The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook: They Came, They Cooked, They Left (But We Ended Up with Some Great Recipes) [Hardcover]

Thisbe Nissen (Author), Erin Ergenbright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 4, 2002

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 jacket: 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. Really: 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....

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Erin Ergenbright and Thisbe Nissen met at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where they spent many nights discussing gastronomic creations gained from ex-boyfriends and moved with their four cats into a farmhouse outside Iowa City where it was very cold in the winter. They ate frozen bagels, drank red wine, reminisced about their ex-boyfriends' culinary delights, and kept their fingers warm by collaging. Erin, Lucy, and Sinclair now live in Oregon. Thisbe, Fernanda, and Maisie remain in Iowa. Both Erin and Thisbe hope one day they will meet men they love as much as their cats, but they are not holding their breath.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (June 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060185201
• ISBN-13: 978-0060185206
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,407,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That Which Doesn't Kill Us, Leaves Us With Great Recipes!, August 2, 2002

By 

PadreRat (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook: They Came, They Cooked, They Left (But We Ended Up with Some Great Recipes) (Hardcover)

I heard the authors being interviewed on NPR and knew I had to get this book! They share stories from all stages of their lives, add great recipes and always make you wonder if a woman really had to endure these males. During the interview, they came clean that not all the stories came from them, but some happened to a 'freind-of-a-friend'. The fun part is trying to figure out which is which.

Knowing that the two most powerful things in most of our lives are food and love, this is a clever twist on short stories. Each story has a complimentary recipe associated with it. All I have to say is you are bound to met interesting men while working at farms. (You'll have to read the stories) Who would have thought it could be such a pick-up place?!?!?

I highly recommend this crafty culinary romp for the recipes and the stories. They will make you laugh, cringe, shake your head in belief (yes, not disbelief)and hungry!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ummm.....it's a COOKBOOK, not a novel...., October 2, 2004

By 

Jeanette L. Dumesnil - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook: They Came, They Cooked, They Left (But We Ended Up with Some Great Recipes) (Hardcover)

OK, so I've read the other reviews and I'm a little confused, I was under the impression that this was a cookbook with a twist.
That's the premise under which I purchased and have used this book. I don't think the authors intended this to be a great read, just a collection of good recipes with ancedotes about the boys or men that provided the recipes.
Now, about the recipes... I have made several dishes and all have been fantastic. The recipes are divided into six categories:Sweet, Fluffy Things, Savory, Spicy, Slippery and Substantial Things. The recipes I've tried (and loved) are:
Liam's Refrigerator Cookies
Arthur's Easy Apple Dessert
Wesley's Cottage Cheese Pancakes(delicious!)
Josh's Spinach-Strawberry Salad (great for potlucks)
Will's Wonderful Wings
Sullivan's Cold Rice Salad(goes great with the wings)
Brady's Pepper cheese dip(awesome)- this recipe alone is worth the price of the book.
Ezra's Sticky Chicken -- My Favorite Recipe

If traditional cookbooks are your thing, this is not the book for you. But if you want some unique, easy and pretty darn good recipes, you won't be disappointed.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's on my Women's Lit reading list!, July 24, 2002

By 

English101 "pipnbronte" (Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook: They Came, They Cooked, They Left (But We Ended Up with Some Great Recipes) (Hardcover)

This book is not only humorous, it is smart. The authors have managed to put forth a work of post-feminism that puts the men in the kitchen. The short stories that accompany the recipes allow the authors the chance to muse on loves that have left their lives, but in no way have left them bitter or helpless. Instead, they have taken what was left and made it sweet--or in some cases savory! The Ex-Boyfriend Cookbook is on my reading list for the Women's Lit course I teach in fall.