Reading Material

I've been carving out time to do more reading lately. Reading for pleasure that is. At the library this weekend, I ran across "The Third Plate" and was very intrigued. I'm about 100 pages in and it is a very thought provoking and motivating read.

I received "Free Range Farmgirl: Cooking Grassfed Beef" today and it looks wonderful! I'm planning on doing reviews of both books soon on the blog. What are YOU reading lately?

Seasonal Eating

If you can't tell by now, I'm a big fan of local, seasonal foods. I haven't always been this way. But, the more I learned about our food system, the more passionate I've become.

Eating seasonally can seem a little overwhelming at first. Who doesn't miss tomatoes in the winter or butternut squash in the summer? But a tomato in the winter has zero taste. And if you live somewhere where there is snow, it's been trucked thousands of miles to get to the store.

While we've been a member of some sort of CSA for almost 6 years now, our garden last year is really what pushed us fully into seasonal eating. When you get 10 crook eck squash at a time, you have to become creative. Or hope that your neighbors like them as well!

I love cookbooks and pinning recipes on Pinterest, but I generally turn to one cookbook when I'm looking for new and fun ideas.

The recipe is divided by seasons and is wonderful. Even if you don't follow a recipe exactly, it gives you fresh ideas. And one of the authors is from West Virginia!

What's your favorite cookbook?

On My Kitchen Bookshelf

My name is Heidi and I have a problem. I like cookbooks. All kinds of cookbooks.

I'm not partial. I like them all. Cookbooks for kids. Slow cooker cookbooks. "Natural" cookbooks. Weight conscious ones like Weight Watchers and Cooking Light.

And baking. Who could forget baking?! Bread and pizza cookbooks. A darling little Cake Pops book. Cakes and cupcakes. Like I said, I'm not partial.

Some of the coolest cookbooks are like these:

You know which ones I mean? The ones that churches and other groups would put together for fund-raising.  I have a bunch of these from around where I grew up. It's so fun to browse through them and see what was "in" at the time. Do they still make these?

Take these "Trick or Treat Cookies" for example. I'm not sure how I feel about using two dozen soda crackers in a cookie. Or, how about these:

Yum. Potato chip cookies. That begs the question, though - regular potato chips? Baked? Oh, I know! Maybe we could come up with some sort of wild flavor like Snickerdoodle Lays. Or Peanut Butter Blossoms. I think I'll send an e-mail to the flavor development department at Lays. Just as soon as I finish making and devouring these Bon Bons. I'm a stay at home mom. That's all we eat, right? I'm just kidding!

What I do plan to make sometime soon is these sugar cookies. These three cookie recipes are from my grandma. I think I'll enjoy making something she enjoyed making years ago.

And since it's rapidly approaching the solstice, these two are taking up residence on my counter. Since we make most of what we eat from scratch, I can't stomach hot chocolate from a mix. The real stuff is incredibly rich and that's why we save it for those cold days. Nothing like being out in the cold, sled riding and coming in to a warm woodstove and warm hot chocolate.

What's YOUR favorite cookbook? Let me know in the comments!