Barely gets better than BFFs, bodacious aprons, and buttery brushes.
Barely gets better than BFFs, bodacious aprons, and buttery brushes.
Seems like just about everyone who reads food blogs knows about Pioneer Woman, the online persona of Ree Drummond, who counts Pioneer Woman Cooks among her popular web sites. Ree is arguably the biggest food blogger around, and she recently published a cookbook of her own:The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl
Shortly before Ree's book came out, we chatted in email and I offered to send her a copy of my cookbook. I did and recently she dropped me a note that included some very complimentary words about my book and an offer to send me one of hers. After squeaking just a bit to myself about what she said, I sent a couple of people email saying, "Look! It's the food blog version of Oprah saying: Great book! How cool is that?" someoneElse sent mail agreeing that it was a very cool thing and then, ever the supportive partner, asked, "Can you quote her?"
Um, er...have I ever mentioned I am horrible at self-promotion? I am. Total fail.
Give me a friend to talk about and I am all over it; I have fearlessly asked pretty famous people to do things that included giving money, and they did. So I know how. But do it for myself? Not a chance. ...although there was once when I asked the #1 expert in a topic to write the Foreword of a technical book I wrote...and the President of a major tech firm...well, okay, I guess I can sometimes. Or so someoneElse tells me.
After staring at the email for a few days, I took a deep breath and typed email that said, essentially, "May I quote you?" My crossed fingers clicked Send.
And I waited. And waited.
Note to self: Do not send important email to someone who is hours ahead of you late at night. Doubly so if they have crazy rancher's hours, as demonstrated by sunrise photographs. (I only get sunrise photographs if I am still awake, never if I am just awake.)
The next day, I got a sweet note back from Ree saying that I could reprint her words here. (Since there are no photos, the embarassing little happyDance I did in my kitchen did not happen, right?)
Withut further ado - because, really, enough already - here is what Pioneer Woman had to say about my cookbook:She said, Bravo! I must admit I love it when people say Bravo! about my writing. It makes me feel like I did something worthwhile with all those months of work.You did a wonderful job on the cookbook---it's not just for kids, I would say. And the tips throughout the book are great...there's a real wealth of information in there. Bravo!
Thanks again for the kind words, Ree! (I'm looking forward to your cookbook, although I have to buy more butter and, I fear, larger jeans.)
Who doesn't love a bake sale? I know that I am a soft touch for kids bearing homemade goodies. All those brownies, cookies, cakes, even marshmallows...and calories. Well, you knew there had to be a downside, didn't you?
But what if you could buy all those tempting treats and not eat a calorie? Better, what if the money went for a good cause?
My wonderful tech editor, Michelle Stern, of What's Cooking may just have your answer: Buy a Virtual Slice of Dessert…and Help Haiti. (my 'contribution' is those marshmallows, recipe here: Berry Marshmallows with Chocolate recipe.
The virtual bake sale is simple. Just go to What's Cooking and click on the Donate button. You will be taken to First Giving, which is handling the donations. All proceeds go to Red Cross for their rescue efforts in Haiti.
Then go make yourself something sweet to munch. I'd share my marshmallows, but they are really hard to squish through the tubes of the Internet.
One of the things I really miss, though, is the ability to slip cool pages between my fingers, getting the feel of a book. Indexes draw me first - how weird is that? - I look up a few key things that give me an idea of the tone and intended audience of a book. If it is a kid's cookbook, I look for pizza: Is there a crust recipe or simply an instruction to split an English muffin? (Don't get me wrong, I love English muffins. Yet the resemblance between them and pizza crust is nominal, at least it should be.) Another key point is the ratio of sweet to savory. Books dedicated to sweet treats are great, but if a general cookbook is half sugar-laden concoctions, it gives me pause.
From there, I move on to the Table of Contents to see how the author organized the book. How many pages are devoted to a given topic? What are the key points being covered? (I never gave the TOC of a book much thought beyond the obvious until we wrote the first edition of Understanding Directory Services (2nd Edition)
Photographs matter in cookbooks, too. I really like books that have photos of most, or all, recipes. When I was contemplating writing a cookbook, this issue loomed large. Photographs are expensive to print and publishers are loathe to do a book full of them. Fortunately for me, I snagged a spot in a photo-heavy series, allowing me to do step-by-step photos of each recipe. (Sort of like Pioneer Woman, but with only a handful of photos per recipe...less butter...nutritional information for each recipe. No cows. Definitely no cows. There are cute punks, though. Lots of them.)
I must confess, I also read Acknowledgments. Sometimes I read them first. This one is simple: having written a number of books, I realize that any book is teamwork; I like to see the team get its props. Agents, editors, production teams, graphic artists, and that all important indexer are a good start, but how about the people who kept them fed and in clean clothes while the book absorbed their life? If the book is by a blogger, did they acknowledge their peers and fans? (No person is an island seems more true for bloggers than many folks. If your book bears your blog's name, you had a lot of people who helped you make the deal; they are called readers. Tell them thanks.) Peter Reinhart is really good at this as I discovered one day when I searched for my name at Amazon and discovered it in two of his books. I was a recipe tester, but figured I was one of a couple hundred, far too many to list.
This is all a long way of saying that, while I can't slide a book through the tubes of the Internet to let you turn the pages for yourself, I can give you a peek at my Table of Contents. I hope it gives you a bit of a clue about what I was going after with the book. More importantly, it has the complete list of recipes. (I also put links to a few reviews after the TOC, just in case it piques your interest.)
Picture Yourself Cooking With Your Kids
Picture Yourself in the Kitchen Together
Parents: Picture Yourself in the Kitchen with Your KidsBut If I Let My Let My Kids In The Kitchen…
What's To Eat?
Organic Food
Food for Thought
Helping Your Kids Eat Better
What to Eat: Using Common Sense
Nutrition: Fuel For Your Body
Dealing with Picky Eaters
House Food Rules
Defensive Shopping
Stretching Your Food Budget
Grow Something!
Making a Kid-Friendly Kitchen
Age Appropriate Cooking
Food Safety
Kitchen Equipment
Basic Techniques
Making a Meal
In the Larder
A Collection of Tips
Breakfast Matters
Ricotta Pancakes with Strawberry Balsamic Compote
Eggs Ahoy!
Sleepover Steel-Cut Oats
Berry Berry Smooth
Nutty 'Nanner Chip Smoothie
Apple PuffCake
Eggs Berkeley
Orange Glazed Bacon
Coconut Almond Granola
Too Cool For School Breakfast Parfaits
Rise and Shine Ham and Cheese Strata
Light and Fluffy Oat Pancakes
Bananas for Breakfast!
Marvelous Midday Meals
Skamokawa Salmon Burger
Crunchy Chicken Cranberry Pockets
Pasta Primavera Salad
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew
Gobble It Up Turkey Kabobs
Seriously Good Stuffed Tomatoes
Squish Squash Soup
Chef's unSalad Wraps
Ants in an Apple!
Magic Microwave Mac 'n Cheese
Family Dinner Matters
Pasta with Spring Greens and Asparagus
Mary Had a Little Lamb Burger
Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Stuff Yourself Silly Squash
Canadian Bacon and Cheese Soufflé
Pizza Your Way
Meatballs and Salsa Marinara
Eat Your Vegetables
Sweet Potato Sticks
Tex-Mex Bean Salad
Wild and Crazy Rice
Good Zuchs!
Sweet and Sour Copper Pennies
Garlic-Braised Winter Greens
Roasted Cauliflower
Nap'ple Slaw
Salsa Verde
Sunny Spinach Salad
Greek Village Salad
Goin' Green Salads
Back to Basics Vinaigrette
Blue Cheese Salad Dressing/Dip
Bee Yourself Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Dreamy Creamy Herb Dressing
The Basics of Bread
Tools and Techniques for Making Bread
Exploring Yeasted Bread
Flaky Biscuits
Savory Cheese and Scallion Scones
Pita Pocket Bread
Rosemary Fans
Cheddar and Caramelized Onion Breadsticks
Snap'Em Up Snack Crackers
The Case for Cookies…
Craisy Nutty Brownies
Amaretti
Ginger Applesauce Cake
Rhubarb Gingerberry Crisp
Marcella's Pie Cookies
Strawberry Ice Cream
Butterscotch Pudding
Minty Cool Chocolate Cake
Mini-Pavlovas
bethCookies
Creating a Personal Cookie
Not quite the same as standing in the aisle of your favorite bookstore but you don't want to be there right now anyway. Seriously. I've been following @theStew, who is live-tweeting Black Friday from an undisclosed mall - makes shopping from the couch seem better by the tweet!
A few reviews:
If you would like to buy a copy, check out the book at one of these stores:
Amazon
Powell's Books: Picture Yourself Cooking With Your Kids
The Elliott Bay Book Company: Picture Yourself Cooking With Your Kids
Talk like a pirate day was a few months back, but Mighty-O Donuts isn't letting that get in the way of the launch party for their Spiced Rum Cake Donut next Saturday (Nov 28th). Any child who arrives decked out in Pirate gear gets a free mini-donut of their choice. Mighty-O is close to Greenlake so grab a treat and head to the lake for some quiet time with your kids. (Pirate Day 11/28/09 7am-5pm)
Just in time for Thanksgiving, kids love these things: Caramelized onion and cheddar breadsticks recipe
I can't decide whether this is a brilliant idea or a sign of some coming apocalypse and, in the end, I suppose it depends on your, or your kid's, relationship with breakfast cereal. If someone at your house thinks soggy cereal is a serious problem in search of a serious solution, here it is.
The EatMeCrunchy bowl has two levels: a raised 'shelf' where still-crunchy cereal sits high and dry above the breakfast fray, and a small, deeper area where just a spoonful or two of cereal is momentarily kissed by "ice cold milk" just before consumption. The bowls retail for about $8.00 (plus ~4 shipping to US) which is a reasonable enough price for peace with your first caffeinated cup in the morning.
FTC disclosure: Although I would love to know people who named a company eatmecrunchy, sadly, I do not. There is no relationship, personal or professional, between this site and eatmecrunchy. They have not supplied me with bowls, milk, or cereal (soggy or otherwise) or any other consideration in exchange for this post. Seriously.
Governor Schwarzenegger posted this picture of his breakfast to twitter. I love that the big, tough guy actor is willing to show a truly silly side of himself. Someone in the Governor's kitchen has a sense of humor.
It also shows how simple it is to make breakfast special. You don't even have to be feeling artistic yourself, just supply some fruit and a pot of Sleepover Steelcut Oats and let the kids decorate their own.
What's your favorite oatmeal topping? Do you have your own ways of making breakfast special? Share with us in the comments.
