Cookbookaholic

Tough Week

As you probably already know, we had a tough week right before Christmas. I had a ton of things I wanted to post but just couldn't find enough willpower to write. It's just so heartbreaking. Christmas Eve was really tough. I was teary-eyed all day long.

Losing someone unexpectedly is so incredibly awful. I remember when we lost my dad. While it was the most devastating thing I've ever gone through, the idea of Heaven evolved from some mystical idea into something more tangible. My dad wasn't a man of many words, but I knew I now had a staunch supporter rooting for me to get there.

Now that the year is ending. I've got to say, with all honesty, this has been one year I'm really glad to see come to a close. I've learned a lot about the people around me: some good, some not so good and some I'm glad have moved on. I'm hoping this new year will be a huge improvement in many, many ways. Cross your fingers for me. 

I'll get some posts up soon. Promise.

 

Christmas Morning Casserole: The Recipe

Apparently, lots of people do a casserole of eggs, bread, cheese and sausage for a Christmas morning breakfast. Growing up, I only remember a filling breakfast of chocolate and pistachios. Yummmmm…breakfast of champions.

Last year, I decided to tinker with a few versions of the recipe and came up with this one. The most significant difference is with the bread base. I actually use English muffins (toasted if I feel froggy) instead of the usual sliced bread. 

Here’s the recipe. If you try it on Christmas morning, I hope you enjoy it.

Christmas Morning Casserole

Ingredients

1 pkg sausage patties, browned and crumbled

3 English muffins, split (toasted optional)

6 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese (grated)

Salt and pepper to taste

Dash of hot sauce

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet, brown sausage patties and crumble them into small pieces. Butter the bottom and sides of a large baking dish. (I use the large, oval Corning Ware baking dish.) Line the bottom of the dish with the split English muffins. Add the crumbled sausage on top.

Next, mix the beaten eggs with the milk, add in salt, pepper and hot sauce. Pour the egg mixture on top of the English muffins and sausage. Top with the grated cheese.

Place the dish in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. As the eggs cook, they will puff up and rise significantly in the dish.

I like my dish a little on the brown and crunchy side, so I let it cook a little longer at 30 minutes.

It’s very filling and includes all your usual breakfast staples: eggs, cheese, sausage and bread. Plus, once the sausage is done—the oven does all the work! I like to have this as an option for grazing throughout Christmas morning. Sure, pancakes or waffles with syrup might also be around, but I like to have something like this on hand to keep me from overdoing the sugar. Merry Christmas! I hope Santa brings you lots of good stuff!

 

Oh the Irony: Strict Chadetarian is My Secret Santa

Our annual Bob & Sheri staff Christmas lunch and Secret Santa gift exchange rolled around again on Monday. We gathered at an amazing restaurant called 131 Main and had an early lunch together.

I was very excited because I pulled Sheri’s name out of the hat! Of course, I immediately purchased the “Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure.” She had joked about it on the air so I crossed my fingers and hoped that a listener wouldn’t beat me to the punch. Luckily, they didn’t—and Sheri let out a huge squeal of delight when she opened the box! (I also put some hair care products from jessicurl.com in there as well.)

 

When it came time for my Secret Santa gift, newsman Chad Bowar handed me a package. How funny is that? The one guy who doesn’t like to mix his food and keeps his food from touching gets stuck as my Secret Santa!

Chad did an amazing job! I unwrapped a copy of Mosh Potatoes: Recipes, Anecdotes and Mayhem from the Heavyweights of Heavy Metal by Steve Seabury.

I remember when he got this cookbook. I suggested that he be a guest blogger and review the cookbook from his unique perspective. As you may know, Chad is also the Metal expert for About.com. So this cookbook was right up his alley…if only he liked the food they featured!

Sheri grabbed it and started to read out the hilarious recipe names and their contributors. Did you ever think you’d have a recipe for “Remo’s Hot, Sweet, and Sticky Ass-Kickin’ Wings” from Jeremy Thompson of the band Nashville P*%%#? Does “Kale “em All” from Dillinger Escape Plan’s Liam Wilson sound like something you’d like? “The Hell Wok” sounds just delightful thanks to Guillaume Bideau from Mnemic. Perhaps Todd and I could sample up a serving of “Jagermeister Roasted Lamb” from Baptized In Blood’s Brandon Eedy?

I was actually really honored that Chad would part with this cookbook. We know how he loves metal bands and this seemed like a unique book for him to have. I noticed that he had tucked an envelope and card inside the front cover. I was busy flipping through the book that I didn’t open it until our lunch arrived. Inside was my “real” gift: a $25 gift card to Williams-Sonoma!

Fancy! I’m not upscale enough to go in the store—and haven’t been there in years. I think I’ll have to devote an upcoming lunch hour to go check it out. Thanks Chad!!!

 

Last Garage Sale of the Season?

Oh the sales are getting close to slim and none. Today, I saw about four up in Huntersville so I thought I’ve give them a try. Of course, my GPS couldn’t find the first one; but the others quickly proved to be a freezing cold bust. 

On my last stop, I found the lady running the sale taking shelter in her garage. Her name was Barbara and she was super nice. I asked about cookbooks but she didn’t have any out for sale. Luckily for me, she offered to run inside and grab a few for me!

 Here’s what she found: 

 
A Recipe Sampler (Cokesbury UMC), We’re Cookin’ (Allen Tate Realtors) and Recipes from the Heart (Zeta Tau Alpha). Apparently, she was a Zeta Tau Alpha. I’m honored she passed along recipes from her sorority sisters! Don’t they usually guard those with secret handshakes and passwords?

 

Oh well. As we were talking, Barbara mentioned her favorite cookbook was from her former church. She used to attend Jamestown United Methodist Church near High Point, NC. Back in the 1980s, the church choir put together a cookbook called Dough Re Mi. Awesome name for a cookbook! 

Barbara brought out her copy and pointed out a few of her recipes. Then she told me that her other favorite recipes are included in a binder notebook. When she was in college (learning secret handshakes with the other Zeta Tau Alpha gals?) her mother gathered a collection of recipes that included her own, her mother’s and (wouldn’t you know it) Betty Feezor. They’re either handwritten or carefully clipped from issues of Southern Living magazine. What an amazing personal treasure. I wish my grandmother (the cook!) had written down more of her crowd pleasing standards.

What a nice way to end the garage sale season for 2010! I hope I get to meet more generous and cool people like Barbara next year. They are what make my hunt for cookbooks the most rewarding.

Don't Call It Spode...

The week has flown by so quickly. We've been cleaning up the house in advance of an appraiser's visit.

I bought two long and deep plastic storage bins for the boxes and boxes of cookbooks around the house. Needless to say, I filled them both and STILL had some cardboard boxes leftover. Up in the attic they went anyway...

The upside of all this upheaval? I found some of my Christmas china! I found several plates, bowls and a mug at a garage sale but had lost the pieces in and amongst the boxes of cookbooks. A quick cleaning in the sink and here it is!

 
Now, don't call it Spode...because it's not. This is the Cuthbertson Christmas Tree pattern (with narrow green band). It's very, very close to Spode but note the star at the top of the Christmas Tree. I like the star better up there.

Plus, this is my mother-in-law's Christmas china pattern. When I was getting married, I thought it would be nice to continue that tradition in my family as well.

It's hard to find though. The original company was English so pieces were hard to find unless your local Belk carried the pattern. Then, Cuthbertson bit the dust a few years ago; so pieces, especially serving pieces, were hard to find. I've cut back on the eBay battles to get more--but it's a thrill to find a few pieces here and there at yard sales.

I think another company revived the pattern? Maybe? But anyway, now it looks a little more like Christmas at my house!!

 

Just Keep Calm...

Friday was a busy day at the office but I had an email about another estate sale. This email actually had pictures of the house and I saw what could have been a section of cookbooks. Keep in mind the house looked pretty packed and the “cookbook section” looked fuzzy.

During my lunch hour, I decided to run by the house and see what they had (if anything) still available. I have to admit, I was pretty shocked at how much stuff was still there. By the time I rolled in, I expected empty shelves and an empty echo in the house. But I actually lucked into a parking spot right in front of the house and it looked like they had more people working the sale than customers.

I rounded the kitchen counter and walked over to what I had hoped was the cookbook section. They were still there…really? I flipped through them and figured out why. Nothing much impressed me. I grabbed two community cookbooks and as I made my way toward the hardbacks at the end of the shelf, I spotted the faded gold lettering on the spine. My heart skipped a beat…are you kidding me? Why is THIS still here? Did no one in their right mind see this earlier? By the way, the sign said “Cookbooks $1.” This was like a dream coming true.

I grabbed it very quickly and spied some plastic sticking out the side. Maybe in my excitement I wasn’t really holding what I hoped I was holding. I opened the front cover slightly and took a quick peek at the plastic—and the face smiling back confirmed my find. Now I had to just keep calm and keep it together.

Ever had that feeling? It’s the weirdest thing. You know that you just needed to calmly buy your items, leave and scream in the car. But part of you wants to just scream out, “Oh my gosh—do you see what I have? I can’t believe you only wanted a dollar for it!”

I just calmly walked into the next room and looked for something else to “cover” my treasured find. I spot a cake stand on a shelf of knick-knacks and grab it.

The rest of the house was a blur. I think I remember a sunken bathtub that had been filled with plants and an entire room of sewing supplies. I had now made it through the entire house and needed to check out.

Still walking carefully, quietly and calmly, I put my items on the checkout table. The lady looked at everything and said, “What a gorgeous cake stand!”

“Oh yes, I’m so glad I found it,” I responded. “And I have three cookbooks.” Ohhhhh…the excitement almost slipped out. Now I’m thinking to myself, just get it and go to the car.

We finished our transaction and she gently put everything in a thick green hospital bag for me. I held that bag so tightly and walked towards my car. All the while, the phrase “OMG! OMG!” is racing over and over in my head in a scream.

As I sat back down in the car, I opened up the bag to take a better look at the find.

I called my Mom but she didn’t answer the phone. I think I shrieked my entire adventure into her answering machine….

Here’s my haul from the estate sale. Can you see my treasured gem?

Ladies and gentlemen….the hardback version:

 Betty Feezor’s Best…third printing, enlarged edition, 1959.

And the plastic inside? Here’s what it contained…

The Charlotte Observer newspaper clippings from her passing. This was someone who was touched by Betty Feezor. I’m glad I was able to welcome this one into my home.

What an amazingly rare find. And it was in my price range! Usually, this will go for $30+ on eBay. I’m thrilled beyond belief to add it to my collection. I still can’t believe I held it together…

 

What Scribble?

I finally took some time to pull out the Lysol Disinfecting Wipes and tried to clean up what has been affectionately dubbed “The Deen Bros. Coloring Book.” Remember when I got this off eBay for sixty-nine cents?

My hope of rubbing off crayon turned to dread as I realized the fuscia scribble was from a marker. Oh boy…

But elbow grease and time were on my side; plus, I think the marker may have been water-soluble. Take a look at the final results…

Ta-dah! All cleaned up and picture perfect! Definitely worth the sixty-nine cents (and shipping). I spent some extra time on Jamie’s face, but then realized that I was trying to wipe off a soul patch.

By the way, I made a version of their Cucumber Sandwich recipe for refreshments this past Sunday at church. Great appetizer! Plus, they were all gone in a matter of minutes….yummy.

Back on the Homepage!

Thanks for your emails! Marsha was the first to send me an email looking for the link to the blog on Bob & Sheri's homepage. When Frank and I first added the link to the "Check This Out" section, we set an "expiration" date for almost two years into the future.

Well, November 30th was that expiration date. And I totally forgot about it!

We went back into the system and reset the expiration date for sometime in 2013. Can someone remind me of this in about three years? Thanks--

Anyway, my Cookbookaholic link is back and "linking" away, as it were. On a side note, I really appreciate the very kind comments that were sent my way. I'm so glad you enjoy checking out my misadventures and treasure hunts. Sorry for upsetting anyone with the missing blog!

Of Course I Went!

Are you effin’ kidding me? Of course I went! After finishing up the pancake breakfast I ran over to the estate sale to see what was left after being picked over for two and half hours. Turns out, there were a few cookbooks left and I was able to find a couple of great ones.

There were still a ton of cars surrounding the house so I kept my expectations low. One of the ladies running the sale told me which room to focus my search. I found a card table that was still covered in cookbooks. Probably not the 120 cookbooks they mentioned in their email…but still enough that I was excited to see.

I went through the whole collection and found these:

The Commander’s Palace (Ella & Dick Brennan), Third Church Cooks Vol. III (Third Presbyterian Church, Charlotte), Bethabra Moravian Cook Book (Winston-Salem, NC), Talk About Good! (Junior League of Lafayette, LA), Furniture City Feasts (Junior League of High Point, NC), The Van Wyck Cook Book (Van Wyck Woman’s Club) and Party Cook Book (Junior League of Abilene).

Central’s Best Recipes Past & Present (Central UMC, Charlotte), The Justin Wilson Cookbook, The Pantry Shelf: 75^th Anniversary Edition (Zebulon UMC, Zebulon), Country Cookbook (Thyatira Presbyterian Church, Salisbury), Cook Book (Providence Day School), New Neighbor’s League Holiday Recipes, Recipe Favorites (Ladies of Hickory Knoll Church of Christ) and Oppis Guet’s Vo Helvetia (The Alpen Rose Garden Club, Helvetia, W. Va) 

One thing’s for certain, this lady lived all over the place. And when she moved somewhere, homegirl bought some cookbooks and made herself at home. She was a definite cookbookaholic. I still wish I’d been able to get here earlier—but I’m really thankful for the ones I got at her sale.

I’m still a little shocked that I was able to find the Junior League of Lafayette AND Junior League of High Point cookbooks! Furniture City Feasts is pretty hard to find these days. Plus, the Talk About Good cookbook had some torn out newspaper recipes tucked in the back.

The cookbook itself is not in the best shape..it’s got quite a few tears on the front cover and tabs. But when you start to flip through, it’s a treasure trove of clippings and recipes. I come across this simple brochure titled McKenzie’s Pastry Shoppes Recipes for Patty Shells.

The very back is overflowing with torn clippings from a Metairie, Louisiana newspaper called “The Reminder.” These “Reminder Recipes” are just what you’d expect from that region: “Shrimp Creole,” “Crab-Okra Gumbo” and “Creole Jambalaya” just to name a few.

Oh boy, I’m trying really hard not to think about what cookbooks went out the door before I got there….but it’s really, really hard. 

 

Pancake Breakfast

The pancake breakfast courtesy of De Wafelbakkers Frozen Pancakes was really great! We had lots of people that sampled a stack of hotcakes. I saw management, sales account executives, accounting, traffic, new media programming and promotions. Of course, the newsroom showed up as well.

Believe it or not, Chad Bowar stunned the crowd and had a plate of pancakes. If you listen to the show, then you know that Chad is a strict Chadetarian—which means he isn’t allowed to eat food that:

a)     touches anything else on the plate

b)     is made up of too many ingredients

c)      is mixed with any other food

So, De Wafelbakkers' pancakes turned out to be the first “Chad-friendly” food we’ve had around here in a long time.

Bob, VP of Retail Sales, had the Patterson Studio all decked out. Three microwaves, tons of pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit, juice and syrup! You started at one end by picking out your pancakes and then you worked your way down the tables adding butter, syrup, bacon and fruit.

Great set-up…it was really nice to have some time for Radio to have some food and fellowship together.

I took a batch of Buttermilk and Blueberry pancakes (with bacon) into the studio. I think Bob and Todd took care of those plates very quickly!!

 

Did I mention that I brought in some homemade syrup? Yummy. I’ll share the recipes soon, promise!