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The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook: They Came, They Cooked, They Left
Every time we tell someone about this book we get puzzled grins, raised eyebrows, and hilarious guesses as to what on earth The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook might possibly be. Every time we tell a guy about it, he becomes instantly intent on doing pretty much anything if it'll get him into the book. One boy (who swears he only went out with Thisbe in order to get a recipe named after him) found out he'd missed the print deadline by a hair but that the cover wasn't done yet and quickly e-mailed with a list of potential subtitles for the front Men Are from Marzipan, Women Are from Bean Dip; Dear John, I'm Leaving You and Taking the Cuisinart; He Would Eat His Grandmother's Pie All Night While Mine Just Sat There and Got Cold, Love in the Time of Colander . . . We don't have anyone exactly clamoring to be our boyfriends, yet they're practically lining up to get to be our exes!
We swear we didn't conceive of this book as a way to pick up guys. At least it didn't start out that way. One day we were planning a barbecue at the Iowa farmhouse where we lived and Erin said, "Oh, I'll make Davis's spicy BBQ rub!" And we kind of looked at each other and said, "We should write a cookbook of all the recipes we've gotten from ex-boyfriends over the years!" And an idea was born.
It was the perfect project for us, too. We're both pack rats, collectors who hold on to every scrap of paper anyone's ever handed us. While all our friends grilled burgers that night and played volleyball on the lawn, the two of us took our beers upstairs and hauled out all of our aging boxes and envelopes full of tear-stained letters, ticket stubs, withered flowers, valentines....We told each other the stories behind every one of those scribbled scraps. "And, god," we'd find ourselves saying, "he made the most incredible vinaigrette . . . . " We never made it outside to our own barbecue. We've pretty much been in our rooms since then, pecking away at this book like crazy people, the floors littered with old letters, our hands covered in rubber cement. We were driven, obsessed, compulsively determined to bring you The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook. And voila! Here it is!
Now that the book is out, we're starting to let our imaginations take hold of us again. We've got all sorts of ideas. Like maybe we could spend a year letting a different man cook us dinner every night. We'd bring along cameras, collect artifacts from the evening like budding archaeologists, and select the best dishes for a sequel! But maybe we're getting a little ahead of ourselves.
We swear we didn't conceive of this book as a way to pick up guys. At least it didn't start out that way. One day we were planning a barbecue at the Iowa farmhouse where we lived and Erin said, "Oh, I'll make Davis's spicy BBQ rub!" And we kind of looked at each other and said, "We should write a cookbook of all the recipes we've gotten from ex-boyfriends over the years!" And an idea was born.
It was the perfect project for us, too. We're both pack rats, collectors who hold on to every scrap of paper anyone's ever handed us. While all our friends grilled burgers that night and played volleyball on the lawn, the two of us took our beers upstairs and hauled out all of our aging boxes and envelopes full of tear-stained letters, ticket stubs, withered flowers, valentines....We told each other the stories behind every one of those scribbled scraps. "And, god," we'd find ourselves saying, "he made the most incredible vinaigrette . . . . " We never made it outside to our own barbecue. We've pretty much been in our rooms since then, pecking away at this book like crazy people, the floors littered with old letters, our hands covered in rubber cement. We were driven, obsessed, compulsively determined to bring you The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook. And voila! Here it is!
Now that the book is out, we're starting to let our imaginations take hold of us again. We've got all sorts of ideas. Like maybe we could spend a year letting a different man cook us dinner every night. We'd bring along cameras, collect artifacts from the evening like budding archaeologists, and select the best dishes for a sequel! But maybe we're getting a little ahead of ourselves.
190 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2002
1 person is currently reading
130 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 28, 2008
Rob Becker's Mom's Cream Cheese Brownies were easy to make and mind-blowingly good. As well they should be, with a whopping five eggs throughout the entire batch! The brownies were even better the next day, when they'd settled from a slightly cake-like texture to a fudgey one. I think I ate about two of the brownies, the rest of the 9x13" pan were devoured by extremely appreciative roommates.
I'm in love with the collages behind each recipe, and the best ex-boyfriend story that accompanied a recipe goes something like this:
Such and such was my 10th grade boyfriend. I liked him because his hair changed colors every week and he wore cool sneakers. And then he died.
I plan on trying Keith the Pathological Liar's Cold Remedy quite soon, a bourbon-based hot toddy of sorts.
This book was a dollar! I still can't believe my luck :)
I'm in love with the collages behind each recipe, and the best ex-boyfriend story that accompanied a recipe goes something like this:
Such and such was my 10th grade boyfriend. I liked him because his hair changed colors every week and he wore cool sneakers. And then he died.
I plan on trying Keith the Pathological Liar's Cold Remedy quite soon, a bourbon-based hot toddy of sorts.
This book was a dollar! I still can't believe my luck :)
August 14, 2016
A humorous poke at themselves, Erin Ergenbright & Thisbe Nissen, say that in writing this book, they didn't have anyone clamoring to be their boyfriends, yet they were practically lining up to get to be their exes.
A personal favorite of mine, not the recipe, but of the ex, Fickle Vance, the author writes: "A fickle person has emotions that run like a faulty faucet--who knows what causes that unexpected shift from hot to cold? Part of the attraction felt toward fickleness is what people playing the lottery feel: hope, expectation and the knowledge that the odds are against you. If you lose, no big deal. You knew, underneath the imagined prize, that it was never yours. A not-fickle person courting a fickle person feels they are performing a public service--they are trying to change a dangerous pattern, to reform someone to the accepted modes of relating. And it's funny that they are the very person a fickle person hopes for and dreams of: they are possibly "the one" who will rescue them from a ridiculous life of disappointing love affairs. Alas, no Vance, but a brownie recipe to try to assuage a broken heart.
A personal favorite of mine, not the recipe, but of the ex, Fickle Vance, the author writes: "A fickle person has emotions that run like a faulty faucet--who knows what causes that unexpected shift from hot to cold? Part of the attraction felt toward fickleness is what people playing the lottery feel: hope, expectation and the knowledge that the odds are against you. If you lose, no big deal. You knew, underneath the imagined prize, that it was never yours. A not-fickle person courting a fickle person feels they are performing a public service--they are trying to change a dangerous pattern, to reform someone to the accepted modes of relating. And it's funny that they are the very person a fickle person hopes for and dreams of: they are possibly "the one" who will rescue them from a ridiculous life of disappointing love affairs. Alas, no Vance, but a brownie recipe to try to assuage a broken heart.
July 20, 2013
I'll lead with this: this is potentially one of the best-looking, most-engaging cookbooks I've ever looked through. There is a story with each recipe -- often funny, and sometimes sad. I was also very glad to find out that not all of these guys were actual ex-boyfriends, because there are a lot of recipes in this book. *grin*
But a cookbook is basically about the recipes, and... well, they actually weren't bad. I realize not everyone has a recipe spreadsheet that'll take them 35 years to cook through, and for a person just getting started in the kitchen and without a large repertoire of recipes, this is actually a pretty great resource. You could eat for a long time off these recipes, and it's not as heavy as, say, the Joy of Cooking. *grin* It's essentially a collection of standard "family" recipes for the most-made foods, and a few more unusual recipes for interest, with awesome collages attached. But I already have favorite versions of most of these foods, and not much reason to try out a new version.
I'm still thinking maybe I should give them four stars.
But a cookbook is basically about the recipes, and... well, they actually weren't bad. I realize not everyone has a recipe spreadsheet that'll take them 35 years to cook through, and for a person just getting started in the kitchen and without a large repertoire of recipes, this is actually a pretty great resource. You could eat for a long time off these recipes, and it's not as heavy as, say, the Joy of Cooking. *grin* It's essentially a collection of standard "family" recipes for the most-made foods, and a few more unusual recipes for interest, with awesome collages attached. But I already have favorite versions of most of these foods, and not much reason to try out a new version.
I'm still thinking maybe I should give them four stars.
May 26, 2015
At the end of a relationship, a lot of time seems spoiled on grieving the loss and what was in the entanglement that we sometimes fail to see what we have had... and celebrate! The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook: They Came, They Cooked, They Left shines a humor-laden spotlight on that aspect, pick-pocketing the skeletons in their closets for the worthwhile tidbits.
It's like the The Joy of Cooking meets the joys of dishing. Yeah, that slubberdegullion left you for a Thumbelina-sized Dragon-girl who lives in an alternate dimension housed inside a stuffed rabbit (this reviewer's unfortunate true story)... But dagnabbit! He made some fine banana bread that you'll never forget.
And now you have the recipe... that's what really matters.
Not that you were dumped for an imaginary being. No, siree!
It's like the The Joy of Cooking meets the joys of dishing. Yeah, that slubberdegullion left you for a Thumbelina-sized Dragon-girl who lives in an alternate dimension housed inside a stuffed rabbit (this reviewer's unfortunate true story)... But dagnabbit! He made some fine banana bread that you'll never forget.
And now you have the recipe... that's what really matters.
Not that you were dumped for an imaginary being. No, siree!
March 8, 2011
Although I will try very few of the recipes contained within, The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook was extremely entertaining. I read it straight through and put post-its on the recipes I do intend to try. The anecdotes from the authors own experiences make this a very lively book. I also liked how they separated the sections: Sweet things, Sort of fluffy things, Savory things, Spicy things, Slippery things and Substantial things. Hooray for alliteration!
August 9, 2008
Such a fun idea, and so fancy, too. I love the fancy collages, and end up re-reading about half the stories every time I open the book to try one of the recipes. The cottage cheese pancakes are really tasty. Too bad the relationship didn't work out.
September 27, 2012
I love this concept! A collection of recipes from all your former beaus. And the collagey illustrations are perfect. Just for symmetry's sake, I placed it on my cookbook shelf next to a recipe book my first boyfriend made for me.
June 23, 2007
OK, I haven't tried all of the recipes in here, but the stories are funny and I definitely want to try more of the recipes.
December 17, 2007
A Very Funny
November 25, 2008
I love cookbooks and this one caught my eye at the library. The recipes are fun (and good) but the stories behind them are even better.
June 3, 2009
Lovely book to flip through- there's some unique recipies in here and the entire concept is adorable.
September 25, 2011
the curried chicken salad is phenomenal. Looking forward to making the cobbler as well.
September 4, 2013
This book is awesome, I am a man who loves to cook and I found the book to have some interesting stories. Also the Peanut butter pie recipe is amazing!
January 16, 2008
Beautiful book w/ delicious recipes.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews