Veggiewise Floats

Happy Halloween everyone! I’ll just leave my sweet little produce sculpture here. Pennywise? No, this is Veggiewise the Clown. Everything floats in ranch dip. Yum.

Jennifer Guerrero

We read Stephen King’s It for bookclub, and I was inspired by Pennywise the Clown to make a nice little produce sculpture to take with. Veggiewise the Clown. I cracked up when my friends were really hesitant to sample my little crudite display. He is a little bit more off-putting than our treats of Halloweens past…..

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My Kitchenaid Pro 600 stand mixer stopped working. The planetary gear just stopped turning.

#kitchenaid

My KitchenAid pro 600 stand mixer stopped working. It just wouldn’t turn. It’s less than 4 years old. I contacted KitchenAid and they said my options were to buy a new one or pay to have it fixed. What?! The life expectancy of a $500 appliance needs to be more than 4 years. They replied that they have a low failure rate. I thought that they should have no difficulty repairing or replacing the odd lemon if it’s that uncommon. Nope.

Grilled Flank Steak Tacos with Orange Chipotle Sauce recipe and Cookbook review: Mexican Dinner Parties

Ever walk out of a good, traditional-style Mexican restaurant and think you wish you could do that at home? I’ve got the book for you, Mexican Dinner Parties!

The author’s mother’s from Mexico and his father’s from Hungary. He grew up in Canada. His mom taught him to cook the family dishes to preserve their family heritage and now the author created this book for his kids as a family heirloom. It’s a charming story for sure, but it makes the book very special in another way. My kids are in the kitchen with me a lot, and they learn so much that way. They get coached and always hear what they’re looking for. The author does that in this book. It shows up mostly in the opening techniques pages. He doesn’t just give you the recipe for tortillas, he shows you photos of what your dough should look like, and also what it shouldn’t look like and why. It has that personal coaching feel. You will absolutely be able to master everything in the book with a little practice.

Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for Bridget Jones’s Pan-Fried Salmon with Pine Nut Salsa and Cookbook review: Ottolenghi Simple

#ottolenghi #ottolenghisimple #tenspeedpress

I was flipping through the book, flagging recipes to try, and read, “This is the dish Patrick Dempsey’s character tells Renee Zellweger’s Bridget Jones that he would have brought her on their imaginary date in Bridget Jones’s Baby. “From Ottolenghi,” says Dempsey, “delicious and healthy!” And easy we might add! What sounded like a bit of product placement on our part was in fact no such thing. The recipe didn’t even exist on our menu, so this is a retrospective acknowledgment.” Okay, I was trying to steer clear of it, and cook absolutely everything else in the book, because it sounds like a one-liner. Curiosity got the better of me. Wowza! Bridget Jones’ Pan-Fried Salmon with Pine Nut Salsa is an amazing salmon dish. lol!

Christopher Kimball’s Maple-Whiskey Pudding Cakes recipe and Cookbook review: Milk Street Tuesday Nights

#milkstreet #tuesdaynights #christopherkimball

Oh, I just love what they’re up to over at Milk Street! Milk Street Tuesday Nights is filled with global recipes, but made totally doable for a week night. It’s a very relaxing book to work with. I frequently scale up the seasoning when I cook, and find that I just don’t need to with this book. There’s not an apologetically seasoned bite to be found. Our taste buds were really happy with everything. Well, I still scaled up the garlic a little, but not nearly as much as I usually do. Great stuff!

If you haven’t seen the show yet, it’s a really neat one. They have a lot of my (and probably yours if you’re reading this) culinary heroes on as guests, so you get a lot of points of view, and flavor injections coming to the party.

Bibliophile and Wonders – two book lover’s books!

#bibliophile #janemount #wonders #rhondarubinstein #californiaacademyofsciences #chroniclebooks #lisahaineswright #beloitcollege

Okay, I am a massive bibliophile. I review all sorts of books, but usually just talk to you about cookbooks. Two nonfiction books came across my desk recently that are just too wonderful to keep to myself, though. Well, to borrow phrasing from one of my blogging friends, one is tangentially related to my blog. The first is for book lovers, and the second is for nature/animal/photography lovers. Both have fabulous gifting potential. Thanks to Chronicle Books for letting me use their photos.

Killer BBQ Spare Ribs recipe (oven/grill combo) and Cookbook review: Paleo Grilling

#johnwhaleniii #paleogrilling #cidermillpress

Paleo Grilling is a cool paleo book. It’s not strictly grilling. Some dishes are completely grilled. Others are grilled as part of the process. Some are barbecued. And then there are the supporting characters that don’t see the grill. But it’s mostly grilling. The range is neat. For beginners, there’s an opportunity to learn the nuances of different steaks. He breaks out several of them separately with minimalist recipes so you can really get a feel for different cuts. I skipped those and went for the more complex dishes.