Two Barking Dogs

I cannot stop myself from buying an interesting cookbook. Its a compulsion. Its a sickness. Its crazy! I love to read them, and on occasion, I will even try a new recipe. Its funny how much I enjoy reading the old church/community, ethnic, and classic cookbooks. Some of them have wonderful ancedotes about families and neighborhoods, and regional history.

I bought a bag of cookbooks at the thrift store on Saturday.  Nothing out of the ordinary or extra special, just some fun reads, a couple to keep, and a few to recycle to family and friends.

Here are a couple that I’m going to keep (for a while anyway):

• Richard Simmons “Farewell to Fat.”  I need this book to be my new favorite.  The recipes look very good and the book has loads of great photos, too.
• “The Ryman Remembers” is a nice hardcover bookw ith loads of Country Music trivia, history, photos and country recipes.  If anyone wants Ricky Skaggs recipe for “Chickin Pickin Corn Soup” let me know.  All kidding aside, it looks like a fun read.
• “Heartland – Food Society Cookbook” .. not sure about this one.  I mean really, how many people do you know that eat Fiddlehead Ferns?
• “The American Diabetes Association & The American Dietetic Association Family Cookbook” – for Marcy.  Although I have to say, I’ve been flipping through looking at it for myself, too.  Not very exciting, but the recipes are broken down with nutritional information.
• “Celebrating Italy” by Carol Field.  This looks like a keeper!

A whole bunch of years ago, I went to New Orleans and ate some wonderful food. Gumbo! Red Beans and Rice! Crawfish Étouffée! Very different from the “White Bread” style of cooking that I grew up on. Spices and exotic flavors! Since my first visit almost 30 years ago, I have returned to enjoy the wonders of Crescent City about 10 times. My favorite visit included a dinner at K-Paul’s Kitchen, lunch at The Nap House, and dinner at Mr. B’s Bistro (always order the Shrimp Chippewa). I bought a copy of “La Bouche Creole” and “Talk About Good” during one trip, and I have practically worn them out over the years.

Here is a photo of my favorite Louisiana/Cajun/Creole cookbooks. There are more … somewhere.

I am on the e-mail mailing list from Mr. B’s Bistro on Royal Street. Mr. B’s is owned by the Brennan family, and its my favorite restaurant in the whole world. I would love to find a copy of Mr. B’s Bistro Cookbook at a yard sale.

My favorite cookbook growing up was the Good Housekeeping Cookbook that my mom got as a wedding gift 56 years ago. I found a copy of the exact same book in a used bookstore in New Orleans in 1987, and I treasure it. I also have the “old” and the “new” versions of the Joy of Cooking, too. The “old” one is battered and bruised and one of my “go to” books. The “new” one? It sits on the shelf in a closet in the back bedroom, but I can’t get up the gumption to get rid of it.

I met a guy recently at a book sale. He picked up about 10 cookbooks and then put them back, then picked them up again and placed them back on the table. He did this a couple of times. I asked him whether he was going to buy the books, and he said he couldn’t make up his mind! He had so many at home that he couldn’t really justify 10 more, but “look at what great books they are!” I told him, “You can never really have too many cookbooks can you?” He said, “Well, I’m not sure. I have about 18,000 already … Do you really think 10 more will make a difference?” I just smiled and ran like hell, afraid that his insanity would brush off on me!

Another book that I bought recently at a yard sale is How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. I am still reading it, and find it easy to follow and the recipes are very straight forward. Oh, and I paid $1.00 for my copy at a yard sale! Here is a link to some of Mark Bittman’s recipes.

Another book that I like a lot. Paula Wolfert’s Mediterranean Cooking. Easy-to-follow exotic Middle Eastern recipes. I have bought a couple of these at yard sales over the last couple years and sold them on Amazon. However, I have one copy that I MUST hang onto.

My friend Rob and Debra gave me a book that belonged to Katy’s husband, Dick. (Confused?) I told them I would put it on eBay, and traded them the raunchy cocktail glasses that I found in Florida (and Rob, if you read this …. I will mail them this weekend. Gotta buy some bubble wrap.) Anyway, this book is a hoot! It is an extremely large time capsule of 1970s recipes, style, and culture. Being a child of the ’70s, I am thinking about keeping this for posterity. Curious? It is The Playboy Gourmet by Thomas Mario. Originally printed in 1954, this one is the 1972 version. There are almost 30 different oyster recipes, and a whole section on the new-fangled “outdoor dome cooker” i.e. the Weber Grill.

If Benjamin Bufford had been an oyster farmer, it might have gone something like this:

“Anyway, like I was sayin’, OYSTERS are the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue them, boil them, broil them, bake them, saute them. Dey’s uh, OYSTER-kabobs, OYSTER creole, OYSTER gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple OYSTERS, lemon OYSTERS, pepper OYSTERS, OYSTER soup, OYSTER stew, OYSTER salad, OYSTER and potatoes, OYSTER burger, OYSTER sandwich. That- that’s about it.”