Here are 75 books that The Art of Escapism Cooking fans have personally recommended if you like
The Art of Escapism Cooking.
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As a Latina living in the US, I encounter stereotypes about me and my culture. I am sure I have my own blind spots around other cultures and people. So, I like stories that break traditional tropes. Initially, fairytales were dark and used as moral teaching tools full of warnings and fear. I prefer retellings that spread joy and challenge assumptions. Lastly, I love to discover new—real or imaginary—places through the illustrations and the artist’s point of view, especially if it influences the twist.
Of the many retells I have read, this version turns the classic tale on its head the most. With my own reclusive artist tendencies, I found Ra Pu Zel’s wish for alone time to pursue her interests very alluring. I am always curious about new foods and I will set out to find stinky tofu in town, do I follow the smell? The art transports us to a setting with cultural and culinary delights.
A playful, feminist retelling of Rapunzel with a Chinese-cuisine twist
The story of Rapunzel where she’s being locked in a tower by a witch is a good one—but it’s not totally the truth.
The real story is about a young princess in China named Ra Pu Zel who doesn’t want to talk to princes or look proper. What Pu Zel wants is to cook and eat in peace, her long hair neatly braided to keep it out of her food. And when she gets tired of everyone telling her what to do, she locks herself in a tower with her…
I have loved reading my whole life. So when I became a mom, I started reading to my kids pretty much as soon as they came home from the hospital. They absolutely love to have books read to them, and we have shelves full of picture books. My favorite picture books to read out loud are ones with eye-catching illustrations, witty stories that spark imagination or learning, and rhymes that flow rhythmically. As a bonus, if the characters lend themselves to fun voices, those are always winners. I hope you enjoy reading these books to your kids as much as I do.
I can’t think of this book without picturing my own little girl when she was 3 years old with pigtails sticking out, just like Amy Wu.
She and I read this over and over again to the point that she could quote the whole book. It is such a sweet story about family traditions and pushing through the challenge it can be for little hands to learn how to do something new.
The story is precious and the illustrations are delightful.
When my kids were toddlers, there was a Burger King in the neighborhood with an indoor playground. It was glorious. A random guy walked up to me while we were there. “How do you do it, you know, the whole Dad thing” he asked. "Well… you don’t necessarily need to do a whole lot. Mostly just show up. Stick around." Never mentioned that by this time, I’d written and/or illustrated at least a couple dozen children’s books. I asked my nine-year-old daughter how she’d describe me as a Dad. “Most people think you’re creative, but I think you’re pretty average.” That’s good enough for me.
We’re not all cut out to work a nine-to-five, but any man can learn to stir-fry.
Cooking with a Wok is instantly gratifying, and Dad friendly. Kenji’s book is full of solid recipes, providing a solid foundation to improvise. Starting with the very basics, he goes further into the details as they come up. Don’t have oyster sauce? Try Worcestershire. Cooking offers endless opportunities to be creative and a semi-captive audience. At least when they're hungry. With practice, you can have a pretty good Chinese restaurant in your kitchen 24/7.
J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's debut cookbook, The Food Lab, revolutionised home cooking, selling more than half a million copies with its science-based approach to everyday foods. For fast, fresh cooking for his family, there's one pan Lopez-Alt reaches for more than any other: the wok.
Whether stir-frying, deep frying, steaming, simmering or braising, the wok is the most versatile pan in the kitchen. Once you master the basics?the mechanics of a stir-fry and how to get smoky wok hei at home?you're ready to cook home-style and restaurant-style dishes from across Asia and the West, from Kung Pao Chicken to Pad Thai…
My wife and I were at a red sauce joint in the West Village of Manhattan drinking a bit of wine when we posed the question: who invented all this? We knew Italian American food didn’t look all that much like the food we ate in Italy. Later, at home, I started Googling for answers. None were satisfactory. I read a few books before finding myself at the New York Public library sleuthing through JSTOR. After examining my notes, I said to myself, “oh, I guess I’m writing a book.”
Chinese American food has a rich history, and Andrew Coe explores the arrival of the cuisine in America, how it adapts, and how it is popularized across the country. The book focuses on restaurant culture and recipes, and Coe explains the origins of many dishes like chop suey and how and when the dishes grew into mainstream success, part of a broader American cuisine. The way Coe discusses Chinese American food is similar to how I write about Italian American food in my book.
In 1784, passengers on the ship Empress of China became the first Americans to land in China, and the first to eat Chinese food. Today, the United States is home to more Chinese restaurants than any other ethnic cuisine. In this authoritative new history, author Andrew Coe traces the fascinating story of America's centuries-long encounter with Chinese food. CHOP SUEY tells how we went from believing that Chinese meals contained dogs and rats to making regular pilgrimages to the neighborhood chop suey parlor. From China, the book follows the story to the American West, where both Chinese and their food…
As a writer and child therapist, I believe in the importance of connecting with our families. Sometimes that means making sacrifices for our loved ones who need our support. When my parents moved to be near our family, we learned how to adapt to their changing needs. Like the books I choose, sometimes a grandparent moves in with you, sometimes you navigate them being grumpy, or other times you just listen to their wishes. But mostly, it’s just being there in the moment with a grandparent that opens our eyes, and heart, to something larger than ourselves.
If you know a grumpy grandpa, you’ll enjoy this one!
Daisy is thrilled her grandpa is visiting from China. While Daisy has many fun things planned, her grandpa is well… grumpy! He likes things a certain way and Daisy can’t dissuade him otherwise. (I can relate to that!) That is, until she discovers what he really likes and helps make him feel right at home.
A fabulous picture book that explores connection and fosters an understanding of others.
Daisy's Yeh-Yeh is visiting from China, and try as she might, Daisy can't get her grumpy grandpa to smile!
Daisy's Yeh-Yeh is visiting for the first time from China, and Daisy is so excited to meet him! She has big plans for all the fun they'll have together, like tea parties and snow angels, but when Yeh-Yeh arrives, Daisy finds him less jolly than she imagined. Throughout the week, she tries all sorts of things to get him past his grumpiness. Will she be able to make him smile before he goes home?
My wife and I were at a red sauce joint in the West Village of Manhattan drinking a bit of wine when we posed the question: who invented all this? We knew Italian American food didn’t look all that much like the food we ate in Italy. Later, at home, I started Googling for answers. None were satisfactory. I read a few books before finding myself at the New York Public library sleuthing through JSTOR. After examining my notes, I said to myself, “oh, I guess I’m writing a book.”
Jennifer 8 Lee looks at the history of Chinese American food, but with an emphasis on restaurants and food production. For instance, I learned one of the leading fortune cookie manufacturers has a factory just a few blocks from where I live in Brooklyn, and the differences in low cost and fermented of soy sauce. Lee looks at modern Chinese American cuisine through a global lens showing the impact across continents, including exporting Chinese American favorites like fortune cookies back to China.
If you think McDonald's is the most ubiquitous restaurant experience in America, consider that there are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendys combined. New York Times reporter and Chinese-American (or American-born Chinese). In her search, Jennifer 8 Lee traces the history of Chinese-American experience through the lens of the food. In a compelling blend of sociology and history, Jenny Lee exposes the indentured servitude Chinese restaurants expect from illegal immigrant chefs, investigates the relationship between Jews and Chinese food, and weaves a personal narrative about her own relationship with Chinese food. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles…
Growing up, my family was a meat and potatoes family. The food was good but it was never really about the food. It was about eating together. When I got older, I ventured beyond the world of meat and potatoes, made more friends to eat with, and learned more and more to enjoy the little things in life. My two books are about food but also not really. They're community books. Family books. Adventure books. Same thing with the 5 books on my list. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
My Love For You Is Always feels like a hug. I love how it explains a parent's love toward their child using food. It's smart, simple, and satisfying.
I can imagine reading it to my daughter for bedtime. Sometimes I just want to express to my daughter Lucie how much I love her, and I feel like this book would be a fun way of doing that. Using the food theme was a good choice by the author. I think it's a great little book.
Warm like tea? Sweeter than red dates? A mother shares her love for her child as the two prepare a delicious meal together--perfect for fans of Guess How Much I Love You, Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You, and Mama, Do You Love Me?
What is love? a child wonders. What does it feel like, smell like, taste like? How does it move? How long does it last?
And as she prepares a traditional Chinese meal for her family, the child's mother replies: her love for him is rosy as wolfberries, warm like tea, sweeter than the red…
I started reading romance because I wanted to drown myself in stories of women stepping into their power and getting everything they wanted. Romance is a genre often looked down upon because of the happy-ever-afters, but I think that’s part of why it can be so deliciously subversive. Most (but not all) romance novels are centered on women, their voices, their sexuality, their desires, and their victories. In a world that’s often cruel, escaping into a world where dreams and fantasies are possible can be liberating. I started writing romance because I wanted to be a part of these stories and craft a world for others to escape into.
Have you ever dreamed about escaping all your problems by picking up and moving to Scotland to become a sword-maker?
That’s exactly what the heroine does in this book. Contemporary romance isn’t my favorite, but everything Alyssa Cole writes is full of emotional depth, diverse characters, and chemistry for days.
The hero of this book is a sexy, lovable grouch, and the heroine battles her own insecurities and struggles with ADHD in a way that makes you want to cheer by the end of the book.
I loved the themes of finding your own path despite family expectations, and how the hero never tried to rein in the heroine but stepped up his own self-growth to meet her.
An NPR Best Book of the Year - A Bookish Favorite Book of the Year - A Bookpage Best Romance of the Year
Award-winning author Alyssa Cole's Reluctant Royals series continues with a woman on a quest to be the heroine of her own story and the duke in shining armor she rescues along the way...
New York City socialite and perpetual hot mess Portia Hobbs is tired of disappointing her family, friends, and-most importantly-herself. An apprenticeship with a struggling swordmaker in Scotland is a chance to use her expertise and discover what she's capable of. Turns out she excels…
I'm a contemporary romance writer who does some series in paranormal romance and some in romantic suspense. I know lots of romance is about the fantasy and I write to that, but I want each of my romances to have you walking away believing in real-life love, too. I want heroes and heroines who could walk right off the page! I want to acknowledge smart women finding men who love a snappy comeback and a sharp brain. My favorite stories come together when our heroine is the only one who could solve this crime or mystery. I was first invited to write RS in the Dark Falls series and I shockingly won a Maggie for my first book. I loved the genre so much that I went on to build a whole series of my own!
The Evidence series will pull you under from the first page. This is the kind of romantic escapism that we love, but with the smartest, most reliable heroines. These women are scientists, always prepared and making the best choices. They are pulled from their everyday work into a maelstrom of intrigue and romance. And the heroes? Exactly the kind of men smart women love!
"Full of secrets, deadly intrigue and steamy romance. A MUST read." - Elisabeth Naughton, New York Times Bestselling Author
A year ago she lost everything. Now she wants revenge…
Accused of stealing artifacts from a five-hundred-year-old shipwreck, underwater archaeologist Erica Kesling is determined to clear her name. She’s concealed her past and taken a job certain to give her access to the buyer of the missing antiquities. She's finally closing in on her goal when she's distracted by a sexy, charismatic intern who makes her want something other than revenge.
I love to cook and it’s difficult to find something beyond chicken and salad when you’re trying to lose weight. Over the years I’ve assembled a cookbook library that covers many topics (interested in how the Georgians ate green beans? I can help you out!), many of them as off-topic from weight-loss as my cookie cookbook collection. But I still return to what I call “abstinent” favorites, simply because they are so tasty.
This big compendium of recipes is comprised of ethnic, vegetarian meals the Moosewood staff makes on their day off. If you’re craving Chinese or Russian, this is your motherlode. You may have to tinker with the recipes that have too many carbohydrates (use rice instead of noodles) or skip them altogether, but you’ll find gems you keep going back to. (Mine has bookmarks for Cheese and Nut Dessert Balls from India and Moroccan Stew.)
Since its opening in 1973, Moosewood Restaurant has been famous for creative food with a health conscious, vegetarian emphasis. Each Sunday diners have been offered a new ethnic or regional cuisine, deliciously adapted from traditional recipes. In this cookbook, each of Moosewood's 18 collective members who prepare and serve its meals has contributed a chapter on his or her regional or ethnic speciality from Northern Africa to China and Japan, from Scandinavia to the Caribbean and from the south of France to the Southern USA. Each chapter includes a cultural history, characteristic ingredients and cooking styles, and a tantalizing array…
