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Post by elizabeth_h on Jul 9, 2007 14:45:31 GMT -5
Lynne...did you make zucchini chocolate cake? We always laugh at zucchini season because when I was a kid in Iowa my parents planted zucchini in the garden and we were completely OVERRUN with zucchini! We had every zucchini dish imaginable. But the cake is just de-lish! I wanted it every year for my birthday.
Goalie - that is a great pic! I wish I had some of my grandparents' horses. My dad says in the winter one of the farm hands would take him to school (he went to a one-room country school) on one of the huge work horses. He remembers having one foot sticking straight out on each side. I will skip Grandma's recipes though....icky Norwegian stuff like lutefisk. EEEWWW!
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Post by Lynne on Jul 9, 2007 16:15:32 GMT -5
Elizabeth....PMing you for recipe! (so as to avoid my horrible habit of hijacking threads because I think its all just a conversation....LOL)
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Post by elizabeth_h on Jul 9, 2007 17:13:34 GMT -5
I forgot to nominate a cookbook! I meant to recommend "The Accidental Vegan", which is a really handy veg book that I use a lot. I find that the problem with a lot of vegetarian cookbooks is they have unbelievable complex recipes with all sorts of obscure ingredients that are hard to find and expensive to buy. This book uses more normal ingredients and has good, simple recipes - lots of easy stuff to make.
I am recommending it also because many times you can end up with a vegetarian guest in the house and not know what to make. This is a helpful book to have around!
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Post by Lynne on Jul 9, 2007 20:15:22 GMT -5
Perfect suggestion! I was just going through recipes today and trying to put them on the computer and was tagging with vegetarian or not as my brother's girlfriend is a vegetarian. He's a Meat-o-holic so having them over together is always an interesting thing for cooking. Thanks for the reccomendation and I have a quick zucchini grinder recipe that sounds yummy that I haven't tried.
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Post by Goalie on Jul 10, 2007 7:18:51 GMT -5
Elizabeth, I have that cookbook too. "The Accidental Vegan" Almost half of my family is vegan and I like to be able toi make each side happy when they come over. In fact I have handed that book over to some of the more adventourous ones in my family an dlet them have at it in my kitchen.We have fun putting different dishes together.
Thanks for your kind words on my pic. I have more. ;D
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Post by alisonph on Jul 16, 2007 17:46:44 GMT -5
JA-how are you finding the pre-wwII cookbooks? AMazon? eBay? They sound fabulous. I like my Fanny Farmer cookbook, love the Betty Crocker cookbook and Moosewood's 30-Minute Meals is great for small amounts of inspiration. Alice Waters has a great series about eating locally. I have her chesapeake Bay cookbook, although the name escapes me at the moment. Fabulous recipes! ETA: Marjorie Standish is a great cookbook. JA, she might be pre wwII. Nope, just checked it out; 1969. But it IS Maine in 1969, so realistically, it could be any other part of the country in 1929  (I'm from Maine, so I can say that ) |
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Post by johnnysauntie on Jul 18, 2007 10:48:36 GMT -5
I browse antique shops for old cookbooks. I recently snared a second edition of the Fanny Farmer cooking school cookbook that is a real gem. And IMHO you can't beat the cookies/cakes/pie recipes that you find in the old church ladies cookbooks.
The cookbook that has become my go-to favorite, interestingly enough, the Moosewood LowFat Cookbook. It's mostly veg (with some fish recipes) and even though we're a household of carnivores, I cook from this book a lot. The sweet-potato black-bean burritos are a favorite and my hubby (the guy who smoked 4 slabs of ribs, two chickens and some salmon last weekend) gobbles it down.
And even though I love cookbooks, I find myself using Epicurious.com most often (and allrecipes.com next) and the FoodTV.com site as well, because I love the rankings which help me find "tried and true" recipes.
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Post by adcooper on Jul 20, 2007 11:25:38 GMT -5
Moosewood has a low-fat cookbook! Oh goodie. I'm going to look for it right now.
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Post by camille on Jul 21, 2007 21:51:40 GMT -5
I can't believe no one has mentioned "The Joy Of Cooking". This is my go-to book when I want to make a classic recipe. There are no short cuts in the recipes, but if you follow the directons, you can create anything! I have made things from this book that I can't even pronounce, like coq au vin, and beef bourgenon (yea, can't even spell that one..). But it is, in my opinion, THE BEST cookbook to have around. They actually tell you how to prepare eggs in every way, explain cuts of meat, measurements...everything. It's great. However, if you're going to get a copy, get an older one. The newer versions have shortcuts and include things like "add a can of mushroom soup".
I also have a love for the old-ish (50's-60's) Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks. If you can get past all of the gelatin salad recipes, there are lots of fun and easy foods in them.
I will second, or third, or forth the recommendations of the Moosewood cookbooks. Awesome! We are not vegetarians, but we try to eat healthy foods, and the Moosewood recipes are just great; they make wonderful, healthy side dishes for meat eaters.
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Post by johnnysauntie on Jul 23, 2007 12:03:09 GMT -5
Camille - I'm with you -- JOC is also one of my go-to's.
And re: the jello salads - my grandma LOVED those things, I remember being very confused as a small child when given a square of lemon jello that contained shredded carrots, celery and peppers. I also remember a salad that contained - if I recall - black cherries, cream cheese and PRETZELS.
But I love those crazy "company" dishes that you find in the circa 50's and 60's cookbooks. Company Dinner, Company Frankenfurters - and stuffing weird things with even stranger stuff. That said, I have never had the actual guts to produce Hawaiian Hotdog Surprise or any of that ilk.
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Post by adcooper on Jul 27, 2007 12:29:29 GMT -5
JA, my mother used to make crazy food for us when she and my dad were going out to dinner--stuff he wouldn't have considered a complete meal, but we loved it. The hot dog, sliced lengthwise, stuffed with processed cheese, wrapped in refrigerated crescent dough and baked till brown and bubbly. Shockingly unhealthy and we ate every bite. But Mom did have her standards. We did not drink Tang.
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Post by Bara on Jul 30, 2007 11:40:22 GMT -5
Oh that sounds idyllic, Ann...
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Post by corgi on Jul 31, 2007 17:01:54 GMT -5
Ha, Ad, my mom made that for us too when we were kids! ;D
ElizabethH, thanks for that recommendation. I need a "normal" veg cookbook.
One I think is GREAT is "Vegetarian Planet." Most of the ingredients called for aren't outlandish, and there are some pretty sophisticated taste combinations, like wild rice cakes served with thyme/carrot/marsala/mushroom stew, YUM.
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