After my loooong sabbatical from this weblog, I'm returning with pictures from Becca's and my trip to NYC:
I've been meaning to post this for a long time: a listing of my favorite cook books.
It most certainly doesn't mean I've cooked everything in them; it's just that these are the cookbooks I read--and cook from--with pleasure. I'm sure I'll add to this list as I cook from books I have but haven't touched (Silver Spoon, anyone?), and others that I haven't bought yet (Laurel's Bread Book; Peter Rhinehart's Whole Grain Baking). It's a work-in-progress.
How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
This is cookbook is by the man behind the hilarious NY Times food videos. While he doesn't cook everything exactly to my taste, I can usually get a good recipe out of this one. And, as the title says, it does seem to have a recipe for just about--everything. My sister, Sharon, who is part of a CSA, can usually go to her handy-dandy HTCE to find a recipe for anything strange that might arrive in her veggie package. And it usually tastes good, too.
The Best (so far):
(Soaked) Lighter, Sweeter Cornbread
Sand Cake (With orange glaze)
Basic Pot Roast
Bean Croquettes
Thai or Asian Recipes (I don't always cook these, but they help inspire other things)
Moros y Christianos (Black beans with Rice)
Coconut Macaroons
Pear (or Peach) Clafoutis
...
Joy of Cooking--1997 ed.
A lot of people--at least since the new edition--have disced this cookbook, claiming that it "doesn't hold up to the standards of the old 1975 edition", or something like that. Well, call me a food nerd, but I really like this edition. I'm guaranteed a great recipe from this cookbook, no matter what. It's got my favorite banana bread recipe, bar none. It's got a great meat section--even some game, which I don't even think Mark Bittman has. (Figures. He lives in a city.) The only thing I truly begrudge it for is that they left out the canning section that's in the 1975 ed. (I have that one, too... lol), and that they took out an awesome key lime pie recipe.
The Best (so far):
Banana Bread
Roast Chicken with vegetables
Bread Pudding
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
Kale with Bacon
Carrot Cake
Buttermilk Layer Cake (A little crumbly, but would be awesome with a lemon glaze)
Lemon Curd
Sticky Buns
Buche de Noel
Chocolate Genoise
Buttercream Filling/Frosting
...
King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking
This is my latest acquisition, and it was worth every penny I paid for it. A lot of the recipes are not fully whole-grain, but I've forged ahead and made them with all freshly-ground flour. So far, I've not had one flop. Their cakes, so far, are superb. And their Honey-Whole Wheat biscuits are to die for. There's a lot more in here I've just not had time to try yet--Whole-Grain Puff Pastry to make croissants or dainishes with, crackers, and tons of pies and pastry. I'll eventually get around to it.
The Best (so far):
Honey-Whole Wheat biscuits
Chocolate Pound Cake
Lemon-Cornmeal Poundcake
...
The Cook's Bible by Christopher Kimball
While I don't always appreciate the dictatorial tone of this cook book, I had to include it for the sake of a lovely chocolate cake and some of the best cookie recipes ever. It was also my original inspiration behind brining poultry of any kind, and has a bread section that comprehensively explains the baking process.
The Best (so far):
Chocolate Cake
Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
Molassas Spice Cookies
Sugar Cookies (with many variations)
...
Julia Child's The French Chef Cookbook
This is one of those cookbooks that I love to read. Julia has such a way with words and is pure-t hilarious, even in recipe writing. And even though her recipes always have enough butter in them to choke a cow, there are special occasions that merit it. I've not cooked a lot out of this one--it's based off the old TV series-- but what I've cooked has always turned out well.
The Best (so far):
Le Marquis au Chocolate (chocolate genoise with buttercream frosting and ganache)
Les Supremes (one of the best-tasting white-meat chicken recipes ever) with risotto
Brioche (I've not actually cooked this one, but Julia was the only one who could give me a decent description of incorporating butter into yeast dough.)
...
Cook Something by Mitchell Davis
This is the wild-card of the bunch. It's not necessarily a great cookbook, though it does have some good recipes. It's just that this one book seems to capture the gamut of feelings as far as cooking is concerned. The I-don't-wanna-cook to the I-must-cook-now-because-I-must---it's all here.
The Best (reads or recipes):
Just-Between-You-And-Me Mashed Potatoes
Adam's Big Pancake
Mister Bean
Rita's Dinner Special
Scary Prefab Surprise
...
Happy reading!
I was over at a friend's house last night, and I saw something I hadn't seen in years:
--From when I was in high school and thought I was an artiste--lol--
It kinda makes me miss it.
I got to introduce them to real bread and chat it up--it was a lot of fun.
On another note, I'm on Spring Break this week. It's a taste of summer, with the bittersweet regret of the shortness of time. I think teachers--and their students--need at least a two-week break.
MY.REDEEMER.LIVETH_ JEFF.IN V-26 N-15 SUNDAY_ 55-0410S
59 As sure as that warm sun bathes across the fields when it's blistered from the winter's cold, there's got to be... That sun is put here for something. Down beneath there, somewhere, unseen to the human eye, is vegetation and life, that'll spring forth again, because that the sun was sent for that very same purpose.
And just as sure as the sunlight of God bathes into the human heart, there's a little hidden something there that men can't explain. It's calling out. There's got to be somewhere. I think of that, and my heart quivers for joy to know that we have the supreme evidence today that Christ raised from the dead.
Now, and I think of the times of the Old Testament too, when they looked forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus, when they foresaw Him and worshipped at the very thoughts of it. There was something in them calling out, a deep calling to a deep, waiting for a time, looking forward to the time when Jesus would come. Now, today, after He has come...
Now, back there Satan tried to blind the eyes of those who looked forward to it, to tell them that there was no such. But somehow or another, beyond anything that we can say this morning, but as the Holy Spirit pushed on their heart and give them a hunger and a thirst that there was coming a just One...
Job, now think, four thousand years, four thousand years before the coming of the Lord Jesus, Job saw the resurrection. And when he saw it by a vision, that it would be four thousand years before it happened, he had the assurance that, "I know my Redeemer liveth, and at the last days He will stand on the earth: though the skin worms destroys this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I'll see for myself, mine eyes shall behold, and not another." There was a deep calling to the deep in Job.
Satan might try to blot it out with death. He might say, "Yes, Job, you're going into the grave. Skin worms will take your body." That's right. We know that.
But Job said, "I'll stand at the last days with Him." He had the assurance that he was going to be there, for there was something in Job that told him that. And as Satan tried his best to blot it with death and everything, Job looked forward to it, to seeing it. Died in the faith, gave up the ghost, rose again on Easter morning with Christ, is immortal among men today. Hallelujah. Notice. No wonder the Angelic beings can sing, "Hallelujah." Know...
I don't know why I haven't posted more about sewing here, other than I don't do it as much as I do other things. And I only sew when I feel I need to or I have time to--and the time doesn't come very often. This Friday and Saturday, though, I sewed my Easter dress. It was a great pattern, one I'm sure I'll use again . It really came together in a day, and would have been even less if I'd realized what to do to the neckline to make it right first instead of last.
...on another note, though it doesn't particularly feel like it, Spring's on its way in:
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I have eaten | ||
These words were especially true the first time I baked the infamous No-Knead Bread first
introduced on the NY Times food page back in November. After I tried it once--and completely
failed--my dear sister told me to try, try again--so I did. The bread turned out better this time, but I'm still not exactly pleased. First thing, unlike Sharon,
I'm not exactly burnt out on my regular bread yet. (Makes sense--Sharon's been baking FGWW
Bread a year and a half longer than I have.) And it still had a flavor that I don't like--it's called
the "soaked wheat flavor". Yup. Admittedly, when it comes to cooking, I care more about flavor
than health. I'll prove that in a (not so skinny) minute.
So.. What to do if I ever get bored with my bread?
Cinnamon Raisin Bread/Cheese BreadHeheh. Flavor over health.
Just to drive the point home, lemme leave you with a recipe:
Easy Tortilla Soup
1/2 pound sausage
1 med-lge onion, cut into large dice
1 can or 1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1-2 cans black beans (I used home-cooked beans for both)
1 more can of beans of your choice
(black-eye peas, white beans, pintos or even kidneys work here)
1 can Italian tomatoes
1/2-1 can of Rotel tomatoes
1-2 t. cumin
1 T. tomato paste, or (easy choice) ketchup
salt and pepper to taste (I didn't need any)
Tortilla Chips, crushed
Grated Cheddar or Monterey, or Pepper Jack cheese
Brown sausage in a medium to large saucepan until no "pink" is left. Add in onion and saute until onions are slightly caramelized. Add remaining ingredients and cook until flavors have melded. When serving, top with crushed tortilla chips and cheese.
**And if you want to be healthy, you can always make your own tortilla chips with corn tortillias, some olive oil, salt, pepper, and a hot oven. And you can get your sausage locally. (That's for Sharon.)
**edit**
Today I made this soup with canned beans (two cans black; one can pintos), and added 1 t. chicken base and two bay leaves to compensate. I added 1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin; that seemed to do it. I think I got a little more than 1/2 a pound of meat though--maybe 5/8-3/4 a pound, because I used two small onions, and added an extra can of plain tomatoes. After adding the extra can of tomatoes, I did add some extra pepper, but still no extra salt. I hope this helps for anyone who tries it with canned beans!
**end of edit**
WHY.ARE.PEOPLE.SO.TOSSED.ABOUT_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-14 SUNDAY_ 56-0101
7-7 Now, straight to the Word. Before let's just give a little word of thanks to the Lord Jesus.
Our heavenly Father, we're just so grateful today for the--for You down here in this modern age, in the age of automobiles, airplanes, jets, the rockets, and--and all kind of science: telephone, television, and a modern atomic weapons, and so forth. You are still the supreme, almighty, omnipotent, omniscient God that created the heavens and earth and patterned out the sky. God, we can't explain it. We can't explain it. Neither can we explain why the sky doesn't have an end, how the world can revolve around, and so perfect till twenty years before, they can tell when the eclipse of the sun is coming; because Your machinery works exact. We can't produce a piece of machinery to be that exact. Oh, but great Jehovah, Who holds this earth here in space, it's perfect. And we love You, and all Your doings are just and right.
And we submit ourselves to Thee this morning, the beginning of this new year, and ask that You fill us all with the Holy Spirit, Lord, and draw us close to Thee; and may Thy everlasting arms be around us and hold us, Lord, for the days are shaking and dark, but the Morning Star is leading the way. We shall follow, Lord. Where He leads me, I will follow. If it be some through the waters, some through the flood, some through deep trials, but all through the Blood.WHY.ARE.PEOPLE.SO.TOSSED.ABOUT_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-14 SUNDAY_ 56-0101
8-1 O God, lead us by Thy everlasting hand until the victory finally is won, and Jesus returns to the earth. Sin, sickness, and sorrow will be ended, and we'll live this glorious millennium with Thee. We're longing for that great day. Come, Lord Jesus, to Thy Word today. Get into It. Circumcise the lips that speak, and the hearts that hear. And may the seed fall into the heart where the Holy Spirit will sow it, and bring forth a hundredfold. We ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
May God richly bless you all.
The Pro's:
I hope everyone had a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving!
This is more of a "xangan" thing to do, but...
My personal DNA report
I didn't realize this until later, but if you mouse over each color, you can see what it means.
Please pray for the Carver family, and the Tabernacle of the Lord church family. Bro. Gerald Carver passed away yesterday. He'd been sickly for a while, but it was a shock for us. It's hard to lose a man of his caliber.
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.
I know what it means to live on a rock. The rock of my faith --
the Catholic Church ...
Too often, I've been slow to share the truth with those around me. I've been reluctant, asking myself what they'd think if they knew--if they knew I believed in following a man. But the more I see of this sad world, the more I'm convinced that it matters not a whit what people think. This world is so full of people following the wrong men, why should it matter if I follow the right one--the one who displayed Jesus Christ in this hour? Despite this world's crazy ideals that make the truth sound insane, I want to be a witness. Wherever I'm supposed to, I want to witness. Lord, help me to witness. Because I've been so blessed to know the truth--it found me.
THE.MASTERPIECE_ JEFF.IN V-4 N-7 SUNDAY_ 64-0705
2 Lord Jesus, Thou the--the Fountain, inexhaustible Fountain of Life, flow through us today, Lord, and cleanse us from all unbelief and all sin, that we might stand in Thy Presence now, knowing that there is need among us, that we know that we are sinners and not--not worthy of any blessing. But then when we think of Him Who came and took our sins! Then, when His Blood is there, it's not--it's not us in the Presence of God, it's Him. It's just our voice through His Blood. His Blood is speaking. O God, then cleanse our hearts from sin and unbelief.
3 Give to us the desires of our heart, for we truly have these desires to serve You. In these weakening conditions and afflictions, and things of the world that's put upon us sometime, to perfect us; we've been told that. Then He said, "Think it not strange that these trials come." They're only working out for our good and to perfect us, and bring us into that place. These great deserts of experience, where righteous man are molded into saints, we--we thank Thee for these experiences, Lord. We would no mean, no wise want to do anything contrary to Your will. But we pray, Father, that in this we'll be brought closer to You.
4 And when the burdens are so heavy we can't go no farther, then we raise our hands and scream to our Father. Then hear from Heaven, Lord.
Heal us, make us well, for the Kingdom of God's sake.
Bless Thy Word this morning, Lord. Thy Word is the Truth.
And that's putting it euphemistically.
First, school started.
Then, my home internet went out at lightning speed. Literally.
Sooo.... I don't know how much I actually have to say, but here I am!
First: A personality check, thanks to Sharon:
| You Are a Green Crayon |
| While some may associate green with money, you are one of the least materialistic people around. Comfort is important to you. You like to feel as relaxed as possible - and you try to make others feel at ease. You're very happy with who you are, and it certainly shows! Your color wheel opposite is red. Every time you feel grounded, a red person does their best to shake you. |
