Emma was very capable and showed us how quick and easy it was to prepare healthy, quick supper dishes. She does all sorts of cooking demonstrations from her home, other people’s houses, as well as catering for dinner parties, weddings, christenings, funerals and every sort of gathering in between. She has just launched her Kiddies Cooking Events – a party with a difference.

Her web site here has lots of info – why not take a look and see for yourself!!

from Linda and the whatsinmycookbooks.com team x

In no particular order, here are ten of the weirdest that we’ve found – can you add to this list? Leave your own ‘weird’ cookbook suggestions in the comments below…

Eat-a-bug Cookbook by David G. Gordon

Fancy some crickets with your cannelloni? Or some spiders with your spaghetti? This cookbook is not for the squeamish – David Gordon is a real-life biologist and self-confessed ‘bug chef extraordinaire’. Actually, eating bugs is fairly common around the world, so if you’re being ambitious, this book will give you plenty of culinary tips, including the right wine to serve with scorpions, how to order edible insects by mail and why termites are good for you.

The Heinz Tomato Ketchup Cookbook by Paul Hartley

We all know someone who can’t eat their food without drowning it in the red stuff. As this book shows though, good old-fashioned Heinz Tomato Ketchup (it’s been around since 1876!) can be much more than a mere condiment. It’s worth noting that the author has also written cookbooks specifically for Colman’s Mustard, Lyle’s Golden Syrup, and of course, Marmite.

Kill It and Grill It by Ted and Shemane Nugent

This one’s not particularly weird in itself – as its name suggests it’s a straightforward guide to preparing and cooking wild meat. The reason it’s made our list is the wonderfully bizarre cover – we just love the 80′s-themed shot of Ted and Shemane (isn’t that a character in ‘Thundercats’?) posing with their weapons. Epic.

Fit for a King: Elvis Presley Cookbook by Elizabeth McKeon

Given The King’s unfortunate demise and his infamous later years, we’re not sure that it’s a great idea to be advocating his diet. Especially as one of his favourite dishes was apparently fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Nevertheless, Elvis Mania does not stop in the kitchen, so if you want food that’s literally ‘fit for a king’, look no further.

The pyromaniac’s cookbook by John J Poister

A collection of recipes that all involve one main ingredient – FIRE. From spectacular flambe dishes to flaming cocktails, this book has everything a fire-lover could want. We particularly like its tagline: “Possibly the most exciting cookbook since the discovery of fire.” Just don’t set fire to the kitchen.

Star Trek Cookbook by Ethan Phillips

Is there anything that Trekkies haven’t thought of? If you’re a true fan, you’re going to want to eat like the crew of the Starship Enterprise as well as dressing and talking like them. This cookbook is just what you need – with Klingon, Vulcan and even a few Earthling recipes in there, you’re bound to find something you like.

Mosh Potatoes by Steve Seabury

This is a collection of recipes from some of Rock’n'Roll’s most famous faces. Well, Heavy Metal anyway – hence the ‘mosh’ part of the title (for those of you that aren’t familiar with Metallica and friends, ‘moshing’ is otherwise known as head-banging, or dancing furiously to extremely loud music). We give it a WIN for the title alone.

The What Would Jesus Eat? Cookbook by Don Colbert

Despite its title, we don’t think that this cookbook is going to purge you of your sins. Apparently the book is “based on a biblical, historical and scientific study of what Jesus ate” – and the general consensus is that the Big Man liked his healthy food – it’s got lots of recipes using fresh fruit and veg, legumes and whole grains. Not a chocolate pudding or fried food in sight – perhaps that’s why they’re called ‘naughty foods’…

Eat Tweet: 1000 Tiny Recipes in Twitterese by Maureen Evans

Quick, Twitter is taking over the world! Well, maybe not quite – but we certainly didn’t expect there to be a Twitter cookbook. If you like your recipes in under 140 characters, this book has plenty – although be warned, you may need to decipher it first. Unless, of course, you’re already fluent in ‘Twitterese’.

The Roadkill Cookbook by Arthur Boyt – coming soon?

OK, so we said that this list was in no particular order – but really, we were saving the best (or is it the worst?) until last. This one’s a bit of a cheat, because technically, the book hasn’t been published yet. And given that it was ‘yet to be published’ back in 2006, we’re not even convinced that it’s going to happen at all. There have been lots of ‘Roadkill Cookbooks’ published, but the main thing they’ve got in common is that they’re all tongue-in-cheek. However, this guy is quite serious. According to the Guardian, “Mr Boyt has spent the last 50 years scraping carcasses from the side of the road and chucking them, together with a few herbs and spices, into his cooking pot.” And now, he’s ready to share his recipes with the world. Don’t say we didn’t warn you…

A quick update on the latest ones we’ve added – first off, seven new Australian Women’s Weekly cookbooks (it appears there’s quite a few fans out there!):

• Easy Curry Cookbook
• Middle Eastern Easy Style Cookery
• Easy Thai-style Cookery
• Sensational Stir-Fries
• The Seasoned Wok
• Potato Cookbook
• Finger Food

As well as the Good Housekeeping Step-by-step Cookbook, and the Marks and Spencer Tapas book.

Thank you for all the suggestions, please keep them coming and we’ll add them to the library as soon as we can.

Liz and the whatsinmycookbooks.com team x

Well it’s been another busy day today at whatsinmycookbooks.com and we’ve received lots more great feedback from you. All of your comments are really appreciated, so do keep them coming.

Lots of you have signed up as members, so if you like what you’re seeing please help us spread the word! Remember that you can create your own personalised bookshelf once you’ve registered, so you’ll be able to get the most out of the site.

We know that you’ve all got lots of cookbooks at home (some of you even have collections running into the thousands!) so please do let us know what you’ve got that isn’t yet in our library.

We enter all new books manually to ensure that the information is accurate, so it’s quite a lengthy process. But we’re aiming to get every cookbook published in the last five years on there by the end of 2011, and we’re getting there! We’d love you to send us suggestions and requests for new books to include – the most popular suggestions will get top priority.

We’ve already received some suggestions, here’s just a few of them:

• River Cottage Meat by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
• Rachel’s Favourite Food at Home by Rachel Allen
• Delia’s Vegetarian Collection by Delia Smith
• Indian Food Made Easy by Anjum Anand
• How to Eat by Nigella Lawson

Do you agree with these? What are your favourites that we haven’t got yet? Let us know by commenting on this post, using our web contact form or emailing us at team@whatsinmycookbooks.com

Liz and the whatsinmycookbooks.com team x

We’ve been inundated with feedback about what a great idea the site is – lots of you have said that you’ve been looking for something like this for years, and that having your own bookshelf online is going to make cooking even easier and more enjoyable.

We’d really like to hear your suggestions for cookbooks to include in our library – we prioritise books based on how many recommendations we get, so please get in touch and let us know your favourites.

We’re also delighted to have been featured in two lovely blogs already – over at the Bristol Bites blog, Em has written a great post about the background of whatsinmycookbooks.com – it’s well worth a read and can be found here.

We’ve also been featured by Shaun on idleformat.com, who says:

“For me, whatsinmycookbooks.com is already the answer to my prayers. For once I’m actually looking forward to some easier meal planning this weekend… as well as some more interesting dinners from now on…”

Read more here.

Keep your feedback coming, and we’ll be updating our library soon so remember to let us know what books you want to see!

From Liz and the whatsinmycookbooks.com team x

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 04/01/11

New tool could revolutionise how we use cookbooks

A new website is launching today that aims to revolutionise the way people use cookbooks.

whatsinmycookbooks.com is a free online tool that makes the link between digital search and real-life books. It shows users exactly where to find ingredients and recipes in their OWN cookbooks, helping them make the most of the books they already have in their bookshelves.

A powerful search tool, whatsinmycookbooks.com lets users search by dish name, dish type or up to five individual ingredients. It has details on the book and page numbers for over 28,000 recipes in its online library, and what ALL of the ingredients are in every one.

Registered users can select a personalised ‘bookshelf’ to tailor the results of the search to the cookbooks they already own.

According to whatsinmycookbooks.com co-founders Chris and Linda Newton:

“We aim to provide a unique way for people to really make the most of their own cookbooks. Beautifully illustrated and filled with mouth-watering recipes – cookbooks are wonderful things to possess, so what a shame to see all of these lovely books hardly ever being used! Whatsinmycookbooks.com is the convenient and easy way to cook whilst still getting the enormous pleasure of using your cookbooks.”

The whatsinmycookbooks.com library is constantly growing, with a view to having every cookbook published in the last 5 years in the database by the end of 2011.

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Notes to editors:

• In a nutshell: “whatsinmycookbooks.com is a time-saving online tool that shows you exactly where to find ingredients and recipes in your own cookbooks and beyond.”

• The site is the brainchild of computer nerds and avid cooks Chris and Linda Newton. They have been writing computer software since the first dinosaur computers were around and cooking for even longer.

• whatsinmycookbooks.com also has a Facebook page, a Twitter account (@inmycookbooks) and its own blog at whatsinmycookbooks.wordpress.com

In the whatsinmycookbooks.com library, we now have 120 different types of fish, 100 types of cheese and 57 varieties of pasta. And according to the recipe details we’ve taken on so far, Britain’s favourite ingredient is garlic, which can be found in a whopping 9,137 recipes in the library!

Starting tomorrow, we’ll be spreading the word as far and wide as we can about this great new site – keep your eyes peeled in case you spot a mention of us in any blogs, magazines or newspapers over the next few weeks. And of course, if you’d like to give us some feedback, we’d be delighted to hear from you – just drop us an email at team@whatsinmycookbooks.com

From Liz and the whatsinmycookbooks.com team x

The whatsinmycookbooks.com database is growing daily, and we aim to soon have details for every recipe book published in the UK in the last 5 years – so keep an eye on the list of what we’ve got. We’d love to hear your suggestions for the books you’d like to see in the database, drop us a line on team@whatsinmycookbooks.com and let us know what your favourites are.
Thanks!

Liz and the whatsinmycookbooks.com team