An affair to remember

Tags

Cookbook, NPR

I’m having an affair. A somewhat scandalous one. And it is completely supported by my husband.

So, a not-so-secret affair, then.

With whom, you ask? Well after hearing interview an interview with Deb Perelman on the Diane Rehm show a few months ago (I spend a lot of time in the car and have listened to disproportionate amount of NPR in the last 2 years), I starting browsing the Smitten Kitchen website for her recipes and her prose, too. Because that’s how good her recipes sounded on the radio. You can listen to the interview here.

Now Smitten Kitchen is a giant in the food blogosphere. And after sampling her wares, it begs the question: how did I not find this before? Because everything has been awesome. And thoughtful. And well-written.

And then, for Christmas, my husband gave me the cookbook. Which was not even on my wishlist. But has definitely been to the benefit of my marriage. Some of the recipes are from the website and some are unique to the cookbook. All are well-tested, have yet to flop at my house and the photography makes me want to take better pictures. All this is to say that it’s a cookbook that gets used and is likely to get used for the foreseeable future.

Here’s a partial list of the yummies that have made it to the table in the past little while:

Buttermilk Roast Chicken

Peach and Sour Cream Pancakes (with strawberries, because that’s what was in our co-op basket)

Whole Lemon Bars

Tomato Meatloaves

Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad

Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns.

Droolishiciousness. That’s a word.

So a little review of a book by someone who wouldn’t know me from a cactus. But it’s really about this: friends don’t let friends not know about good cookbooks. Now go forth and cook!

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• Smitten Kitchen cookbook taps food blog success (cbc.ca)

A Couple Things…

I disappeared for a while. Not by design, but what became busy-ness became laziness. And then it turned into a habit. And I justified this by telling myself that nobody was reading (except for my mom!), nobody was paying attention and it didn’t really matter if I dropped off the face of the blog world.

But then I remembered: that’s not why I started this. I started this for me. To share – yes – but to write, mostly. And to see what came out as I got more used to putting pen to paper fingers to keyboard.

In the mean time, a lot of things happened or have changed. Mostly in a good way.

1. Little m was in her first Nutcracker. Her teacher has been mounting a full-scale (minus the orchestra) production in our small town for about 37 years. Did I mention Little M’s teacher is 85. You should see her legs!

2. Christmas came. And it was mostly lovely. My brother and sister-in-law came to visit, arriving in the wee hours of Christmas Eve. There was also a train set, books, caves and wine. I do not remember the order. And a camera may or may not have been stashed, helpfully we think, by Little c in a box with the parts for the food processor.

3. I went to Greece. Without my family. For a trumpet conference. I know.

4. We’re moving. While this isn’t earth-shattering news, seeing as my husband is in the military, it’s a bit unique as this will be our last move for at least 8-9 years. Mr. T got a job with the U.S. Army Field Band and because of the special nature of the ensemble (it’s one of the elite, permanent party military musical groups in the DC area), it’s a posting until he reaches his 20-year mark or possibly longer if he/we want(s). So we’re leaving this house, the first we’ve ever owned, and are house hunting in an entirely different part of the country. I can’t pretend to be sad about leaving Desert Town. There are good points (including wearing birks in January), but I think living near major metropolitan areas again will be good for my career and my state of mind. We’ll be taking off for Maryland in the early Spring. Any comments or suggestions about the area are welcome!

5. I completed the coursework for my doctorate. Now comes everything else. Woot.

I’m going to try to be better about keeping this up, for me (and my mom!) and anyone that wants to partake of my company. You’re all welcome. All two of you!