Share Your Cookbook Shelf

What’s on your cookbook shelf?  These days, many people are cooking from recipes on the internet instead of cookbooks.

Did you ever discard or pass on a cookbook and then later regret your having gotten rid of it?

Diets, tastes and trends change over time.  I have a wooden box of my grandmother’s recipes but I’m  not making them.

I always enjoy reading a cookbook in bed, planning meals or dishes to try. Thinking about entertaining.  What I usually end up doing is making the same things over and over again for the most part, not using a recipe.

Comfort foods as of late, with the ongoing winter temps I feel motivated to cook hearty meals-  and eat them!

Here’s my sister’s cookbook shelf in NYC.  You might remember seeing her kitchen.  I love the Coldweather Cooking book and have a copy myself. I love to bake the Brown Mountain Cake out of the Farm Journal Country Cookbook.  The Fannie Farmer makes me think of my mother’s Boston Cooking School Cookbook,  tied with a ribbon.

I open old cookbooks, find a handwritten note or  a yellowed recipe between the pages, see my mother’s hand- memories of my childhood or my children’s childhood, recipes past, present and the ones I’ve clipped for the future (always heavy on the desserts!)

I’ll share my cookbook shelf another post.  Hope you will share your cookbook shelf photo.

Cookbook Shelf

It was hard to get it all in one shot, it’s a tight space!

Leftovers – Love ’em or Heave ’em?

-or save them first and then heave them after they get a bit furry in the fridge.

Or eat them cause you feel it a duty, but not enjoy them wholeheartedly?

How do you feel about leftovers?  Does it depend on the type of food saved?

Today as I drove home after school, I thought about the spaghetti sauce in the fridge and although freshly made pasta is preferable, warming up a bowl of leftovers with hot sauce poured over top was incredibly satisfying.

A little fresh grated cheese.  Mmmm.  Eating my way through winter…………..

Didn’t have to start a meal from scratch and it was a relief to know it was there waiting on a shelf in the refrigerator. I looked forward to eating it again.

I thought the spaghetti sauce tasted even better today.

Some people don’t enjoy leftovers or being served leftovers for supper.

And true, certain dishes are better than others in the leftover department. Chili seems to improve, the flavors marry as they say.

I know I have wrapped things up and put them away or I have saved food in a little plastic container and forgotten all about it and then when I unearth it, it’s inedible and needs to be pitched.  Storing in clear glass is key to seeing what is there to eat.

Does gender make a difference in leftover preference?  Do you have a limit as to how long you will keep a dish?

When I did some research on leftovers I found an article about how Americans waste about twenty pounds of food each month. Yikes, that seems like a lot and is a disgusting statistic. So wasteful.

Growing up you were encouraged to consume everything and clean your plate. My mother had a book as a child The Sunny/ Sulky Book and one of the  naughty kids (the book could be turned upside down to read about the good children)  always took more on his plate than he could eat.  One night he was visited by a Fairy-Eat-It-All in a dream and given a spoon to consume the mountain of food he had wasted.  Eyes bigger than his stomach situation I guess.

A moral tale.

spaghetti sauce

One time I posted how to revive a piece of leftover cake 

 

One of the Fancy Apples

A welcome gift.  Fancy fresh fruit. Perishable, DO NOT FREEZE the boxes state.

Tonight as I cut up a couple of perfectly ripe pieces for the family to share,  I remembered another fancy apple I ‘d cut with the apple sectioner at home in Pittsburgh.  Steve’s former colleague had shipped them and his former boss sent some succulent red grapefruit.

Our cracker selection a bit pedestrian but paired well with the cheese and fruit.

Each apple wrapped in green tissue, cradled in a partitioned box,  accompanied by a handwritten map telling which type of apple was in each space.  Refrigerate upon receipt.  

Here in Ohio there were juicy pears in gold foil papers, sheets of green foam cushioning their journey from Oregon.

A box of oranges are in the garage keeping cool.

Doesn’t fruit always taste better when someone else cuts it up and places it on a plate?

You might remember a similar photo of a  cut pear from a 2012  Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise post 

fancy apple

 

 

What’s Your Guilty Pleasure Comfort Food? One of a series…..

Okay, it’s not good for you.  I know it!   Beanie Weenies.  

Here’s the recipe. Cut a package of hot dogs like coins.

Throw in pan and turn up the gas flame.

Open can of beans

and pour over sizzling “meat”.

Simmer and serve.

Buttered toast on the side optional.

Yep, it’s dark outside, every day getting shorter and shorter and  the winter looms.  (actually today felt like Spring so let me think of a different excuse)

It’s easy. You have it in the house and don’t have to go to the store.

And you have a taste for something simple that isn’t good for you.  It’s on your mind.

My friend said you can go through a lot, getting to what you wanted in the first place.

 

Make it, eat it, be aware it isn’t a healthy choice.

My vegan, veg, Paleo, Primal, non-processed food, gourmet bloggers, and real- food conscious friends and family will have to avert their eyes today.

 

Weenies sliced like coins

 

I think it is the lighting from the range hood that gives it the unreal color cast.   I hope.

 

Simmer Baked BeansAlmost ready.  Don’t read any labels.  Enjoy.

Beanie Weenie SupperPut  your knitting aside.                           Try to not spill supper onto fleece robe and plaid pajamas.

Main Dish Preference- Fresh, Frozen or Veg?

For those followers who celebrate traditional Thanksgiving this Thursday……which is your preference?

Fresh,       Frozen     or  Veg?

turkey featherHardy Virginia Turkey Feather from Neighboring Farm, November 2012

Roast Beef Sundae – Guest Blog

Sunday afternoon at the car show in Columbus, Ohio-

my son Mark saw this sign, photographed it and sent it to me on the phone.

I’ve not seen a sign like this before, so maybe it is new to you, too!

Roast Beef Sundae Sign

Sawdust on the Floor, Hot Pastrami on Rye, Six Foot Sandwich and Send a Salami

Katz’s Deli in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

My sister took me there for lunch on Thursday.  We shared a hot pastrami on rye with both fresh and pickled pickles.   I’d never been to Katz’s before but would definitely go again.  Everyone gets a ticket upon entering.  You have to show it when you leave and pay, even if it is blank like mine was as Mary treated.

I sat at the table while she got in line for the carver to carve the meat.  I can tell you the sandwich was delicious. as were the accompanying pickles.

A huge menu and lots more to order but half a sandwich was plenty.  A nice woman let me photograph her matzoh ball but I didn’t think the photo looked good enough to post.

Before we went, Mary answered my query by googling and finding the chow hound telling the difference between pastrami and corned beef.

While we were there she pointed out the sawdust on the floor. Lots of celebrities photos and neon beer signs from floor to ceiling.

I’d heard of the slogan- Send a Salami to Your Boy in the Army but didn’t remember the song which is also my sister’s reference. Thanks Mary.

Neon sign at Katz's Deli

Sawdust on the Floor

Katz's Deli interior

A popular spot for lunch.  Fellow diners at the deli.

Pastrami on Rye

Hot Pastrami on Fresh Rye as photographed by my iPhone.

Two kinds of pickles

Two kinds of pickles. both delicious, iPhone shot again.

Six Foot Sandwich

You can order a six foot sandwich to go for $275

(Took this with the Canon 5D 50/ 1.2L  lens, no flash)

6 ft sandwich to go

Packing up the six footer in a special box.  Plenty of muster and mayo went with it.

Katz's Deli interior

Send a Salami

Send a Salami to Your Boy in the Army

Katz's Deli sign

How Many Hot Dogs in Ten Minutes?

Food eating contests aren’t really my thing- in fact, I don’t understand the urge to prepare and practice for such an event! Or what one might feel like afterwards.

But today when my sister pointed out this sign, I tried to fathom what the numbers meant.  And the countdown ’til July 4th is visible on this sign.

My sister found a stat on a guy who in 1972 ate 19 and in 2012 the guy ate 68!  That’s quite an increase in consumption.

Did I mention that this effort takes place in TEN MINUTES time???    I don’t even want to witness this contest in person but I find it amazing that it exists.

This is an INTERNATIONAL contest. You can read more about it here  And yes, there is an International Federation of Competitive Eating  who approves such contests.

You don’t just show up. You have to qualify. Joey Chestnut has been winning since 2007 but competition is nipping at his heels.

There’s a female champion, Sonya Thomas.

A little controversy- this guy’s photo was removed from the sign in 2011 and  last year Takeru Kobayashi wasn’t allowed to compete and ate hot dogs on the rooftop in Manhattan?  Check out his other food competitions if you wish- includes cow brains and Twinkies but not eaten simultaneously, different contests at this link.    My sister said when he is not competing he eats cabbage and fasts. Good plan.

He pioneered the Solomon Method- break in half and eat both halves at once then eat the bun.  (or something like that)

  You can jump and down while you eat them.  Or sway side to side.

Hot Dog Eating Countdown Sign

 

 

Mary found the sign AFTER we had each consumed one hot dog with sauerkraut and mustard.  I was reminiscing about visiting Nathan’s on Coney Island with my 3 kids in November 1991. When we were there at Thanksgiving the place was deserted.

Two of Nathan's hot dogs

 

 

 

And if hot dogs aren’t for you there are the frog legs….

(note the calories listed on each menu item)

Frog Legs on the Menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nathan's Sign

 

 

 

 

 

Famous Frankfurters

 

 

 

 

Nathan's World Famous

Fresh Eggs Make the Best Omelet

My colleague brought me a dozen fresh eggs from her chickens. Thanks S.

I loved how each egg had a date written on the end.  I made an omelet this Saturday morning with some Cabot Creamery Extra Sharp White Cheddar.  Maybe a tad too much butter.  Couldn’t cook and photograph with the cell phone simultaneously.  I was told you want “sound” when the eggs hit the pan.

I know the chickens are well cared for and eat organic feed.  Fresh eggs make the best omelet.  It was delicious.  If I were a true photographer I would have made a neater looking one and photographed it again but no one else around to eat the wrinkled one. I went on Google images to see how my omelet fares by comparison and I think it is fine. These eggs are too precious to waste.

 

Eggs

beating eggs

butter in the pan

making omelet

Yes, a little too much butter.  Eat the toast with jam no butter due to excess amount on the eggs!

Hiding the imperfect folds with the farm grain bread toast. Now to polish the French PepperMill that was a wedding gift in 1974.

omelet

Thai Cuisine on Liberty Ave at Pearl Street in Bloomfield

When I got home from school, Steve asked me if I wanted to go eat at the Thai Cuisine Restaurant in Bloomfield. Bloomfield is considered the Italian section of the city and I have blogged the Italian Festival and scenes from the Bloomfield Bridge.

On Liberty Ave at Pearl Street, across from the  Bloomfield Laundromat,there’s delicious Thai food in this wonderfully Italian neighborhood.

I was so tired when Steve suggested going out to eat, I thought about lying down and taking a rest instead.

Fortunately, I decided to take him up on his offer and am I ever glad I did.  He’d brought home take-out from this restaurant before but had never dined in. He told me how nice they were to him and always remembered his name.

It’s BYOB. They have a vegetarian menu,too.  The service -friendly and nice, the food fresh and perfectly prepared. Very tasty. The decor and ambience clean and comfortable.  Love the cloth napkins.

We enjoyed our dinner tremendously.

We ordered two dishes to share and the brown rice. There are curries and appetizers, soups and salads and desserts.  Spicy Basil Fried Rice seems to be a favorite in the reviews.  The YELP reviews = overall four out of five stars.  The Urbanspoon seemed quite favorable and highly recommended by the City Paper Critic, too

Authentic Thai Restaurant

 

 

 

 

Ginger Roots

Ginger Roots  Onions, Black Mushrooms, Broccoli, Carrots, Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Snow Peas, with Chicken

 

 

 

 

Shrimp Pad Thai

 

 

Classic Shrimp Pad Thai

 

 

My plate

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_0169

 

The view from my seat in the front window booth.

 

 

Laquered Table with Church Reflection

 

 

And the high gloss lacquered table reflecting formerly St. Joseph’s Church

 

Cloth Napkins

 

Our server rolled all the silverware in wonderful cloth napkins- stacked and ready to go

 

And Steve took a shortcut down the alley to get us home.  Love being a passenger so I can photograph with the good old iPhone camera.  Did not take my regular camera to dinner.

IMG_0180