Warning: This is a long post. But it’s worth every word. Especially the part where you get to laugh at, I mean with, me. Also, the giveaway is now closed.
A year or two ago, I was aware that our modernized food system was posing problems both to our health and to the environment, but mostly in a philosophical, oh-that’s-very-interesting sort of way. Then my dear friend Emily W (who I credit the existence of this blog with!) told me about the book Food Matters by Mark Bittman (a food hero of mine). If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know once I finally sat down and read that book, a fire was lit. And, for the first time, I made real changes in the way our family eats. Nothing drastic, but most certainly substantial. Hense the Eat Less Meat Challenge I’ve been talking about since January. I know some of you have joined me on the challenge to eat less meat and processed foods, and I think we’ve all discovered what a satisfying change it has been, for so many reasons.
I wrote about the book, gave away a few copies, and have been exploring the world of lessmeatarianism every since. I received an email a few weeks ago from Emer at Simon & Schuster about Food Matters. I wrote back and said, “Oh! Thank you, but we already gave it away on my blog!” and then Emer wrote back, “Silly Jane, there’s a cookbook now!” to which I replied, “YIPPEEEE! Please send me a copy and let’s give some away!” to which he replied “Anything for you, Jane!” (Okay, he never called me “Silly Jane,” but he did say “Anything for you!” True story.)
The Food Matters Cookbook arrived soon after and it’s wonderful. No pictures, but in Mark’s case, it doesn’t matter. He writes wonderful reference cookbooks with about a billion recipes. Good ones, at that. How to Cook Everything is my go-to whenever I want to know a basic technique or recipe. ANYWAY…I love The Food Matters Cookbook. Like Food Matters, it’s very common sense and approachable for the everyday cook and eater (which is almost all of us).
Emer also scored me a ticket to Mark Bittman’s recent appearance in San Francisco with the unbelievably lovely Ruth Reichl. As I sat down in my seat (one of the best in the house), I was counting my lucky stars I started this blog nearly 4 years ago (and dying I couldn’t use my camera in the theater!!). Mark and Ruth’s discussion was inspiring, frustrating (it is downright scary where industrialized food has taken us), funny, endearing, and personal. I took pages and pages of notes with the idea I would share them all with you. But then I would need to write a book, not a blog post. And Mark already did that. So here was the gist – eat more plants, cook more food. They both felt strongly that people need to cook more and not be afraid of cooking. Ruth said the first real disconnect between our society and food is that people think home cooks have to be chefs. We don’t! Dive in! Enjoy cooking, no matter how simple it may be!
Which brings us to the moment in my story where I turn into a blubbering, incoherent, stalker-type book signee. Emer said there wasn’t time for me to interview Mark afterward because of the book signing, but that he would be expecting me and that I could get a picture with him, etc, etc. Well, as I’m waiting in line, I realized I would feel like a big schmuck if I pulled the “I get to take a picture with Mark, even though no one else does” move. So, I just decided to say a quick and, of course, eloquent word to him when he signed me book.
I had visions of telling Mark how inspiring his book was. How it truly changed my outlook on food, how I shop, how I eat. And that it inspired me to spread the word to my readers, in turn impacting their lives (and Mother Earth) in a positive way. I was going to tell him that I had decided to have him sign Food Matters, rather than my old, well-loved copy of How to Cook Everything, because Food Matters had such an impact on my life. (P.S. I would have looked cooler in line with How to Cook Everything since, while standing in line, I discovered mine is a different color than the new edition, which proves what a fan I am, right?)
Okay, so that was the vision. Instead it went something more like this.
Person in charge of writing our names on a post-it for the signing: “Ma’am, it’s your turn.”
Me, stepping up, handing Mark my book: “Uh, hi, I’m Jane Maynard. It’s so great meeting you.” {Uh-oh, nerves setting decidedly in} “Um, I have a food blog and I wrote about you.” {Very eloquent, no?}
Mark nodding, being polite, saying a few nice words here and there.
Me, again: “I’ve actually been in touch with Simon & Schuster…” {uh-oh, starting to feel a bit like a schmuck} “…and we’re giving away a couple copies your book on my blog next week, when I write about tonight.” {And I’m pretty sure that my sentence was a little longer and more confusing even than that}
Mark: “Oh, wonderful! What’s the name of your blog?”
Me: “This Week for Dinner”
Mark: “Well, be sure to tweet me and I’ll share the link!” {Do you remember that, Mark? I’m holding you to it!}
Me: “That would be awesome! Thank you!” {Yup, I think I said awesome. Which is, uh, awesome.}
Then we said goodbye, thank you, nice to meet you, whatever. I don’t remember. I was shaking too much.
Then, since I had ZIPPO pictures from the entire night, I stood to the side and started photographing Ruth and Mark signing books. At first he didn’t know I was there. Then he noticed. And then I felt a little like a stalker. But it was all in the name of the blog!
And I actually love this photo. It was worth making both Mark and myself feel uncomfortable. I think it captures Mark and Ruth’s personalities beautifully.
So, there you have it. I met Mark Bittman! And it didn’t go at all the way I imagined in my head. But that’s okay. That’s not what matters. It was a wonderful night with amazing insights from two great minds. Who can complain, even if I sounded a bit like a clueless teeny bopper.
And, yes, we ARE giving away two copies of The Food Matters Cookbook! Simply leave a comment on this post before Midnight PT on Sunday, November 7. If you do feel like sharing a bit about your own foray into the world of more sustainable and conscientious eating, we’d love to hear about it! But you don’t have to. Any comment will do! Two winners will be randomly-selected and announced on Monday, 11/8.
Hi! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and count on you to share yours! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
Thanks for another great giveaway! I have been wanting this book for many moons–fingers crossed! 🙂
So cool! I’m actually a Flexitarian and die-hard lover of cookbooks. I would love to read it! 🙂
Exciting!
Oh, I would probably geek out too if I were to talk to Mark Bittman. Or Ruth Reichl. Or several other folks in the food writing industry.
As for more sustainable eating…it’s incredibly frustrating, because my mother “knows” best. And so, when she tells me that it isn’t worth buying garlic from the farmer’s market or having our eggs delivered by someone we know, it is frustrating. But then, she came for Thanksgiving (in Canada…we’ve had ours already!), along with my father and my in-laws (all six of them), and I cooked. And I cooked some more. I made dishes from local brussel sprouts and potatoes, and made the pumpkin filling for the pumpkin cheesecake from scratch (ie. from a real pumpkin, not a can). And it was so fulfilling, the process. But, it was mostly fulfilling when I mentioned this all to my mother and she said it had been the most delicious Thanksgiving meal she had eaten and perhaps maybe eating with a conscience wasn’t such a bad thing.
Perhaps this isn’t so much about how I came to eat more sustainably, but how I’ve helped her to do the same?
Awesome…. We could all use a better way of eating healthy
Loved your story- and would love to win this book! 😉
I’m forever indebted to Mark Bittman for helping me realize that I can cook, and to Ruth Reichl for helping me realize how much I love it. What an amazing experience it must have been to be there! Thanks for the giveaway!
you know how much i love mark bittman. can you believe i haven’t ever actually bought one of his books…i just check them out ALL THE TIME from the library. maybe this is my chance to own one?
I love the stalker vibe of this post! Too bad you don’t have a photo of him looking nervously over his shoulder as you take photos, that would have been hilarious (or would that be even more stalker-ish). I am throwing my name into the ring for this one because I am such an avid follower of Bitty that we’re on a nickname basis, except he doesn’t have a nickname for me that I know of. 🙂
i would probably be just as “blubbering” but you held your own quite well! <3 more fun giveaways! yay! it's like christmas on your blog!
“Awesome!” 😉
I can’t wait to get my hands on his Cookbook.
I’m always looking for healthier options. We recently started buying local, natural beef and I would love to change everything we eat (or purchase for that matter) to only local. I wold love to read this book. Thanks
I’ve done the exact same thing at every book signing I’ve been to. I get totally tongue-tied.
I would love this book, and I’m definitely putting Food Matters on my Christmas List!
How very exciting, I would love this so looking for a change in my life
I have also changed my cooking and eating quite a bit after lots of reading the last few years. I could definitely use this cookbook…. I rarely cook meat now, but this is getting ever more challenging with a husband who isn’t too fond of beans and veggies. Need more recipes I can feel good about.
The very first food book I ever read was Ruth Reichl’s Comfort Me with Apples. Loved it. Would have loved to meet her!
His How to Cook Everything Vegetarian is one of my top two cookbooks. I LOVE how he relates to food, and his recipes are delicious. I’d love to win this!!
I love this post… becuase i always do that where i think all these great things to say in my head but when i open my mouth it comes out all wrong and bumbling! I would love to read this book! I am really into healthy/organic/ homemade cooking so it sounds like its right up my alley!
I’m a big Mark Bittman fan too. Hope I win this one 🙂
This sounds great. I made a commitment to healthier eating a few years ago but after a move/new job it is a bit harder: I could use some inspiration!
Awesome giveaway! Thanks for sharing with everyone 🙂
I collect cookbooks… is that a good enough reason to want to win another one??!?! and I promise I will use it, too!
Ooooo I love this! I would love to have this cookbook!
Well, maybe this time since my birthday is the 6th?
🙂
We’ve been eating less meat and from our garden, everything home cooked/baked, etc for over 30 years and love every bit of it. You just feel different when you eat carefully.
Plus it’s fun to try making your own pita and crackers, etc.
Glad you got to meet Mark Bittman!
I’ve just begun my search for literature, recipes, cookbooks and more earth and health-friendly food ideas. I have 3 little boys who have some dairy sensitivities and my thoughts and insights and feelings have always told me to cook more and eat more veggies (less meat). I just need lots and lots of practice! This would be awesome to win! THANK YOU!
I want a book. How to Cook Everything is a work of genius.
I love new cookbooks!
great give away, and I haven’t read any of his books but I feel like I think I follow him on twitter (how incredibly decisive is that one?). Anyway, almost 4 years ago, just a few years after my husband had cancer for the second time and we already had a fairly good diet (I took many processes out when he got cancer the second time and my girls were quite young and I was pregnant with my boy), I found out my girls had high cholesterol. I knew our diet was good and because I do not buy into the theory that just because I may have a slightly high cholesterol and my parents have high cholesterol that my girls are just prone to it. I do not believe for a second that a 6 and 8 year old should have it ‘just because’. So I made some drastic changes to how we eat. We took out all gluten, ALL OF IT. I cried the first day, I struggled with whether it was going to work and i was determined to cook veggies and good food for us from then on. What I found out (and what has now been proven in a 5 year study out of San Fran) is that elimination of wheat can make a difference. We saw a 30% improvement in our cholesterol overall (mine too). It’s not 100% but it’s a step in the right direction. I think sugar is my next step. But in the mean time we grow a lot of our own food, we are a part of a local CSA (community sponsored agriculture), we have our milk delivered weekly from a local farm along with local eggs and we buy locally grown organic meat whenever we can. I try to have several nights a week be meatless nights. We all cook together much more. I cook. I am a great cook now, I can make anything taste great and my kids actually love my different varieties.
Anyway, thanks for the giveaway! I’m glad you met him. (and we all have that type of experience when we meet someone we admire, remember when I met you? and you brought me to meet the person I needed to meet? I said the most ridiculous things that night! LOL)
I’m just so moved by all the genuine, heartfelt and good for the world interactions that the food blogging world creates :).
I’m a vegetarian in a house full of meatatarians (that is what my 10 year old calls them). I’m actually trying to eat more vegan like and make 3 different versions of each meal.
its fun to cook at my house 🙂 but I love cooking, Love cookbooks and its all good :0
Additional Reading: Eating Animals by Jonathon Safran Foer. He started researching and learning about the U.S. food industry after his son was born. The book it a must read. It would be a perfect companion to Mark Bittman’s book.
With that said, I’d love to have luck on my side this week! 🙂
Thanks for the post! Glad you finaly got to meet Mark 🙂
i tried gardening, but couldn’t put in the time with two tiny kids and a husband in medical school. so, i subscribed to a CSA and get a weekly box from a local farm. having tried to grow these things myself first, i had a greater appreciation for the time and talent involved in growing beautiful, organic produce. i eat a greater variety of foods now, and love the taste of locally grown produce. plus, it feels so good to help the local economy, the environment–we all win!
now can i have a book or what?
I would LOVE a copy of this book!! I have been dying to buy it, but as funds are short… free is always better 🙂
I just recently change the way I eat. This would be a great asset in my new way of life
I love Mark Bittman’s Zucchini Pasta. Yum! So healthy! Thanks for the giveaway.
I love that Emily W! I’m glad someone made you geek out. You always seem so poised. 😉
I will admit to not knowing who Matt Bittman is (sorry!) but for the past year I have begun to take a long hard look at what my family eats- trying to make as much a possible from scratch, finding out where my food comes from and substituting healthier ingredients (my favorite switch is substituting whole wheat pastry flour for regular flour in EVERYTHING). It’s sometimes hard, but definitely worth it. And my husband and the 10 years old seem pretty pleased 🙂
This sounds like an amazing cookbook, fingers crossed!
In the past five years, I have transitioned from a mainly processed food diet to a home-cooked, gluten-free and dairy free lifestyle. Now I can’t believe some of the things I used to eat! I would love to win this book – I love cookbooks!
I would love a new cookbook.
I’m a huge fan of Mark Bittman (I give copies of his How to Cook Everything Vegetarian to everyone I can!). I’d love to try this cookbook out as well!
I would like to try reducing my families meat intake. Thanks for the blog!
Best, Kristina
I would LOVE to win one!
I would be thrilled to have this cookbook. Just ten minutes ago I was perusing through my very post-it note-d up Food Matters and realizing I had so much still that I wanted to cook from it! So, I’m sure I’d love this one.
I was vegetarian for 10 years (except some goat meat in Kenya, and a lobster for Christmas at home in Maine one year) 🙂 When I was pregnant with my first son I starting really craving meat, so had a bit during the pregnancy. I’m now pregnant with my second son, and eat extremely little meat. I pretty much never cook meat at home. ANYWAY, I’m thinking about going back to 100% vegetarian eating, which would require re-spreading the word to some friends we eat with a lot, etc. But, it’s always nice to revisit these questions and the issues that influenced my decision in the first place.
Thanks, Jane! I love this blog, and the Eat Less Meat challenge/theme.
And, it still sounded like a fabulous evening!
love his books!
I would love to win this book!
Beautiful book.
I’d love to win this book. We’ve been trying to eat less meat in our house too and this could give me more ideas of what to do.
Fantastic giveaway!!!
My wife loves cookbooks!
Oh, Jane…just think! After a successful first, second and third cookbook of your own, maybe it will be you and Mark Bittman talking together at an event. You will grab his hand and recollect about the first time you met him and how tongue-tied and awestruck you had been and how he had inspired you so greatly. He will smile and give your hand a squeeze and say you’re his new best friend. All this will be just a funny moment in your progression of becoming famous, loved and it will be you that are inspiring the rest of us to do what we love just a little better than the day before!
ha ha ha! love it, helen. what a picture you painted! 🙂
We started a garden a couple of years ago. Each year it get bigger has has a greater variety. I’ve also been buying local produce and dairy products whenever I can.
We need all the help we can get being healthier over here.
I have been taking baby steps toward eating healthier. We have always had little meat in our diet, but I have recently incorporated one night a week as vegetarian night. Right now I feel like I am in a rut knowing how to change my home cooked meals into more healthy meals. This cookbook would be the perfect solution!
I LOVE how you shared the “in your head meeting with Mark” and the “actual meeting with Mark!” I am sooooo eloquent in my head, and it just never comes out of my mouth the same way!
We started the journey of learning about food after our daughter was diagnosed with food allergies. It’s been a long road. I’ve been writing sporadically on my blog about the journey we’ve taken with food. I’ve also talked about how I have to step away from food sometimes through art/craft/house projects/political talk to attempt to not get overwhelmed by my job of managing my daughter’s crazy diet! What I’ve learned in my journey is that our food system is in trouble, and we need to fix it! I’m a big believer in encouraging every family to take baby steps to eating better so that the earth is healthier, such as eating less meat, not buying packaged foods, and buying more organic.
Thanks for sharing all your excitement about cooking from real ingredients that haven’t been manufactured or advertised!
Oh….and I’d love to win a copy of the book, too!
I would love this cookbook! What a great giveaway!!
I would LOVE to win this cookbook! Thanks Jane!
I hate to cook. Loathe it! But you are inspiring me to work at improving our meals. We even joined a local CSA and have been discovering that we don’t know what half the things are that arrived each week. What we thought were beets turned out to be turnips. And exactly how do you cook greens anyway? It has been amusing. And disastrous. Thank goodness for winter and a break from fresh vegetables (grin).
I loved your blog and it did make me laugh! Also love Mark Bittman! Thanks, Jane
I had never heard of this book before but it sounds wonderful! I am new to the eatlessmeat way of thinking but I have been loving trying new recipes and being more adventurous with things like beans and fresh fruits and veggies. Oh, and, I LOVE your blog 🙂
If I got this book I would first read it- barely opening the pages, then give it as a Christmas present to one of my two non-meating (wordcombo) children. Sounds like you handled the meet and greet well. I liked how you were aware that you might look like one of the people that the bouncer lets into the club- while everyone else has to wait outside- so you skipped that op. Good kid.
This book is on my Christmas list. I’d love to win it so I can take it off and use it now.
Great story.
A while back, I made a pack with myself to cook 6 nights a week. My family loves it and my seven year old son has decided he wants to be a chef when he grows up so he can cook every day. 🙂
How funny! I had a geek-out moment when I met Debbie Miller, author of the book Reading with Meaning, a favorite book of mine for teaching young children to comprehend what they are reading. Then I had another similar moment when I met Jim Fay, the author of Love and Logic.
I would love the Mark Bittman book because I am trying to expand my cooking repertoire. Last night I made tomato soup… without any help from Campbell’s!
that’s the only way to make tomato soup! 🙂
Like six years ago, I watched his T.V. show. My husband and I found it entertaining – as well as good advice on making food. Would love his new cookbook!
I love cookbooks!
I just saw this book on the Today Show! I wouldn’t know what to say if I had a convo with him – so your convo sounded pretty cool!!!! Great job!!!
My food rules changed when I read all of Michael Pollen’s books which seem like basically the same idea. I buy all my meat from a local farm now that has grass-fed beef and it’s great.
Ha ha, it’s always different in your head. 🙂 But it’s a happy day when someone acts like a nervous teeny bopper around a cookbook author! Here’s to food geeks.
I would LOVE to have this book. I hope I win!
Jane, you make me laugh! Always have!
Love Mark Bittman!!
Thanks for sharing your meeting with Mark Bittman and Ruth Reichl – love them both! And thanks for the encouragement re: cooking! I’m a newlywed and trying to be better at cooking good meals for my husband!
I love Mark Bittman and How to Cook Everything and would love to add this book to my collection too!
Gotta love common-sense cooking! I have a much-loved copy of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. (:
Thanks for this opportunity. i think I need a healthier eating book in my life right about now.
Oh, I’d love a copy! As for our attempt at sustainability, I’m trying to use more local and in season veggies, thus more experimenting with Japanese food. Why buy stuff imported from the US when there are delicious and interesting veggies here?
I love Ruth Reichl but am not familiar with Mark Bittman. It sounds like I need this book.
Well cool. I have been thinking about this sort of thing as I started feeding my now eleven-month-old solid foods. I want her to eat good things. Anyway I’m not that awesome of a cook, but I’m getting better. Thanks for the enthusiasm — just put a hold on “Food Matters” at the library.
This is a pretty sweet blog you have, Jane.
Thanks for another great giveaway :]
You are doing a wonderful job educating me, Jane. Thank you! I would so enjoy this cookbook!
Yay! for cookbook giveaways (and lovely posts that make me hungry)
I am in the depth of a cookbook craze and it would be wonderful to have on that not only helps dinner but the large picture from day to day cooking!
Would love this cookbook — always learning how to cook before for my family and the environment
My school has a sustainability conference that i’ll be going to. I buy local, try not to waste anything, but i’d love to find more ways to eat sustainable.
Jane –
I love the transparency of your feelings when you right. I have to admit, whether it be my rebellious nature or many other factors in my personality and viewpoints, I’ve severely resisted a lot of the popularization of “sustainability” etc. However, where my point of view and motivation differs often time from the mainstream movement in the sustainable food movement, etc., the underlying reasons are often quite similar.
My husband and I made the decision a long time ago that when we could, we would get more land and raise more of our own food – because we wanted to know where our food came from, how it was raised and how it was processed. This spring we were able to make the first steps toward realizing that dream. With the acquisition of our acre and the option on the adjacent vacant acre, we’re starting to try to sustain ourselves, for ourselves.
I can’t say I’m doing it for a lofty purpose – rather, it’s frankly a selfish purpose. We don’t want to have to be dependent on anyone else for most of what we have. If we can provide the vast majority of what we need, then we are self-sustainable. Whether we’re out of power for weeks on end and using our wood cook stove and manually pumping water from our well or just being able to go into the basement and into a root cellar to “shop” – those are the things we want to be able to achieve.
However, though watching your journey in eating less meat has been interesting and intriguing. Frankly, I’d like to be less dependent on meat – but I love meat. But, I think as my husband and I focus more on filling our freezer with protein from stock we have raised ourselves or hunted, I think we’ll value that element more and more and be content to make what we provide for ourselves to sustain us rather than relying on outside sources.
Thanks for sharing your insight. As always, it’s fun to vicariously experience things through you.
I’m always intrigued by your comments! 🙂
mark mentioned how media and industry will take good words (like natural, sustainable) and twist them, make them trendy, make them less meaningful. I remembered that remark as I read your comment…
It sounds like that book has a great message to get out!
I always want another cookbook.
I love your writing style and would love a chance to change the way my family is eating (with a little help from the highly recommended cookbook you mention!)
The new book sounds great!
We’re getting there with learning about and putting into practice better eating. I read several blogs specifically geared towards eating better and have read a couple of books. It is something we are slowly committing ourselves too. I’m finding that eating better is a daily committment and discipline!
Oh, oh, oh! I want it! Please? *makes grabby hands*
Congrats Jane on your blog!!! I come to it for inspiration and to remind myself how easy it is to cook if I simply plan it out. Love his books.
Great story. I’ve read Michael Pollan, but not Mark’s book — and a cookbook! What a fantastic help in changing a family’s menu.
I probably would have been the same way – all star struck! We started eating less meat by trying to cook it only once a week. But that’s really stringent, so shortly after Chris read Food Matters we’ve loosened up a bit and sometimes cook it more often, but less of it each time. It helped take some of the pressure off and it’s amazing how far a single chicken breast can go when you include it with a ton of veggies!
I would love to win this book — thanks!
I am so jealous that you got to meet Mark Bittman! Good job. I have Food Matters on hold at the library (I am in line, I should say) and would love to have this book.
I’ve read Food Matters and am excited to hear there is a cookbook out!
Thanks for the giveaway!
Amy B.
adennispac@Yahoo.com
Jane! Thanks for another great giveaway! You’re a busy momma 🙂
Stacey
Like you, before reading Food Matters, I feel just on the cusp of understanding how horrible our food system is here in the US. Actually, I think I DO understand it, I’m just having a hard time embracing the work that it will take me to overhaul my daily diet. I’ve been thinking about taking ONE cookbook and cooking from it almost exclusively next year to get me jump started on a new path. This could be the one! I love Mark Bittman’s writing and his recipes tend to be simple enough for a novice like me. Anyway…whether or not I win it here, I’m for sure going to add his book to my collection.
I <3 Bittman!
This would be a great cook book to add to my collection!
Hi Jane!
Your website is very inspirational!
My husband and I moved into our home about 2 years ago and when the ground started to thaw our first spring, we “sprang” outside and started breaking up the earth and eventually creating a very substantial garden, complete with chicken fencing going 1.5 feet underground. (We thought that might have been overkill, until a pair of groundhogs moved under our shed this year. Then we thanked our lucky stars that we’d installed such a deep fence.)
I’ve had such a ball with that garden. My favorite things harvested have been rainbow chard (GORGEOUS works of art) and these impressive beets that look like bullseyes when you slice them. And the tomatoes. And eggplant. And tomatillos. And herbs. (Are you seeing a pattern?) My cat Kaci goes out with me to the garden and her favorite things are the monster catnip plant and rhubarb leaves, as they provide ample shade on hot days. The garden is her favorite place on earth. And mine too, now that I think of it.
I’ve also become a bit of a food-book junkie and definite cookbook whore, particularly books on preparing the multitude of vegetables that exit the garden. But these books make me so happy! The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle were two books that I not only bought and read voraciously, but later got out of the library on CD so I could listen to them again on my commute to my teaching job. Mr. Bittman, however, is an author I’ve seen often in my bookstore/library wanderings but have not indulged in yet. You have me very curious now!
Thanks again for your site! I love reading it!
~Katrina
I thought I was reading a page out of our life’s story here! Hahah! We did the deeply trenched fence around our garden as well, but because we were well aware of the vast population of cottontail bunnies and jack rabbits that occupy our property.
Rainbow chard is one of my favorites, but I’ve learned that I truly love orange chard as well, so I intermix straight up orange chard and *regular* chard seed with my rainbow chard seed and have so much fun. If you haven’t tried already – purple pole beans – I love green beans right out of the garden. This year we planted purple pole beans, and I found a new plant that will make a regular annual appearance in my garden.
We love the How To Cook Everything book (ours is yellow too!) and use it all the time. This book looks equally amazing and I’m hoping to put it to good use!
Looks like a great cookbook. I love How to Cook Everything. (I also have the yellow copy)
Mark Bittman is great!! I would LOVE this book!!
I would love a copy of this cookbook. Thanks for the chance to win!
I would LOVE this cookbook. As you may know, I recently moved to Austin, Texas and I am amazed by the choices for organic, local foods (especially meats). We have access to local herbs, honey, eggs, veggies and more. I would love a cookbook to accompany my new Farmer’s Market options!
Just recently discovered Mark Bittman. I am fascinated!
What a great opportunity! Would be so fun to see them and continue to be inspired.
I’ve been hearing SO much about Bittman’s Food Matters lately and I’d love to see how the recipes work 🙂
Alos, I LOVE your commentary about the lecture/meet-and-greet 🙂 And the photo of Mark and Ruth is totally priceless!
I’ve been contemplating less meat in our diet…just not sure how to proceed. Would love this cookbook!
i’m very interested in using more sustainable foods. especially eating sustainable fish… thanks for the give-a-way!
Haha! I love the way you tell stories. I’d love a copy of his cookbook and if I ever start liking to read serious stuff, I’ll put Food Matters on the top of the list. 🙂
Awesome!
So cool!!! Awesome giveaway:)
I loved Food Matters and I would love to own the cookbook!
My son was having trouble focusing and sitting still in school, so I started be much more aware of what was in his food. Consequently our entire family eats as naturally as possible, and it helps my son tremendously. I would love this cookbook in my aresenal!
I wish I wish it so!
I read the dialogue between you and Mark. I think it was fine. If I attach your voice and facial expressions and imagine him as a nice, bright fellow that loves his veggies I think the entire conversation is just great! From what I gather he is very down to earth (oh, pun intended) and you are charming in writing AND person. Really, try not to over analyze. He is man trying to inform the masses and you are helping him get his word out. He is YOUR fan.
you do know you are super biased, right? 😉 I love your comment, rachel! 😉
I *LOVE* both of these people… Mark Bittman is incredibly awesome – I have all of his books (except THIS one!) and I am right now reading all of Ruth Reichl’s books… they are so fun and DELICIOUS to read.
I try to eat as clean, raw, sustainable and green as possible. I FEEL better when I do…
It’s good to know even famous food bloggers like yourself get a bit flustered when met with someone they admire. 🙂 Your blog is great! Thanks for sharing!
Two of my favorite food authors. Er, well, you make three of course :). Would LOVE a copy!
WOW! That’s exciting you got to meet him. I dont think you sounded bad at all!
I think I’m ready for this one.
I’m an incredible fan of Bittman’s books. As an environmental science student and one who follows food policy closely, I’m incredibly moved by his work. I think his books really got me involved in Meat Free Monday (with Paul McCartney) and to really embrace a more vegetarian/vegan diet. Would love a copy of his cookbook.
i would love this book! ps when do you sleep?
This fits into the jigsaw of ways to oppose the dreadful food (and power) atrocities highlighted in the film Food Inc. Consumer power can topple the devastation on our environment, health, choice and people if we all change our buying and eating habits. Thanks for sharing this experience. PS Just about to write up my account of meeting a famous chef – I also felt like a teenager!
This looks great. I always sound like a blithering idiot in situations like those 🙂 Even though I limit my actual reading about the food industry to small bits for fear of falling into a bitter funk, we are all over elimitating processed foods, eating less meat and lecturing my kids about avoiding ingredients they can’t pronounce 🙂 I was fortunate to be raised with the idea that white flour, white sugar, white rice and red #2 were all horrible, but ice cream and chocolate were good 🙂
I would love to win this book. Thanks!
lucky you… I’d usually be so star-struck to even say anything.. Great book!
I would love this book! My hubby grew up in a very meat and potatoes family- Thankfully, he’s very open to different spices and cuisines, but he really does like his meat with dinner. I’ve got him to eat vegetarian 1 night a week, and we’ve cut back the amount of meat we serve (ex. I buy 1 flank steak for the family to slice and serve instead of individual steaks). I would love a new cookbook to give me more ideas to tempt his tummy over to the vegie side!
Jane, you never fail to make me smile and think, usually at the same time. 🙂 Because of your blog, I have changed how I cook and what I cook. Never even heard of Mark Bittman before your blog either. Your conversation was probably more coherent than anything I would have managed! I would love a cook book of his, the library doesn’t have it right now either! 🙂
I have a collection of over 300 cookbooks and would be absolutely delightful to add this cookbook to my collection.
Wow.. Great!!
Don’t sweat too much about your exchange with Mr Bittman, Jane. I think everyone would get a bit nervous and awestruck if they met someone they’d admired for a long time. I’ve met a few “famous” people I admire in my time and I’ve been far less eloquent than you in those moments 🙂
I’ve seen some of Mark Bittman’s shows but don’t own any of his books. I agree wholeheartedly with the philosophy behind it. Food does matter because if you eat healthily and consciously, it benefits your whole life. I don’t like eating out of packets – I prefer to go to a farmers market (or wet market, in my current part of the world) and pick up amazing produce to turn into delicious meals.
The idea of 500 recipes is overwhelmingly exciting and challenging! Would LOVE this!
I would love love love this book!!! I have Mark Bittman’s cookbook How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, as well as the Food Matters book!!! This would be great along side them!
I’m gushing with you! Love Mark Bittman! My family is also on the “lessmeatarianism” movement. Thanks for inspiring us!
Thanks for sharing!
If you would be willing to send it to South Africa, I’d LOVE to win this book!
In our house we try to buy local ingredients whenever possible, going to the farmers market down the road every saturday morning to get veggies and some meat and cheese. We have also been growning our own lettuce, beans, beetroot, carrots, spinach and herbs since last spring. This year there is less space, and so we are only growing lettuce and beans and herbs. It is wonderful to be able to eat something freshly picked. Thanks for you insperation everyday.
Jane, you always have the best giveaways…
Thanks!
I am so happy I found your blog. This is an area I am just starting to explore. We have already made the move to less meat, more vegetables, but I am sad to say I still use prepared foods way to much.
Love it! Eager to check this cookbook out!
Would love to learn more about healthy eating for my family!
Love Mark Bittman!!! Did not know about these two books but have been searching for ways to cut out prepared foods, especially since I’ve had kids and have been thinking about what goes into their bodies (and seeing how much packaged junk is so easily available.). Thanks so much!!
Mark Bittman is basically awesome.
I would love to have this book!
I’m always trying to cook healthier for my family and teach them to make good choices when eating. I would love this cookbook!
Literally the same thing happened to me when I went to get my cookbook signed by the Ree Drummond…I was going to thank her for teaching me how to cook, and tell her i had never turned on my stove till i read her blog, but instead I just was shaking and said hello and thank you! haha oh well! Love Matt Bitterman and so cool you were fortunate enough to hear him speak.
I would geek out if I were in the same zip code as Ruth Reichl. I adore her–have read everything she has ever written, made her pancakes in the big Gourmet cookbook 10 million times, etc. I have liked to cook since I was a very small child, but reading her books really got me started preparing non-processed, yummy things.
you would have LOVED hearing her speak. at one point she was sharing her food fantasy (which involved people in apartment building cooking for each other every day) and Mark turned, looked at her and said “you really ARE a hippie.” it was so funny! she was really delightful.
I would love it!!!!
I would love to have it!!
love the store jane!!
And by store I mean story… does this mean I have twice the shot at winning now? ; )
I love reading your blog and this story is so like something that I would do. I don’t do well when I am nervous! Please send me the book…it sounds AMAZING!
Add another cookbook to my collection…
wow – you talked to Mark B! – I would love to get my hands on his book. Less meat rules!
I have loved both Mark Bittman and Ruth Reichl for years. What a wonderful thing that you got to meet them. Would love to win the cook book. Thank you for the giveaway.
Loooooove both Mark Bittman & Ruth Reichl….I always turn into the biggest geek whenever I meet an author. You’re in good company : )
It’s so awesome that you got to me him!! I would probably be too nervous to even speak English properly if I were you….thank you for the great giveaway!
I try to buy organic when possible, I belong to a CSA and spend a little more on humanely raised meats and supplement other days with vegetarian dishes to help make up the costs.
this is sort of what we’ve done – I find I’m probably spending less overall, even though the meat and dairy I’m now buying are more expensive…there’s less of it to buy, so it evens out!
I love How to Cook Everything. And the iphone app for it has saved me numerous times!
uh, I think I’ll be downloading that app STAT!
i like books.
I would love to start being more accountable for my meals. This would be a great start.
What an amazing cookbook. Don’t worry about the experience, I’m sure he thought it was very flattering!
LOVE this type of food philosophy (foodosophy?)… Ever read In Defense of Food? I found it to be a little dense, but a great read. Thanks for the post!
I met one of my favorite authors once. It went pretty much as this did for you. In my head, I knew what I wanted to say but the reality was I got tongue tied and left feeling like a big dork.
What a great giveaway! I would have been a bumbling mess of nerves, too. 🙂
This sounds like my kind of book! I’ll have to start researching this man, and I’d love to see him speak sometime!! Shawn and I are expecting our first baby in March and plan to start her health off in the right direction with homemade baby food, glass bottles, and BPA-free pacifiers, among other things. I’d love to have a cookbook from such a well-informed and well-respected author, so that I can be even more confident in the food I’m serving my husband, myself, and our little girl once she has teeth! Thanks, Jane!
Would love this book for my family!
I’d love to have this book! Thanks for sharing your story.
Would love to add such a great book to my collection!
I would love to have this cookbook! Great giveaway! Thanks
pick me pick me
We love Bittman–we have three of his cookbooks and read his Minimalist column every week in the NYT. They come in handy when I pick up our CSA share every week and I have to figure out how to feed a spouse and a toddler with wintermelon and potatoes all week… Thanks for getting tongue-tied for all of us! 🙂
I would love that cookbook!
Thanks for sharing your fun story – and for the giveaway!!
Jane Maynard, you’re my hero!
Said in the voice of the girl on the bus in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
I would love to win a new cookbook.
My first step in feeding my family better, was inspired by this website that I happened upon a few months ago: Plan ahead.
It’s made such a difference to plan ahead my menus – a week at a time. We eat better, feel better and have ended up spending less at grocery store at eating out. I’d love to check out Mark’s cookbook!
I am very interested in checking this out!! Thanks!
I heard him on a talk show and would love to know more…and see his recommendations.
Hi Jane, I just came across your website via a food bloggers mention of FoodPress.
“Lessmeatarianism”….hmm I like the way it sounds. Good luck with FoodPress. I look forward to seeing your daily finds!
Garlic and Sapphires is one of my favorite books!! Lucky you!
I’m crazy about Ruth AND Bittman! (I call him Bittman because Bourdain does.)
I was raised with these ideas and I love passing them along to my family.
Great, funny post! Sounds like an experieince I would have. Love it, thanks for sharing!
Love your funny post! We are working out eliminating processed food from our home. Little by little we are chipping away and husband and kids have not complained at all. I want to teach my kids a love for real food and favor. I love your blog and congrats on the new job.
Loved the story. I love Mark and Ruth. 🙂
Looks like a great read. I don’t read novels so this oughta keep me busy for awhile. Always trying to cook better for my family and make better choices for them. Sometimes a challenge, but worth it.
As a child, my mother forced tofu on us kids and I hated it! As an adult I have learned how to cook with tofu and actually really enjoy it. That has definitely helped my husband and I eat less meat every now and then. This book looks awesome!
I have cut way back the past year on meat. I would love his cookbook and some new recipe ideas!
thanks for the giveaway, I love mark bittman!
I’ve been buying what meat and eggs we do eat from a local farmer. I realize that it’s not possible for everyone to do it that way but it sure is a tasty alternative for us!
Also, we have totally cut out HFCS and artificial sweeteners.
I think stalking cool people is seriously underrated. Way to go!
Wonderful! Please pick me! Thank you!
I would love to get a copy. Maybe if I don’t win, I’ll put it on my Christmas list! I love to cook for myself and my husband, and we could always eat healthier.
This is my first visit to this blog. I hadn’t heard of Food Matters until I read this post. I am intrigued and would definitley make some use out of the cookbook. It sounds fabulous!
I read Food Matters over the summer and tried to do Mark’s ‘vegan until dinner’ idea for a month (it was difficult to eat out and be vegan, less difficult to be vegetarian, but still difficult). Between reading that, watching Food, Inc, and currently reading In Defense of Food… it has really changed how I shop for food. The Food Matters cookbook sounds great and is going on my Christmas list! ;o)
Fantastic! I started thinking harder about this about four years ago when I read Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma. The only thing that book is missing is recipes. So I would love a chance to use Bittman’s!
Nice to see so many people interested in cookbooks. That alone is a start in this premade world.
I love my little backyard garden– each year it grows and each year I learn a little more about preserving and trying to make the produce last through the winter..
I have loved Ruth Reichl’s books and would love to check out the Bittman cookbook!
Simply put…I need this!
I would love that cookbook! It sounds awesome!
I am so happy to have found your blog a few weeks ago and am especially glad I read this post. I have recently begun cooking nearly every meal at home and many of our everyday items from scratch. At first it was because of money constraints, but it has evolved into more than that, it has become much more of some strong desire for me to supply nutritious, fresh, handmade and homemade food. The books you mention sound incredible. I am definitely adding How to Cook Everything to my Christmas list, and possibly Food Matters, unless I were to win it that is. =)
Great story – thanks for sharing and the giveaway!!
I would love to have this book.
I’ve never read any of Mark’s stuff but I’ve been dying to ever since I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I haven’t been able to make huge changes in our eating (my husband is a full-time student and I’m a SAHM), but I try to buy local whenever possible. Someday, I intend to buy entirely organic and local fruits/veggies, and humanely raised eggs/milk/meat. Right now, it’s just too expensive, but I do it whenever I can. And I’ve been tearing out all the veggie side dish recipes from my food network magazine so that I can incorporate more veggies into our diet. I don’t just want my kids to grow up loving veggies, I want to learn to like them too! This would be a great book to add to my growing library!
that’s what it’s all about! one step at a time…every little bit helps! 🙂 you’re doing great
so jealous of you getting to meet mark bittman! i love reading his posts in the NY times and have had “food matters” on my “to read” list for too long!
our family would love this cook book,we are trying hard to eat well but it is so easy to fall into the “traps” having recipes would be an awesome go to help.
I am a fan of Mark Bittman too! I completely agree that something needs to change with the way we eat. Food as close to it’s natural state as possible is the best thing for your body & the crap that is packaged & over processed should never be called food. Anyway, that’s my 2 cents on food…I haven’t read his book yet & I would love it if I won it!
that cook book looks fantastic
I love my copy of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. I’m sure I’d love this book, too.
The book sounds exciting and well worth having.
Isn’t it weird that we have all the time and money to spend on everything else but our bodies? It isn’t a cliche when someone says “Health is Wealth”…only when we lose our health, do we look back and think about all the bad choices we possibly made.
I think that going back to basics is what our world needs right now. Pottering about in the kitchen is the most satisfying feeling because you know that you’re putting something healthy out there for you and your family to eat. And the true flavors of the earth are something that you just wouldn’t find in processed food.
Good on you Jane, for promoting a healthier option! 🙂
I am always needing some new ideas for good eats. Thanks!
I’d love a copy. Thanks!
Hi Jane, I love your story about meeting Mark Bittman (and your added commentary). I would love this cookbook, too!!
Thanks for hosting the giveaway!
Cindy
I have been a vegetarian for about 12 years and am always looking for new recipes to inspire me. My husband and kids love to hunt and we grow a large garden and put away as much as we can. It always tastes better than store bought and gives such a good feeling of knowing that we did it our selves.
I love cookbooks! And planting a garden. We seem to add more every year.
Love new cookbooks!
I just got married and I love getting new cookbooks! I had become vegetarian a few years ago in part because of sustainability and health reasons. This would be such a great addition.
Thanks so much!
its my birthday…
I so want this cookbook!!!
it’s almost my birthday as well and this would make a great gift!!!
So excited about the cookbook!! I would have been the babbling, blundering nerd too!
Thanks for the giveaway. This book sounds really great!
I am a huge Bittman fan. The freezing article is a favorite:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/dining/06mini.html?pagewanted=all
I’ve tried to work quinoa in with my ground beef to decrease the amount of meat I use. I also try to have meat free nights, usually using beans or tofu, when it’s on sale (it’s expensive in my remote little town). We had a successful garden this year and worked on canning and freezing as much as we could. I feel like I need a lot more education on these matters.
I love reading his column and would have been flustered meeting him, too…though I’m sure he found you charming!
I love coming to your site to see what is next. I would adore having this cook book. I would rather cook at home than eat out because I know what I am feeding my family is fresh and not from a can or frozen full of salt.
Thanks,
I love Mark Bittman, and when I heard about the new cookbook I immediately wanted it…just haven’t had the chance yet.
In recent years, I have taken great care to feed my family healthy, unprocessed food. Your “eat less meat” post earlier this year got us on the bandwagon. Though I spend a good part of my day preparing well rounded, healthy, meals from scratch, there are no convenience foods in our house. However, we are far from where I want us to be. I wish I had this book in my hands right now so I can continute to improve on the healthy meals that I try to provide to our growing boys everyday.
I read cookbooks instead of novels and I kind of collect them too (just ask my husband)! Thanks for a great giveaway!
I have been wanting to eat less meat, but struggling to come up with ideas. This cookbook would be great!
Your celebrity interchange reminds me of Julie Van Rosendaal’s experience with Anthony Bourdain. Her blog is worth checking out “Dinner with Julie” even though she a) lives in Calgary and b) sometimes cooks with meat (hey, we all do it sometimes)
Would love a copy of the book. Great stuff! found the blog via foodpress revisited when someone tweeted about posterous… amazing.
I love Mark Bittman. Very cool that you met him.
Yay! I love Mark Bittman and would love this cookbook. His How To Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook is one of my favorites.
Love it all. Trying so hard to eat cleaner, with lots more plants and outright food…. not processed stuff.
One of the funniest pieces of comedy I’ve heard recently was Paula Poundstone trying to convince Michael Pollan that Ding Dongs counted as “food”. Cracked me up!
I love Mark Bittman ever since I watched him on some PBS cooking show about traveling through Spain with Gwyneth Paltrow and two other people (who I didn’t know). He was clever and seemed to know a lot about food! (That was before I knew who he was!!) Yeah, this cookbook would totally rock my kitchen – but my college daughter who is a vegetarian and a huge organic fan would really like it also.
I don’t know if this counts as being better stewards of the earth, but we got 5 chickens last spring and now they are laying 5 beautiful eggs each day for us. They have a great place to live and aren’t falling/tripping over each other. Makes us feel good about recycling our food scraps (for them) and eating eggs that are soooo fresh!
I would actually use this cookbook!
Would love to own this book! Great give away:)
This book is on my wishlist. I’d love to win it.
What a sweet post! I am just now taking a serious interest in this topic- I have a two year old and I dont want her to grow up eating the same fast food I did. So I am determined to cook her healthy meals- and get my husband and I on board along the way:)
I love Mark Bittman. How to Cook Everything is my most-used cookbook. I’d love to win this book.
Bittman did great on this. We all know of the increasing problems with obesity and health risk from eating poorly. Seems so simple to eat fresh, raw foods and limit meat yet so few do it.
Changed the way our family eats.
it’s amazing how accomplished i feel as a mom when i put a healty meal on the table. also when my kids ask me to “make it from ‘scraps’ (scratch) mom, cuz it always tastes better!”
i would love a new cookbook!!!
Aww, you didn’t do too bad! That is so cool you got to meet him! It’s just funny how nerves kick in… I turned into such a babbling idiot when meeting Martha Stewart at one of her book signings. I hope they take it as a compliment, not stalkery at all! 🙂
Count me in for the giveaway, I would love to try his cookbook out!
Oh I would love to win! I love his cookbooks!!
Oh wow! I want this book. I love cooking, and have come to realize that food from a box is horrible for you! I do all that I can to eat from scratch and to have a book help me along the way would be great.
Great story. I’m not familiar with Mark Bittman but I will definitely be checking out his work. In the meantime I will keep my fingers crossed for a great new cookbook.
I really enjoy your blog. I’m working up the courage to post my weekly menus. I am repeatedly inspired by your posts and the comments. Thanks!
Would love to have this cookbook. I need to be a little more inspired to cook and eat healthy. Thanks for your blog Jane. I really enjoy it!
Really enjoy the blog and would love to receive a copy of this cookbook.
Just found your blog, I think I will be frequenting it. I am always attempting more sustainable living and healthier wiser ways. I love keeping it basic and tasty and creative too. In a bit of a slump with it all, I will be checking this book out at the store if I don’t get lucky here. Thanks for paying it forward, I love your passion!
would love to win a copy!
I would love to have this cookbook–we need some help on the less-meat front!
Very cool that you met Mark! This cookbook sounds like just what we need to keep us on the better living/eating path.
I would love this cookbook!
Glad you met Mark! What a great opportunity! Thanks for offering another giveaway! Hope I win!
Looks like a great cookbook! Thanks!
I love mark bittman!!
I am learning a lot through your food blog. I feel silly saying this, but I’ve never heard of Mark or Ruth. I am excited to learn more about this “food lifestyle”. I really need help in changing my family’s food habits. Thank you for the opportunity.
Just found your website and love it!
MB is a true food hero of mine.
I love how his own personal growth with food is shared thru his cookbooks etc
LOVE your blog
just recently found it thru MS
newly back at full time work w/ 2 hungry teenagers and a not so hungry husband I needed the guidance in week night meal planning
thanks
My husband and I quit our jobs to farm, having no farming experience it has been quite a ride. We did this to provide ourselves and our soon to be family with best food we could. We raise our own veggies, meat, eggs and dairy. Can’t get better than that!
http://dusksindfarm@gmail.com
lol… hilarious story! what an exciting and intriguing concept… i would love to check out his cookbook!
I’ve been revising my family’s eating habits over the last few months and was thrilled to discover Food Matters on your blog. I’ve now checked out nearly every Mark Bittman book there is in my local library. I’m just getting ready to add some of his recipes into my weekly plans and would love even more of his stuff to try!
Hey! I covet a copy of this great cookbook…but even more importantly my FAMILY would love for me to have some fresh new recipes!
I love how you said you read his book and “a fire was lit.” That is how changes in our life take place, we become interested, then motivated, and then passionate and we tell others about it. Thanks for sharing and thank you for the giveaway!
How to Cook Everything is one of my favorites! I would love to win this one. Mark Bittman is AWESOME. 😉
I am a all-natural/sustainable cooking newbie, but I am committed to changing the way our family eats for the better. This cookbook could help! Thanks!