The Barefoot Kitchen Witch: At Joe and Em's

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At Joe and Em's

Last Saturday we went to a surprise 25th birthday party/housewarming party for our nephew, Joe. (The housewarming part of this also included his girlfriend, Emily. Hi Em!)

Anyway, I am mildly jealous about WHERE their house is - the back of the property ends at the edge of a pond - the western end of the property, which means not only a beautiful view of water, but also a beautiful view at sunset. We weren't there when the sun set, so I don't have anything like that. I just have images like this:

and this:

And while we were there, not one, but two families of Canada geese stopped by to collect the bits of rolls my kids and another little girl (one of Em's little cousins)

were throwing into the water.

The first family on the scene had 6 goslings...

And the second family brought 4...

And at some point, amid the carb frenzy...

The goslings got a little confused...and instead of six and four, there were five and five...

And then there were three and seven...

But eventually they sorted things out...

And the 4-gosling family went on their way first...and then the 6-gosling family went off in the opposite direction...

And we trooped, through a mine field of goose droppings, back to the party.

Some more pictures from that afternoon can be found right here.

Posted on May 13, 2008 in Photography | Permalink

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Books of Food and Cooking

Theodora FitzGibbon: A taste of London: Traditional food
Recipe mentioned: Crumpets. A bit of my history: Like "Great British Cooking" below, this belonged to my late grandmother. I like this book because of all the old photos interwoven with the traditional recipes. I also liked the flavor of this crumpet recipe better than the one in "Great British Cooking" - but I can't really say which recipe is more authentic, since I don't have firsthand knowledge of how a crumpet is REALLY supposed to taste. (***)
Jane Garmey: Great British Cooking: Wellkept Secret, A
Recipe mentioned: Crumpets. A bit of my history: this originally belonged to my mom's mother. It's interesting to me that she had cookbooks about British cooking, as she was born and raised in London, and wouldn't she just KNOW how to cook like a Brit? And of course that's a totally ridiculous assumption, as people aren't just born knowing how to cook their native cuisine. Anyway, I've also made the Yorkshire pudding from this book, and it's just as good as the recipe my grandmother and mother had/have used all these years. So that's something. (***)
Dorie Greenspan: Baking: From My Home to Yours
Recipe mentioned: As of today (4/10/08), only the Most Extraodinary Lemon Cream Tart. A bit of my history: Actually, more like the future - I've joined the group Tuesdays with Dorie - and so just about every Tuesday you can expect to see another recipe from this book. I've got a separate recipe category just for those posts, too. This is gonna be fun! (*****)
George Greenstein: Secrets of a Jewish Baker: Authentic Jewish Rye and Other Breads
Recipe Mentioned: Potato Rye Bread with Onion and Caraway. A bit of my history: I bought this book years ago, when I was in the midst of either a breadmaking frenzy or a Judaism frenzy - or probably both at the same time. Though I messed up the posted recipe when I made it recently, I've baked plenty of other things from this book which have turned out fine. Clearly the problem with the Rye bread was mine and mine alone! (*****)
Charmaine Solomon: The Complete Asian Cookbook
Recipes mentioned: Mutton Kari (Lamb Curry), Garam Masala. A bit of my history: I think we bought the hardcover version of this as a bargain book. It's a huge treasure trove of all dishes Asian. So much to explore...so little time. (*****)
Lynne Rossetto Kasper: The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens
Recipe mentioned: Apricot-Pistachio Pockets (Ravioli Dolci). A bit of my history: I have two of Ms. Kasper's books - this and her huge success - "The Splendid Table." I may have said this before, but I think somewhere in my soul there's some Italian in me. Something about the food resonates with me. I can't explain it - but there it is. (*****)
Janice A. Wilke (editor): For Days of Auld Lang Syne
Sorry - you won't find this one anywhere. I have the only copy. Before I got married, my mother compiled recipes provided by family and friends on both Bill's side and my side of our soon-to-be-joined families. The result is a cornucopia of familiar and new recipes for everything from my sister's Cinnamon Toast to Lemon Sponge Pie, to a couple of Bill's mom's German Christmas cookies. The book is a treasure trove of ideas, and clearly a labor of love. (*****)
Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine: The Best Recipe
Recipe mentioned: American Pie Dough for Fruit Pies. A bit of my history: Our friend John gave this to me for Christmas in 2002. Inside he wrote "Jayne, I'm not quite sure this will help, as you are already the best cook..." A very kind and flattering inscription indeed. Anything produced by the Cooks Illustrated people is gold. I love their trial and error approach to finding these "Best Recipes" - and the explanation of what they did, what happened, and what ultimately worked best. (*****)
Bernard Clayton: Bernard Claytons New Complete Book of Breads
Recipe mentioned: Royal Hibernian Brown Loaf. A bit of my history: I bought this years ago while I was on a bread baking kick. Not really a kick. A reunion. Mr. Clayton's tome is 724 pages of recipes and tips and history and background and culture and back story - not including the index. The chapters and the recipes they contain are well organized and easy to follow, easy to understand, and inspiring. (*****)
Brinna B. Sands: The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook/Dedicated to the Pure Joy of Baking
Recipe mentioned: Irish Whiskey Soda Bread. A bit of my history: It's not so much a history as it is an everyday facet of my life. Not the book, specifically, but King Arthur Flour. Never Bleached, Never Bromated. I don't think I've ever bought any flour other than King Arthur, unless it was a less-popular kind of flour purchased from a small, organic mill. I receive the King Arthur flour catalog year-round. It's where I buy my 100-pack of half-sheet-pan sized parchment paper. I've been to their retail store in VT. I attended a bread baking seminar they sponsored years ago - with my mother and Bill's mother. King Arthur flour runs in my veins. Okay, not really. They'd be really clogged if that was happening. Anyway. I've made some of the muffin recipes in this book, probably a quick bread or two, and who knows what else. Everything has come out great. It's a huge book, very friendly in tone, and filled to overflowing. (*****)
Alice Benjamin and Harriett Corrigan: Cooking with Conscience
Recipe Mentioned: A Mess of Pottage. A bit of my history: I think this was my mother's book originally and somehow I ended up with it. Published in 1975, the subtitle is "A book for people concerned about world hunger." So it's vegetarian and healthy and socially conscious. I need to go through this book again and try out some of the other recipes - I've only ever made the "mess of pottage." (****)
Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck: Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Volume 1)
Recipe mentioned: Leek and Potato Soup. A bit of my history: As I've mentioned elsewhere in this blog, I grew up watching Julia Child on PBS and she and my mother were my two biggest food influences growing up. Julia was like family, somehow. She was a regular person who goofed up now and then and could laugh about it. Her fearlessness and sense of humor appealed to me tremendously (and still do) and that, combined with my mother's cooking and adventurousness in the kitchen were a flesh and blood example of Julia's message, I think. I also love cooking shows that are in the Julia tradition. Programs that teach by example. Chefs and cooks who are passionate about food and can convey that effectively, so that you are ready to rush out and buy ingredients and try that recipe right away. That, I think, is part of Julia Child's legacy. She rocked. (*****)
Howard Early: Fast Breads (Crossing Press Specialty Cookbooks.)
Recipe mentioned: Quick Onion Flat Bread. A bit of my history: I bought this book many years ago when I was obsessively buying bread books of every kind. I lived in a cockroachy apartment outside of Boston and had a tiny kitchen with a half inch of counter space, but I managed to bake a few things anyway. (***)
Rick Bayless: Mexico One Plate At A Time
Recipe mentioned: Chiles Rellenos. A bit of my history: We've made quite a few recipes from this book and every single one of them has been fantastic, such as the Ceviche (lime-marinated seafood) and the Tamales. (*****)