{"product_id":"seven-spoonsisbn-9781607746379","title":"Seven Spoons","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe much-anticipated debut from the author behind the popular food blog \u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons,\u003c\/i\u003e featuring distinctive, crowd-pleasing recipes; engaging, writerly essays; and the same stunning photography that has earned her website a devoted following.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTara O'Brady was one of the earliest food bloggers to enter the scene, and now, more than ten years after she first started \u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons\u003c\/i\u003e, she has become one of the most highly regarded and unique voices in the culinary arena. In her debut cookbook, Seven Spoons, O'Brady shares stories and recipes from her Canadian home--fresh, ingredient-driven food that is easy to make yet refined. Recipes like Roasted Carrots with Dukkah and Harissa Mayonnaise, Braised Beef Short Ribs with Gremolata, and Plum Macaroon Cake are wholesome, hearty, and showcase the myriad culinary influences at work in O'Brady's kitchen. Her evocative writing and gorgeously simple, elegant photography has earned her accolades from \u003ci\u003eSaveur\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, the \u003ci\u003eDaily Mail,\u003c\/i\u003e and more. Impeccable food photography and a lavish package round out this beautiful, personal collection.\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBest Cookbooks of 2015, \u003ci\u003eGlobe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHuffington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLeite's Culinaria\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This \u003cb\u003ecrackling debut effort \u003c\/b\u003eby the popular recipe blogger and Globe columnist is one of the first Canadian cookbooks to convincingly capture the openness and internationalism of how so many of us eat...A thrill to cook from and to read.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGlobe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Tara O’Brady is a ship captain’s daughter of Indian descent living in Ontario, Canada. All of which informs her perspective in this \u003cb\u003ebeautiful and substantial \u003c\/b\u003edebut cookbook. She navigates seamlessly across culinary boundaries to share her stories, recipes, and traditions—the sort, I suspect, that will be welcomed into many, many kitchens.” \u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eHeidi Swanson,\u003c\/b\u003e author of\u003ci\u003e Super Natural Every Day\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “This book, just like Tara’s blog, shares recipes and stories that are filled with texture, warmth, and her Indian heritage. Tara’s cooking is\u003cb\u003e thoughtful, clean, and full of aroma and flavor\u003c\/b\u003e. Her recipe for Baked Eggs, North Indian–Style, served with an extraordinary topping of Fresh Green Chutney, has become a staple for my family—and it will for yours, too.” \u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eAran Goyoaga\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eSmall Plates and Sweet Treats\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons\u003c\/i\u003e is so \u003cb\u003egorgeous and beautifully photographed\u003c\/b\u003e that I just want to jump right into the pages. I can’t wait to savor these amazing dishes, all with a global bent, starting with breakfast biscuits and spicy, fried Mexican Huevos a la Plaza de Mercado; then moving on to soups and salads with flavors culled from the Middle East and East Asia; then ending with lush, compelling desserts.” \u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eDavid Lebovitz\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eMy Paris Kitchen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Tara’s \u003cb\u003ewarmth and love of cooking\u003c\/b\u003e comes through on every page. She will inspire new cooks to enter the kitchen, and energize those of us who have been cooking for years.” \u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eBonnie Stern\u003c\/b\u003e, author of\u003ci\u003e Friday Night Dinners\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Tara O’Brady could write a book about re-grouting bathroom tile, and I would still want to read it. Told with warmth and grace, \u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of one very real home kitchen—and the beautiful food that it yields. From Feel-Better Curried Soup with Crispy Chicken to Roasted Peaches with Glazed Sesame Oats and A Burger Treated Like a Steak (bathed in miso butter!), O’Brady’s recipes are exactly what I want to cook and eat: \u003cb\u003einviting, reassuring, and above all, inspiring\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons\u003c\/i\u003e is a keeper.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eMolly Wizenberg\u003c\/b\u003e, author of\u003ci\u003e Delancey\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"It's not just that the recipes are unique, but she writes head notes and directions more \u003cb\u003ebeautifully and thorough\u003c\/b\u003e than any I've seen.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eSara Forte\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Sprouted Kitchen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"What [is] most extraordinary, though, was how fluidly she [moves] between culinary cultures; if a cuisine is a language, she [speaks] a dozen of them, nailing their grammar, vocabulary, idioms and syntax. \u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003esuperb and stirring\u003c\/b\u003e…one of the first cookbooks I know that convincingly captures the openness and internationalism of how so many Canadians eat today.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Chris Nutall-Smith, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGlobe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"O’Brady has a knack for making her recipes seem completely familiar while imparting a unique twist to each… \u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons\u003c\/i\u003e [is] \u003cb\u003eone of our favorite cookbooks of the year\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLeite's Culinaria\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A collection of every day recipes with \u003cb\u003ejust a little bit extra\u003c\/b\u003e.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEpicurious\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons \u003c\/i\u003eis \u003cb\u003eteeming with just the kind of inspiration we all need\u003c\/b\u003e ... The recipes are inspiring in a very specific, homespun way, clearly the product of years of honed repetition at a family table.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eDeb Perelman, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eSmitten Kitchen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"After a decade of developing her culinary skills, expanding her family’s palate, and documenting the results in a tone both \u003cb\u003eebullient and educational\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons\u003c\/i\u003e reads like a best friend’s kitchen diary.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eYahoo Food\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e (cookbook of the week)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTARA O'BRADY is the author of Seven Spoons, a food blog she started in 2005. She lives in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is married with two sons. She has a regular column in \u003ci\u003eUppercase\u003c\/i\u003e magazine and appears periodically in the wildly popular quarterly \u003ci\u003eKinfolk.\u003c\/i\u003e She has written for or worked with the \u003ci\u003eGlobe and Mail,\u003c\/i\u003e BonAppetit.com, Saveur.com, PBS.com, Parenting.com, StyleAtHome.com,  Design*Sponge, Oprah.com, and more.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A PRACTICE OF COOKING\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e My first home with Sean, the man who would later become my husband, was a light-bathed, third-floor walkup just off the main drag of a decent-sized city in southern Ontario—the city where he was born, but a place I’d only visited. The apartment had a postage stamp for an entry, a sliver of a kitchen, a large living room, two bedrooms, one bath, and a balcony that ran the length of the place. Tall windows lined that same side, windows wider than my arms could stretch, with sills deep enough for a row of succulents to sit in matched white pots. My favorite seat in the house was at the end of a couch closest to those windows, through which  a massive maple tree would stain the sunlight turmeric come autumn. \u003cbr\u003e I miss those windows.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e From that apartment, we could walk to the grocery store, to the lakeshore, and to the coffee shop, and Sean could walk to work. It was a good neighborhood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Our preferred pub was a block away, a smallish place that was decidedly British in its leanings. The room was perpetually dim. The deep banquettes were burgundy velvet with button-tufted backs, and the tables were glossy wood atop heavy iron bases. The walls were crammed, frame to mismatched frame, with horse racing, football, and royal memorabilia. It was the kind of place where on your second visit, the staff would remember you from your first. Besides fish and chips, bangers and mash, and a decent chicken tikka, that pub made the best burger around. It came charred on the outside and juicy at its middle, garnished with thick-cut bacon, cheddar, iceberg lettuce, and a generous slice of beefsteak tomato. Pickles were served on the side. I miss those burgers, too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Choosing that apartment was probably one of the easiest, and smartest, decisions I’ve ever made. Aside from choosing the person I shared it with, of course. That apartment was where everything began.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e For the first time in my life I felt like I was making a home rather than playing at it. In the domestic division of duties, I took over our kitchen. I was comfortable in the tiny galley space and found a specific sense of fulfillment in being in charge of it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The trouble was, after furnishing it with pots and pans and crisp tea towels, I had no idea what to do in that room. I had no idea what to cook.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I knew \u003ci\u003ehow\u003c\/i\u003e to cook. I grew up in what could only be called a food-loving family, after all; a family that discussed lunch at breakfast and planned road trip routes around where we wanted to eat along the way. My maternal grandmother, who stayed with us often, kept notebooks on the coffee table for scribbling down recipes from the cooking shows on PBS. My mother collected crockery. She and my father held unforgettable dinner parties, with Mum chic in pearls and wearing perfume. She’d have cooked for hours, and there was a bubbling excitement in the reveal of what she had made. Dad would fill up the ice bucket and polish the silver. Ours was \u003ci\u003ethe\u003c\/i\u003e house, and \u003ci\u003ethe\u003c\/i\u003e kitchen, at the center of celebrations with both friends and family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e My childhood was one without culinary boundaries. My parents had moved to Canada, specifically Montréal, only a handful of years before my older brother was born (I was born soon after). They were originally from India—my mother from the north, and my father from the south. From my birth to about when I was fourteen, we often journeyed back to India to visit. My mother’s and my father’s side each had differing culinary traditions; there was tandoori chicken, \u003ci\u003eidlis \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e sambar, rassam,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003echapatis, thali \u003c\/i\u003emeals\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e pani puri,\u003c\/i\u003e as well as shepherd’s pie and Yorkshire puddings my maternal grandmother adored. (Through her my family has an Anglo-Indian connection, the particulars of which are unfortunately unknown.) When I was two years old, we moved from Québec to Ontario. Our next-door neighbors, the Roganos, had two daughters, and later a third, with the middle daughter my age and my best friend for all the years we lived side by side. They were Italian. And so, in between the masala dosas and sausage rolls at home, I’d be over at their house, asking for seconds of chicken scaloppini and licking Nutella off a spoon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We were also a Canadian family. I knew that my hometown had the best bagels. Mum would make Buffalo chicken wings and egg drop soup, and one time she made a cheesecake crowned with a pile of cherries and a golden graham cracker crust that climbed all the way up the sides. I recall how the fresh, dairy tang of the cheese was set off by the tart fruit, lush and bathed in thick syrup. I thought no other dessert could be more beautiful. At Thanksgiving we’d have a proper roast turkey with all the trimmings \u003ci\u003eand \u003c\/i\u003emutton pilau.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It was a childhood where cooking was part of our daily routine, and the kitchen was where we hung out.\u003cbr\u003e I have cooked for as long as I can remember. The food I first made was often outside of my family’s canon—I’d wager it was my way of feeling independent. I “invented” pizza sandwiches in elementary school and assembled casseroles with canned soup as the featured ingredient. I took on cookies and cakes in high school, and fine-tuned my Pavlova in university.\u003cbr\u003e After university came the next stage of my adult life, the first I truly shared with another. And so I began to think about the food \u003ci\u003ewe\u003c\/i\u003e liked. I wanted to establish the way\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eI cooked, the flavors that intrigued \u003ci\u003eour\u003c\/i\u003e palates, and the recipes that might slowly become our regulars.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The idea of we, not me alone, was another thing altogether. At the time, Sean didn’t like onions, the first ingredient in so many Indian recipes. I, on the other hand, held a years-old prejudice against mushrooms—one of his favorite foods. Sean’s family has been in Canada for generations, with Irish and English roots, and the tastes to match. It was through the Ralphs and O’Bradys that I was introduced to the nuanced merits of an exceptional butter tart, one with a pastry that’s both sturdy and flaky, and the filling firm enough not to ooze. In their company I ate a particular pasta salad, ice cream sandwiches made with fresh waffles, and a cake that had sliced apples standing on end in concentric circles, like edible dominoes, in a clafoutis-like batter.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sean brought an entire food history to our home, one drastically different from my frame of reference. However, as much as my upbringing shaped me, my way of cooking and my tastes weren’t that of my parents, not exactly. Neither were Sean’s that of his. Deciding \u003ci\u003eour\u003c\/i\u003e food would be an act of both negotiation and discovery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I strode as confidently as I could into the uncharted wilds of our kitchen. I wanted to be able to improvise, to master the culinary witchcraft that allows a true cook to whip up something delicious from seemingly nothing, to tell if bread dough has enough flour by feel and if a loaf  is properly cooked by sound, or to check if a cake is baked by eye, and  to judge by the smell of butter that it is browned and not burnt—tricks  only learned by doing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I culled sources for advice on what should fill fridge and pantry; I compiled a catalog of equipment to keep on hand and ingredient combinations that worked together. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I started to cook. Not every day at first—that pub on the corner was still our usual reward on Friday nights, and the diner down the way was our destination come Sunday mornings—but I cooked a lot. I cooked from memory, advice, magazines, books, the Internet, and television shows.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I tried recipes printed on the backs of food packages and flour sacks and in promotional materials they gave away at the grocery store checkout. I made yogurt the way my mother did, leaving it overnight in the oven with the interior light on. I made peanut butter cookies to fill a jar on the counter, fiddling with the ratio of sugars and honey with each batch until I settled on the best combination of chew and crunch. I tested and tasted my tomato sauce until it was close to Mrs. Rogano’s of my memory. I made cinnamon buns that were a spectacular bomb one Christmas morning. I volunteered a dish for every office party and potluck. We \u003cbr\u003e held our first dinner party.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sean learned to like onions, and I came around to mushrooms.\u003cbr\u003e At some point in that tiny kitchen, I fell in step with the rhythm of cooking. I learned which spices I wanted at arm’s reach, which knife felt right in my hand, and the vinegars that were most useful. The kitchen shelves filled up. I made fewer lists, instead taking more notes. I noticed the way oil spreads and shimmers in a hot pan, how a fresh egg slips thickly from its shell. I didn’t just cook; I became a cook.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e One year into living in that apartment, I started a blog called \u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons,\u003c\/i\u003e so named for a number that seems to pop up in my life quite often and, well, spoons sounded nice with it. It would be my modern-day recipe file, a place to keep all the scraps of cookery knowledge I was collecting.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons\u003c\/i\u003e was a chronicle of what was going on in our kitchen and, by extension, our lives. It granted me a space to work through the emerging opinions I was developing about food and cooking, and was my way of offering the newly established online food community a seat at our table.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e These days, ten years from that apartment and since \u003ci\u003eSeven Spoons\u003c\/i\u003e began, my life is quite different. Sean and I bought our first house, and had our first son (Benjamin), then moved to our second house, and had our second son (William). There are a million and one directions in my waking hours, but I find there’s a welcome habit in cooking, in the routines of the kitchen around which our lives revolve. It’s what gets us going in the morning and brings us back together each night.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-------------------------------------------------\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBlurry Sunrise Smoothie\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eServes 2 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This tie-dyed smoothie sounds a little like it belongs on a Tiki bar menu instead of as a breakfast offering. Still, the moniker, inspired by how the golden and fuchsia layers blend into each other, amuses my children and me, so there’s that.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e If raw beet isn’t appealing, go ahead and steam, roast, or even microwave it until barely tender, then chill before using here. The aim is to soften the flavor of the beet, without cooking the life out of it. For extra color and kick, include a spoonful of Golden Honey Elixir (page 62) when buzzing the carrot.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e If you don’t have a high-powered blender, the beet and carrot may be need to be grated rather than chopped.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 2 navel oranges, peeled\u003cbr\u003e 1 red beet, scrubbed well and chopped\u003cbr\u003e 1 cup (105 g) fresh or frozen raspberries\u003cbr\u003e 1-inch (2.5 cm) piece ginger, peeled and chopped in half\u003cbr\u003e Very cold water, as needed\u003cbr\u003e 1 cup (185 g) fresh or frozen chopped mango\u003cbr\u003e 1 carrot, scrubbed well and chopped\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBreak 1 orange into segments and add to the carafe of an upright blender. Puree. Add the beet, raspberries, and 1 piece of ginger, and blitz again. Add cold water to get the blade moving if necessary. Divide between 2 glasses. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To the same blender, add the remaining 1 orange in pieces, followed by the mango, then the carrot, and the second piece of ginger. Puree, once again adding cold water as needed. Tilt one of the filled glasses and carefully pour half of the carrot smoothie over the top the beet (this will give a slant to the layers). Do the same with the second serving, then use a straw or chopstick to swirl the layers. Sip away.","brand":"Ten Speed Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303165153509,"sku":"NP9781607746379","price":27.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781607746379.jpg?v=1730753297","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/seven-spoonsisbn-9781607746379","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}