Cookbookaholic

My Red Carpet Appearance

Yeah, this is as close to the Academy Awards Red Carpet that I’ll ever get!

 

The local Chick-Fil-A at Northlake Mall had a Red Carpet event complete with red carpet, red velvet rope and a “paparazzi” with flashing strobe! Dunc and I went to grab dinner for the family and I snapped a picture of the set-up. How fun!

Little known fact: I have actually held an Oscar. Yup! Back in the day when I lived in New York, I worked on a Russian film called Burnt by the Sun. It was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category and won! The director, Nikita Mikhalkov, flew back to NYC and did a press tour.

I got to pick him up at his hotel and take him through the day of interviews. He wanted to take the Oscar to the Sony Pictures Classics offices—only we didn’t have any “secure” way to transport it. So I emptied out my burgundy bookbag (the same one I’d used in college a few months before!) and stashed Oscar in the back section. And then we walked all the way from the hotel to the Sony building!

I couldn’t believe that I was walking around secretly transporting an Oscar! I just wanted to run up to someone—anyone—and say, “Holy Crap! Look at what I’ve got in here!” Wow—and that sucker started to get heavy after a couple of blocks. It really is heavier than it looks!

 

p.s. I also worked on a Spanish film called Belle Epoque which also won the Best Foreign Language Oscar the previous year—but that director hightailed it back to Spain and didn’t come back to NYC. 

 

Eating a Ton of Palermo’s Pizza Pays Off!

The other day, I got this really large envelope in the mail. It was a package from Palermo’s Pizza. At long last, being a member of Palermo’s “Circle of Crust” has finally paid off for me…not with any free pizza (yet), but something pretty cool.

It’s a Palermo’s branded pizza cutting mat! Personally, I’m lazy and don’t want to dirty up a metal pizza pan. So after I’ve prepared a Palermo’s Pizza, I usually re-use the cardboard base—which always curls up from the heat. I think having this cool cutting mat will be awesome. Here’s hoping it doesn’t warp when I slide the piping hot pizza onto it.

 

The only downside I can see is that this delicious image of the pepperoni pizza will, at some point, fool me into thinking there are still slices left to eat. I’ll glance at it from the living room and think there’s a full pizza—only to be bitterly disappointed by an empty cutting mat scattered with a few crumbs. 

I already have several of these thin plastic cutting mats on hand for chopping up onions and preparing chicken. They’re awesome! (I’ve had to order a new one because we’ve sliced and diced our way through it!)  I’m eager to try this one out on some Palermo’s Pizza really soon.

Brother Boniface’s Pumpkin Bread

I finally got around to making the Pumpkin Bread recipe from Baking with Brother Boniface. After googling the cookbook and noticing this particular recipe had been featured in Southern Living magazine a few years ago. And you know, if it was featured in Southern Living…then it must be some pretty good stuff.

What shocked me the most…it called for a cup of vegetable oil. Anyway, the batter was enough for two whole loaves.

It was really good. It didn’t overpower you with the pumpkin flavor or any of the additional spices. I’d probably add some more pecans to it and remove the nutmeg (not a huge fan, sorry) just to see what it tastes like.

Here’s what a loaf looked like when it was sliced.

Yummy….I even took the rest of the loaf to work. For the next two mornings, I toasted a slice and enjoyed it for breakfast. Very tasty and very easy to prepare! Besides, who could say no to a face like this?

 

Behind the Door!

Okay, I wanted to finish up my story about being in Hilton Head for New Year’s. Duncan and I went in the morning for our thrift store run to the only one open on New Year’s Eve: Hospice Community Thrift.

When we got back to the condo, my youngest was peeved that he didn’t get to go and my father-in-law was looking to get out and do an afternoon thrift store run. So, after lunch, we all piled into my car and headed back to HCT. Knowing that this is half price book day, maybe this time around I’ll pick up those couple of books that I put back on the shelf.

They were still there. Here’s what I picked up the second time around: Some Enchanted Evening (Friends of the Symphony, West Shore Symphony Orchestra in Muskegon, Michigan) and Chafing Dish Cookery (Florence Brobeck).

As I was walking around the store, I remembered about the time I picked up the mother lode of cookbooks when Elsa was working there. She brought out a shopping cart that was filled with cookbooks and I came home with this huge batch of about three boxes!

The lady working the cash register had been very nice and I took a chance and asked her if she knew of any more cookbooks back in the store room. She thought there were a few more and told me to come with her to the store room entrance. She knocked on the door and an older lady answered. She began, “Ms. Susan, this young lady collects cookbooks and was wondering…”

“Get in here!,” she said.

So in I went and the door closed behind me. 

There was an aisle filled with books from floor to the top of the bookshelves. There were even several boxes that had yet to be unpacked. The lady pointed me to the middle area but I didn’t see any order. Cookbooks were here and there kinda scattered about. Here’s what I found:

The Household Searchlight Recipe Book (1941), The Boston Cooking School Cook Book (Fannie Merritt Farmer). The one from Household Magazine is from 1941 and has this thick, embossed cover. Plus, there’s a Household Magazine subscription receipt tucked in the pages. Jean Berry had just started her subscription to the magazine on August 7^th…wow, World War II was just around the corner.

Nationality Rooms Recipe Book (University of Pittsburgh), The Cranberry Connection (Beatrice Ross Buszek, Cranberry Cottage, Nova Scotia), Heart and Soul Cookbook (Church of St. Peter, Monticello, NY) and From Our Table to Yours (S.C. Cancer Specialists).

Wow! Lots of searching and I’ve come up with a nice haul! I’ve also suddenly realized that while I’ve been going through the shelves, no one else knows I’m in the back room. I’m heading towards the door and spot this at the end of the row:

Bermudian Cookery (Bermuda Junior Service League). Nice last second snag! 

I emerge from the back room and the boys and hubby see me carrying an armful. I think they had combed the store twice wondering where I’d run off…

I paid for the cookbooks and they packed them up into this snazzy canvas bag for me! Nice way for 2010 to finally end.

 

Today's the Day

Okay, my "source" was a little off on the Diamond's opening day...but that's okay. Word directly from the Diamond's facebook page is that today at 11am the doors will open and the Diamond will be open for business!

11am to 2am hours for the first few weeks--and I bet they'll be packed every minute they're open!

Let's make it super easy for everyone involved. Click on this link over to the Diamond's website and preview their menu. That way, you'll already have your order ready when you sit down at the table!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

This lovely (large and deep) heart box of See's Candies just arrived at the office! Very yummy surprise from the hubby!

 
Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!!

Miss The Penguin? Go to The Diamond!

Remember that weird fallout and closing down of The Penguin a few months back? I didn’t get all the ins and outs of the drama that went down, but I do know this vitally important detail: the menu and recipes for the old Penguin went with the guys who ran it when they left.

So, the former chef has a new restaurant—but not with the old Penguin menu. The Penguin has opened back up under new management—but not the old Penguin menu. Confused?

Anyway, the guys that used to run The Penguin bought the menu and recipes a few years back and have now walked them a few more steps up the block. They’ve taken over The Diamond Restaurant and will be serving up your familiar favorites over there in the Plaza-Midwood area.

I have it on good authority that the new Diamond Restaurant will officially open up on Tuesday, February 15^th. See you there!

The Diamond Restaurant

1901 Commonwealth Ave.

Charlotte, NC 28205

Chili Cook Off!

This past Saturday, my church had its first annual Chili Bowl Cook Off! How smart is this? Make a huge batch of chili on Saturday, and then you’ve already got your main course for Super Bowl Sunday done!

Fellow cookbookhalic Janet along with Paul and Sara put the whole thing together and it was amazingly fun! Very professional as well, I might add. We had a total of 15 entries and believe me, that’s a lot of sampling!

I don’t have a chili recipe that is from scratch. I open up a package of French’s Chili-O and I’m good with that. I can’t handle too much fire and spice. But the hubby found a recipe that he loves and he entered “Scott’s Awesome Chili” into the cook off.

Once we got to the fellowship hall, we put the crockpot onto a table. Each batch of chili was assigned a letter (hubby’s was “B”) with a stack of small plastic sample bowls with the letter written on the bottom. Everyone took turns and got a small batch of chili for every entry. 

That tray was looking pretty full by the time we reached the last crockpot.

We had to pick our top three choices and write them down on a form. Each place was weighted with a different score. 

I noticed that a stack of napkins near me was a bright green. I chose to make that green napkin my palette of champions. If I liked a chili, I immediately moved it over to the green mat. Others were put off to the other side.

Here are the top 6!

Let me tell you, sampling 15 tiny bowls of chili is pretty hard work! I had to take a break or two along the way. I was especially proud of my youngest, he was brave enough to give the taste testing a try.

After my final break, I had to narrow the choices down to the final 3. And here they are…

After all that sampling, there was no room for going back and getting a full bowl of my favorite. Just wasn’t happening. Too stuffed! But what fun! 

The awards were handed out for first through third places. Hubby didn’t win, but the boys made a special award called “The Vince Lombeani Trophy” and Pastor Chris bestowed it upon the contest’s Honorable Mention. So here’s a picture of Joe with his trophy for his entry “Jesus’ Favorite Hunting Lodge Chili”!!

This was a really fun event and I can’t wait for next year’s Chili Cook Off! Hubby might make a few tweaks to the recipe and have at it again for 2012!

Off to Hilton Head for the New Year

What a nice way for me to end 2010. We packed up and headed down to Hilton Head for the New Year’s weekend. Of course, I’m excited to see if my favorite thrift stores are open for business!

We arrived and the next morning I was off and running. After doing some research, it looks like my only option was also my favorite, Hospice Community Thrift!

The only side effect of HPT is that they’re also one of the more expensive thrift stores. Cookbooks there are at a premium! So, with my trip this morning, I had to choose carefully.

My selection wasn’t vast, but I did find several. I put back one of the more expensive ones but ended up with these:

Add a Pinch of Pizazz: Culinary Experiences from the Heart of Hollywood (Assistance League of Southern California) and The Herman Rusch Greenbrier Cookbook (Hermann G. Rusch with Martina Neely).  That “Pinch of Pizazz” cookbook had a back section called “Horoscope Hospitality.” I should pass that along to Ellen Whitehurst! I hear she’s working on something scrumptious for the near future.

I’m a Scorpio, so here’s what they suggested:

“A cool, magnetic Scorpio guest of honor might enjoy a midnight supper by candlelight with American Beauty roses or dark red anthurium on burgundy mats. Wine and classical music in the background will assist the romantic mood. A sun-sign gift would contain an opal.”

Okay…but by midnight I’m starving. Can I get a little bowl of sour cream and onion potato chips to snack on until then?

Here’s the suggested menu:

 

Caviar Mold

Rigatoni Alla Gorgonzola

Baked Steak

L’Escoffier Chocolate Mousse 

Tucked in between two oversized books, I found this very thin paperback. The title on the spine sparked a memory and I pulled it out to take a better look. Who could resist this face?

Baking with Brother Boniface: Recipes from the Kitchen of Mepkin Abbey. I’d heard about a cookbook from a group of monks in the area…but that’s about all I remembered. And who knew if I’d ever find a copy? Well, here it is!

I did a little research and found that the “Pumpkin Bread” recipe was featured in an issue of Southern Living. I think I’ll have to try that one!

By the way, I went to check out and found that today was half off books! Yeah! Mr. Duncan was disappointed that it was not half off toys as well. I decided not to go back and grab the ones I put back on the shelf…and I’ll tell you why in another post.