Modern Mediterranean: Easy, Flavorful Home Cooking

Title. Modern Mediterranean: Easy, Flavorful Home Cooking

Author. Melia Marden

Year of publication. 2013

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I found this book for a good price and picked it up intending to give it to a friend as a gift. Leafing through it again at home though, I was seduced by its brightness and by the sound of some of the recipes-- preserved lemons and balsamic roasted chicken? I'm there. Sadly for my friend, this book never made it over to her. (Not to worry; I did gift her a different cookbook in the end!)

Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys

Title. Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys

Author. Lucinda Scala Quinn

Year of publication. 2009

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I originally picked this book up thinking it was going to be full of silly nonsense given it's title. My experience of the word 'mad' as a cool-person slang modifier comes from my time as a much younger person hanging out with other much younger persons outside of New York City. The title is actually from author Lucinda Scala Quinn's blog and cooking show of the same name. Scala Quinn has published five cookbooks to date including this one, with another one on the way, and she is currently the executive food director at Martha Stewart Living. I bought this book for pretty silly reasons: I was head over heels for some guy and wanted to make him food. It also had pretty pictures. I quickly learned that Scala Quinn's book was not quite what I originally thought.