The Quality of Cookbook Reviews

I am a cookbook addict.  While in Missouri we stopped off at a shop (bathroom break) and I picked up an Amish cookbook called The Wooden Spoon.  I made a cookie recipe out of it already.  Not to get off track, but I was the last one out of the store and as the girl rang me up, I see my husband get back out of the car.  "You might want to hurry, my husband is coming to complain." I said to the cashier.  She told me that all wives say that about their husbands.  With that, my husband whips open the door and sees my purchase on the counter and asked (very annoyed, I might add) "How many cookbooks do you need anyway?".  The cashier was a little shocked lol.  No matter, I spent the rest of the drive reading through my new purchase.  Now, the question is, I read through the recipes in the cookbook, I made one of them, does that qualify me to write a review on a site that you can purchase the book?  I am always browsing cookbooks and I read the reviews.  I also like cookbooks with stories that surround recipes.   I don't know about you, but when I read a review I want to know what the person has tried and why it did or didn't work.  I tweak most recipes anyway as to what we like to eat so I do take some reviews with a grain of salt. It's frustrating to see a book that I am interested in, have someone say it's good or it sucks but not why.   What drives me nuts is someone complementing a book or giving it a bad review and not even opening the book.  Sometimes it takes years for a cookbook to make it to the "old standby" standards.   Which further perplexes me when a cookbook is out a week and has hundreds of reviews.  Some write, "I tried xyz recipe and it was great, I hope to make several more out of this book".  That is encouraging but I would like to read the review after you made several more.  It would be like buying the CD for one song.   I looked at my cookbooks and there are quite a few I think I would be comfortable in doing it justice for a good review or bad.  Let's take soup.  I am a soupaholic.  I have a lot of soup cookbooks ranging from new to vintage. The last one I bought is this one:

Mr. Sunday Soups by Lorraine Wallace.  It's a nice cookbook.  But I bought it the end of winter and haven't made anything out of it yet.  She also has a new Chicken cookbook out but I'm not going to buy that until I try some recipes out of this one.  Who am I kidding, I will probably buy it anyway.  But I wouldn't review it.  Others I would be comfortable reviewing but that is after I have lived with them for quite a while. 

The Soup Bible by Debra Mayhew, I've used a dozen recipes from this one and even blew up a food processor making one (don't ask). 

The Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups by David Ansel was also good, I liked the story surrounding the Soup Peddler and made several of the recipes. 

An Exaltation of Soups by Patricia Solley is another Hall of Fame addition to my cookbooks, not only because of the soup facts and history but there are some great recipes in there and my husband (cranky about cookbooks) picked it up and jumped in making some of them himself.  She has a great website called Soup Song and a blog that has unfortunately gone silent over the past few years.  Whatever your endeavors Patricia Solley, my ladle is raised to you as the Soup Queen. 

I will say in defense of reviews that if some of them wait as long as I do to become comfortable to write a review, the book would be out of print.  I also think an exception can be made to cookbooks that come from restaurants.  O.K. I'm off the soapbox.

BBQ Improvisation

Get a bunch of broke 20 something year olds who would rather have more money for beer than food together.  Then let them get the idea that they want to have a BBQ, except they don't have a grill.  This is what you get:

My son and his friends were visiting another friend in upstate, NY.  They decided hey, why not?  Not a bad job and it worked in a pinch.  I hope they cleaned the rack before they put it back in the oven.

Memorial Day/Burial At Sea

Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed annually in the United States on the last Monday of May.  Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars.  Always remember those who gave their lives in order for us to have the freedoms we have.
One courtesy that the military extends to those who served is Burial at Sea.  The only cost is in transportation of the remains of the deceased.  My father and I talked years ago about what he wanted after he died and this is what he wanted.  He hated the idea of a funeral or memorial.  "It's only for the living and if you do that to me I will haunt you".   So, what happens when you are buried at sea?  My father wanted to be cremated so after that was done the funeral director had everything sent to the Navy in Norfolk, VA.  All information sent to the Navy will be returned to the family.  Now you may or may not get a ship right away.  My father's ship went underway in September and my dad died in April.  You also will not get information as to what ship or where until their mission is more than half way completed.  Most deployments are 6 - 7 months.  This is for security reasons.  My father was assigned to the U.S.S. Donald Cook.   Here is a picture of the ship actually leaving the harbor and my father's ashes are on board.  I did not get this from the military, I found this on a support site.  I find it hard to look at this picture knowing my Dad is on there underway for the last time:

Looked like a beautiful day.  Some burials may vary.  It depends on the mission the ship is on as to what you will receive.  My father's burial at sea was outstanding.  He was buried December 3, 2011 off the coast of Somalia. His information was sent to me before the ship docked in home port.  I received a picture disc, a copy of the log that day, his information, coordinates and his flag with three bullets folded inside from his 21 gun salute, and a lovely letter from the ship.  It far out weighed my expectations and I am honored and humbled by what they did for my father.  I know he was happy.  As I said, things will vary by the ship and mission.  I received some criticism even though I was following my dad's wishes but if I had it to do over again, I would do the same.  God bless our military.

Cast Iron News

I hope that with all this school stuff going on that you didn't think I was keeping up with what's new in cast iron.  The boy scouts updated their dutch oven cookbook:

Mark, over at Mark's Black Pot (link on the right) has a book out since last month:

The Wilderness Guide to Dutch Oven Cooking by Kate Rowinski looks interesting.  It releases in August:

You know I have them on my wish list, right?
Volcano, yes that Volcano who manufactures the grill I want, also came out with a new dutch oven.  It is a 12 inch deep model.  You can check it out here.  I haven't tried out their cast iron yet.  Right now they have a 20% off promotion for their new dutch oven. 

I almost forgot that Cooking Outdoors (link on the right) has a DVD coming out in June:

I am not affiliated with any of the above.

When my husband fixes the glass top on my range (I broke it)  you will see me cooking outside with my cast iron more.  Am I the only one who hates glass top stoves??

End of the School Year

Wow!  It's been over a month since I have posted!  There has been a lot going on.  The end of the school year the powers that be, try to cram in as much as possible into the last month of school, from state testing to concerts and awards.  Let's not forget about graduations!

 #1 child, my son, is trying to coordinate between his two jobs to fly down to visit us in July.
 #2 child, my daughter, has graduated from high school and will be starting dental school in Kansas City in a couple of months.  Since she did all of her college pre-requisites she will be a dentist at 22.  She originally was going for dental technician but after talking to her counselor yesterday she decided to go for the whole thing.

#3 Child, my son, has moved on from middle school to high school.  He will be working the month of June for a ranch with summer camp children that a professor at his school runs.  July will be all band practice.  He received an award for P.E., all A's, highest averages and deans list.  He has already placed in advanced classes for high school and has been playing with the high school band.

#4 child, my daughter, made the dance team again, her choir made all superior in their competition, she made choir for next year,  and will be going to dance camp the end of this month with her team.  I hoped to post picture of her looking beautiful in her choir gown but I used her camera (better than mine) to take pictures and unfortunately she is holding them hostage.  I do have a picture of her at the powder puff football game as center.  She did great, even when she was tackled into a patch of stinging nettles and it was supposed to be flag. She looks so tiny.

#5 Child, my son, pulled his grades up (yay!!), and crossed over into boyscouts.  He may or may not do boyscout summer camp as it falls on his birthday.  He also sprouted up 4 inches this year and will turn 11 in a couple of weeks.  He looks like he is being tortured, but due to a storm we couldn't have the bonfire and had to move it into a school house on the property.  It was hot and muggy.

Now add a trip to Missouri, two boyscout camping trips and last minute birthday parties and here we are today!  My husband even managed to finish tiling the bathroom.  Thank you for stopping by and I hope you didn't mind a little bragging from a proud mama!

Just on the Hook

I am still not over my slouchy hat addiction:

And I decided I just had to make one in red:

For a while I have been trying to make socks.  I finally found a book of patterns that I can wrap my brain around.  Now that I can make them, I need a bunch.  No more cheap socks that wear out quick!

Years ago I found out about Judith Copeland's Modular Crochet book.  It shows you how to crochet sweaters in panels and using your own body to measure.  Long out of print, copies of this book sell for $40 in bad condition to $250 in mint condition.  I have been watching this book for a long time and scored one on eBay in good condition for $20.  There are some pencil marks but other than that...wonderful!  I can't wait to play around with this.

I felt like daffy duck yelling mine, mine, mine.  It's the little things in life...
I was in the kitchen collection with my husband the other day and he did try to keep me away from the cast iron section.  I was told I did not need another cast iron dutch oven.  I did not come home with one but I did check out a new crock pot.  He didn't say I didn't need a new one of those, just asked where I would put it.  I came home with a hand masher. 

Sourdough Part 2

Been a little swamped here lately, sorry I haven't posted the rest of the sourdough recipe.  After you let your sourdough sponge sit overnight, take a cup out and put it in to your sourdough starter container. Add a tablespoon of salt, 1/2 cup of melted butter and anywhere from 4 to 6 cups of flour to your remaining sponge.  This is what my dough looked like when I took it out of the bowl after 4 cups of four have been added:

As you can see it's still pretty wet.  I tend to leave my dough a bit wet, it rises better for me.  I used 5 1/2 cups of flour total.  Cut the dough in half:

 Place in oiled pans:

Slit or not to slit, it's up to you.  As you can see nothing I make is picture perfect!  Cover with a warm, damp tea towel and let rise above the pan line.  I think I let it rise two hours.  This could vary day to day.

Leaving very small lumps of flour isn't the worst thing that can happen with this dough.  Remember your sourdough will still break those down as it is rising.  Now in the oven at 350.  If your oven runs hot you may want lay foil across the top to prevent over browning. Check to see if it's done after 45 minutes.   I use a thermometer and take it out at 190 degrees.

This makes two large loaves of bread.  I don't make sourdough a lot because even though it is a favorite of my husband everyone else can take it or leave it.