New (Old) Cookbook!

One of my decisions at the beginning of this year was to try and make our meals healthier.

One of the cookbooks I remember, growing up, is my mother's American Dietetic Association Cookbook. It was an old one, and, according to my mother, has gotten "too complicated" of recent years. She bought it to help my (diabetic) grandmother eat healthier. However, all of the recipes in this cookbook are simple, but healthy - not too much sugar, carbs, or fats.

So, after a quick consultation with my mother to get an ISBN for her copy of the cookbook, off to Half.com I went. This is the perfect website for frugal cookbook shoppers - I found a "like-new" copy, price tag and dust jacket still intact for $3.99. How could I resist? So ... I present to you, my new (old) cookbook:

New Cookbooks!

One of my new features this year on my blog will be, essentially, to profile my cookbook collection and provide a review for each. Hopefully this will be helpful to you.

For Christmas this year, one of the things I mentioned to my family was that I wanted new cookbooks. And I got them! Lots of them, in fact.

The most precious to me is one that my mother has been assembling. It is essentially a 4x6 photo album with handwritten index card recipes. This is a VERY good thing because I can use it in a moveable, changeable way ... and it includes all the recipes I loved as a child and growing up. Family "heirloom" recipes, as it were.

Second, the Blue Ribbon Country Cookbook, by Diane Roupe:



This is a great cookbook, chock-full of easy, tasty recipes. I have yet to try it, but it has some tasty-looking options, and there are a lot of them. The only disappointing thing about this cookbook is that there are no color photographs (which I find to be - usually - VERY appealing in a cookbook).

Finally, the Best of Amish Cooking, by Phyllis Good:



Having grown up in Amish country, eating Amish food, has spoiled me a little. Down here in McAllen, authentic Mexican is available on every street corner ... but authentic Amish food? Not likely to be found - anywhere. So this little cookbook offers a wide selection of Amish-oriented recipes. There are some color pictures, but I really wish there were more. Another thing to be aware of is that Amish recipes don't take shortcuts (no cake mixes or bisquick here). So some of the recipes may be time consuming.

That's all for today, folks. Hope you get a chance to try out one or more of these cookbooks ... if you do, let me know what you think!

Holy Giant Marshmallows, Batman!

So, the day after Thanksgiving (aka Black Friday), we decided to skip the overly crowded malls and head for Mexico to shop for a few Christmas presents we knew we wanted. Along with several hundred other similarly-minded folks (oops), we crossed the river armed with a wad of cash and a shopping list. We got just about everything on the list ... plus a few extras, the most notable of which is shown here.

Malvaviscos Marshmallows - $2.10 for 30 at our favorite Mexican tourist/grocery store. See on the package where it says "Super Gigante"? They aren't kidding - these are quite possibly the BIGGEST marshmallows I've ever seen.

What? You say the bag looks "normal"? Well, check out the following photo for verification of size:



Yes, that's TWO marshmallows in an 8-oz low-ball glass. Your typical "short" glass. We were joking about putting one in the microwave to see how big it'd puff up, but that makes me nervous - I might end up cleaning marshmallow off the inside of my microwave!

Here's a photo of 1 marshmallow in a cup of hot chocolate:



Also, these marshmallows are quite possibly the tastiest and freshest I've had in quite a while. The bottom one is vanilla and the top one is strawberry. And they do have flavor. Three cheers for Mexican Marshmallows!!

The Things I Love

Well, as you can see, I haven't been doing much cooking this week. Beyond the leftover chicken fajita meat, we've been eating a lot of sandwiches, etc. So, I thought I'd do an update on a couple of my favorite kitchen things.


Kapoosh Universal Cutlery Block



As you can see, this is possibly the most unique knife block I've ever seen - and possibly the most useful. When Rob and I got married, we had to combine two very random knife collections - mine, consisting of a number of Wusthof knives and some cheapo steak knives, and his, consisting of a whole set of cheapo knives, plus two VERY nice Santokus by Anolon. Altogether, we had about 15 knives that we didn't want to part with. Now, honestly, have you ever seen a normal-size knife block that would hold 15 knives? I didn't think so. But this block by Kapoosh - which has no slots at all, but rather nylon/plastic "rods" - will hold that, plus some. It is dishwasher safe, the knives won't dull from hitting the rods (like they would if you accidentally hit a wood block), and you can arrange them however works for you. If I were only allowed to choose one thing to receive for our wedding ... this would have been it. No kidding.


Pampered Chef Bamboo Spoon Set



Oh, wow. These spoons look so simple. And they are. But I love them. As you can see, they come three to a set - 2 round spoons (one with a long handle, one with a shorter handle) and one oval spoon. So far, I've never found a reason to like the oval one. But the ROUND ones??? Oh, I could write a sonnet. They're perfect for mixing or stirring anything in a round container - because of their shape, they fit right into the curve of the bowl. Because they're wood, they won't scratch a non-stick surface, and they go right into the dishwasher. I have 4 round spoons (having given the oval ones to my mother) and wouldn't trade them for anything!

My Favorite Things

You know how Martha Stewart has that "favorite things" section of her website? Well, I'm going to start adding my favorites to my blog here. Why shouldn't I get to draw attention to products that I like and would use/buy again?? So, here goes:

KitchenAid Professional 600-Series Stand Mixer

This stand mixer was a gift from my parents about 3 years ago. I love it beyond all reasonable love. I've never had problems mixing anything - from whipping 1 egg white to my mother's gallette recipe (which involves an ENTIRE 5-lb bag of flour). I love that the bowl is dishwasher safe and that the finish wipes clean easily. If you want your own, you can buy it here:

http://www.kitchenaid.com/catalog/product.jsp?src=Stand+Mixers&cat=310&prod=488

Pampered Chef Tool Turn-About

For those of you who know me well, you know that I LOVE pampered chef. I'd sell it, except that down here you have to be bilingual to be successful. All that being said, I have a slightly older version of this ... mine is white and not the "new and improved" version (which has stronger ball bearings).

I love this tool caddy because it keeps the tools from getting all tangled up in a drawer. I put it right next to the stove, which makes grabbing what I need really easy when I'm cooking. No more stuck-on sauce while I'm hunting for the right spoon!