The Complete Western Cookbook

The early 1960's brought us The Complete Western Cookbook by Betty Johnson. With the current fascination for regional cooking, I must say there is not a whole lot in this cookbook that would scream out, "This is the land beyond the Pecos." what this may indicate is a land...

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TRIPLE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD

Do you have a lot of zucchini this summer? If so, this is a great way to use it. This treat is super chocolate-y, super moist (in fact it gets even more moist on day two), super easy to make and freezes very well.(2) one ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate (melted)3 large...

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How to Wine Friends and Affluent People

If you are into that throwback 1950's vibe, you can credit a good bit of it to Robert H. Loeb, Jr.  Loeb was the food and drink editor for Esquire magazine in the early 1950s. It was a perfect fit.  Loeb has an ethos that men are better than women and whiskey is better...

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A Painter's Kitchen

O'Keeffe's Kitchen Sink, Ghost Ranch, 1975  by Dan Budnik Just when you though you had seen "everything but the kitchen sink" when it comes to Georgia O'Keeffe -- we give you Georgia O'Keeffe's kitchen sink.When she was 24, Margaret Wood met...

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Florida Salads

This little gem from 1915 is called Florida Salads.  There seems to be no real thesis presenting why these salads are particularly Floridian.  One might imagine that the temperate weather allows for fresh greens throughout the year, thus making salads a "Florida" thing...

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BEST EVER STRAWBERRY TOPPING

This topping rates 5 out of 5 stars for an ice cream topping, but it is also DELICIOUS over pancakes, pound cake, cheesecake and right out of the jar with a big spoon!! It is nice and thick and bright red (not a hint of watery-ness........is that a word?) It is...

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The Green Mountain Cook Book

My favorite Sports Night is titled "A Girl Named Pixley."  I never knew anyone named "Pixley" until I ran across a copy of The Green Mountain Cook Book by Aristene Pixley.  Picking a cookbook based on an obscure character in Sports Night is probably not the best way,...

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Recipes from an Edwardian Country House

Recipes from an Edwardian Country House is a book that was repackaged from an earlier book.  Frankly, I hate it when publishers do this sort of thing, as I often have the first book and then end up with another copy of the same book -- different title!  Well, I don't...

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SUPER EASY FLOUR TORTILLAS

I throw away a lot of tortillas, do you? I use 5 or 6 out of a package and freeze the rest with good intentions of using them later, but I never do. Before long they are covered with ice crystals and hiding in a dark corner in the freezer.So I recently...

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The Heart of Sicily

We like to read cookbooks, but we also like to know what cookbook our favorite chefs read.  So we were elated to read a fine post by one of favorites, David Lebovitz, about Casa Vecchie, Anna Tasca Lanza's cooking school.  Lanza passed away several years ago, but her...

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The Founding Farmers Cookbook

You think you have trouble getting a consensus, just imagine if you owned a restaurant with 40,000 partners.  The Founding Fathers in Washington, DC is just such a restaurant.  It is owned by more than 42,000 American family farmers in the North Dakota Farmers Union.  It...

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The Lamb Cookbook

Who doesn't love a good lamb?  We have been thinking of a whole lamb recently.  While the idea has been percolating, the execution has been no where to find.  So we ventured back in time to 1959 to see what Paula Owen might recommend on a much smaller scale. ...

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CROCKPOT PORK LOIN

This recipe is ultra easy, ultra fast and ultra delicious!! What more can you ask for? And, oh, did I mention...it cooks by itself in the Crockpot!!The end result is moist, fall apart tender, sweet-ish, completely full flavored and very versatile. It is going directly into...

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Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine

There is not a single member of Norma Jean and Carole Darden's family that you want to hang out with.  While most of them are gone now, they live on in this delightful cookbook and memoir.  Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine was one of the first cookbooks to combine recipes...

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