To fuck or to cook?

[Fugee]

Originally posted by tmdiva

I have this cookbook, along with most of the other Cook's Illustrated ones. I've made the egg strata (excellent) and lasagna (great, but a lot of work) out of this but haven't used it too much so far. I like their Best Recipe cookbook the best because it has a wide variety of recipes.

Would the intended recipient want a cookbook with easier/quicker recipes or something with possibly more complicated but really good recipes? Cover and Bake tends to the latter so if the mother is time-crunched, it might not be the best.

If you go on Amazon and type in "casseroles" you will get a lot of hits. There are more casserole cookbooks than I would have omagined. Something by Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Southern Living, Good Housekeeping, etc. would probably have easier more basic recipes.

Another suggestion isn't limited to casseroles, but has interesting and appealing recipes and is geared for the busy mom: "Desperation Dinners."

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by Fugee
Would the intended recipient want a cookbook with easier/quicker recipes or something with possibly more complicated but really good recipes? Cover and Bake tends to the latter so if the mother is time-crunched, it might not be the best.

This is my concern about the Cook's Illustrated cookbooks. I have several, and subscribe to both magazines (and the web site). I love their stuff but I think their recipes are too complicated for what she wants. (Thanks too to TM Diva for this recommendation.)

Originally posted by Fugee
If you go on Amazon and type in "casseroles" you will get a lot of hits. There are more casserole cookbooks than I would have omagined. Something by Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Southern Living, Good Housekeeping, etc. would probably have easier more basic recipes.

Yeah, I've done that and also looked on Jessica's Biscuit and The Good Cookbook Club. I will think I've found one that looks promising but I will find no reviews (which makes me wonder if anyone actually uses this cookbook). Or I will find at least one review that makes me think the recipes are one-dish in service only -- the preparation stage takes a lot more (like lasagna). Or the alternative is something like the Taste of Home (Or GH or BHG) Casserole Cookbook which I fear will lean too heavily on ingredients like canned cream of mushroom soup.

Originally posted by Fugee
Another suggestion isn't limited to casseroles, but has interesting and appealing recipes and is geared for the busy mom: "Desperation Dinners."

Thanks, I haven't heard of that one but will check it out.

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
This is my concern about the Cook's Illustrated cookbooks. I have several, and subscribe to both magazines (and the web site). I love their stuff but I think their recipes are too complicated for what she wants. (Thanks too to TM Diva for this recommendation.)

I think The Quick Recipe cookbook from Cook Illustrated is pretty decent, but if your friend is looking for something simple (but good):



I've had this slim little cookbook for about 15 years, and I still make a fair number of recipes out of it. The pork in apricot sauce is great, and the scallops in grapefruit juice is surprisingly good.

Every recipe has five or fewer ingredients. The 10 minutes or less part is sometimes a bit ambitious, unless you are going for speed and aren't distracted, but nothing takes more than 20 in any event.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by baltassoc
I think The Quick Recipe cookbook from Cook Illustrated is pretty decent, but if your friend is looking for something simple (but good):



I've had this slim little cookbook for about 15 years, and I still make a fair number of recipes out of it. The pork in apricot sauce is great, and the scallops in grapefruit juice is surprisingly good.

Every recipe has five or fewer ingredients. The 10 minutes or less part is sometimes a bit ambitious, unless you are going for speed and aren't distracted, but nothing takes more than 20 in any event.

Thanks for the recommendation. I just ordered this and Fugee's recommendation from Amazon.

[Replaced_Texan]

Can one of you California types head over to Castroville this weekend and pick up a couple of bushels of artichokes for me? Feel free to avoid the American Idol person.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Can one of you California types head over to Castroville this weekend and pick up a couple of bushels of artichokes for me? Feel free to avoid the American Idol person.

Whoever goes, send me some too. It's 325 miles from me.

[Fugee]

We just got a Trader Joe's here in Flyover Land.

Are there any particularly wonderful products there that I should check out?

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Fugee
We just got a Trader Joe's here in Flyover Land.

Are there any particularly wonderful products there that I should check out?

Here, there's a mango juice thing that I LOVE, in the fresh-squeezed juices. I usually mix it with fizzy water; it's kinda intense/thick. And they have chocolate bars that have pecans and raisins -- like a cadbury fruit & nut, but mmmm, pecans.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Fugee
We just got a Trader Joe's here in Flyover Land.

Are there any particularly wonderful products there that I should check out?

Their frozen fish is incredibly high quality. I also like their Autralian red licorice. My wife thinks their chai is the best she's ever had.

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally posted by Fugee
We just got a Trader Joe's here in Flyover Land.

Are there any particularly wonderful products there that I should check out?

Frozen oatmeal.

Oh, how I miss it....

[Fugee]

Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
Frozen oatmeal.

Oh, how I miss it....

I don't understand. Is it cooked oatmeal that is frozen so you nuke it instead of just nuking the dry stuff with milk or water?

So I learned one thing about Trader Joes. It is a bad idea to go there on the first Saturday afternoon they are open. What a mad house. In the wine side (in Minn., we don't have wine in grocery stores -- they have to be separate), people were loading up on Three Buck Chuck like they'd never seen cheap wine before.

On the grocery side, the lines were amazingly long. I decided to try some of the frozen stir fries, some frozen biryani, the chili lemon pistachios and some Swiss Almond tiny cookies that I can't ever buy again because they're way too tasty for my own good. I also got some of the frozen pineapple chunks because I've never noticed frozen pineapple before. I'll have to figure out what to use it in.

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally posted by Fugee
I don't understand. Is it cooked oatmeal that is frozen so you nuke it instead of just nuking the dry stuff with milk or water?

Yes, it is frozen cooked oatmeal that you nuke for eating.

It is nothing at all like the dry stuff you add milk or water to, because it's made with steel cut oats, baybee.

Which means it tastes like real oatmeal. The good stuff. The stuff that takes like 20 minutes to make.

Oh, god. I need a Trader Joes and I need one now.

ps. frozen pineapple chunks are quite tasty all on their own.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by Fugee
We just got a Trader Joe's here in Flyover Land.

Are there any particularly wonderful products there that I should check out?

1. The guacamole is restaurant-quality. That with the blue corn chips is a meal and a half.

2. I love the frozen brown rice and vegetable dinners. I used to bring them to work back before I worked in a place where the fridge smelled worse than the garbage.

3. Sun dried tomato pesto.

4. Pesto.

[dtb]

Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
Yes, it is frozen cooked oatmeal that you nuke for eating.

It is nothing at all like the dry stuff you add milk or water to, because it's made with steel cut oats, baybee.

Which means it tastes like real oatmeal. The good stuff. The stuff that takes like 20 minutes to make.

Oh, god. I need a Trader Joes and I need one now.

ps. frozen pineapple chunks are quite tasty all on their own.

If you leave the steel cut oats to soak overnight, just turn on the stove when you wake up, and it takes only about 8 minutes for a piping hot bowl of goodness.

[spookyfish]

Originally posted by pony_trekker
1. The guacamole is restaurant-quality. That with the blue corn chips is a meal and a half.

2. I love the frozen brown rice and vegetable dinners. I used to bring them to work back before I worked in a place where the fridge smelled worse than the garbage.

3. Sun dried tomato pesto.

4. Pesto.

I've actually heard that there are people who don't like pesto, but it may be just a vicious rumor.