♬♫♬ Na na na na na na na - It's the motherfuckin' D-O-double-G ♬♫♬
When I saw Snoop had a cookbook coming out I was most definitely like this shizz♬♫♬ Na na na na na na na - It's the motherfuckin' D-O-double-G ♬♫♬
When I saw Snoop had a cookbook coming out I was most definitely like this shizzle is going to be in my hizzle for rizzle, but I have to talk myself into almost every purchase so I hadn’t bought it yet. That’s not to say I’m not a very old and very white fangirl of the West Coast OGs. Watching Snoop’s career morph from gangsta rapper when I was a youngster to the easy for everyone’s palate youth football coach and Martha’s bestie in my middle-age has been a true delight, so when this puppy dropped to twelve bucks on Amazon there was zero chance my husband wasn’t going to pull the trigger and have this show up on the doorstep for me.
While I love the bougieness of Martha Stewart and her pantry full of 47 types of salt and 27 olive oils, can we just take a second to appreciate Snoop’s true staples which are hot sauce and ranch. Or that he includes pages on what types of cereals and chips are the best? Surprisingly, From Crook to Cook also contained a quality mix of recipes from the expected chicken and waffles (I mean did y’all even watch Snoop and Martha’s Potluck Dinner Party???) to lobster thermidore and seared filets.
I was actually planning on making jambalaya for dinner at some point this week so I had all of the ingredientsesssssss all ready to go that could be morphed into Snoop’s “Dirty South Gumbo” and since I was working from home I had my lunch hour free to make the thirty minute roux necessary to start this recipizzle. Okay, I’ll stop torturing you with the Snoop lingo now.
So, like I said, this one starts with a roux (that’s one cup oil to one cup flour, whisked together on medium heat and then stirred every few minutes to prevent burning for 20-30 minutes for those who don’t know) and then a minced version of the “holy trinity” (but with red bell peppers rather than the standard green this go ‘round) added to complete the base . . . .
The “difficult” (which is not difficult at all – just takes a bit of time) is that prep. After that part’s done, you just dump a bunch of chicken stock, sausage, chicken (I added shrimp too since I had it), hot sauce and seasons and let her cook . . . .
And your family will think you are the real dizzle. Come on! You had to know I wasn’t done yet.
Anyway, this cookbook contains plenty of things I already make like street tacos, sheet pan nachos and mack daddy macaroni and cheese, but they each have a little twist on the fixins so I’ll certainly try his versions (especially for Super Bowl Sunday) and there’s a pork chop, mashed sweet potato and spinach recipe that will be a Sunday dinner coming to my house soon. This is a cookbook I wanted to own simply because I’m a sucker for a good gimmick, but was pleasantly surprised to discover was actually a pretty quality release (especially for cooking newbies). And the price point of $12? That’s the true chef’s kiss.
While I’m admittedly not a huge nonfiction reader, I do enjoy the occasional memoir and what better time than Nonfiction November to take a
[image]
While I’m admittedly not a huge nonfiction reader, I do enjoy the occasional memoir and what better time than Nonfiction November to take a “Taste” of what Stanley Tucci has to offer *rimshot*. (I’ll be here all week!) Usually I opt for comedians’ autobiographies, but I adore Stanley Tucci and requested the library purchase this months before its scheduled publication date. There’s just something about a quality character actor - someone who can convince you they are ANYONE - and Tucci is one of the best.
There’s also something about Italian food and as a batch of German/Swedes my family has been blessed to have been “adopted” by a group of traditional Italians and experienced the magnificence of Sunday gravy, a metric ton of wedding cookies, homemade bruschetta, Thanksgiving dinner that comes with meat dressing and so many other culinary delights.
But more than the food it is Tucci himself that makes this book work. He’s funny, charming, well spoken, kind - basically he’s exactly as a fan would hope him to be. He never hesitates to drop a name (I mean come on you know that’s the main reason for picking up any celebrity memoir), but he has not a bad word to say about anyone. It thrills me that Meryl Streep and he are real life pals and that his experience on The Devil Wears Prada was a favorite. If Tom Hanks is “America’s Dad” then Tucci is most certainly a favorite uncle.
If you are a foodie - or maybe just an eatie like me - who enjoyed the television series Stanley Tucci Searching for Italy, I highly recommend checking out The Chef Show as well. Jon Favreau is another actor/writer/director who turned his passion for food into a movie and documentary series....more
There lies that magical moment of Thanksgiving leftovers where your family isn’t quite ready to bludgeon you for making “TURKEY AGAIN, OMG KAREN MOM!!!!!” I was lucky enough to score a big ol’ box of fabulousness from Far Country Press and found this little selection while perusing the pages . . . .
This was a little Reubeny with the addition of Thousand Island dressing and scored big points with the family. And here’s a confession: I never thought of adding cheese to the outside as well as the inside of a sammich. That’s a gamelifechanger . . . .
Remember the olde days when meat didn’t cost $87.00 a pound? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, hFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Remember the olde days when meat didn’t cost $87.00 a pound? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, here’s a #tbt (that’s Throwback Thursday to all you Boomers) from a time before quarantine and pandemics and pay cuts . . . . .
Good news is the library is back open for pick-ups so you know this a-hole’s trigger fingers are going nuts requesting allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the books today.
(No rating on this one because my non-synopsis reading self thought it was a cookbook, but it was literally a nonfiction story about a dude and steak.) ...more
In case you missed it, my life has become an endless feeding session of these young humans who are being held captive in the house for at least another 30 days. Luckily I receive an expired meat delivery courtesy of the Walmart truck a new cookbook every couple of weeks so they don’t rip my arm off like one of my homeboy Joey E.’s tigers. In order to prevent me from punching someone in the face when my at-home workday ended and my dinner making sessions begin, I started taking my own precautions . . . . .
This cookbook is getting all of the stars because (1) I am a fatty, (2) I love Italian food, (3) it helped me make things the past week that made me feel like Carmella Soprano . . . .
Captain’s Log – Day 873 of Quarantine: My existence has become an endless feeding sessFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Captain’s Log – Day 873 of Quarantine: My existence has become an endless feeding session of the young Earthlings residing in this dwelling. So many requests for food. So many dirty dishes. So little alcohol . . . . .
Anyone else relate? At this point with all of this “family togetherness” by the time evening rolls around I pretty much am like . . . . .
But then I remember that one of these chicks might actually be leaving the nest soon so I suck it up, take their order, serve it up with only a teensie side of . . . . .
And only occasionally toss a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread and this cookbook on the kitchen counter for those days I really can’t take one more second of communicating with the trolls I created inside my own body.
Seriously, though, this may be my favorite cookbook I’ve ever received. When I got married, I pretty much could burn water. And before my husband was my husband he offered to cook chili for me and it turned out to not even be opening up a can of Hormel, but a SEASONING STARTER you are supposed to add to your ground beef/tomatoes/beans/onions/etc. that was pretty much just tobasco sauce and chili powder. (Talk about fire in the hole!) We could have used a little kitchen helper like this. Every recipe is definitely easy (and yes, you fellow oldies will find many to be kind of “duh” creations – “Nuts on a salad? Who would have ever imagined!?!?!?!?!). However, please remember we are living in a time where people pay a shitton of money for things like “avocado toast” not realizing it’s smashed avocado on a piece of toast with some salt and pepper . . . .
And I was pushing 40 before I knew you could make a halfway decent egg in a microwave so we ain't all Ina Gartens, bro. I love that these recipes are simple. I love that they are designed for one or two people. I love that this incorporates breakfast, lunch, dinner, salads, snacks, desserts (tell me your life didn’t change with the first Pinterest mug cake you could make only for yourself and eat in the quiet gloaming after sending your hellions to bed). I love that they are cooked in microwaves and on hot plates and require little to no kitchen apparatuses (apparati????) in order to get a finished product.
This might be just what the youngster in your life needs before venturing out on their own. Mine will have to buy one for himself, though, because I’m keeping this one.
And once again to (literally) put my mouth where someone else’s money was – I made the creamy tomato soup last night . . . .
(This pic for the ‘Gram shows a couple of $10 items that have become staples in my kitchen that I highly recommend to young’ins. I made my grilled cheese and ham the old fashioned way in a pan because I am pretty much Paula Deen when it comes to any excuse to use butter . . . . .
But this sammich maker has been the bomb dot com. I also didn’t know how much I needed an immersion blender in my life until I got one. Not only is it mommy’s little helper when it comes to soups and smoothies, but have you found yourself with no ability to grab a Frappé on your one required day at the office due to state-wide shutdowns? No problem. A little coffee, a little cream, a little ice, this blender and a can of Reddi-wip for a quick huff the top is nearly as good and won’t cost you $7.)
Copy provided by Callisto Publisher’s Club in exchange for an honest review....more
I know many people find it difficult to get a not-so-positive review to a book they receiFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
I know many people find it difficult to get a not-so-positive review to a book they received for free, but I am not one of those people. Especially when it comes to something like cookbooks that come with such a heavy price point. I am all for anything with the tagline “Easy” or “5 Ingredients” or “30 Minutes” and on and on, but I also think if people are going to purchase a cookbook rather than simply Googling recipes, it should be one they plan on falling back on time and again. Unfortunately, this probably isn’t that cookbook. From teaching how to make things that are easily purchased in stores (maple flavored breakfast sausage) to recipes that simply aren’t great (chocolate chip cookies made more like a Hello Dolly with sweetened condensed milk but missing the delicious coconut) to meals your family is sure to complain about (plain chicken breast thrown in a 425 degree oven), this simply didn’t have many appetizing selections . . . . .
Not to mention someone who needs help figuring out how to turn leftover taco meat into nachos probably isn’t going to have devices like immersion blenders or spiralizers in their cupboard.
No food pic because I didn’t want to make anything from this. Here’s my “quarantine station” instead . . . .
Apparently my reaction to pseudo-quarantine is to make sure everyone in the house is stufFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Apparently my reaction to pseudo-quarantine is to make sure everyone in the house is stuffed like Thanksgiving turkeys. I also think I accidentally bought a 10-lb bag of potatoes rather than 5-lb, but for the sake of me not looking like an idiot let’s go with the first reason.
So anyway, through no fault of my own aside from the fact that I am nothing if not a carer and nurturer, I ended up with enough leftover mashed potatoes to feed an army. Then this little beauty arrived and I discovered that when the kids asked what was for dinner, rather than saying Shepherd’s Pie which results in a reaction like . . . .
Okay, not really, but I didn’t have to bash them in the face with a frying pan and they ate it without whining so that’s a win.
Here’s the “pretty” food pic – kind of hard to put lipstick on a meal that looks like a turd but it proves that I actually cook this stuff so keep giving me free shit publishers . . . .
But it turns out it is either sinus or inner-ear driven and not something I can spread around the office to all of my unsuspecting co-workers. It did, however, make me super pukey, effed my balance up pretty efficiently and made it nearly impossible for me to read during my eight hours of freedom. I know what you’re thinking . . . .
Samesies. I also had already blown through all of my various Househos on the DVR so I commenced with a marathon of Love It Or List It and dug out a stack of freebie cookbooks I’ve been acquiring for the past couple of months and failing to ever peruse or review.
Let’s start with the title of this one. Oh Lord, there would be so many complaints. Trust me . . . .
A more appropriate name for this might be the “Comfort Food Family Cookbook” because it had every single thing I want to eat when I need to turn my frown upside down and while I agree this was pretty comprehensive when it comes to nutritional value and did offer some alternatives when possible, zero effs were given when it came to only providing recipes free of gluten/carbs/dairy/meat/everything else that I find delicious.
I am a total cookbook hoarder (complete with one of those rolling carts everyone was buying a while ago located in a prominent position in my kitchen) and I’m giving this 5 Stars because I will use it over and over again. I love the idea of recipes for everything from Sunday pot roast to beef and broccoli all being conveniently located in one book.
And to prove that I’m not just a hoarder, but actually a real June Cleaver who also cooks dinner for the fam the majority of the time, here was last night’s selection:
As a mother of teenaged sons, I will say Top Ramen and Cup O Noodles remain staples in my pantry since that and a bowl of cereal are about the only thing my bottomless pits are capable of cooking on their own before I get home from work to stop them from starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrving to death.
In case you are either an alien or live in a cave and aren’t familiar with what I’m talking about, this is what would most likely come to mind for your average American when the word “ramen” gets mentioned . . . .
I work full-time, have two busy kids and everyone in my house aside from me is a picky mother&*#$er so I need either fully-committed-all-day-recipes that they just know they can’t complain about or real easy to throw together/add or subtract whatever you like but at least it’s still home cooking dinner options. This book helped me provide the latter . . . . .
This was my husband’s bowl that I snapped just in case there ended up not being enough for me – I will double or triple the recipes in here from now on because . . . .
So every now and again I channel my inner Fantine. One pot cooking I can do. Cooking for two? More like cooking for eight even though there are only four of us. And leftovers? Never heard of her!
I love Rockridge Press cookbooks. They are all the same size so they look real purrrrrty in my hoard the rolling cart I have in my kitchen. Sidenote: Actual footage of me running to Michael’s when everyone started posting pictures of these carts on Instagram . . . .
And, despite not having a bunch of pictures – which is always my preference, this was full of recipes I would actually eat and that were simple to make so it still gets 4 Stars.
Just in case you think I don’t actually cook from the books I receive, here you go . . . .
Underneath all of that Mexican slaw and guac-y goodness you will find one pot pulled pork. Maybe next time I’ll remember to assemble the dinner so the main thing actually shows. But probably not.
Full disclosure here: I receive cookbooks occasionally from Callisto Publisher’s Club in exchange for my honest review. This is one of them. ...more
I tried to score a free copy of this one, but alas it was not meant to be. However, sinceFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
I tried to score a free copy of this one, but alas it was not meant to be. However, since my husband: (a) has a Facebook and has been inundated by the oversharing of “Tasty” recipes over the years, plus I am obviously one of these types of people . . . .
But you all have to endure the annoyance with these “reviews” since this is my only social media outlet, (b) drives Miss Daisy our children to their baseball practices where he has a couple of hours to kill before Ubering them back home again while I drink $2 Aldi wine and harrass Shelby on the phone, (c) appreciates the full-service diner I run out of our kitchen about five nights a week, and (d) was told by me that the price point on this was wicked cheap – he bought a copy for me at the local B&N. I carried it around from room to room for a few days thinking I would peruse it when I had a break from my normal routine that consists of really important stuff like picking up rogue turds deposited by the worst dog(s) in America or screaming things like “HURRY UP! NO ONE NEEDS TO TAKE A 45 MINUTE SHOWER! WE ALL KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING IN THERE!” to my teenagers or getting swept up in the Kindle book that was also being lugged around or other distractions such as shiny objects and . . . . .
So smoooooooooshy!!!!! *heart emojis 4-eva* (Please note that unless you are a cat racist, you will clearly see that this is Booker T. Washington and NOT the asshole-photobombing Django Unchained. Because there is no smoosh to be found between Django and myself and I need to keep my fingers in order to play on the intertubes all day.)
If you’re looking for healthy dinner options, Tasty is probably the last cookbook or website you want to go to. Buuuuuuuut, if you’re looking for snacky things, party foods or “duh, why the hell don’t I make these?!?!?!?” options, it might be a winner. The latter is what happened the other night with steak and chicken fajita quesadillas. Super easy, super fast, super yummy and my picture almost looks better than the professional’s version which is AWESOME!
(Lacking salsa because we bought the grocery store’s “homemade” version and I thought it was disgusting.)
This one was totally worth the $10 it cost because I would have never known just how many things I could make out of a can of biscuit dough if it weren’t for Tasty and I bet you a dollar to a donut . . . . .
That when if I ever invited people to come to my house, this would be the book they grabbed from the cookbook hoard shelf while congregating in the kitchen. Well, right after Thug Kitchen, that is, since that one is fucking amazing and also sits prominently on the counter on an easel....more
I received Simply Delicious Cooking (2 because apparently one volume did not suffice) as a wedding gift right about the time the pencil was invented and people stopped having to chisel instructions on slabs of stone. Last night I decided to pull this golden oldie out of the ol’ kitchen cabinet for my inspiration after spending the day fishing (definitely not catching – only fishing) with the youngest since it was a balmy 40 degrees outside and by the time we were done I had a hankering for both sea and comfort foods. The plus side to freezing my tail off was I got to channel my inner “Leia on Endor” with my camo ruana . . . .
Maybe not the healthiest selection you can shovel into your face, but add a salad and roast some infant cabbages brussel sprouts if you want to counterbalance the massive carbo loading and creamy cheesy concoction consumption . . . .
[image]
(Supercloseup because kids don’t always follow instructions great when asked, hey take a picture of that for me real quick, will ya?)
I forgot to look at what the original price point of this one was, but you can get it for a couple of bucks over on Amazon at this point. I would have never bought (or even asked for someone else to buy) cookbooks for me back when I was a child bride, but they definitely helped us not starve to death. So if you’re a young’un who has just moved out / is getting ready to move out of your parents’ basement and Aunt Edna slaps something like this or a Better Homes and Gardens variety (because the BH&G cookbooks are much like roaches and will be the only thing to survive a nuclear holocaust), don’t give her the stinky eye. Say thank you, put it in a closet and five years from now when you have to pretend you’re a grown-up because people are coming over for dinner pull it out and make something “Simply Delicious” that looks complicated.
4 Stars for TONS of recipes that take you all the way through all seven courses. ...more
My name is Kelly and I'm a cookbook hoarder. That's why when I had the chance to obtain aFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
My name is Kelly and I'm a cookbook hoarder. That's why when I had the chance to obtain a copy of this for free my eye zeroed in on one word and one word alone . . . .
"SOUL" and failed to see that secondary tagline pointing out the 100 recipes contained inside the book were all going to be vegan. How can I explain how I felt when I saw that??? I KNOW! I'll do something I never do and use gifs : )
Well, in all honesty I actually saw Coconut Corn Chowder, but Sunday dinner is still a thing at my house and I didn't want my family to murder me in my sleep since two of the members are not fans of the nut of the coco. (I'm totally going to make it for myself next at lunch Saturday, though, because it looks delicious and easy which are my only two requirements when it comes to making food.)
So I did cheat a bit and used meat sausage rather than the suggested sausage options because (1) there is NO WAY I'm ever making my own sausage ever and (2) the apple option wasn't really an option for the meat-a-sauruses who live in my house. I also put shrimp in it because . . . . .
Pretty pretty pretty good. Plus I got to channel my inner Beyonce the entire time I was in the kitchen so that made everyone in my house pretty excited . . . .
As a cookbook hoarderenthusiast I will be the first to admit there are some cookbooks I Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
As a cookbook hoarderenthusiast I will be the first to admit there are some cookbooks I want because I want to make all of the things (see anything Paula Deen) and there are some I want just because I want them. The Grand Central Market is one of the latter. I got grabby hands for this because I’m fascinated with “markets” in general – and just look at this one . . . .
I immediately take back what I said about never cooking from this because I will totally make the chop suey recipe. I will also maybe make this on April Fool’s Day for all the meat-a-sauruses in my house . . . . .
But back to the market. My grandparents owned a market in my teensie little podunk town when I was growing up. When I moved a couple of states over (still in flyover country) I was delighted to discover the market here was one of the fave things of peeps to do on the weekends . . . .
It’s really grown up in the 20 years since we’ve lived here too. No longer simple open-air fruit and veggie stands, but the River Market now is jam packed with vendors from all over the state trading various wares as well as a bunch of restaurants. We even have a streetcar (WE IS PROGRESSIVE!) that will take you to my real favorite destination . . . .
I loved looking at all of the pictures and reading the history of the Grand Central Market. It doesn’t matter if I don’t end up making many of the recipes. Because really by the end of the day I pretty much feel like this . . . . .
Until the stack falls over and my husband finally is convinced that YES WE DO NEED A MOTHER EFFING BOOKSHELF IN THE KITCHEN! (Just kidding, honey, love you.)
Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ...more
Cottage cheese as the base? Why didn’t I ever think of that?!?!?! My family HATES cottage cheese so that equals me getting to eat the entire bowl all by myself.
I was also afraid this was going to be super hoity-toity. And while it does teach you things like roasting your own poblanos rather than calling every stray cat in the neighborhood to your kitchen with the sound of the can opener, the recipes were really pretty simple (and you could cheat and open a can rather than risking having to urinate all over yourself should you be infected with “jalepeno hands” – Google it, it’s real). It also surprised me by including recipes containing ‘Murica’s most favorite processed cheese food . . . .
[image]
#blech
But the other options???? Just look at some of them . . . .
Do you have super active bottomless pit teenage male humans in your home? If so, you’re in my #thoughtsandprayers because they are horrible. If you share in my suffering you are well aware that they eat all the time and are (generally) incapable of doing things for themselves without telling you that YOU’RE THE WORST! so you keep a deep freezer stocked with unhealthy selections from Costco available at all times featuring things like giant soft pretzels. But look at this "Hill Country Sausage Queso" . . . .
If you follow my reviews you know that I generally try to make something from any new cooFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
If you follow my reviews you know that I generally try to make something from any new cookbook I receive. This one actually arrived a couple of weeks ago and I even have all of the ingredients ready to make this . . . . .
But Mother Nature has decided to be a real turdburger and it’s been about 12,000 degrees with 1,000,000% humidity since it got here so I’m saying screw it and my family is living on cereal until the heat wave breaks. (If you’re just dying with anticipation to see what kind of godawful concoction I can churn out, you’ll have to settle for the Great Goat Sacrifice of 2016. Oh, and YOU’RE WELCOME Cubs fans – my family’s misery is what ended a 108 losing streak and 71-year-old curse.)
Tomorrow is the first official day of Fall and *crossing fingers* sweater weather will be here any second. Of course, with sweater weather brings my most hated basic white girl obsession of them all . . . .
But today we’re going to ignore all that and focus on the glory which is Martha.
I’ve been a Martha Stewart fan since Jesus was a toddler. That being said, I’ll be the first to admit that back in the day I didn’t really tune in to her show for the food – since it was super uppity and I am super trailer parky – but I luuuuuuuuurved all the dang craft segments. Martha is the reason I know what a “cloche” is and how I should shove a bunch of miniature shit in one in order to make a tiny “winter wonderland.” Speaking of tiny, just when I thought I was really kicking ass with my “Hobbit Haven” . . . . .
I’ll be 100% honest and admit I was a tad bit apprehensive at the idea of Martha Stewart tackling a crockpot recipe book since she isn’t what you’d necessarily call relatable. However, the very first line addressed the giant pink elephant in the room . . .
“To tell the honest truth, I have never, ever, really used a slow cooker.”
Awesome. OF COURSE YOU DIDN’T! You’re Martha (Fucking) Stewart FFS! Since she’s Martha (Expletive Deleted) Stewart, she knocked this one out of the ballpark. Her (way more advanced palate than my family’s) had her attempting things like slow cooker versions of Vietnamese Short-ribs or Chicken Tagine, while also (maybe surprisingly) going with tons of basics such as . . . . .
Obtaining a Martha Stewart selection for zero dollars was pretty much my only bucket list item when it comes to reviewer copies. I am so happy it did not disappoint. It had everything I want in a cookbook – pretty pictures, ingredients that are either already in my pantry or easily obtainable and most importantly EDIBLE recipes. And really, the $26.00 price point isn’t horrible either compared to other, lesser-known, foodie books I’ve obtained in the past.
Endless thanks to the publisher for making all of my wildest dreams come true!...more
Confession: I have a bit of an addiction to cookbooks. Unfortunately, due to their hefFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Confession: I have a bit of an addiction to cookbooks. Unfortunately, due to their hefty price tags I (i) have to refrain from purchasing nearly any of them and (ii) am often disappointed when I do shell out $20 or $30 bucks only to find them filled with stuff no one in my house would ever eat. You see, much like Jim Gaffigan's brood, my clan is comprised of "eaties" rather than foodies. They like meat. They like bread. Sometimes they like potatoes and every once in awhile you can blow dart a green bean down their throat.
When I saw Dinner was actually about dinners, I was all in . . . but still bracing myself for disappointment. While we try to eat dinner together every night we can, Springtime brings crazy baseball schedules and a lot of our meals are on the fly. Until that kicks in, I've been focusing on some seriously QUALITY Sunday dinners. Ones where everyone in the house will say . . . .
I was amazed by how much Dinner had to offer. Almost every page contained something I might want to try. I was also impressed that while the names sometimes sounded fancy, the ingredients were those most people who enjoy to (or are forced to) cook have in their pantries/spice racks.
But the proof is in the pudding, right? Here's last night's dinner:
Jalepeno-Honey Steak, Spiced Crab and Corn Cakes, Scalloped Potato Skillet Gratin and Roasted Cauliflower . . . . .
[image]
(Why yes, I did totally burn the first batch of crabcakes. I was busy trying to keep my dog from eating cat vomit. Yum. Who wants to come over for dinner????)
I also made a "Dirt Cake" which is most definitely not an item contained in this cookbook, proving that the subliminal messaging contained within my friends'/relatives' Facebook posts are verrrrrrrry powerful . . . .
In case you haven’t heard the word on the street, I read nearly everything wrong. Allow mFind all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
In case you haven’t heard the word on the street, I read nearly everything wrong. Allow me to prove the point by showing you Exhibit A of what happened on the night I planned on making something out of this cookbook . . . .
Why yes, I will take my nourishing meal with both extra gluten and dairy thank you very much. (And yes that photo was just taken yesterday and yes I know Thanksgiving hasn’t even happened yet and I already have three Christmas trees up and no I do not give any shits about killing baby reindeer due to my early decorating.)
I hate to give a bad rating to something I was able to obtain for free, but I believe that honesty is the best policy and to be honest there is zero chance I would have ever purchased this for myself. Bigger is not always better and just because a cookbook offers 365 recipes doesn’t make it automatically worth the money. Call me shallow, but I believe cookbooks are definitely a chance to make appearance-based judgments and a combination of this being a real inconvenient puppy-squisher in size, paperback-style cover rather than hardbound, 75 pages of info dump instead of getting down to the nomnoms and barely any photos once it was time to finally do some bidness, this just wasn’t appealing. So what were the recipes, you might ask. Well . . . . .
Believe it or not I actually kept looking even after being faced with my arch nemesis. Once again, to be perfectly honest I didn’t have a Pavlovian type of response to very many of the recipes contained in this book either. And when I did????
I discovered a recipe wasn’t even really needed. (Spoiler alert: The only thing involved with creating this is sprinkling the salmon with salt, lemon juice and tandoori seasoning and cooking it in a baking dish with ½ cup of coconut milk.) There were also quite a few simple recipes that have been done a time (or twelve) before . . . .
^^^That’s Martha Stewart’s version of a Greek salad with chickpeas because . . . . well, it’s Martha and I would maybe make a human sacrifice if it would earn me reviewer copies of her cookbooks . . . .
I’m bummed this didn’t work for me and I also understand since I don’t have dairy or gluten allergies it’s easier for me to be judgey on it, but let's get real - if I wasn’t judgey I would be much of anything at all. If this seems like something you’d be interested in, check it out . . . .
That concludes the review portion – now let’s go on a field trip.
Obviously one can’t simply get a body like mine without working extremely hard on it for years and years – carbo loading for those marathon chair sitting/reading sessions, wallowing in a gallon of ice cream because a simple bowlful just will not do. But that doesn’t mean I’m incapable of eating stuff that’s good for me. In fact, since I’ve bragged enough about the library in my fair city allow me a second to show you another one of our treasures – The River Market . . . .
In case you are unaware of some pretty important sportsball history, in 1945 a dumb motherfucker Billy Sianis thought it would be totes cool to bring his pet goat in to Wrigley Field in order to watch Game 4 of the Series. After being booted on his ass (as should have happened) Sianis cursed the Cubs' organization with a promise that they would never win a world series again. And they haven't. In order to do my part in hopes of reversing the curse, I decided to pull out all the stops and cook the other other white meat . . . .
Alright, so I loooooooooove cookbooks. Like I love them so much I’m getting ready to pull one over on my husband Jeffrey . . . . wait, that’s The Barefoot Contessa’s husband’s name, not mine. Anyway, I want to sneak a bookshelf into the kitchen and Jeffrey or whatever his name is will just have to deal with it. I also understand why cookbooks cost so much money (assuming the book in question is – you know – a good one). Full color photography and sets and whatnot cost dollar dollar bills yo. That doesn’t change the fact that I am as broke as a mothereffin’ joke. At $22.50 retail Cuba!: Recipes and Stories from the Cuban Kitchen actually is quite the steal . . . . but I still prefer to get things for free.
The cover of this one alone was enough to make me want a copy. The sucker is just puuuuurrrrrty. And filling the pages with not only recipes but stories about Cuban culture and history was a winner with the bibliophile in me. When I sat down this weekend to peruse the selections to see what I could possibly cook a few recipes got post-it noted as possibilities, but (as stated above) the winner was glaringly obvious as soon as I saw it.
The first issue we had to deal with was obtaining goat meat. Butcher shop #1 gave us the option of “whole” or “half” and we ain’t talking pounds, kids. As much as I would have liked to channel my inner Big Fat Greek Wedding, I didn’t have time to build a pit in the backyard so that wasn’t going to work. Hubs called butcher shop #2 who had frozen goat meat available so that was the winner.
I left work early . . . . because priorities . . . . ran to the grocery store to pick up the other ingredients and came home to hopefully not kill my family with tainted meat start cookin’ . . . .
(Why yes, that does say “goat cubes” – I hope they didn’t pay the marketing person a whole lot to come up with that winner of a name.)
As you can see, there’s nothing complex about this recipe. (Sidenote: For any new cooks, I highly recommend you get recipes/cookbooks from any country other than ‘Murica (unless you have the chance to get a Martha Stewart cookbook because she is a goddess).) Good food doesn’t have to be complicated and I’ve found non-U.S. recipes do a good job at using the ol’ K.I.S.S. plan. This one did the same – meat, carrots, peppers, onion, tomatoes, cumin and oregano is about all there was to it. Served over a bed of rice it made for quite the pretty picture once complete . . . .
Too bad the Cubs couldn’t pull out a victory. Maybe I should have killed a goat????? Mitchell says next time. Let’s hope our boys in blue can get it done tonight - and that they partner Arrieta up with Grandpa Ross because they are magic together . . . .
Kelly (and the Book Boar)
>
Books:
get-in-my-belly
(27)
![QUESO!: Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip [A Cookbook]](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1487970569l/34389043._SX50_.jpg)
![Cuba!: Recipes and Stories from the Cuban Kitchen [A Cookbook]](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1462036492l/28364024._SX50_.jpg)
Loading...
