Six Things - From Omnivore Books

I think it's pretty well know that I have somewhat of a thing for cookbooks.  I gravitate towards them at every bookstore I enter, and I can't possibly imagine ever having too many.  A couple are always perched on my nightstand for bedtime reading, and there is at least one open on my kitchen counter at all times.

Imagine my delight when I learned that San Francisco has en entire bookstore dedicated to books on food (mainly cookbooks).  Omnivore Books is essentially my version of heaven.

I've loved bookstores for years - browsing the titles could occupy me for hours.  Never before had I been in a store where I was tempted by almost every title in every corner I turn, though.  Italian cooking!  Chef autobiographies!  Baking books!  Every single book (save for the books on oysters, hunting/gathering, and tofu) were something I could see myself spending all day reading.

It was a bit overwhelming, but somehow I managed to steady myself long enough to make six great purchases.

The last book we added to our pile turns out to be the first one I'm reading.  Hungry for Paris is a book devoted to restaurants in the City of Light, where John and I will be traveling in October.  As it turns out, the woman working at the store is John's coworker's wife, and she highly recommended this book to us.  I've already devoured the first third of the book in the past few days.  It's full of bookmarks that I will soon start importing into my spreadsheet of places we must go.  Foodie nerd alert!

I've been eyeing Good to the Grain for some time now, and I've heard great things about it.  I haven't yet dabbled in baking with whole-grain flours yet, so this book will be a great introduction. 

Omnivore Books hosts author talks and signings every week.  Extra copies of the books are signed at the events and available for purchase if you happen to be in the store before they sell out.  One of the signed books we picked up was by Ceclia Chiang, the woman essentially responsible for bringing authentic Chinese cuisine to San Francisco.  Her Chinese name means Seventh Daughter, hence the name of the book that I can't wait to begin exploring.

This book was mostly John's idea, but I told him I would love to help him make some homemade soda.  John is a sodaholic, so this is the perfect thing to interest him in the kitchen (other than my dance moves to Katy Perry songs).

Hopefully this book will help John and I discover new places we love as much as Omnivore Books (which is rightfully featured therein).  This one definitely goes in the glove compartment (along with the Dog Lover's Guide to California).

It was only fitting that I added another Alice Waters cookbook to my collection last weekend, since John and I ate at Chez Panisse Cafe on Saturday.  Every dessert on the menu featured fruit, which I thought was pretty unique (no chocolate to be found!).  The plum tart I had was out of this world, so I'm sure these recipes will serve me well.

Now that I've finally visited Omnivore, I'm not sure how I can not drop by every time I'm in the city, right?