Read Any Good Cookbooks Lately?

I collect cookbooks. I'm always looking at them in bookstores, on-line book vendors, small local shops, and even airports on occasion (the larger airports have the local cuisine cookbooks on a rack, etc.) I just ordered two more last week from Amazon - cookbooks that provide recipes to make things from scratch that I would ordinarily buy as a convenience food.

Now, here's the problem. I'm very likely one of the world's worst eaters. I don't like vegetables as a rule, don't like dishes that have cream cheese in or on them, have a problem with most dishes that include cheese (Parmesan, pizza and Mexican food are always an exception).... and the list goes on. I'll fix shrimp scampi for my husband, but wouldn't touch the stuff myself. So, you kind of get the picture. But I find cookbooks so very interesting.. I have no problem browsing through all kinds of them - not to mention collect them. And since my husband will try just about anything that I can cook, I have fun trying recipes for all kinds of things. After all these years, though, he still asks why I would cook something I won't eat. I don't know, but if I limited myself to just what I'd eat how boring would that be?

Over the years I've drifted towards picking up regional cookbooks or cookbooks about a single subject. I do tend to pick up at least one recipe out of each of them that I add to our list of things to cook, such as:

From While The Pasta Cooks

Basil and Prosciutto Sauce w/Pasta
1 pound of pasta (such as penne or wagon wheels)
6 tablespoons of olive oil
1 bunch of basil leaves (about 2 cups)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 ounces of prosciuto, finely chopped
1 large tomato, stemmed and dices
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes & salt/pepper to taste

While the pasta cooks (hence the name), combine all the other ingredients in a serving bowl. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Simple, but a lot of flavor..not to mention quick to fix after work.

Someone shared a recipe with me that included candy bars in the recipe at work some years ago. It made a great cake, and of course I started looking for a cookbook devoted to the use of candy bars. Darn, if I didn't find one. Talk about decadent... but fun.

From The Candy Bar Cookbook

Mounds German Chocolate Cake
For the cake:
4 Mounds Bars (1.9 oz bars)
1 box dark chocolate cake mix

For the frosting:
3 Mounds bars (1.9 oz bars)
1 egg, beaten
1 can evaporated milk (5 oz)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, butter & flour 2 9-inch cake pans. Chop the 4 candy bars into 1/4 inch pieces and add to the cake batter (mix as directed on the box). Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: Chop 3 candy bars coarsely and place in heavy sauce pan. Add beaten egg, evaporated milk, sugar, and butter. Heat and stir until mixture becomes thick and bubbly, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the flaked coconut and pecans until well combined. Cool the frosting to room temperature before frosting the cake.

KCs Kozy Korner
http://www.kcskozykorner.net

So, When Did They Go From Scarry to "Yum?"

Once upon a time the vampire was a feature of our nightmares... undead creatures that existed by drinking the blood of humans. While not the first such novel, Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" certainly popularized the concept. Oh, there's considerable folklore from which tales of this nature were drawn, and even today some cultures believe in the existence of such creatures. How many tales, told through novels or movies, have there been that revolved around such a creature? How many movies have used this as a twist in some way or form? And how many times have we frightened ourselves while reading or watching?? Ah yes, for the days of pulling the blanket up over my eyes (yep, I did that until I was in my middle teens when I had to prove I was all grown up and not scared!), and wondering, in awe, of such a terrifically frightening specter.

I bought the video "I Am Legend" last week ... thoroughly enjoyed it too. Again, a form of vampire shown in the diseased souls he so desperately sought to find a cure for. In turn, it reminded me of so many other movies over the years that either included or hinted of the same. While I have watched so many of the movies and, later, TV shows, I hadn't really read many of the novels until recent years. While the movies could be gory, it was fairly short term. When reading the images stay with me for a long while. Somehow, reading about something has more of an effect on me than watching a movie/TV show. Hmmm, may be why I seldom watch TV, too.

I tried Anne Rice .. was uncomfortable. But then the romance genre picked up the vampire as a tormented hero type. Hmm... now that was interesting. A little easier on the fear factor, right? I've watched this particular theme grow over the past few years ... from a trickle to a downright flood of books. Some pretty good, some downright awful. Some with interesting story themes, some I wonder how the heck they even got published.

Ever done an internet search for "vampire novels?" How many days do you have to read through the listings??? Everything from oppressively serious to outrageously funny. But that's OK.. ya' know? I have to admit that I've got a couple of favorite series that I follow. I like the story lines being used -- enough of the fantasy to pull me and pretty well written. But then, I've already admitted to being drawn in by the paranormal themes. I like the edge of "what if."

KCs Kozy Korner
http://www.kcskozykorner.net

Sometimes the World Just Comes to a Stop

No matter what you think, you are never prepared. Sometimes the world just comes to a stop. That's the only way to describe it. Parents expect to raise their children, watch them grow, and leave them behind. It just doesn't always happen that way.

We lost our daughter .. Jennifer. Oh, some would say that we lost her years before to the alcoholism, but the emotional reality is that no matter how bad her circumstances were, how the choices she made were painful for the family... she was still my baby. Yes, I turned her away after so many years of seemingly never-ending heartache and problems. But even then I harbored that small hope that she'd reach that corner and make the turn back to a life shared with family and friends. Now that hope is an empty ache.

We knew that she was dying... a slow death by alcohol and diabetes and depression that couldn't be alleviated. She wavered from excitement to suicidal within the span of a single day... always searching to a solution to her needs. At thirty-five years of age, Jennifer died in an accident that had nothing to do with her alcoholism or her health. How ironic, and how horribly hurtful to have lost her at all.

The two police officers rang our doorbell after 1:00 a.m. on Saturday night, asking to speak with Jennifer's parents. It wasn't the first time such a thing had happened, after all, Jennifer had by this time become well acquainted with the law and inside of both a courtroom and a jail cell. This too, we thought was one more request to pick her up, bail her out, etc. Asking me to sit down didn't really register as anything unusual... no one expects death to knock on your door.

It was elegantly simple - that first straight-forward statement. "Mrs. Ernst, Jennifer was killed tonight in an auto accident. She was hit by two vehicles while waiting to cross a street. We're so sorry to have to tell you this." And the world just comes to a stop.

She deserved more.. she deserved a better life. I've had the lectures about the choices she made, the reasons for what she did and what she became. I carried the anger at the damage done to herself and to her father and I. All the real questions are inside - seldom voiced because there are really no answers. Doing the "right thing" for her doesn't alleviate the ache of turning away from her, doesn't soothe the pain. And now she's gone and there's no hope left. But the pain is selfish -- even while living it, I know that it's selfish. Jennifer is no longer searching, no longer hurting, and can't be tortured by her own demons anymore.

She's at peace.. I have to believe that.. And soon I will. The world has begun to start spinning again.