Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Spiceblog Cookbook Meme
Sometimes a girl needs an escape to clear her foggy little mind. I realized a few months ago that the time has come to get myself focused and organized and on the ball and all those things that grown-ups do. While checking into rehab would imply I have actual issues other than being a light hearted party girl, and I can’t exactly afford a full month at The Golden Door, I had to opt for something less dramatic, but equally tranquil, to pull me out of my cushy little LA bubble and get my mind steered towards the future. The options were limited, since I don’t know anyone with their own tropical island villa and a summer with my Auntie in East Hampton is just an extension of LA with different accents. Luckily, I happen to have a fab boyfriend who has an adorable house in the dead center of nowhere England…so without a second thought, I decided to spend the summer there with his sweet self, to see what the provincal life is like, and at the same time expand my universe.
With that, I will traipsing around the UK and Europe (Well, so far the plans include a weekend in Holland, a birthday party in Paris and a few days in Spain to see my new niece) and blogging about how dreadful and/or fab the food is, (sense the optimism) what it is like cooking on a hob and generally figuring out what the heck is up with Fish and Chips.
Because I have a sickening backlog of LA-centric posts, this space will NOT become all UK all the time, I promise, but starting soon, it WILL be coming to you from somewhere in the heart of the Midlands…
SO ANYWAY -
The always Spice-A-Licious Anthony at Spiceblog started a meme last week, asking a few questions about cookbooks…I thought that (and my heartbreakingly sad picture. Pout.) would be a good way to sign off from here…for now…
Now, on to the meme. Picture below...
1. Rationale behind what we're seeing?
I had to pack everything and put it into storage for my big move. Of the boxes I packed, more than 30 were solely cookbooks. I think at last count I have more than 250. They were divided by region and subject. I made a super odd mistake and packed ALL of them, leaving out only The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook, which will travel with me simply because there are no open boxes left. (Well, I do like the Chicken Chermoula recipe in there too.)
2. Most recommended?
How about Sheila Lukins All Around The World Cookbook. I love books that cover a wide variety of cuisines, and she does a great job of that. I could recommend cook books all day though. I do love them.
3. Cookbook that made you what you are?
The New York Times Cookbook (for home cooking, because that was what my family cooked from) and Wayne Gisslens Professional Cooking. ( for professional cooking. Imagine that.) It's a big, bad book of lowest common denominator recipes that also has a lot of great information in it if you ever want to butcher an entire side of beef or feed 400 people at once. They both added to my culinary development, for good or bad.
4. Porniest cookbook?
Aquavit and the New Scandanavian Cuisine has been my coffee table book for some time now because its just so damn beautiful. The other porniest winner is Charlie Trotter's Seafood. Cooking from a Charlie Trotter book is like re-building a stone wall. You can leave a lot of pieces out and still hand up with something solid yet beautiful, but its tricky to figure out which ones can go. Needless to say, the pictures are art.
5. Sophie's Choice cookbook?
Jewish Cooking in America. (Well you said Sophie’s Choice, didn’t you? Cheeky me.)
6. If you were a cookbook, which cookbook would you be?
The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Smart, saavy, beloved, complete, and knowledgeable without pretention.
7. If your cookbook were extremely valuable, so valuable you might hide it with other valuables, where would that place be?
A top-secert storage unit somewhere in West Hollywood…
I pass this meme stick to anyone who would like it...ENJOY!
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“Tests have shown that frozen broccoli, green beans, spinach and raspberries all contained more vitamin C than their fresh equivalents” – British Food Federation
There are more free-range hens in the UK than anywhere else in Europe
British Farmers produce 68 million pints of fresh milk every day
9 million loaves of bread are baked in Britain every day
The barley produced by British Farmers helps make the 218 pints of beer and lager that the average person drinks in a year
British growers produce over 100 different crops of fruits, vegetables, salads, and herbs -C/O British Farming
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