

    Click to read more ...

    Monday
    Feb232009

    Cold Carrot Ginger Soup

    When I met Bruce, I, the Texan, was the world traveler. I couldn't wait to crush myself into an airline seat, fly anywhere, and run up my credit cards, all to travel, tromp--and mostly eat. I just couldn't get enough.

    Bruce? Not so much. He believed the world ran on an axis of Manhattan and the Hamptons with an unfortunate stretch of interstate between.

    Naturally, I construed myself the well-heeled food sophisticate. With a few telling lapses. Like cold soup. I just couldn't do it. It violated the Texas prairie boy in me. Soup is hot. Period. If it's cold, it means you didn't get your butt to the table fast enough.

    Click to read more ...