Cookbookaholic

Goodwill Find

Dunc had asked me to take him to a few thrift stores over the weekend. They weren’t the usual ones I’ve shopped, but he was familiar with them from doing thrift store runs with his dad.

He was an excellent navigator and we visited two down in Charlotte. He was looking for shoes and I was on the hunt for cookbooks. The second store we visited was a Goodwill and look what I found:

Dinner on the Diner from the Junior League of Chattanooga! Some pages were out of order, but that’s a quick fix thanks to the three-ring binder. Nice snag!

Stop Me from Eating These

Hubby came home with a bag of these new Buffalo Wing flavored Pretzel Crisps the other week.

After the initial burn of the first bite subsided, I was hooked. There’s something about this spice, salt and pretzel flavor that is so addictive. I think I’m becoming obsessed with them. So much so, that I made the Pretzel Crisps a meal one night. Usually, I can only do that with popcorn.

Oh mercy, Snack Factory!

Rule of Thumb: The Mic is Always Hot

I know this is a rule of thumb in all of broadcasting, and most of us (with the exception of a newbie sports broadcaster in North Dakota) have heard it: the mic is always hot. Anytime you’re near a microphone, always assume it’s on (even if it’s not).

In other words, be cautious with your comments and treat the airwaves with respect.

With the recent revelations exploding out of the Paula Deen lawsuit, perhaps this should become a rule of thumb about life. If you’re a celebrity, you need to treat every moment outside your front door like there’s an open mic nearby. Especially so if you’re toting around some past indiscretions that, when made public, could alienate a good bit of the population.

It’s very disappointing to hear about her comments and one hopes that she really learns from all this. But let’s all move forward with this thought: be gracious with your comments and treat others with respect. You never know when they might come back to bite you in the rear.

Now that social media is here and can take a comment said a second ago or ten years ago (side-eye to you, too, Abercrombie + Fitch dude), it can suddenly emerge out of the blue and never, ever go away. People can forgive, memories can fade, but the social media record has it logged…forever.

Not to mention testimony in a court case. That’s on the record in a deeply historical way.

Wow—so, what can you say about all the Paula Deen business in the news? In the space of about a week, we’ve watched the beginning of what may very well be the decline of her brand and the collapse of her empire. She’s being sued, she skipped out on a Matt Lauer interview on the TODAY show, Food Network dropped her shows and there’s a blooper reel that is supposed to resurface soon. And I don’t think that will help very much.

It seems like her image is going from sassy to crass at mach speed. It’s breathtaking. It’s fascinating. And it was all preventable.

As someone who spent a few years in public relations, I’m curious about how she’s been advised on handling this situation. Maybe the sad truth is that there is no way to quantify how to “successfully” handle her situation—her own words and behavior have opened the door to all this. But it appears that the situation is not being guided with much strategy or a decent video editor. Did anyone think through how that first video apology really looked?

It appeared edited for time, but turned out to be edited of any meaningful, redeemable substance.

This lawsuit has exposed a more realistic side of a celebrity’s personality. The side that exists when the camera isn’t rolling or an audience isn’t applauding. Can you come back from that? Well, Alec Baldwin is still around. And how many more times can her brand take a beating? Didn’t she just start to recover from the diabetes diagnosis/drug company endorsement controversy? I did notice her Twitter account had an increase in followers by the end of the week.

We’re also getting a good look at how much damage inappropriate words and attitudes can wreak when an employee decides a working environment is too toxic and enough is enough. There seems to be plenty of ammunition and she’s admitted to some really objectionable comments. Makes you wonder if all this would still be a dirty secret instead of front page news if someone would’ve remembered that rule of thumb….

 

Why Don’t I Subscribe?

Did anyone else catch the April 2013 issue of Our State magazine? It’s a monthly magazine published here in North Carolina that features some of the state’s finest locations, vacations, restaurants, pastimes, festivals and traditions.

I’ve seen it at my in-law’s condo but never really sat down and looked at it. Recently, I had a doctor’s appointment and the April issue was in the waiting room. I picked it up and don’t think I put it down, not even as the nurse was taking my blood pressure.

This particular issue had deviled eggs on the cover.

But what really got me was Jeffrey Turner’s article, “The Church Cookbook.” In it he talks about how important the church cookbook is for preserving both the history and unique identity of the church itself as well as the favorite recipes from members of the congregation. Loved it…even reminded me of some the posts I’ve written about on the blog.

He even goes on to mention that they put out a call for church cookbook submissions and they profile one in the recipes column in the food section. What a revelation—this could serve as a monthly resource for finding a must-have church cookbook!

Now, why don’t I subscribe to this magazine? I think this sounds like a must-have, don’t you?

Worst Title for a Church Cookbook

I came across this cookbook in a batch I won at a recent auction. I can’t believe this church actually titled their cookbook “Friendly Fumes.” That could seriously be the worst title for a cookbook…ever.

Okay, it helps to know that the church is Friendship United Methodist out of Albemarle, NC. But, to add in the Fumes? That takes some big ones…

Would you want to go to one of their potluck lunches? I just don’t know…

Redneck Goblet

So, I made it to the bridal shower and it was lovely. The sweet tea was very, very good and I had a nice full glass. In fact, we got to pick our choice of decorated glass.

There were uniquely decorated redneck goblets and as you approached the beverages, you picked out the one that appealed to you. And, when the bridal shower was over—you got to take your goblet as your take-home gift.

What's a redneck goblet, you ask? Imagine a Mason jar attached to a glass stem from a fancier piece of stemware.  They've been around a few years now...

Here’s mine:

Fancy, huh?

My sister-in-law, Amy, and her best friend, Debbie, came up with the designs. And there were  a lot of goblets on that table! That must’ve been a ton of work!

Memorial Day Weekend Sale

Holiday weekends are notorious for having few sales. Completely understandable. Yard sales are very hard work. You gather the items, price them, set them out, then be awake and ready to go and somehow remember to have change so that you can break a twenty. Who would want to do that over a three day weekend?

Having said that, I’m glad for the ones that are open. This past Memorial Day weekend, I had to head out of town for a bridal shower followed by a 2 year old’s birthday party. It was set to be a long day and I was hoping for a good yard sale or two before the road trip started. Dunc wanted to tag along with me for the birthday party, so we hit a 7am sale and as many 8am sales as we could before we absolutely, positively had to be on the way to Nana’s house by 8:30am.

Our only success was the very first sale near home. We had spotted a sign for it on Friday and we decided to make that our first stop. After we turned onto the road and went from asphalt to gravel very quickly. Plus, the road went back much further than I realized. When we finally reached the sale, I could tell that this small brick home, small and surrounded by very tall trees, was a place of quiet and solitude.

The sale was in a detached garage. Dunc and I were the only ones there and we got the first look at everything. I walked up on these and thought there were so cool:

Three rusty decorative stars.

Then I asked if there were any cookbooks. On the table behind me, the lady running the sale points to these three.

Cookies!: A Cookie Lover’s Collection (The Kitchens of Cy DeCosse Incorporated), Cookin’ Up a Storm: The Life and Recipes of Annie Johnson (Jane Lee Rankin) and Beautiful Breads & Fabulous Fillings (Margaux Sky).

I have to admit, when I first saw Cookin’ Up a Storm I thought it was the cookbook that was put together from “lost” Times-Picayune recipes following Hurricane Katrina. Similar title but a very different cookbook. It’s a brief bio about Annie Johnson, who came to work for Jane Lee Rankin’s family, and her Southern staple recipes. This is a loving and honest chronicle of their family caretaker, whose food and friendship obviously meant a lot to them.

And when I said Southern recipes, I meant it! Here are some of the breads: Banana Bread, Buttermilk Biscuits, Dinner Rolls and  Hot Water Cornbread. Breakfast: Buttermilk Pancakes, Cinnamon Rolls, French Toast and Fried Apples. Soups, Sides and Salads: Navy Bean Soup, Fried Green Tomatoes, Corn Pudding, Dressing, Sweet Potato Casserole, Turnips, Cheese Coins, Chicken Salad, Chow Chow and Spice Tea. Dinner: Barbecue Pork, Chicken and Dumplin’s, Fried Chicken and Grave, Fried Catfish, Stuffed Green Peppers and Barbecue Sauce. Cakes and Icing: Apple Cake, Buttermilk Pound Cake, Blackberry Jam Cake, Chocolate Cake, Gingerbread, Plum Spice Cake, Sour Cream Pound Cake, Caramel Icing, Chocolate Icing, Coconut Pecan Icing and Cream Cheese Icing. Pies, Cobblers and Cookies: Pie Crust, Butterscotch Pie, Coconut Cream Pie, Kentucky Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Potato Pie, Banana Pudding, Bourbon Balls, Cornmeal Cookies, Ginger Cookies, Sugar Cookies and Tea Cookies. Wow! Who wouldn’t want to go eat dinner at Annie’s house?!

The rest of the sales were a bust, so now that’s its 8:30am—it’s time to head on down the road to Nana’s house!