free cookbook

Cookbook Giveaway: Deliciously Organic

February 7, 2011 by diannejacob

If you made a New Year’s resolution to avoid white flour, white sugar and other processed foods, Deliciously Organic is the cookbook for you.

Modeled after Carrie Vitt’s blog of the same name, with pretty photographs by blogger Helene Dujardin, her book shows you how to prepare healthy, wholesome dishes without sacrificing taste.

Carrie asked me to edit the recipes for the book. At first, I was dubious about organic recipes, thinking that they wouldn’t be too different from regular ones, except the ingredients would all say “organic.”

But that misconception downplays the mouthwatering recipes and new (to me) cooking techniques and ingredients in the book. Even though I buy mostly organic products, I learned new things, such as [Read more…] about Cookbook Giveaway: Deliciously Organic

Cookbook Giveaway: Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook

October 25, 2010 by diannejacob

Want to discover new food blogs for recipes and stories? Here’s a cookbook that shows you the passion and diversity of food bloggers who love to cook, from Vegan Visitor’s Cedar-Smoked Asparagus Soup in Toronto to The Suitcase Chef’s Orangette Tea Sandwiches in Vermont.

The folks at Foodista held a contest for the best blogger recipes and received 1500 entries in just three months. They counted votes from the Foodista community and announced the winners, compiling the top 100 into this large paperback, the Foodista Best of the Food Blogs Cookbook.

You’ll find a number of unusual recipes, such as Lovage Spritzers, Vegetarian Scotch Eggs, and Chef Wally’s Baked Papayas. While most entries are American, enthusiastic blogger recipes also come from Canada, England, Turkey and Germany. Each recipe includes a bio of the blogger and a link. Some headnotes tell you about the dish. Others tell stories about [Read more…] about Cookbook Giveaway: Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook

Book Giveaway: Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta

May 2, 2010 by diannejacob

I didn’t intend to make book giveways such a focus of my blog but coincidentally, I have another one.

Somehow the buzz got out with my last giveway for Ready for Dessert and almost 200 people responded. I think it was David Lebovitz’s Facebook announcement. (He has what’s called a “platform,” you know.)

Right now this post is coming to you from sunny Rancho La Puerta in Mexico, one of the best spas in the world. I’m here to teach four 1-hour classes for people who are thinking about writing a book. They’ll have to fit me in between Pilates, massages and hikes.

I first came here last year in exchange for coaching on the ranch’s cookbook proposal, and now I’m lucky enough to come back. The book has done well too: It was nominated for a Beard award last year.

(Speaking of the Beards, follow along with [Read more…] about Book Giveaway: Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta

Cookbook Giveaway: Ready for Dessert

April 20, 2010 by diannejacob

I’m new to this giveaway thing. I think it’s going well, but my style of announcing giveaways has been all over the place.

With my first two giveaways, I reviewed the books. Then I ran into a snag. I knew the author of the third book, so I just interviewed Deborah Madison instead of reviewing her cookbook, because I knew I couldn’t be objective about a friend I met more than 10 years ago.

Now we come to David Lebovitz, another friend I adore, and I have a fourth way to handle this giveaway. I’m going to talk about his video, and a little about the book, and a little about David, one of the nicest, most talented, smartest, funniest and most generous food writers I’ve ever met. (See, I told you I couldn’t be objective.)

One of the dilemmas facing someone with a blog as huge as David’s is that it’s a challenge for his publisher to reach as many potential buyers for Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes. After all, his blog has more annual readers than at least two of the top national food magazines. So Ten Speed Press agreed to do a video with a James Beard award-winning documentary filmmaker David had met earlier in France.

“I wanted to do something snappy that wasn’t just me talking to the camera, or cooking,” explained David. “I wanted to show Paris, too, [Read more…] about Cookbook Giveaway: Ready for Dessert