When we got married, 11.5 years ago, let’s just say I didn’t know much about cooking. It wasn’t that my mom didn’t try, and yes, I could cook pancakes and spaghetti. It is not very fun, though, to cook for one person. I mostly ate pasta-roni with a little extra chicken or peas mixed in. My husband-to-be was somewhat appalled. He had learned to cook with his friends. They had a game (I think this was in high school), where five kids would head into the store and buy an ingredient. When they came out, they had to figure out how to make a meal they’d all eat. Fun game, huh? I should add that he wooed me with back rubs and food. It worked very, very well. If a man wants a wife, cooking may really help. I know, not traditional, but totally works on us. If you are not a jerk. I hear even jerks can cook. Anyway….
I am making a list of the best cookbooks I keep coming back to. This will make up for my complete lack of blogging. Tonight I made meatloaf and based it on a recipe from a book my mom gave me for my birthday one year. It is called Blue Ribbon Recipes, 693 Award-Winners from America’s State and County Fairs, by Barbara Greenman. YUM. There no bad recipes here, I promise. LOTS of variety, too.
“Father of the Fairs: In 1807, Elkanah Watson, a New England patriot and farmer, earned the title ‘Father of U.S. Agricultural Fairs,’ by producing the first small exhibit of sheep under an elm tree in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.” Pg. 4.
Another favorite is The Pioneer Woman Cooks. If you have never read her blog, go to www.thepioneerwoman.com right now. She is seriously talented with words, cooking, and photography. And I love ranch life, even if I can’t have it. The time she took pictures of the vet and the boys shoving a uterus back into a cow, I loved it, because I’ve seen that event in real life as a small child. Some people seriously complained that it ruined their coffee that morning to see such things, which took me by surprise as much as her. So I feel a kinship there.
I LOVE her recipes. They contain an obscene amount of butter. Yay, butter.
About the cinnamon rolls on page 36: “If ou begin making these for your friends and family during the holidays, I promise you this: you’ll become famous. And, on a less positive note, people will forget everything else you’ve ever accomplished in your life. From that moment on, you’ll be known — and loved — only for your cinnamon rolls.
But don’t worry. You’ll get used to it!”
Fix It and Forget It, Feasting With Your Slow Cooker, by Dawn Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good and all sequels are worth having around the house when you are in a hurry that week and need to plan ahead. It’s also good for party recipes. I was handed it by the mom of a kid I tutored eons ago, and I’m so glad. I’m sure my mom would have sent it eventually, but it’s wonderful. Pepsi pot roast was a big hit. You’d be surprised what you can cook in a pot. Like corned beef! Or hot chocolate! Or cider! Or seven-layer bars. I burned those this week, but would you believe they turned out like over-toasted marshmallows? I took the crock pot recipe and put them under the broiler. I thought three minutes was not enough. Oops. Still extremely edible.
The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book is a staple. You have to have that one in the house, in case you forget how to make deviled eggs, how long to boil eggs, how long to cook potatoes, what a basic pancake or waffle recipe entails without a mix, or how long to cook a leg of lamb. You just never know when these things will come up. All those things are still happening to me. It’s the best basic cookbook ever.
One more I keep coming back to: “What’s For Dinner, Mom?” by Lorrie Flem. She is a local author and mom of a large family. Because she is the mom of a large family, she is good at cooking for one, and giving advice to those of us who didn’t have much experience with the domestic arts. For more on what she publishes, go to www.TEACHMagazine.com. She is awesome, has a magazine, and you can rent one of their beach houses on the Washington coast. We did so in a large group, and they were lovely.
Pp. 21-22, on first time experiences bulk cooking:
“One day I decided that since I was going to make a batch of macaroni & cheese, it made sense to make a couple extra for the freezer. I carefully followed the recipe and measured out 24 cups of macaroni.
As I waited for the noodle water to boil, I cut up the cheese, made the sauce, and set out the pans. When it did begin to boil, I noticed that the pasta needed more and more water added. When the pasta was finally cooked, I was horrified to realize that my huge stockpot was barely able to contain all the macaroni, and yet I still needed to add the other ingredients!
I still think it is funny that I put in 24 cups of uncooked pasta and the recipe intended for me ot use cooked pasta :). Believe me when I say that there is a HUGE difference between the two forms!
My brother-in-law, Ty, was called into service and he helped in teh rescue attempt for the macaroni & cheese. We still laughingly reminisce about what he was thinking as a newlywed, stirring with a 6-foot wooden paddle in the plastic bin that was substituting for a bowl, since I didin’t own one that would hold this amount! He was thinking something along the lines that this was more work than just cooking a different meal every night! To top it off, he preferred the store-bought version to our family’s favorite recipe. The indignity of it all!”
So there you have it, my list of favorite cookbooks. I can really cook now, and that’s a really neat thing to be able to say.
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