cookbook – Jennifer Michie

September 21, 2017 / 0 Comments

A Surprise!

I walked to meet Mr. Michie on his way home from school yesterday evening. We were discussing how each of our day’s had gone, when he suddenly stopped in the middle of the street and told me to open up his backpack.

I reached into the peppermint stripe interior and felt a thick cardboard envelope. I pulled it out; slowly opened it and inside was a cookbook. Now, I have a bit of an obsession with cookbooks. I don’t cook from all of them; some I use for inspiration, some are vintage and were too good to pass up with the pictures they contained and some are like my bible, I’ve returned to them again and again.

In reading an article that Nigella Lawson wrote this weekend, he discovered Roast Chicken and Other Stories, by Simon Hopkinson and knew that although I would probably not make deep-fried calves’ brains, or roasted lambs’ kidneys; I would be enthralled with other recipes within the book.

He was absolutely correct! What’s even better than the recipes are Hopkinson’s notes and stories that accompany a chapter or recipe. I’m already working on our weekend menu and I think a recipe or two will definitely be featured out of this book.

I’m very a lucky girl to get surprises, especially when they are cookbooks!

November 4, 2016 / 0 Comments

Getting Ready

I’m getting ready for the weekend. It should be busy, there are lots of errands to run, a menu to plan and a trip to the grocery store. I have a few new recipes that I want to test out as well. Mr. Michie treated me to Ina Garten’s new cookbook, Cooking for Jeffrey, which should arrive today and I’m very excited. I don’t know if I have shared this here before, but I have a bit of a cookbook fetish. I don’t cook from all of them, some I use for inspiration alone. But I just love cookbooks. Especially vintage ones! I scored two great Christmas ones last year that are just the sweetest things ever.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, wherever you may be! Here’s to the weekend, long may it last!

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July 7, 2016 / 0 Comments

Cooking With Beth

For Fourth of July this year I decided to make a pecan pie. I chose a recipe from Beth Howard’s cookbook. I baked “Frank Barnett’s Pecan Pie”. It is more of an old fashioned recipe as it uses just brown and white sugar and not Karo syrup. But whether or not it is made with just sugar or sugar and Karo syrup, I’ll take pecan pie any way I can get it!

It was heavenly. I love pecan pie filling even more than I love pecans, so in the future, I would be tempted to double the recipe for the filling but still use a cup of pecans.

It was the perfect end to a wonderful evening. We sat with a slice of pecan pie, a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and watched the sun slowly set!

March 24, 2016 / 0 Comments

Cooking With Ree

With the ushering in of Spring this week, I was craving something sweet and a pie sounded like a wonderful idea. I think pie is always a good idea! I made The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond’s “homemade vanilla pudding” from her Dinnertime Cookbook.

The pudding had a wonderful consistency. In future I think I would add a bit more vanilla, but that is just to suit my tastes. Now, in Ree’s recipe she put her cooked pudding into individual pots and topped them off with unsweetened whipped cream. I placed mine in a pie shell and made a mountain of vanilla whipped cream. It was perfect! I had a slice for dessert and a slice for breakfast and a slice for an afternoon snack…

March 14, 2016 / 0 Comments

Cooking With Audrey

I grew up surrounded by fantastic cooks. My grandmothers and one of my grandfathers, my aunts and both of my parents all know their way around a kitchen. They have instilled in me, not just the ability to cook, but an appreciation for good food and good ingredients.

I LOVE to be in the kitchen. I find it therapeutic to cut vegetables, stir a sauce, get inspired by something I’ve read and adapt it to suit our tastes. I also and I’m not embarrassed to say this have a bit of a thing for cookbooks. I have new ones and vintage one’s, some from my Nana, some from my Mom. I don’t always cook from them, but I love looking through them as a catalyst for ideas.

I’m going to make a point this year to share some of what I’m cooking here. It’s a new series I’m starting, called “Cooking with…”.

First up, I’m cooking with Audrey. To go along with pulled chicken, smothered in homemade Carolina mustard based BBQ sauce, I made a batch of Audrey’s coleslaw. It’s a simple dressing mix involving sour cream at it’s base instead of a traditional mayonnaise mixture. I whipped it up and threw in some grated carrot for good measure. It was refreshing and a soothing compliment to the spiciness of the BBQ sauce.