Jacques Pepin

When I was young I had a teddie bear named "Jacques" after Jacques Pepin. Love him. Love his cookbooks. Love his autobiography. Love his scrappy attitude. Try to emulate the cheery workman-like execution of his craft. Came upon this in the Washington Post with delight today:

For Pepin, Impromtu Comes Easy

I vow to try every single recipe, only I might use butternut squash rather than acorn because those ridges on the acorn squash scare me.

Flanken-Style Shortribs with Mushrooms
Baked apples
Sweet and Sour Glazed Squash
Slaw with Mustard Garlic Dressing
Sauteed Cabbage and Kielbasa
Crisp Pear Tart
Crispy Chicken Thighs with Mushroom Sauce

Kindle. Babies. Cookbooks.

Last summer, while I was studying for boards, I went to the beach. How else to make it bearable? I went with my dear friend, Dr. Fondant and her husband, who were pregnant. Dr. Fondant was also studying for boards. Every morning I'd drink a gallon of coffee, then head off to their condo overlooking the ocean to drink more coffee, look out the window, chat, and study. (We actually did study.)

Most evenings we had big communal happy summer meals. The kids would nibble, the adults would talk, the wine would flow (except for Dr. F), and we'd linger over dessert. Or rather, empty plates.

In the lovely house in which we stayed, there were two cookbooks. Cookbooks, I believe I've noted, are an addiction for me. I've inhaled quite a few. It takes something special now to get me interested. The two in the house were pretty nice, and had the bonus of being new, at least to me. When I wasn't studying, cooking, playing, swimming, touring, or sleeping, I browsed these cookbooks, leaning on the counter in the kitchen with a glass of wine; slouched on the sofa with coffee; leaning on an elbow at the table with a Moon Pie in my hand; or sipping an icy Diet Coke on the screened in back porch overlooking the marsh.

Fixated in my mind is a relaxing vacation--relaxing! studying for boards! miraculous--sun, sand, great food, dear friends, and the happy promise of a little baby. A bubble week of civilized epicurean romping. Besides visiting the pictures (which I still am editing) how to revisit?

I got an email this week about a Kindle and New York Times subscription for a mere $500. Tempting. I'm sorely tempted by the Kindle. I'm certain I'd have to buy a killer new bag to carry it and all my other gear in. Aha! A reason to shop.To have my library with me everywhere plus have the New York Times at my fingers . . . Wow. Five hundred dollars ain't nothin', though, and would I really, really love it?

Two other things arrived in the last week. First, the baby! Warm, snugly, handsome, sweet, and delicious. How are we swallowed whole by these small dear creatures? Second, one of the beach cookbooks, Eating Outdoors, by Lindy Wildsmith arrived in brown paper wrapper. I peeled it open and jumped into the pages, secured for a moment away from snotty, chaotic, busy, febrile, and laundry in a happy, languid, sunny, briny, shrimpy reverie. I trailed my fingers across the pages, photos, recipes and visited with my vacation, a happy little world. I sighed, closed the book, and came back to my present, bigger and fuller with a new little being to adore.

Can I do that with a Kindle?

I don't know. I leave you with the recipe for what is now almost always my first meal at the beach. It takes all of 20 minutes to make and plop on the table, perfect after you've driven for hours, unpacked groceries and kids and towels and flipflops. Add crusty bread, a bottle of wine, a salad if you have time, or fresh corn on the cob and it's a feast.

Spicy Shrimp. Yummy and fun, fun, fun.

Gourmet: Get 'em while the getting is good

From Slashfood, 25 must-download recipes from Gourmet Magazine to download before they disappear.

24 Must-download, web-only recipes from Gourmet online

Sign me up for frozen peanut butter pie with candies bacon, please. Oh my. Not so sure about Thai pig ear salad or duck fat doughnuts. But still.

Literary Dinner Companions

Cover of Entertaining

Hello, PassYouBy:

I chanced upon this in the NYTimes this past week (or thereabouts):

Dinner Companions

Leann Shapton, the reporter, asked a few of her favorite authors what books they like to take to dinner when they're alone. Interesting stuff! I'm not sure that a book about a slow, inexorable death from syphilis would make my dinner great, but hey, whatever floats your mashed potatoes in gravy.

I love to stand at the kitchen counter alone, while the kids are playing or have gone to bed, and peruse cookbooks. These are some of my all-time favorites:

Image via Wikipedia

Feast by Nigella Lawson
The most erudite and witty of cookbook authors who happen to address feeding children in a most sensible fashion. How to Eat is also on my short list, but it doesn't have pictures thus my ADD isn't quite as stimulated.

Barefoot Contessa
Any cookbook by Ina Garten is on my short list. Gorgeous pictures, ravishing food, and pleasant headnotes.

Cover via Amazon

Screen Doors and Sweet Tea by Margaret Foose
As you know, we vacation in the South every year. This cookbook makes me happily remember vacations past and long for vacations future. Plus every single thing I've made in this book is knock your socks off good.

The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee
Another great, informative, offbeat, comprehensive review of Southern food. Many, many fabulous recipes. The banana pudding ice cream recipe alone is worth the price of the book.

Entertaining by Martha Stewart
This oldie but goodie has been a go-to book for decades. I find the recipes uniformly excellent, but it's the way they're grouped which gets me. She sets the book up in party format. It's a great place to go get ideas from which to plan your own fete.

The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Russo and Sheila Lukins
I don't have the fancy 25th anniversary edition, but I might have to get it someday when my old, thumbed, stained original paperback falls apart. This book launched my cooking career. The friendly chatter and easy instructions convinced me I could make anything. The whimsical pictures drew me in as well. I love, love, love this book. It's a dear old friend and I will be lost someday when it disintigrates.

Cover via Amazon

The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean by Paula Wolfert and The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
Oh, how I love these cookbooks. One of my best vacation memories is with Monsieur Latte in Turkey. I could eat Middle Eastern food morning, noon, and night, pretty much, and that trip we did. I almost didn't get tired of it, although I did want a lot more Diet Coke than was available at the time. These two books are so carefully detailed, lovingly written, and exhaustive in breadth. I feel as though I'm on vacation whenever I read them, on a magic Turkish carpet ride to a world of grilled meat, garlic, and lemon. Ah.