Cookbookaholic

Craigslist Score #1

I recently missed a Saturday for garage sales because I wasn’t feeling well. Whenever something like this happens, I check out the Craigslist offerings in hopes of making up for the lack of yard sale action. 

In going through the online sales, I spot a nice chunk of books for the low, low price of $25. It’s been there a few days, so I send an email and ask if they’re still for sale. That’s a really great price for the number of cookbooks in the pictures. If I can snag these, that’ll be a great haul.

A little while later, I get a response. They’re still available and they can meet me in about half an hour.

The cookbooks are one town over from me, so it’ll take me most of that half hour to get over there. We meet in an apartment building parking lot and when I pull up, I’m greeted by a lady, her husband and their daughter with four US Airways bags.

If you’ve ever taken a flight with US Airways, then you’ll recognize these bags from when the attendants take up the drinks and trash near the end of the flight. Those bags can hold a lot of aluminum cans and plastic cups. And I’m hoping these four bags will hold a ton of cookbooks.

Let’s take a look at what I’ve got:

(Bottom to top) Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2002, The Best of Country Cooking 2002, It’s in the Bag!, Bake and Freeze Desserts (Elinor Klivans), Family Circle Big Book of Christmas, Eva’s Kitchen (Eva Longoria with Marah Stets), Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook, Green Thumbs in the Kitchen (Green Thumb), The Cookie and Biscuit Bible (Catherine Atkinson with recipes by Joanna Farrow and Valerie Barrett), Apple Cookbook (Olwen Woodier) and Smoothies & Ice Treats (Lindsay Barnes and Amy Shawgo).

That Green Thumbs cookbook is by an organization that focuses on providing training opportunities and meaningful community service jobs for low-income older workers. I love the quote on the cover of the cookbook: “When It’s Smokin’ It’s Cookin’ & When It’s Burnt It’s Done.” Sounds about right to me… 

(Bottom to top) Pillsbury: The Complete Book of Baking, Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly (Phyllis Pellman Good), Express Lane Meals (Rachel Ray), The Kids’ Holiday Baking Book (Rosemary Black), The Dead Celebrity Cookbook (Frank DeCaro), Favorite Brand Names Incredibly Easy Silly Snacks, The Pizza Gourmet (Shea MacKenzie), The Donut Book (Sally Levitt Steinberg), Kraft No Oven Summer Sensations, Secrets of Fat-Free Baking (Sandra Woodruff, RD) and Good Home Baking (Diana Peacock).

 
(Bottom to top) SLAR 1998, Gooseberry Patch Christmas 6, Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2004, Great Cookies for Kids (Joanna Farrow), America’s Favorite Brand Name Light Cooking, The Pleasure of Herbs (Phyllis Shaudys), Put ‘em Up!: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook from Drying and Freezing to Canning and Pickling and Cupcakes (Shelly Kaldunski).

(Bottom to top) SLAR 2001, Baking (Dorie Greeenspan), Crazy Plates (Janet & Greta Podleski), Fit-It and Forget-It: Kids’ Cookbook (Phillis Pellman Good), 365 Great Cookies & Brownies (Joanne Lamb Hayes and Bonnie Tandy Leblang), The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions (John E. Thomas & Danita Pagel), Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor (Anne Byrn) and Totally Muffins Cookbook (Helene Siegel and Karen Gillingham).

Pretty awesome finds! I asked the lady offering up the cookbooks why she was getting rid of all these. After all, she’s parting ways with a quite a few. With a smile, she says that her husband told her that if she could get rid of some, then she was allowed to get some more. Spoken like a true cookbookaholic. She’s freeing up some space to make room for some new ones!

Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizza: The Recipe

By now, I think the Buffalo Chicken Dip has become a staple of Big Game menus across the country. So, what’s another great way to enjoy the flavor without all that cream cheese? I found some inspiration at a new buffalo wing joint that opened up near the house. I found all of the ingredients at my favorite local grocery store and their deli & even used many of their private brand products to help cut down on the cost.

Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizza

2 pieces of prepared flatbread

2 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed

½ cup Buffalo Wing sauce

1 celery stalk, minced

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup, mozzarella cheese, shredded

Crumbled blue cheese, to taste

Fresh Ranch dressing, to taste

For the chicken breast, I purchased a rotisserie chicken from my grocery store’s deli department. The chicken is already cooked, hot & ready to go and has a really great taste. I cubed the chicken breast (about 2 cups total) and then added the minced celery. Season with a little salt and pepper and then add the buffalo wing sauce. Mix until all of the chicken is fully coated in the sauce. (I covered the container and let the mixture marinate overnight in the refrigerator; but, you can also mix and then use immediately.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

For a flatbread, I chose the “Tandoor Baked Naan” from Stonefire Authentic Flatbreads for my pizza base. (You can also use Boboli, pita bread or any kind of flatbread that is out on the market now.) The Naan bread had all these cool bubbles that create nooks; and, I thought it made a really tasty crust. Plus, two came in the package and they were nicely sized for individual pizzas or as appetizers for a group. The package I bought had two flatbreads that were football shaped! Festive and appropriate!

Top the bread with the buffalo chicken and celery mixture.

Then, loosely cover the buffalo chicken with the shredded mozzarella cheese and place in the pre-heated oven just long enough to heat up the chicken and melt the cheese, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Once you’ve removed the pizza from the oven, sprinkle the crumbled blue cheese over the buffalo chicken pizza. Finally, drizzle the ranch dressing on top. Slice and serve.

Yowza! Slices of pizza with thick chunks of buffalo chicken, topped off with tangy blue cheese crumbles and creamy ranch dressing. It’s very filling and gives you the punch of the buffalo flavor (without bones and a messy cleanup) all on a thin slice of pizza. It’s a nice, new addition to the football watching menu at our house!

I’ve Got Olympic Inspiration: Where are My Slovenian Recipes?

 

 

I was watching some of the late night coverage of the recent Winter Games and I heard one of the skiers say that she had recovered enough from her injuries “to compete at the level I wanted to.”

Wow. You know what? I can honestly say that I’ve never had those words come out of my mouth. But good for her…wrap your leg in cheese and keep on going hon. 

Anywho, I also heard about the Slovenian athlete that skied off a freakin’ mountain and fell into a gully. Not just your average ditch…she fell into a deep gully and broke ribs and collapsed a lung. Instead of calling it a day and flipping off the dudes who should’ve put out more bright orange cones around the curve, she got back in there and won a bronze medal.

That made me think there must be something more to these Slovenian athletes. Obviously, they are made of stronger stock than the rest of us. Must be something in the food? I remembered that somewhere I had a cookbook that labeled several recipes as “Slovenian.” Or, was it Slovakian? I’m sure there’s a huge difference beyond the obvious “k” and “n”—but I wanted to try out a few recipes and find out for myself.

Now, I can’t find the cookbook. It was in a box that was moved and I’m clueless as to where it is now. Argh!!!! I’m so annoyed by this! My Olympic inspiration has turned into a half-ass version of “In Search Of…” Help me Leonard Nimoy, you're my only hope.