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dogmatix

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I was getting a gift dining card for my boss and I found one that my daughter seems to like - at least one of us likes to cook - called Atlanta Cooks at Home - Recipes for Entertaining from Atlanta's Top Chefs by Melissa Libby. The maitre d' (or whoever that nice man was) came out after us when we were leaving so that my daughter could meet the chef and get his signature. I think she was thrilled - she just kind of sat there kind of smiling, with her hand on the book for the whole trip home.

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Very cool!

 

I was reading in my Cocktail book that Churchill really disliked Vermouth in his Martini so his recipe calls for simply looking at a bottle of Vermouth while making yours or alternately holding the bottle up to the light and shining it onto your finished drink!

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I looked on Oprah's website for the Pomegranate Martini, but couldn't find the recipe, however this one was on there.....

 

Oprah loves martinis—and this is one of her favorites! She served it at the Legends Ball!

 

INGREDIENTS

The juice of 6 lemons

4 Tbsp. sugar

6 fresh mint leaves

4 shots of vodka

Ice in shaker

A sugar-rimmed martini glass

Mix lemon juice, sugar and vodka in a martini shaker filled with ice. Shake well and pour into sugar-rimmed martini glass. Garnish with mint.

 

Sorry to say it, but to me it sounds like a waste of good vodka, if you're going to drink vodka, drink vodka....if you want lemonade...drink lemonade. :018:

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Whoops, spoke too soon, here is the other recipe from Oprah's website.

Oprah loves martinis—and this is one of her favorites!

 

 

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice

2 oz. Absolute Citron vodka OR white tequila

1 oz. Cointreau liquor

Cup of ice

Optional: Splash of sparkling water

Optional: Squeeze of lemon

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Well I got two Alton Brown cookbooks for Christmas and and a $50 gift cert to Barnes and Noble where I'm off to buy two Jamie Oliver Coobooks.

 

Pontalba, my mother in law loves Oprah and she made her Pomergranite Martini on Christmas Eve it was very good.

 

My recipe is a bit differnet but I've not made it yet.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I LOVE cookbooks and I love to cook.

 

I also use epicurious.com alot when I'm looking for inspiration. For example, I can take or leave brussel sprouts, but my husband likes them. I made this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105810

 

(substituting the chicken broth with vegetable broth and the "real" cream for low-fat low-cholesterol cream substitute)

 

and it was AMAZING.

 

I cook fairly european-style, but if I'm going to bake it's gotta be american with a ton of sugar and fat and a gazillion calories. I get alot of use out of the Betty Crocker's Cookie Cookbook and the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that I got from my mother. It's from the early sixties and the pictures are hilarious. But the desserts are incredible.

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  • 7 months later...
It's funny I usualy don't follow the recipes as much as look at the photos and read the history/culture parts. Then look at the ingredients list and get a little seed of inspiration in my head. I carry that around with me when I go to the supermarket and I'm usually able to capture at least the theme of the recipe wihout knowing exactly what it was.

 

I'm the same way! I do that all the time with online recipes and my mom's 1970s-era Betty Crocker cookbook and dessert book. When I was little, I'd look at the dessert sections of cooking magazines while standing in line at the grocery store. Recipes were approved based on the ingredients they had: "Eww, nuts! I wouldn't put those in." "Ooh, look at the chocolate in this one! Just like my birthday cake!" The only thing I actually made until I was twelve, however, was cereal and toast.:lol:

 

You have probably heard of my maternal grandma's influence on my love for reading, particularly historical books and books with noble characters.

 

In September 2005 my grandma took me to the outlet mall near my family's house to do a little shopping. I had birthday money from late August, so my normal pessimistic feelings of shopping ("I won't actually GET anything!") were happily disbanded.

 

We probably spent the most time at a bookstore, where I bought headphones for my brother (I had accidentally stepped on his) and a cookbook on sale for $7.00. I love this book! It's called All American Desserts, written by experienced cook Judith M. Fertig. I have bookmarks and smudgey fingerprints on the Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie and Classic Yellow Cake recipes.

 

All American Desserts is so interesting because it takes recipes from pilgrim times to the 1950s mom-at-home era to the modern fresh citrus-y desserts of today. The origin of each recipe and section is included: did you know that "cookies" came from the Dutch word for "little cakes"? One reviewer says, "Fertig has compiled an exhaustive and valuable collection of American recipes and the lore behind them that will as likely end up on your bedside table as your kitchen counter." I wish there were colored pictures for all 400-something recipes, but I suppose the useful conversion tables, emergency substitution section, and variegated selection makes up for the loss.;) I think people from all countries will find something to enjoy; after all, America is a melting pot of different cultures!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've recently gotten back into cooking, so I have...

 

Nigella Express; Nigella Lawson - it's got lots of great tips for making really quick food if you have a busy life. She suggests things like, making up lots of crumble topping to put in the freezer for a quick dessert. She is certainly not a 'diet' chef though, lots of unhealthy treats in this one :welcome:

 

Jamie at home; Jamie Oliver. Jamie is my favourite, I like his simple approach to cooking, grabbing things, bashing them up and throwing them in. So much more appealing than precisely chopping and measuring. This book couples some nice recipes with growing tips on veges and things for your garden. I've been inspired to get some herbs for my kitchen (first one bought today - a sad little organic coriander plant - I hope it survives!). It's broken into seasons, so it'll be nice to try and eat seasonal foods. (plus it's a beautiful book with a fabric cover)

 

Curry Bible; Madhur Jaffry. I made my first curry from this last week, a beautiful light chicken dish, extremely tasty! I'm hoping that my sad little coriander plant will be put to good use!

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I love Delia. If you want to know how to cook anaconda gizzards or roulade of wombat placenta, she's not for you. But if you like proper food, stick with Delia and you can't go wrong.

 

I used to think Delia was utterly boring, until her famous "half-time rant" a couple of years ago. Brilliant!

 

We've got a couple of Ainsley Harriott "meals in minutes" books, which are good. They also mean you don't have to watch him on TV, which is a bonus.

 

And Jamie, of course. Top man.

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