You know I love to cook!
You should conclude that I love Cookbooks.
That makes sense, right?
Well, I have a wonderful resource for cookbooks.
Its called the Library and they let you borrow the books and when you bring them back you can get more!!!
Isn't that ingenious?!!!
Who would have ever dreamed that you could go to a place where they love books like you do and they let you borrow them?
I don't have to describe the secret thrill of seeing an interesting title and after opening that book and reading a line or two- a whole new world opens up for you!
Recently I discovered a cookbook by Susie Quick called The Cake Club.
I started reading it and fell in love with Susie's Mom, Emma and knew I wanted a copy of this book for my own. So, after a quick search on eBay, I clicked Buy It Now and mine was on it's way! Then I went to Susie Quicks website and emailed her and asked for permission to Blog about her book. That is what I love about the world today.
Everyone has become accessible. Check out her website- Honest Farm. Email is immediate and though the response may take a while, usually you get an answer. I have never written a fan letter but I might start!
I would start off by saying Thank you, if I were writing Susie, and then I would go on to tell her how much I appreciated the effort it must have taken to put this book together. I love the stories, the pictures, even though I wish they were in color and the antidotes that preface each recipe.
Charming.
Simply Charming.
I am so glad that I found it. I want to form a Cake Club that meets once a month and has cake baking parties. I want to learn how to make a "Tunnel of Love chocolate-Macaroon Bundt Cake".
I have been really hooked on cupcakes and pies and now I just want to bake cakes.
Or maybe I want the nostalgic feeling of comfort from remembering my own Mother, in an apron, baking lemon meringue pies and my Grandmother baking pound cakes in her wooden bowl. Beating it with 500 strokes. The women I adored wore aprons and pearls. Well, my Grandma only wore her pearls to church on Sunday. The kitchen always smelled good. Vanilla and cinnamon.
I am also a big fan of the Moosewood Cookbooks, by Mollie Katzen. She compiled, edited, Illustrated and hand lettered the Moosewood Cookbook and the first time I saw it back in the 80's I was in love. First published in 1977, it features recipes from the Moosewood restaurant in Ithaca, NY. Moosewood is a type of Maple tree and the restaurant was begun in Sept 1972 by a group of friends who enjoyed getting together to cook and eat and wanted to start a community project. I recently checked out the Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts and am going to be hunting it down for my own bookcase.
Now I want to try this dessert so bad! It sounds delicious! Pears and ginger. Sounds yummy! I am also reading the Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum pub 1998.
I am adding it to my list. I think between it and Martha's Baking Handbook I will learn how to make a great pie crust, or die trying!
I am blessed with a patient (and trusting) Husband who will eat just about anything I cook. As long as I don't say: "Here, smell this" I am good to go with him eating it, if I dish it out. Last Saturday, I went downtown and after visiting the bookstore and getting the Winter issue of Marie Claire Idees, I walked over to Whole Foods and picked up a few treats. Knowing that I might be getting home late, I grabbed a lasagna, (thinking it must be wonderful) and lessening my guilt for leaving Fred all day, even though Sadie is good company, she can't make him sammies, though I am trying to teach her, she keeps eating all the peanut butter and can't hold a knife, but I digress and waste commas.
OK, so the lasagna was pretty bad, It was Awful. The bottom layer was like cardboard and I couldn't believe it!
Not only was it too expensive, it tasted like crap. Then I felt really bad.
Bad wife moment # 312.
So, occasionally I try to make it up to him and bake sweet stuff.
You know it! I also like to find new recipes for meals I usually only get when we go out to eat. Like Sesame Chicken. I really enjoy this recipe from Everyday Foods and have made it twice with delicious results.
Ingredients:
Serves 4
* 3/4 cup brown rice
* 3 tablespoons honey
* 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed with a garlic press
* 2 large egg whites
* 1/4 cup cornstarch
* 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch chunks
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower
* 4 scallions, thinly sliced
* 1 1/2 pounds broccoli, cut into large florets, stems peeled and thinly sliced
Directions
1. Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, and fill with 1 inch water; set aside for broccoli. Cook rice according to package instructions.
2. Meanwhile, make sauce: In a small bowl, combine honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and garlic; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites and cornstarch. Add chicken; season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add half the chicken; cook, turning occasionally, until golden and opaque throughout, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining tablespoon oil and chicken. Return all the chicken to skillet; add reserved sauce and scallions, and toss to coat.
4. Meanwhile, place saucepan with steamer basket over high heat; bring water to a boil. Add broccoli, and cook until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
Serve sesame chicken with broccoli and rice.
I served it with white rice and spinach. It is so yummy! I grated the garlic and it was super strong! I also made some purple potatoes- they turned out lavender after I mashed them and added butter.
Delicious.
I don't usually serve two starches, but I stuck them in the oven earlier when I was making wreaths and forgot about them and then whipped up the sesame chicken. Crazy Kim? Yep. The old memory ain't what it used to be. Anyway. I recommend auditioning cookbooks before buying them and supporting local libraries.
I have checked out some that I was glad I hadn't purchased.
My Sister Laura has over 350 cookbooks and I just got her a few more for her collection. She doesn't Blog, but if she did she could write about a different cookbook everyday for a year! That's amazing! I think I would need a new bookcase if I bought many more. That's what's so cool about the library. They have room.