Cookbooks for Christmas

While this book is cumbersome (based on the picture and description I had no idea there would be 612pages!); however, there are lots of ideas and good foot notes for working with the various flours to make all the different types of baked goods.  So far I’ve made Lemon-Barley Scones (pg. 88) and Banana-Oat Pancakes (pg. 8).  Both were very good, although Tysen’s comment on the scones were that they were too moist, not dry like he remembers scones being.  The main focus of this book is substituting a lot if not all of the white flour called for in recipes with whole grain flours (whole wheat, barley, buckwheat, rice, rye, spelt, oat, and corn).  I’d already been substituting half of my all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour in breads and muffins, but now I have a lot more options.  I’m going to have to come up with some spiffy storage system to contain all my flour types in the near future!

I’m in love with this cook book.  With it being winter, the lackluster produce selection at the grocery store has left me missing our CSA from last year.  I didn’t sign up for the winter share which started last week because I was feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of all the various winter greens we were going to get.  Now that I have this cookbook, I think I could manage and create some delicious meals.  So far, I’ve made Red Taters and Green Grannies (pg. 253), Company Muffins (pg. 232), Nutty Sweet Potato Waffles (pg. 234), Potato Soup (pg. 236), and Wild Rice Vegetable Bake (pg. 261).  The waffles and soup were great.  I even froze a 4 waffle portion of the batter so that waffles could be made again at a later date.  I’m looking forward to the Spring CSA starting up April 1^st.

I’ve just started reading this book.  Actually, until this Christmas, I never read cookbooks; I always just perused them for recipes.  But this year’s books all have good intros explaining why you should change your eating habits (i.e. skip pre-packaged and convenience foods, eat more whole grains, eat complete proteins – important for vegetarians, etc.).  My only complaint about this book is its religious background.  I nod right along with the author when she harps on the North American diet, but I could do without the references to Jesus.  I just made Cinnamon-topped Oatmeal Muffins (pg. 71) this morning and both Arcadia and Tysen had one and they enjoyed them.

This book is still sitting on our bookshelf waiting to be read.  It is also a much longer book that I expected at 896 pages; however, I’m looking forward to reading it.  Over the last several years I have enjoyed trying new recipes and cooking for my family, and I think becoming knowledgeable about the science behind my cooking will help me branch out to try new things in the kitchen (gasp – without a recipe!).  We’ll see.