Inspirational

I was reading  this article in the Washington Post.  I found the article to be inspirational.  It is about a ten year old with and incredible passion for cooking.  He works in his family's restaurant and it seems like this is his calling in life.  I don't even remember what I like and didn't like when I was ten.  And what I found incredible was his mastery of cooking at his age.  When I grow up maybe I will be able to cook half as good as him.  I have included the link to this article if you care to read it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/luca-trabocchi-a-10-year-old-with-a-passion-for-cooking-and-parents-who-foster-it/2014/07/21/f22af1d0-05fd-11e4-8a6a-19355c7e870a_story.html

Apple Cookbook

Oh Joy! Oh rapture! The sweet smell of success and I mean that quite literally.  I love apples and believe it or not September is only weeks away.  September means the start of Autumn and that means apples.  Up until now I made very few things with apples.  I make apple butter and baked apples.  Oh yes I cut up a fresh apple and put it in my salad for lunch. Not a big repertoire.

But then I found the Apple Cookbook  and I have a whole new view of apples.  Last night I came home from work with a fair amount of energy and the creative spirit running through my blood.  I had seen the recipe entitled Chicken and Sour Cream and I decided to make it.  Let me just say that this a very misleading title because there are so many great ingredients other then sour cream and chicken in it.  First I would like to talk about  the spices.  I am completely incompetent when it comes to mixing spices so I was skeptical when I saw ginger, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper and garlic.  I mean I thought cinnamon was for pies and cake.  Not so.  Then there was the fresh onions, celery and apples.  The sauce consisted of white wine and tomato juice topped off with  sour cream added at the very end.  I served it on pasta. 

 I always worry when I make something new.  My family is not very adventurous.  Actually that isn't true, my husband is open to try anything my daughter not so much.  But they gave the dish high marks.  That alone is a miracle.

This is not the only great recipe in this book. Others look good and I can't wait to try some like the beef and apple pie or the sausage and apple appetizer balls.  I haven't even gotten to the desserts in the book but all I can say is YUM.

Another thing I love about this cook book is the author uses a wide variety of apples.  There are so many of them out there other then red delicious and he/she gives two or three possibilities to be used in most dishes.  Olwen also talks about the differences in the apples. So you get a mini lesson that is really interesting.  Oh and one of my favorite sections is the author's suggestions on pairing wine, apples and cheese so that you have the perfect combinations for a wine and cheese party.  I love wine and cheese parties!

The recipes look so good in this book, I can't wait to try more of them.  I will keep you posted.  If you are interested in the book just click on the apple above for more info.  Happy eating!

Cooking, My Journey

I have this great group of friends.  We call ourselves Wine Women of West Virginia because we have a wine gathering at least once a year at this beautiful cabin hosted by one of the members of the group.  We also meet monthly here in town. The cabin in West Virginia is magnificent.  It overlooks these incredibly majestic mountains. When it rains you can hear the stream rush through the woods.  In the morning I wake up, make a cup of coffee and watch the sun rise.  Often I am accompanied by my fellow cabin mates. It re-energizes me. Metaphorically speaking I can almost feel my all too often empty tank fill up.  It is something not to be missed.  That is only my opinion but it is true. 

Most of these women are awesome cooks.  I myself am a functional cook.  I will give you my definition of functional.  I can cook standard dishes. The food is good but it is so boring.  I make the same things over and over. Blah, Blah, Blah dull, dull, dull!  So when I started spending more time with this group of women I started getting inspired by the homemade pizza and breads, the tea and nibbles , the B-B-Q, the homemade coleslaw. I can go on and on about their culinary prowess. It made me more aware that there is something lacking in my culinary skills.  I don't need to be a gourmet cook.  I just want to have some fun learn some new recipes and improve my skills.

I write a blog about books I read.  I started to write it because people knowing that I love to read kept asking me if I had read anything good.  So  http://ireaddontu.blogspot.com was born. I started searching for books to read and I often found books that were not cook books but that contained some great recipes.  With the inspiration of my wine women and the books that I found I thought I would start out on a journey to improve my cooking skills.  The goal is this, to find recipes that are fairly healthy, that my family enjoys eating and that when I entertain family and friends are more thanjust edible.  The recipes have to be moderately easy and must contain ingredients that are not hard to find. 

As much as I love to write, I have no plans to write a cook book.  I am just looking for good cook books that have good recipes.  And here is the kicker.  I don't want just a book full of recipes.  I want one that tells a story or that teaches me something .  I also plan to find recipes to make from sources other than books.  Hopefully I will find what I am looking for and I plan to share my journey with you.  I hope you come along for the ride.  I hope that there are people out there who are like me.  They like to cook but just need some inspiration to make them go from good to great.  My plan is to post at least once or twice a week.  See you soon.