Two Happy Bellies

The Newlywed Cookbook

I've gotten out of the habit of telling you about new and favorite cookbooks. I will try to get better about that. And to start up with this again, I'm going to tell you about one that unexpectedly came our way: The Newlywed Cookbook (9780811876834) by Sarah Copeland. Based in New York City, Sarah Copeland is co-founder and former spokesperson for the Food Network and Share Our Strength’s Good Food Gardens campaign. Not only does she create recipes, she is also an urban gardener, and promotes living well. Sarah created The Newlywed Cookbook in an effort to persuade other newlyweds to build the habit of cooking and eating well together. She knows how important it is to share each other’s favorite comfort foods in both times of happy and in times of sick. Filled with recipes to cook together, many of which make just two servings (so perfect for newlyweds and empty nesters), she also encourages readers to learn how to compost, plant urban gardens, and support the local farmers’ market. Ending up with some menu ideas, foodies will drool over the photo excellent cookbook. I highly recommend the baked risotto recipe on page 115. Don’t forget to also check out her blog at www.edibleliving.com.

Tyler Makes Pancakes

As part of my job, I get to see advance copies of many books. Some of them I love and anxiously await their publication date so I can buy and give them away (or keep for myself) while others are quickly forgotten. Having said that, I want to tell you about one I will probably purchase: Tyler Florence’s new title. He’s doing a picture book with the (very fun) illustrator Craig Frazier. Tyler Makes Pancakes (9780062047526) has our young hero Tyler waking up one morning from a pancakes in outer space dream. He informs his dog, Tofu, and they head off to the grocery store to get the ingredients necessary to create breakfast for Mom and Dad. Mr. Jones at the market not only helps Tyler find each ingredient, Tyler (and us) receive a short history about each of the items on the list. Back home pancakes are made and everyone enjoys a tasty breakfast. There is a recipe and additional Did You Know facts at the end. While there is nothing spectacular about the story, the fun illustrations nudge this one above many other celebrity titles. Now to decide, when shall I make Tyler’s Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes?

Standard disclaimer: I get to see advance copies of books through my job, however this review was unsolicited and unpaid for . . . opinions are completely my own.

Could I be a hunter?

I just finished reading this book the other night and it was great reading material. Tracy and I try to be locavores in that we garden a good bit of tomatoes, peppers, basil, oregano, etc and we participate in one of our Nashville area CSA programs. I am interested in taking that next step as a locavore with hunting fowl such as pheasants or hunting a deer. This book has helped to push me another step in that desire to fill the freezer with some tasty meat.

I really like many of the things the author had to say in the Introduction of the book as well as The Politics of Hunting on p.88-89. His statement "Using a rifle to hunt for food does not have to mean that you identify yourself as pro-gun or antigun. It is a tool that we use to do a job,..." is brilliant. I wish more people would understand this logic.

I must admit that I have in fact killed one deer already but not with a rifle but using a Nissan truck. I hit this deer late one night when it jumped out in front of my truck and I had little choice but to hit him/her. I never gave much thought about hunters, hunting or animal rights up until this accident. For me, I came to realize that I am okay with hunters going out and hunting these animals to help control the population because it could have easily been someone else to hit this deer. Although I was not harmed (my truck got fixed) other people who have hit deer have not been so lucky.

Anyone who has read books like "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver with the hope of having a backyard garden and enjoying the fruits of their own labor or who understands the concept of "food miles" that in most instances local is better SHOULD understand the logic of hunting locally, hunting to put food on the table (vs trophy hunting) and hunting legally. I do recommend anyone who has the ability to and desire to take the locavore mentality one step further to please check this book out.

Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus Processor Review

Okay, so Tracy and I have gotten though the Christmas rush and everything is getting back to normal.  Ha!!! There is no normal here. We are in the middle of the two biggest holidays, work is crazy and the house is kind of a wreck. There is lots of joy this time of year and one item that has been joyous to me has been that I have been using the Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus Processor that we received as a wedding gift, umm... two and a half years ago. There is a good reason for this delay.

After the wedding when Tracy moved in with me into my little house and there was only so much room for all our stuff. Many of our wedding gifts got packed away for a year until we moved in to the bigger new house. At that point some things found homes in kitchen cabinets but were 'out of sight, out of mind'. A few weeks ago we did some reorganization and rearranging in the kitchen and this little food processor came out of the box.

It took me a few times using this food processor to start to warm up to how cool and useful it is. I am normally a cut and chop everything with one of my awesome Global kitchen knives and a cutting board type but Tracy needed some nuts chopped for a recipe on day so I grabbed this gadget. The pecans did not stand a chance. I needed some onion finely chopped for a recipe. The onions did not stand a chance either. The best part about this food processor is that there are only two options CHOP or GRIND unlike a seriously confusing blender with PUREE, LIQUEFY, BLEND, OBLITERATE and all those other settings. CHOP sends the internal blade counter-clockwise to take advantage of the long surface area of the blade while GRIND spins clockwise and uses a small sharp area on the back of the blade.

I think one way to think about the difference between CHOP and GRIND is that soft vegetable items get the CHOP while hard things like nuts get the GRIND but there may be a big grey area in that logic. Either way both settings only work while either button is depressed. A simple quick press (less than a second) will spin the blade quickly several times or the button can be held down for several seconds for lots of revolutions. On the really big Cuisinarts they have the ON and PULSE buttons. This Mini-Prep is on permanent PULSE mode.

This food processor works great but I did get carried away with it.  I made a recipe of Goat cheese, mushroom and walnut dip that called for chopping and sauteing mushrooms.  I chopped the walnuts briefly with no problem but when I went to chop the mushrooms I chopped them for too long and they ended up being too small for the recipe. Next time I will stick to hand chopping the mushrooms instead. Other than that one misadventure I am pretty happy with this little food processor.

Tracy and I used it again to make a Rosemary vinaigrette that was wonderful. Into the food processor went fresh rosemary, red onion, oil, balsamic vinegar and some other stuff that I cannot remember right now and after a good 10 seconds of blending out came a dressing better than that Paul Newman stuff. Meh, who needs a blender.

So I feel guilty that it has taken us two and a half years to get around to using this nifty gadget but I am still thankful we did receive it. I give it 5 out of 5 stars for quality, ease of use and hopefully long lasting like other Cuisinart products.     

Good Cheddar Cheeses (Tillamook and Tickler)

I love a good sharp cheddar. In fact my go to cheese has been Tillamook Sharp Cheddar for years. I can only buy it in a block locally (used to find slices, but not anymore).

I'm okay with not finding slices locally as my parents bring me some when they come to visit. Although last time (hmm, hmm Dad!) my father couldn't remember the "sharp" so he brought a package of sharp, a package of mild, and a package of white - then proceeded to eat all my sharp! He has promised to redeem himself on the next visit. Anyway, this cheese shreds beautifully and makes the best grilled cheese or quesadillas in a hurry (yes, they aren't authentic quesadillas - get over it).

However, even though I will always rave about Tillamook, I'm actually going to tell you about a NEW favorite cheddar. We found this at Whole Foods and bought it on a whim. Wow! What a great impulse purchase it was. Now why does the closest Whole Foods have to be 45 minutes away??? Anyway, it is Tickler brand and it is their one with Red Onions . . .

We ate and enjoyed every bite and are trying to find a reason to head back to Whole Foods again soon. Although if we don't come up with one, we'll go just for the cheese. Because I can't locate it anywhere else. If you enjoy good cheeses - give this one a try! Let us know how you like it.

Homemade Waffles - Review of Cuisinart Classic Waffle Maker

How many of you have wedding presents you've never used? While we still have a few we haven't used, that is changing and we've crossed one more off the list by finally using our waffle iron.

We decided we want waffles the other day for breakfast and so we pulled it out of the cupboard and cleaned it up for first use. Following their recipe for Basic Waffles, we created our batter and started to make the waffles. While the waffle iron does create really good waffles and the "done" indicator is well timed for us . . . pouring the recommended 1/2 cup batter creates just a wee bit of a mess.

We continued making waffles with a bit less batter per waffle and that helped tremendously! Making some plain and some chocolate chip, we enjoyed our assortment of waffles for breakfast and froze the leftovers for a future eating.

Final thoughts? We love our waffle iron and will use it more often going forward, however will not be using 1/2 cup batter per waffle. We look forward to trying some variations as well.

Mary Janes Farm Review - Part 2

Last month we made another trip to the Clingman's Dome area for some more fun hiking and camping. However Mother Nature mocked us by sending horrible rain upon us the day we wanted to do our day hike on the AT and she sent bears to remind us that this is their backyard and it was time for the "fall shuffle".  Tracy saw five bears but I only saw three of them.

Even though we got soaked on the trail I had brought another of the Mary Janes Farm meals and some pita bread as a good hot meal.  This time we tried the Organic Curry in a Hurry.  Again it was a simple matter of boiling some water, mixing it in the pouch and let it rest for a few minutes.  This was by far one of the most fragrant meals we had cooked up with all those curry spices.

Later that night when we made it back to the campground and were ready for dinner I got to work on the Organic Jambalaya.  To go with the jambalaya I sauteed up some turkey kielbasa slices and pita bread.
Again, not too bad of a meal for sitting around a campfire. This was more fun than hamburgers and hot dogs.  So far our opinion of any of the Mary Janes Farm is that they are worth the price, worth the ease of preparation and will recommend them to hikers and campers alike.  

Knowing what can be accomplished with "boil water and mix" type meals we would like to try to make some of our own.  Tracy has decided that she will would like some breakfast meals so I think I will keep an eye on some of the hiking forums for those.  
 

Mary Janes Farm Review - Part 1

As Tracy and I have gone out for day hikes and camping adventures we have tried to take food that is easy to carry, ease of preparation, and at least on the good side of healthy.  I have had enough Spam and MREs to know that there is a time and place for those but we can also do better in the woods.  With Tracy's soy plant allergy we also know that processed food needs a good examination ofthe ingredient list.  While shopping at Dick's, REI or wherever we have looked at many of the products by Mountain House, Backpackers Pantry, and Mary Janes Farm.  While the meals sound tasty soy is often the 2nd, 3rd or 4th ingredient in the product.  That is a bit risky for Tracy. Mountain House Beef Stroganoff was very good but it gave Tracy a slight tickle in the throat.  That was our first lesson to start checking the ingredient lists.    

I got to looking at the Mary Janes Farm website and their foods that I notices that not only did many of their foods not contain soy but a lot of the meals sounded pretty good.  I sent them a simple email asking "Other than the disclaimer on your website that states- For those with any allergy concerns, please note that all of our food products are processed in a facility that handles dairy products, nuts, peanuts, soy and wheat.- do you have a list of products that are soy free or limited amounts?" Within two days I received a good reply.  They stated - There are only a few foods we sell that have soy ingredients.  We have soy milk powder in the Outrageous Outback Oatmeal.  There is soy miso powder in the Ginger Sesame Pasta, NW Garden Couscous and Wild Forest Mushroom Couscous.  Finally the Bac’uns in Nick’s Couch Potatoes and Cheesy B.N.T. Pasta are made from soy.  Everything else is soy free.  I hope that helps answer your questions.  If you have any more please feel free to call or email. That was a pretty good bit of customer service that goes a long way.  I decided to purchase the Adventure Sampler but knew Tracy would steer clear of the Outrageous Outback Oatmeal whether it contained organic soy milk powder or not.  She's been boycotting oatmeal for a while now.

When we went on the Townsend Tn/Smoky Mountain Clingman's Dome adventure back in June we tried several meals out of the Adventure Sampler.  One night for dinner we enjoyed the Organic Bare Burrito (but found that it needed an spicy sauce as an extra kick) and the Organic Southwestern Couscous.  We made mental notes to pack a few Taco Bell sauces next time with this one and serving the burrito on a tortilla shell defeated the point of it being bare. 

Another night we tried the Organic Red Pesto Pasta which was impressive and a definate winner on the taste buds.  We served that with grilled brats on wheat buns with mustard and pepper jack cheese.  That was an exciting meal! 

For each one of these products all we needed to do was boil 8 oz water (+ or - depending on recipe), mix together and let sit for a few minutes for a very decent hot meal.  I just have to be careful and not spill the boiling hot water.

To be continued . . .

Put 'em Up! - Sherri Brooks Vinton

Last summer I made my first batch of pickles and quickly became hooked on the concept of preserving my own food. However, the actual thought of doing so on my own was a bit intimidating. So when Storey Publishing released Put 'em Up!: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook, from Drying and Freezing to Canning and Pickling (9781603425469) I knew I wanted to read it. Written by the founder of FarmFriendly LLC, Sherri Brooks Vinton is passionate about the real food movement. She brings that hunger for real food to the reader in this book. Part one on the various methods and techniques of preserving food (refrigeration, freezing, infusion, drying, and boiling-water) is a wealth of knowledge in an easy to read format. Part two with recipes based on type of food to preserve (alphabetically at that) is filled with ones I can’t wait to try. We have already canned and given away several tasty jars of her Corn Salsa.

Butternut Squash Soup

 
This is a fun soup to make since it lets Aaron play with one of our wedding gifts - the immersion blender*. We often get winter squashes from the CSA and even though this is called butternut squash soup, other winter squashes work well as substitutes.

• 4 C. vegetable broth
• 12 oz. butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 large sweet onion, cut into 2 inch cubes
• 1/2 small apple, peled and cut into 2 inch cubes
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/8 t. pepper
• 1/8 t. nutmeg

In a large stock pot: combine broth, squash, onion, and apple; cover pot and bring to a boil over very high heat. Uncover pot and reduce heat to low; gently simmer until squash is very tender, about 10 minutes.

Puree soup in pot using an immersion blender. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Serve.

Recipe says this can be served hot, room temperature, or chilled. We've only tried it hot and I like it that way. With some crusty bread and a salad, this makes a great vegetarian meal. It can also be used a first course to a more fancy dinner.

*We received the Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender and find it very easy to use and clean.