Out with the old...

I admit right up front- I have an ever growing collection of cookbooks that is in desperate need to be weeded out! I figure that today was as good as any day to sit down and go through the ones I no longer use as a reference source for ideas. Well little did I know that I was setting myself up for some serious laughter...

So,there I was...innocently thumbing through a recipe book when I noted something odd. There was a reference to the origins of the recipe and how the original had called for use of "Squirrel Meat". Squirrel meat? Really??? My first thought was, How old is this cookbook? And my second thought was, Oh Lord let this have been and gift and nothing I bought for myself! When I looked at the cover, I laughed even harder because I instantly knew who had given me this cookbook. I smile and shake my head at the little things that make me laugh!

Christmas Gifts for the Gourmet cook in your family

Christmas time is perfect for picking out special things for the gourmet cook in your family. From fancy schmancy cookware, to cookbooks, kitchen appliances, table linens to kitchen gadgets and exotic spices.

Cookbooks make such wonderful gifts! I find myself in the cook book section. Oh my gosh hold me back! I love cooks books, reading them fills me with such joy and desire to make something yummy for my family. I ended up with a few different kinds of cookbooks and one or two are going to be given away as gifts to some of my girlfriends. There's nothing more fun than trying out new recipes and sharing them with friends. If I'm lucky, my friends will enjoy their cookbooks and share new recipes with me :-)

Cookbooks

One of these days I'm going to do it...write a cook book that is. I've had this idea for quite some time now. I do enough cooking and making up my own recipes that I can get enough recipes to make an entire recipe book. I'll get my children and husband to do the illustrations- now wouldn't that be a total laugh riot! I can just see it now, drawing of all kinds of things besides food. It's actually got me laughing just thinking about it.

Cook Books...how many do you own?

What is it about cookbooks that draws me in like a moth to a flame? I'm serious, it's almost like an addiction of sorts, LOL!

SOooooooooo, I'm working at the base thrift shop 3 days a week and I'm finding all sorts of little treasures in the place, my latest being a beautiful assortment of cookbooks. Many are near being brand new, like they've maybe been cracked open- glanced at - then consigned or donated to our thrift shop. We're selling them for a fraction of their retail cost. I was able to get some fantastic cookbooks which are making me want to cook up a storm this weekend! The Fish cookbook is making me drool! I look as if I have a serious case of rabies, LOL! There's on all about Vinegarettes- WOW that's one amazing cookbook! The kids cookbook is about cooking experiments- Hannah has the death grip on this one and we've already made 2 "experiments" from this great kids in the kitchen cookbook

What are you eating this summer?

Summertime to me is one of those seasons when I love to make use of every fresh fruits and vegetable I can get my hands on. I prefer to use those that are grown locally but that isn't always possible. Some items such as bananas and pineapples have to be imported from far off places.

I want to encourage everyone to go out and buy themselves a new recipe book and make something from that book at least 3 nights a week for the remainder of the summer! I have some cookbooks that I got with my latest Calphalon pan purchase, the one I'm using right now is the "Food Network Kitchens Cookbook" and let me tell you that these recipes are to die for! Yesterday I made Lobster Rolls for lunch...all I have to say is YUM! I had to keep the kids from trying to take mine when I wasn't looking, LOL! Just picture me trying to guard my little sandwich with a wooden spoon and my kids giggling like fiend's trying to take it from me. Now of course when I make this recipe again I'll add more celery as I felt it needed a little more crunch, other than that it was perfect! As for the bread, I used buns that are for bratwurst- they've got a meatier bite to them and will not get soggy.

I need to make a trip into town to shop for specialty items such as chipotles in adobo sauce and some fancier types of cheeses as our commissary doesn't carry those kinds of items.

Enjoy your summertime vegetables and fruits and make something new and exciting for your friends and family this week!

Hannah and her library books

Our daughter Hannah knows how much I enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes. For the past month or so she has been checking out every cookbook available at her school and bringing them home for me to read. So have scary recipes with things we wouldn't ever dream of eating (trust me you don't want to know). Yesterday she brought a Russian cookbook...she's going to freak out with the herring in sour cream. Personally growing up with a mother that lived most of her life in a foreign country I am used to such things (not eating them per say but seeing my mom eat them). I eat chicken, fish, pork and on a rare occasion beef (but never ground beef). My parents eat all kinds of meats, stuff that I'd never let touch my lips again. I'm sorry but I can't wrap myself around the idea of eating Moose, Elk, Venison (Deer), Bear, Rabbit or anything else that's out there in the wilderness. Give me a domestically grown chicken and I'm happy!

So here I am with her latest cooks books...Thai and Russian and there are a handful of recipes I will write down and test drive on my family. Hannah will be looking at me funny with the recipe that calls for 2½ cups of mayonnaise. You see, here in this household mayonnaise is only used for one thing, it's the binding ingredient in a tuna sandwich, that's it!

Another thing we don't really eat in our home is hard boiled eggs. Lots of these recipes in the Russian cook book call for hard boiled eggs. Hannah and I make egg salad sandwiches from time to time, but just eating hard boiled eggs or incorporating them into a recipe or even eating deviled eggs...it's not something that we do here in our home. I never really thought of that until I pulled out my 2 egg plates last week when I was rearranging the placement of something in my china hutch. Maybe I'll make some when we have our house warming party...that way I can use my pretty Polish Pottery egg plate that my best bud sent me when she went on her pottery shopping trip.

I'm off to read more of the Russian cookbook...