Saturday, January 8, 2011

My name is Louise and I am a cookbook junkie……..

I LUV cookbooks.  I love recipes.  I read cookbooks like novels.  I copy down recipes in waiting rooms and stuff them in my purse. I copy recipes off many of your blogs.  I am a sucker for a new cooking magazine.  I am NOT a gourmet cook.
I love the Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks.  They are homey and don’t call for a lot of ingredients that I have never heard of or couldn’t find in our small town if I had.  I guess you would call it comfort food so in our quest for eating healthier I do have to rein myself in and not make the calorie laden dishes that call my name……..desserts.
With that being said I have found some wonderful recipes in my new Gooseberry Patch cookbooks that I am going to make in the next few weeks.  This first one is great for easy dinners after a long day when you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen. Saucy pizza casserole, hearty beef stew, garlic cheese biscuits, chicken and dumplings soup, Poor Man’s Cordon Bleu just to name a few.  Quick, easy, add a tossed salad and some fruit and you’re good to go.
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I must admit this one has a few that I don’t think I can resist.  Apple Bread Pudding made with homemade applesauce will have to be made for a special occasion.  :o)  Also the Sweet Potato Biscuits are ‘always on my mind’, now what song was that line from?  Hint…..Willie Nelson.   Bacon-Spinach Quiche sounds to die for as does Strawberry-Rhubarb Salad, Hearty Pork Chop Dinner, Flaky Chicken Pot Pie,  Turkey Club Bake and Zucchini Frittata.

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I’ve already gone through the next ones, earmarking things to make for next Christmas!



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I received a free magazine in the mail wanting me to subscribe and after perusing the offerings I sent in for it. The Beef Tenderloin Filets make my mouth water as does the pecan-crusted chicken and sweet and spicy salmon fillets.  Lots of yummy salads with things like goat cheese, dried cranberries, pecans or walnuts, pears, you name it.  I do have my drool bib on in hopes of saving my keyboard……..
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It is snowing here today.  Big fluffy flakes are floating down and are so pretty.  I don’t think we are going to get much out of this storm, the powers that be say it’s going to veer off to the east of us towards Nova Scotia.  Time will tell.  My snowmobile has been serviced from last years grueling two miles of use……..we just didn’t have enough snow to get out so I am being sarcastic.  :o) Hopefully we will have enough this year to get out and enjoy the beautiful scenery and fresh air.
I have been on a quest to reorganize my kitchen.  Things that aren’t used regularly are being sent to the shelves in the basement to make room for the things that are used all the time. Why do we keep Cool Whip containers and have 15 in the cupboard?  Am I the only one who does that?  I went through and tossed out all the outdated horse meds and human meds then I heard on the news this morning that they are still good even beyond the expiration date.  Sigh……  The remnants of Christmas are headed to the storage room and any potatoes that have sprouted have headed to the dumpster. This is all stuff I took out of several cupboards, the sideboards don't look like this normally!!!
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The cookbooks are back on their shelves although I am going to weed through those at some point.
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Not perfect but better.  Tina @ Palm Tree Fanatics has the most incredible Tackle it Tuesdays and I sure could have used her help!  :o) Hi Tina!  This cupboard still has some improvements that need to be made but at least my muffin tins aren’t in my oven!  No Cool Whip containers but I do still see some cottage cheese containers.  It takes a while to break these habits! :o)
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Hope you all are having a great weekend and are safe and warm.  Keep in mind the many blessings that we enjoy!!!

18 comments:

Rising Rainbow said...

I am so bad about cookbooks but I collect old ones. Talk about comfort food there and I do know all the ingredients. LOL Oh, and just for the record, I rarely cook! I let Dave do that.

I save those old containers, cool whip and cottage cheese both. Then when I have family over I can send leftovers home with them and not worry about getting my containers back.

Don't you already have enough snow to use your snow mobile??

Hollie said...

I love, love, love, love cookbooks also. I have not telling how many & can't seem to part with either one of them.. LOL

They're predicitng a Winter Storm for us also starting Sunday night!

zztop357 said...

Thanks for the visit Louise;-)
I'm also a cookbook collector!! A good place for free recipes is your county extension office. Most are glad to see you and love helping people.They keep recipes that are local to your area,and most have calories and fats listed at the bottom of the page.
I hope you get to ride your snowmobile! We may need one here tomorrow and Monday. The weather geeks finally admitted they don't know how much or when it's going to quit. LOL
Have a good weekend and prayers for snow for you!

Needled Mom said...

Yes....I have tried to get Tina to help me too. She does such an awesome job.

I am a cookbook junkie too. SIGH! They have overtaken my kitchen. You will love the Cuisine at Home. I have taken it since the first issue and give subscriptions to each of the kids at Christmas. It is fabulous!

Not so much snow for you??? What a shame. I saw where the storm was actually in a deep swirl from east to west - very unusual. I hope you get enough to get the snowmobile out.

I told the girls that I need to have a grand cleanout of my containers. I have so many of the Cool Whip ones too because they are great to send food home with the kids. BUT.....I still have too many.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend, my friend. xoxo

Susan said...

I just finished "weeding" through my cookbooks and am taking 8, and some old magazines and pamplets, to a young girl at church tomorrow!!!

Nonnas News said...

We have something in common because I LOVE cookbooks too! You should see all the books I have! LOL And like you, my favorites are the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks. I dont know if you knew or not, but I also have a recipe blog if you want to check it out! www.pattispantry.blogspot.com
Have a great weekend!
Patti

Val said...

I love cookbooks too! Are you gonna share some of those Gooseberry recipes with us?

Donna. W said...

I like simple, basic recipes. I seldom hang onto a recipe that uses any ingredient I don't normally have in the kitchen. I feel it's worth the price of a cookbook if there's just one recipe I'll use again and again.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

One thing about the cold weather, it makes one want to make loads of comfort foods. I love the quick and easy ones. I hope your Sunday is a great one!

Dawn said...

I am the same way with cookbooks and magazine recipes. Hundreds never tried. I am reading about everyone's decluttering and am feeling very very guilty. MUST get busy!!

So those recipes sound glorious - can you WW-ize them?

It snowed her like crazy this morning and the pastor is sick, so we get to stay home and snuggle tonight. The girls will be here for only two more weeks (well, they'll probably be here a lot, but not 24/7). I am going to miss those early morning snuggles with the little three-year-olds!

And yes, I have Cool Whip and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter containers - crazy clutter in that cupboard!

Musings of a Housewife said...

I love cookbooks too and I have several of those Gooseberry Patch ones. Ina Garten's are my favorites though. :-)

Carole Burant said...

Yup, we must be sisters who were separated at birth. Not only do we both love cookbooks, we also store empty Cool Whip containers! LOL The funny thing is, when we were at Corey's for his Christmas dinner, he gave us leftovers to bring home...yep, in Cool Whip containers! That's my son alright!! lol

I actually went through all of my cookbooks last year and gave a whole bunch away to my friend June's daughter who has 3 youngs kids and loves to cook. I still have lots and my favourites are my Gooseberry Patch ones as well:-) Any time I see one, my heart starts beating a little bit faster! hehe Doesn't take much to excite us, does it!

We've still only had the one snowfall so far and half of it has melted so we're seeing lots of grass. Reminds me of last year when we hardly had snow and only needed to used the snowblower to clean the driveaway once!! It's darn cold, though, it was -7F when I got up this morning.

I need to go out to run some errands but I'm procrastinating! lol Going to have to let the car run for a while to warm it up first. Spring can come any time now!!!!! Love you to bits. xoxox

Dawn said...

Dwight used to say I was a sucker for every cookbook club list - I quit getting any, but still have so many. And I rarely use any of them!

Gooseberry Patch said...

Thanks so much for your kind words about our cookbooks...we really appreciate it!

If you haven't already, be sure to visit our blog (www.gooseberrypatch.typepad.com) and our Page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/gooseberrypatch) for even more goodies from Gooseberry Patch.

Hope to see you there!

hippo chick said...

Hi MM, I, too, love cookbooks only I borrow them from the library and drool. When my husband retired, he bought me some storage containers and a holder for them and installed it in one of my cupboards. We, then, recycled all the cool whip containers. I still have a problem with hoarding jars, but the cool whip containers are gone.

Have a happy day and I hope you get snow if you want it.

~hippo hugs~

palmtreefanatic said...

oh yes! I love cookbooks too and always love trying new recipes! so fun! When it is cold and snowy out I feel the comfort in baking up something sweet to eat however this is NOT good for weight loss;)

palmtreefanatic said...

PS your tackles are great! love you Louise;)

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