Food Musings

TasteBook (reviewed): A Tasty Treat for Friends and Family

TasteBook cookbook

It all started with a request for a cookbook.  Not any old cookbook but one filled with recipes that had been created, modified or copied by me.  My deadline was Christmas Day 2007.  My publisher?  TasteBook. 

With financial backing from Conde Nast and a partnership with the online recipe site Epicurious.com, TasteBook provides home cooks with a way to create their own illustrated, hardcover books.  For $34.95 they can select 100 recipes from existing TasteBooks or from the 25,000 listed on Epicurious or they can type in recipes from their own collections.  As my dishes originate with friends, from traditionally published cookbooks or me, I opted to write 99 and acquired only one – asparagus with tarragon sherry vinaigrette – from Epicurious.  The latter I had used for years, ever since tearing it out of the April 2002 issue of Gourmet magazine. 

Had I copied recipes from Epicurious or other TasteBooks, I undoubtedly would have completed this project in a matter of days.  However, as I chose to type every title, ingredient list, set of steps, serving size and note, I labored for several weeks on “Kitchen Kat’s Cookery Collection.”  Labor may be too strong a verb.  The work was easy enough.  Just click on the “Add a recipe” icon and type the information in the appropriate box, i.e. ingredients in the “ingredients” box, cooking steps in the “preparation instructions” box, etc.  Decide in which of the ten, tabbed chapters the dish should appear — vegetables, appetizers, desserts, and so on –, tack on any notes or anecdotes, save the recipe and move onto the next one.  Easy!

Once I had finished writing and organizing my collection, I selected a cover. With more than 40 color photos from which to choose I waffled between shots of a slate blue bowl of cherries and pie plate overflowing with fresh cranberries.  I eventually picked the cherries.  Cranberries seemed too seasonal for this venture.   

Before placing my order, I took a virtual tour of my book.  By clicking on the edge of each page, I could flip through and see how the recipes would appear in print.  I even got to preview the different pictures that began every chapter.  Scones opened the section on brunch and breads.  A bowl of olives appeared on “appetizers and drinks.”  I hated to admit it but none of the cookbooks lining my kitchen shelves looked as snazzy, or personalized, as this.  One hundred of my best, and favorite, recipes at my gift recipient’s fingertips. 

In less than two weeks the beautiful “Kitchen Kat’s Cookery Collection” arrived on my doorstep.  Like most holiday gifts, it required some assembly before being wrapped and placed beneath the Christmas tree.  Thankfully, all that I had to do was insert the recipes into the ring binder and snap it shut.  Voila!  The cookbook deadline had been met and with weeks to spare.   

Should I ever wish to add more recipes or print out other copies of this book, I can go online, log into my account and either start typing or ordering.  TasteBook is online at www.tastebook.com.   
 

Filed under: Food Musings

by

Based on the U.S. East Coast, I am a trained journalist, writer and photographer specializing in food, travel, STEM and education. My articles appear in such publications as the Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Standardization News, VegNews and See All This. I have written two nonfiction books, contributed to two other books and provided the photography for one. A world traveler, I have journeyed through 51 countries and six continents, collecting story ideas as I've roamed.