Books in my mother's house

My mother loves books in the kitchen...

...on a cake stand...

...by the couch...

...near the back door...

...and  under a lamp....

Bargain Book Bonanza (4)

BBB is a linky party to showcase all the great books (new, used, vintage, electronic, audio) that we book lovers score on sale.

Each Monday through Thursday, all book lovers are invited to carouse, make merry and revel with bargain book abandon!

Want to join the party? Just visit the Bargain Book Bonanza page for the particulars. 

Leslie's BBB

"I got you something. It's a book. Ey! I got you a book. It's a cookbook. I want you to make something from it."  That was what my dear hubby, Manuel, told me when he got back into the car. "There are lots of books inside. You can go check while I wait with the kids."

I had been waiting and waiting for him while he talked to his client. His client was holding a garage sale at the same time and Manuel was browsing. He always checks through any books because he knows how much I love books. I would have gone in, except that the kids by this point were very squirmy and whining pleading to go home.

I eagerly snatched the book. What could have caught his eye? It must be good! 

I burst out laughing. But pretty soon, I got engrossed...and in some cases, grossed out...with these recipes!

This book was printed in MCMXL. Right? So long ago the years weren't numbers! Oh wait. After Googling extensive research, I discovered it is 1940. Sheesh. Couldn't they just put that in the first place?

Anywho. This is supposedly the best and most typical dishes from each of the 48 (!) states.

Each state starts with a little intro about the cultural influences of the local cuisine. It's actually very interesting and enlightening. The authors seem to really enjoy these multi-cultural references.

I have to say, I have a sneaking suspicion they "exotic-fied" up the names of some recipes to make them seem more, I don't know, unusual. For example, basic bean recipes were given Native American names.

So, some recipes I found under Texas:

"Sweet Potato Chiffon Pie"...Chiffon...ooh la la! 

"Ground-Cooked Calf's Head": Buy a head with the skin on. Dig a hole wide enough to hold the head and all its wrappings, and at least 3 feet deep...

Like I said, fairly typical.  

Other recipes have some interesting instructions as well. "Hack meat slightly...";  after washing 2 cups pinto beans, "Put in a bucket which has a tight-fitting lid..";  and oven temperatures are never given - just moderate oven, medium oven, etc.  I guess temperatures were added for later "spoiled" generations!

And some recipes call for things the cook should just know, like "1 bowl standard fritter batter" - no actual ingredients listed!

Ample amounts of lard AND butter in many recipes, heavy creams, and sugar! Fantastical dishes like, Schuylkill Dandelions, Elderberry Blossom Cakes, Braised Antelope, and Midnight Cake. It almost sounds like Alice in Wonderland, doesn't it?

While I will probably never use this book, it has been a lot of fun to look through. These people ate everything! And it is fascinating what a history lesson you can receive from cookbooks. The world wars and the depression greatly influenced how Americans cooked and the food that was available. This is like stepping back in time!

  

The book was torn and not very pretty, no photos or pictures. It's actually a very ugly book, and an olive drab color. I am surprised my husband even noticed it. But I am glad he did. It's been a hoot! 

So...how much was this little gem? Well, the asking price was a DOLLAR...but somehow my dear hubby got it FREE. Yes. He did. He has no shame. He askeths and usually receiveths. 

So, my dear little Muttonettes (that's another recipe), my apologies for un-colorful pictures, but the treasure here, truly, is in the words!

Do you enjoy reading funny old cookbooks?

Can't wait to see ya'lls Bargain Book Bonanzas!

The Sneaky Chef

 

I reordered this book through Amazon the other day. The first one was destroyed in a stomach virus related incident. Let us move on, shall we?

I was eager to get back into the "eating right" thing because we have been hit hard by a barrage of colds, flus, coughs, and ear and throat infections. So the easiest thing to do, after washing our hands until they are raw, is to eat right. Because of so much going on, I admit, I have been slack. We are not big junk food eaters, but we still weren't eating optimally.

I'd been pureeing cauliflower and adding it to their mac n cheese. Two eat it, one does not. The two that eat it are the two I worry the most about. MUAHAAHAAHAAHAA (evil laugh).

But I needed to take it up a notch because they wouldn't eat mac n cheese every day, plus cauliflower is not the only veggie needed. I decided to make the Choc-ful Donuts/Choc-ful Cupcakes.

Purple Puree. Mmmm!

The ingredients that boost these are spinach, blueberries, wheat germ, and whole wheat flour.

Donuts in front, cupcakes in back. Chocolaty!

Nico loves donuts, Lucas loves cupcakes, and Nina loves chocolate. Got all the bases covered!

Berry icing - made with berry juice, powdered milk and sugar.

The verdict? The kids loved them. All is good in the Land of Insanity.

What I like about this book is that it is fairly easy to use and fairly honest about what our expectations should be regarding children and their tastes. Lapine suggests making purees of the veggies used in her recipes and freezing them. This will help a lot down the line as you want to make something quickly or try something new, and it's easier to hide it from the kids!

The recipes are old favorites. I've tried the mac n cheese, the pizza, the cupcakes, and the quesadillas. Not bad. Personally, I don't like some of the flavors, but my kids didn't seem to notice anything different, and that's the main thing, right?

I prefer this book to Deceptively Delicious, which is very similar in ideas. As I mentioned, Lapine is more realistic with regard to children. I felt like I was being lectured by Jessica Seinfeld and felt a bit of "holier than thou" attitude in her book. Also some of Seinfeld's recipes seemed a bit complicated for my busy schedule and my kids' tastes. I made the chicken nuggets and they didn't go over well. (I will be trying them again - sometimes kids just decide to be finicky).

I am a big believer in picking your battles. Fighting over veggies and having your kids force themselves to gag is not my idea of a fun evening together (Nico even made himself vomit when he had to eat a quarter of an inch of a green bean. Good times.)

Anyway, this book is a great peacemaker in our family. And keeps my level of guilt down.

Traveling in place: India

First, thank you Man of La Book for giving me the courage to say I occasionally hate books and don't finish them. The last book I put down with irritation shall remain nameless, because someday, if I write a book and someone hates it, I don't want them to mention the title. Read it forward?

Instead of the karmically unmentionable book with an Indian theme, I read "Climbing the Mango Tree: A Memoir of Childhood in India, a biography by Madhur Jaffrey. and loved it from the forward to the last word so much so that I hardly know where to begin so I'll tell you how she began,
"I was born in my grandparents' sprawling house by the Yamuna River in Delhhi.  Grandmother welcomed me into this world by writing Om, which means, "I am" in Sanskirt, on my tongue with a little finger dipped in honey." You can't say enough about the upside to a really good grandmother.

 Jaffrey is a titan of the culinary world, was friends with James Beard to the point of having taught some his classes when his health began to fail and while she began as an actress she has become a prolific cookbook author, specializing in, get ready... Indian cuisine!  Shocking! I know!.   So why not one of her many cookbooks?  Well, I chose her biography because I'm trying to lose weight and just didn't think it would be a good idea to have any more reasons to want food.   My husband and I go out for India food. Fewer leftovers=smaller sit down ( optimally at least ).

Kakri cucumbers.  Seeds available from
Diamond Seeds

Needless to say, food is a main character in her biography from the honey on her newborn tongue to the summer cucumbers called kakri  hawked in the streets of Delhi by vendors crying out "Laila ki unglian hain, Manju ki pasliyan", "These are the fingers of Juliet, the ribs of Romeo"  though I'm not sure how you get either Romeo or Juliet from that.  She translated and I figure she knows more than I do about Hindi(?).   The book is a good read and a tour of India taken from your own cozy book nook.
Maybe you have the last few summer kakri sitting sadly on their withering vines and if so, though this isn't even remotely Shakespearean, maybe you'd like an idea about what to do with them:

Raita Salad

• 1 cucumber peeled, seeded and coarsely grated
• 2 cucumbers peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 cups non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup finely chopped mint, firmly packed
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne ( to taste and omit if heat isn't your thing )
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• salt and pepper to taste

Hindu Temple, Calabasas, California.
Take off your shoes.. Thank you.

Combine all the ingredients and allow them to marry in the fridge for an hour or so. The Greek yogurt has a very high protein content and thus this is a good salad to pair with some steamed rice  as a meal.  This is also delicious served as a condiment to grilled meats and how much damage can you do with vegetables and non-fat yogurt?  I will tell you, using Greek yogurt makes a difference.  

Eating with Emperors and Mandela

As I have said before, we are a book-giving family. Books are always a good gift, in general, but it can be difficult to narrow down to which book. Here is a comparison of a recent exchange between Hubby and me.

The last book he gave me is Eating with Emperors by Jake Smith. It is an amazing book which traces 150 years of the banquets, feasts and pig-outs of rulers. The author started out collecting printed menus from royal meals and ended up with an exhaustive body of research presented in a cloth-bound, gold foiled tome. It even has a satin ribbon to keep your place.

It’s an incredible read, and talk about fantasy DIY! Thought you might whip up some sauteed young partridges or a truffle salad or maybe some Champagne sorbet? Well, here’s how! You can eat venison roasted just like Emperor Nicholas II of Russia liked it, or prepare a chicken dish from the wedding menu of Prince George and Princess Mary (soon to be King George V and Queen Mary).

There is so much about the history of food; the caviar trade in the early 1900’s, the illicit eating of the Ortolan, and Rasputin’s last meal. You can read about the China in the White House or how the Maharajahs discovered French cuisine.

There are photos of Hitler and Mussolini dining, the Hindenburg dining room, and descriptions of the Khedive’s table.

Some of the text really puts you off your food, to be honest. Times and tastes have changed, thank goodness. There is no moderation, no low-fat, no portion control here. Mr Woodhouse would be horrified.

And to Hubby I gave this gorgeous, weighty book about one of our generation’s most important people. My neighbor said she had a biography of Mandiba that was dry and hard going. This book doesn’t look like it will be at all boring. The text appears to be comprehensive and well-researched, with no detail left out, and might have been boring on its own.

However, the pages of text are interspersed with stark black and white photos and full-page quotes. It’s the kind of book that could rest on your coffee table for months, being opened and enjoyed at random.

Neither of us has had a chance to read it yet, but the book has captured me nonetheless. I love looking at the photos and even the graphics that are watermarked on many of the pages.

It’s a funny juxtaposition-- research about royalty, excess, indulgence and waste next to inequality, deprivation, hardship and injustice. Either book would be a welcome addition to a reader’s library.

What is the best book you were ever given?

Deceptively Delicious

I am no flash cook, but I do have a family that needs feeding pretty much every night. Hubby and the kids can cook, in theory, but he usually gets home too late and kids can only contribute once every week or so. And that's a wildly optimistic time frame.

So, I have to cook the evening meal, and I do want my kids to eat well. For the older one, that's not an issue: she will try anything and is accommodating in her tastes. Little Miss 8, however, is another story. Hubby also likes to eat healthily, so I cannot put nuggets or mac and cheese on a plate and call that dinner.

Now, I know this book has had a ton of publicity and it is a year or three old, but I had to write about it here and now. Just in case someone would rather read Mrs B's book blog than tune into Oprah. And just in case Jerry Seinfeld's wife hasn't got enough publicity.

Anyway, back to the book. The idea is that you puree veggies and hide them in stuff most kids will eat. So, nuggets with spinach and mac and cheese with squash… Sound horrible? No, I tell you, it's not!

I've tried several of the recipes and they do work. Pizza with spinach was a big hit tonight, and the nuggets I made a while back were great. Little Miss 8 asked if the quesadillas had mashed potatoes in them, because she detected the texture of mashed veggies, but that didn't stop her wolfing them down.

I think seriously suspicious kids might have balked at tonight's pizza. Sorry about the messy plating up and the poor photography, but can you see how green it is? Over each mini pizza base I mixed a teaspoon each of spinach puree and pesto, which my kids love. They are quite used to pesto being smeared on their pizza bases, so she didn't inquire about the vibrant green 'pesto' under the tomato sauce.

Jessica also suggests we put crudités on the table with a healthy dip so kids and hubbies and mums can snack before dinner. I used Greek yogurt and a packet of salad dressing mix to make this quick dip. It's easy-as if you leave it in an unattractive container to pop back into the fridge.

It seems a bit excessive to contribute to the income of a woman whose husband earns ka-billions of dollars each time one of us sits in front of his TV show, but she deserves it. This is a great idea, and a solution to nutrition-minded parents of fussy kids.

Pioneer Woman's Black Heels and Tractor Wheels.

Lesa recommended this blog as an inspiration of all that blogs can be, and I was stunned at the quality and scope of the posts. Ree Drummond shares her life, her family and her kitchen with, I don't know, thousands of followers. She's an entertaining writer, a talented photographer, the homeschooling mother of four beautiful kids, a cook book author and wife of a spunky cowboy she calls Marlboro Man.

I'll be frank and confess to being green with envy. No, I am happy with my hubby and my own kids, thanks very much, but she is so witty and lovely and warm and productive! There ought to be a law against such cleverness. No matter what your tastes, there is bound to be something here to interest you. The blog is divided into sections and just chock full of fun stuff to read and look at. She hosts some generous giveaways, too.

This is all very nice, but the reason I am posting about her here is that she seems to have written a novella by gathering up all the posts detailing how she met and married Marlboro Man. It's compelling stuff, like a Harlequin/ Mills and Boons, only from real life. I just couldn't stop reading. I spent an entire day, from school drop off to school pick up glued to my laptop. Actually, Columbia Pictures thinks it's pretty good, too, and bought the movie rights to it.

I recommended Black Heels and Tractor Wheels to my cousin, who, despite having young children and a real need to get her sleep, stayed up until 3 am reading it. I am just sorry about the time difference, and will be more careful about when I get people started reading it.

I say go over and have a look, but not if it's bed time at your house.

Am I the only one who had never heard of her?

Tea for Me

In an effort to settle nights and tummies, neither of which are settled in our house, we have started brewing a pot of chamomile for our girls every evening. The blue pot sits on the table with little Chinese-style handle less cups while we eat, so it is cool enough for little lips after dinner. A generous tablespoon of honey sweetens it, but one daughter has only just now started sipping it rather than gulping whilst holding her nose. They get quite a lot of joy from the adult-ness of the ritual, and considerable placebo effect. They feel bereft if deprived of this treat.

In this respect they are quite Australian. We are a nation of tea lovers and drinkers. The average working or middle-class Aussie family would only have instant coffee at home, but would consume litres of tea (hot!) each week. Continental European immigration and American coffee retailers have influenced a coffee culture, especially in large cities, but for many, brewed coffee is a treat to be enjoyed out of the home.

I will never forget my first offer of a 'cuppa'. I had to ask, 'Cup of what?' Now, I always greet droppers-in or droppers-off of children with, 'Have you got time for a cuppa?' Kids know a 'yes' means more play time. Drinking tea at a friend's house is natural, and I associate certain brews with certain friends. My neighbour, whose husband is Chinese, offers me Buddha's tears, or sometimes popcorn tea. The white roasted rice grains look like little popped kernels, and the taste is slightly salty. My Maltese friend has an amazing, hissing coffee machine, but she and her husband also love to drink Bushels' Tea (a Queensland tradition since 1889), always loose leaves brewed in a Royal Albert bone china teapot, and served in a fine cup and saucer. My true-blue mate offers me Nerada teabags brewed in a hearty mug.

But it is to an English immigrant friend that I owe my love of Lady Grey. The brewed tea has the loveliest colour, and the loose leaves look like potpourri with citrus peel and purple bergamot blossoms. I love to lift the lid on the canister and inhale the fragrance. The bags are easily available, but purchasing the loose leaves means a half-hour drive. Some of my friends keep Lady Grey just for me, and I have been known to stock their favourites, too.

So with all this in mind, my dear mother gave me Gilles Brochard's publication, The Tea Box. It is a beautiful collection of a booklet, cards with gorgeous photos, the history of tea and recipes. Lesa is the adventurous cook, so I have not tried any, but they look divine. Anyone with an interest in cooking or tea drinking would love this. It would make a beautiful gift.

What I found interesting is the link between tea and reading. Author Lu Ting wrote, 'The third bowl (of tea) dissipates the heaviness of my soul, refining the inspiration gained from all the books I have read.' Our Queen Elizabeth reportedly calls for, 'The Times and a cup of tea.' Tea drinking and intellectual pursuits have long gone hand-in-hand, and amazingly, there was an article in the Weekend Australian about tea, books and writing.

Alexander McCall Smith, the author of the charming The #1 Ladies Detective Agency series wrote an article about the role of tea in his life and his books. He writes about his tea drinking childhood in Bulawayo (now in Zimbabwe), the evolution of his taste in tea, and the difficulties in finding a good cuppa in America. He describes how his characters love to drink tea, and how he uses tea drinking in his novels as a pause between scenes. In the article, he marvels at the universal appeal of tea.

They are all right. Reading and tea go hand in hand. I love to sit down to a cup of Lady Grey and a book or newspaper. What do you drink when you read?

Thanks, Book Elves!

Did you know that losing one's voice is a detriment to providing speech therapy? Yes siree bob, it is! Imagine the poor kids attempting to imitate my 'croakity croak croak'. Besides, it hurts!

Today, instead of therapy, I planned to knock a major dent in my Mount Everest high mountain of paperwork. Mind you, this is my main school not the Tuesday 'library workspace' school. In this classroom, there are absolutely no books to lead me to the darkside.

Until now...

A little book elf named Juanita left a treat on my desk with an tantalizing note: Good Read. To a compulsive reader like me, that's like waving a red flag. Like the Borg say, 'Resistance is futile'. But I'm so proud of myself because tough as it was, I resisted. Well, my eyes strayed occasionally and once I read the back cover, but that was all, I swear!!

Near final bell time, another book elf dropped off her latest cookbook acquisition for me to peruse at my leisure. Since I was on a roll, I had planned to continue working after school. As if!

Just too weak from resisting the lure of the Dean Koontz book all day. I caved...

Can you blame me? It was Pioneer Woman's cookbook. Who could resist that?!

If you aren't familiar with Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, you must visit her blog. http://thepioneerwoman.com/ She is the Oprah of the blogging world and her blog is absolutely spectacular!

Vegetarian city girl Ree accidently married Marlboro Man who proceeded to whisk her away to a life of ranching. Ree's anecdotal accounts of adapting to life on the ranch and all that entails are quirky, engaging, funny and completely entertaining. Imagine leaving a career life, Starbuck's, sushi, parties, plays, pedicures and pumps for jeans, boots, mud, manure, cooking for an army of ranch hands and homeschooling four beautiful kids. Actually, it sounds like a great trade-off to me. I'm a city girl to country girl transplant, myself! (yes, a man's doing in my case, as well)

Pioneer Woman's cookbook isn't a typical cookbook. It is similar to her blog: stories, beautiful photographs and recipes.

Thank you, Janet, for sharing your cookbook. I didn't dare bring it home to read for fear of accidently dropping it in the muddy swamp that is my yard. Instead, it is safely hidden in a desk drawer.

Can't wait to read some more tomorrow--- only during lunch and breaks, of course. Must continue knocking down that mountain of paperwork. Tomorrow's mantra: Must not open the drawer... Must not open the drawer...