Richardderus Nonfiction Reads 2012

What in the name of all that's unholy have I done? Gone and joined another group?!

I have no idea what I'll put in here just yet.

ETA

Oh yes I do! I've started a cookbook game. Here's how it works.

Go to the library. Head for the cookbook shelves. (If you have a lot of cookbooks yourself, use a random number generator and count your cookbooks until you get to that number. You can also use the random letter generator to come up with the first letter of an author's last name. Pick the first book with that letter,)

Close your eyes. Reach your pointer finger out, and touch a spine. Check that cookbook out, unopened, and when you get home, turn to p43.

Make the recipe that's closest to the top of that page. If it's the middle of a recipe, make that one. If there isn't a recipe, turn to p44 and use the one closest to the top of the page there.

Come here and tell us all about it: How did you find the cookbook, what did you have to go and buy specially, was making it fun, was eating it fun...you know, just talk about it.

Allowances are made for allergies to foods, for family pressures not to make icky gross stuff like eyeball souffle or rat's-nose surprise (my mother's signature dish!)...but the point is to add some randomness to kitchen and some exposure to new food ideas.

And if you just don't like something...make it anyway...maybe, just maybe you will this time.

It's a game. Have fun, and remember the rules are just to give it some structure. The spirit is, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT! Break out of your habits! Make that work, and the game's afoot.

There goes the neighborhood.

>I have no idea what I'll put in here just yet.

A fictionalized account of the first day you were in school?

Naah - that should go to another group. No idea what you might put in this one :)

Happy reading in 2012 :)

>2 qebo: *hmmf* I've a good mind to stick around after *that* little witticism!

>3 AnnieMod: My thanks, gracious lady *pointed glare above* and I return the sentiment!

Well maybe I'll be able to keep up with this thread, since your 75er thread is already over 250 posts. I can't believe how far behind I am and it's only January 9th.

Hi Mike! I completely lost this thread. I decided I'm dedicating this one to books about food, cuisine, food ingredients, the art of cooking, etc. Just not cookbooks.

You're probably having fantods over the fact that I'm ~150 posts into thread 4 over in the 75ers....

6: I'm ~150 posts into thread 4 over in the 75ers
Did you notice me lurking? I even saw a BOOK flit by.

Yum, RD!

*smooches* from Horrible

>7 qebo: Lurking kinda precludes noticing, doesn't it? Or it's not lurking, it's stalking. ;-)

>8 karenmarie: *smooches* right back!

*throws some confetti*

Oh look everybody! It's Rip Taylor!

...wait...no...call off the paparazzi, it's just Tom.

*smooch*

*Wonders if the confetti is edible*

I am far cuter than Rip Taylor.

And at least a millennium younger, too.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who wondered if the confetti was edible...

My cookbook is Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates (festive meals for holidays and special occasions) by the Moosewood Collective, c. 2003

page 42-43 is Tofu Skewers with Peanut Sauce.

I did find Tofu in the grocery store, and I had the other ingredients so... I think I'll try this tonight.

I do not promise to report back later, but I might.

I'm not sure if it's part of living in the city, or if this is going on everywhere, but there are more and more vegetarians in my life and items life tofu seem easier and easier to come by. But I guess that could be a product of living in the city for the past 2.5 years skewing my view.

It's generational. Lots of kids think being veggie is good, being vegan is cool. Kids = people 30 and under. Over 30, the numbers are lower, though (depressingly) growing.

>18 richardderus:: Depressingly? Why? (asks this almost-50 vegetarian)

We meat eaters just hate to see our numbers diminish. It does not bode well for restaurant menus, or dinners with friends, perhaps. I agree with Richard. I love my meats. And the flavors that come with them.

So I went to one of the libraries where I work, stood in front of the cookbooks shelves, closed my eyes, and stuck my hand out. I managed to pick:

The Bon Appetit Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild. Page 43 has two recipes - Sour cream-streusel coffee cake and ginger scones. I won't be able to shop for ingredients for a couple of weeks left, but I will report back on the results.

Also, I may fit your definition of a kid but I'm more of a meat and potatoes kinda girl. :)

#21: Sour cream-streusel coffee cake sounds divine. Will the recipes of the various pages 43 be posted here?

20: It does not bode well for restaurant menus
OMG, someday the menu might have 2! veggie items.

>23 qebo:: no kidding. I don't think meat-eaters' options are in any way threatened.
I just want to say I'm not trying to stir up controversy here. I'm not militant about being veg; it's a personal choice and others make their own choices and I'm fine with that.

Not vegetarian, but it wouldn't hurt to have more vegetarian options in restaurants for those interested. Besides, I can eat a vegetarian meal, but a vegetarian can't eat a non-vegetarian meal.

25 > Yup, I'm not at all worried about vegetarians taking over (hey, more meat for me!) and appreciate that the increased presence of the minority group is adding some new and exciting menu options for all of us. I love meat, but I don't always want steak and potatoes (or, at least, my waistline doesn't).

Regarding the cookbook challenge, it looks like cookbooks are in the TX700-800 range in LOC Classification (TX715 seems to be the majority area). Looking forward to blinding picking a cookbook later today!

In Dewey it's 641.

Re: veg, I don't like the vegans and veggies I know trying to get me on board with their dietary laws, but frankly I feel that way about everybody.

I gave myself the push over the edge into active gout by eating an Atkins diet then a macrobiotic diet. Balance, balance, balance!

I agree about balance being important.

I think I'm lucky that I have at least half a dozen friends who are veg but not a one of them ever tries to preach or force their choice on anyone else. For them, it's a personal choice.

I don't think anyone in my friend circle is all-out vegan, but I'm impressed by anyone who is because that's really tough. Even figuring out what's vegan/not vegan at a restaurant is hard (hidden animal-product ingredients everywhere!).

ETA: Yeah, CPL uses LOC for some reason rather than Dewey. I'm so used to Dewey!

LoC is a more flexible tool, and is BRILLIANT for research libraries. For branch library systems, I can't see that it'd be any kind of advantage at all, and in fact would bumfuzzle the average patron even more than they usually are.

I've just picked up two books on CD for my audio pleasure. From none to two in about ten days (when they're due back)!

Richard, I am sorry about the gout. I know that can hurt like the devil!!! And yes, too many steaks can be bad for you. Balance is the key!

It seems like large city libraries lean toward LOC over Dewey. Maybe LOC scales better? I'm certainly used to Dewey in public libraries.

I want to play .. sounds like a fun game, but I won't be able to until perhaps Monday or the following Sunday because I don't get back to Boston until this Sunday night and then I leave for Orlando on Tuesday to attend a conference for 4 days.

But I've starred this so I don't lose the thread.

>30 maggie1944: Thanks, Karen44. It's NO fun. I've had 1-2 attacks a year since 1981. Medication helps less than one might hope with overproducers like me.

>31 ty1997: It scales far, far better...but I still scratch my punkin over the patron-unfriendliness of it in the branches!

>32 cameling: WHen you can, Caro darling. No worries about time.

I'm only familiar with Dewey as I've never been to a library that didn't use it, but since LOC is coming out of Congress I'll just assume it's it's ineffecient, overly-complicated, wasteful, worthless, stupid, and has a huge disapproval rating.

Stephen, you are a gift.

oh, I forgot why I came here: I did it. I made the aforementioned "Tofu Skewers with Peanut Sauce". Well, ah, I don't really know exactly what I've decided. I did eat it.

The tofu did not bend into an S shape suggested by the recipe, so I just baked it without the bends.

The peanut sauce ... um, ah, tasted like peanut butter with a little bite. I obviously needed to add a good deal more hot sauce, vinegar, and cumin. It could clearly be improved.

So... it was edible; but just barely.

I don't think I'll spend many of my few remaining days on earth improving this recipe. I think I'll go to the library and try a random cookbook.

But, one good thing: I did eat better than I usually do for dinner tonight. Thanks for the kick in the butt, Richard.re

ETA: There are left overs, if any one wants them.

And there is more sauce. What suggestions for what I should pour peanut sauce on?

What suggestions for what I should pour peanut sauce on?

A cat...?

Cauliflower carrots and Chinese cabbage

Sounds good so far, how's it cooked?

>36 maggie1944:: an alternative to pouring it on the cat: pasta? I vaguely recall a recipe for pasta w/a spicy peanut sauce once, might have even been served cold as as salad. Frankly at 8:20am that sounds positively revolting, but it really was tasty.

cut up the tofu, cover it with soy sauce and veg. oil, and then bake in a hot oven for 25 min. Peanut sauce = peanut butter, brown sugar (or honey), vinegar, hot sauce, cumin, and water if needed.

Take tofu out and drizzle sauce over. Serve hot or room temp.

I think Cauliflower carrots and Chinese cabbage or salad are great ideas! I can taste it on cauliflower for sure! I need to add some more hot sauce though.

Not a recommended recipe.

EDA: I'm having my cafe au lait right now and it makes up for last nights Epic Fail (as the kids would say). Oh, a choc. pudding pie hit the sweet spot with the kids! Love the whipping cream.

I am in. Ended up with Ann Lovejoy's fresh from the garden cookbook. I was whiny about it because I worried I would have to bake with lavender, and I hate having my food taste like bath salts. Luckily, I ended up with "Flaming Pears with Ginger sauce", which sounds yummy. I will make it tomorrow.

De-lurking to say that this recipe thing sounds like a lot of fun! I'd like to play too, but can't until after payday. *sigh* I'll pick from my own somewhat extensive library of cookbooks, not all of which are listed on LT, and let you know.

maggie1944 - I once "created" a dish that included cooked macaroni, chicken chunks, and a peanut sauce made from peanut butter, thai sweet chili sauce, and demerara brown sugar. Mixed it all together in a casserole dish and baked in the oven. Turned out not to bad at all! I surprised myself. LOL

Okay, I played. Being the OCD that I am, I can't stand in front of 22 shelves of books and "randomly" stick out a finger and pick. I'd feel like I had cheated, knowing what kinds of books were where. So I asked Keith to pick a random number between 1 & 22, and then I closed my eyes & stuck a finger into shelf 17. The book? The Wooden Spoon Book of Home-Style Soups, Stews, Chowders, Chilis and Gumbos." The recipe on page 43 (it started on page 42, but that was just her note about the soup): Tomato and Bread Soup with Pesto. So vegetarians, rejoice (I'm not a vegetarian, but I have a son who is. His philosophy when he visits? "Make whatever you want. I'll find something I can eat." Good boy). Unfortunately, it's January, and there's not a good tomato in sight. I made it with "bad" tomatoes, and it was actually pretty good. Not as good as it would have been with July tomatoes, but there it is. Also the first time I made homemade pesto, which was also good (and especially good swirled in the soup). Will I make it again? Doubtful. There are some really good canned tomato soups (I like Progresso) that are a lot less trouble.

I was hoping for something exotic, but rules is rules.

In all of my cookbooks, page 43 usually contains appetizers (which i can do) or baked goods (I don't bake...because I'd get as big as a house if I ate them...All of them)...i'm tempted to try tofu in something other than my usual Bok Choy stir fry

I know I'm not 'playing by the rules'....and.....

My foray into blind pointing at library cookbooks resulted in a cookbook by the Hearty Boys (?) who apparently have (had?) a show on the Food Network. Never heard of them, but thanks to them I will be making Falafel in Lettuce Cups with Garlic Tahini Sauce. I've never made falafel, so this will be a new experience.

Turns out the recipe is on-line as well, which resulted in some potentially ire-saving suggestions in the comments that I should add extra flour to avoid my falafel falling apart.

Grocery delivery is Wednesday (though Peapod doesn't have dried mint, so will need to determine what to do about that). Falafel experimentation over the weekend.

Tomato bread soup with pesto sounds fabulous. Falafel even sounds good.

I am dying. Some horrible lung issue makes me cough and my chest and throat hurt. I am slowly bringing up the right lung, with the left not far behind, and am so miserable I cannot begin to tell you.

ALthough I just did, didn't I?

Farewell. I shall pass from this mortal coil in a few minutes, I am sure. It was fun.

I'm so sorry, Richard.

Now where did I put my dissection kit...

No need to dissect me, Stephen. The lungs'll be out by the time I'm done coughing.

Please don't cough up all of your lungs, you might need them later again ;-)

Sending gentle hugs & comforting thoughts over the Atlantic!

>47 richardderus: Bronchitis, perchance? My friend Debbie's son was blessed with that two years in a row...and now has semi-permanent lung damage...See how lucky you are? But, Chris is good company, and he reads!

{{{gentle hug}}}...just don't cough on me....

Too late...both lungs already up...bronchitis is probably the culprit.

I wondered what all this sluck is..on my shirt.....

;-}

I'd clean it off but I'm too busy over here dying. Send the cleaners' bill to my estate.

Will do....RIP Sweetie!

Richard needs a fainting couch! :)

Jim..i was going to suggest that...

but these people would have given me Hell!

Checking in to be sure that you have not died over here. That could be messy.

Should this discussion be in the fiction thread? I really hope Richard's dying is fiction! Do Not Want Nonfiction Dying going on here!

(Please drink lots of hot tea. Traditional Medicinals makes a tea called Breathe Easy that is very soothing.)

ETA closing parentheses. Would not want miss that little edit

Professor Harry Sidebottom is on my roku. I thought I would die from choking with laughter.

Oh wait...I already died, I forgot.

Harry Sidebottom! LOLOL

Perhaps you need some tomato soup to make you feel better? With pesto?

In fact, that's what I had for din-din tonight! Out of a can, though, and the pesto was the last of some frozen I'd made in 1987 or so.

Good to hear you are on the mend.
I did your cookbook challenge. Went to the library and pulled 'Wild and Wonderful Everyday Venison Recipes for all seasons' off the shelf. Thought no way am I going to cook venison for this challenge, but my second try was 'Taste ye back: great Scots and the food that made them', pg 43 was Gordon Ramsay's porridge - oatmeal, water and milk. So I returned to the first book and cooked up Seared Venison and Balsamic Salad - very simple recipe but I had to leave out the sultanas marinaded in balsamic vinegar (just can't do sultanas), made a balsamic dressing for the rocket and pinenuts instead.

#63 And you actually had venison on hand...or could readily get some? I get a small allotment every year from the hunters in my family, but they aren't overly generous, and if my birthday didn't come just at the end of hunting season, I probably wouldn't get that!

There's always farmed venison available at our supermarket though I don't usually buy it.

Thanks for the challenge. I ended up with fresh from the garden cookbook by Ann Lovejoy I made "Flaming Pears with Ginger Sauce," which were tasty, popular with the family, and easy to make. Also different that anything I would usually cook. I will keep the recipe--they'd be a nice company dessert. Basically, baked pears with a ginger sauce, served with ice cream.
My one issue--they are not actually flaming, so the name is a bit of a fake. She calls them flaming because she put a candle in and served as a brithday dessert. Which made my daughter feel sorry for her son, Emma liked the pears but didn't think they'd be a substitute for birthday cake.

I did my homework on Saturday. Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz -- page 43 is hazelnut scones. The worrying bit: "Hazelnut meal is hard to find." Yes, it is. I went to the natural, naturaler, naturalest grocery stores and did not find it. Amazon has it, of course, but in alarming bulk. The recipe calls for chopped hazelnuts too. So I started with hazelnuts, from the middle grocery store, and followed the instructions. Pour hazelnuts onto a baking sheet in a single layer, and put them in a 350 degree oven for 12+ minutes. Wrap them in a towel, and rub everything together so the skins flake off. This was tedious; the skins were loose (like roasted peanut skins), but I had to pick up each hazelnut to clean it completely. Drop the hazelnuts into a food processor (which I don't have) or a blender (which I do have), and pulse into coarse powder. I also pulsed less to chop, which was good enough though there's surely a dedicated chopping machine for this sort of thing. Everything else was straightforward: flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, shortening, nutmeg, vanilla, vinegar, hazelnut soy cream, hazelnut coffee. Mix stuff together, plop blobs onto a baking sheet, bake 12+ minutes. The scones taste fine. I'm not that crazy about hazelnut.

Whoa, baby, you definitely went the whole mile on this challenge. Congrats for your extra effort and I'm sorry the scones did not just taste awesome, after all that work! I, for one, am very glad to hear it is not worth the extra.

Ow. I still haven't managed this - well I haven't even managed to get to the library. This Thursday - this week I will make it...

Oh though I completely eschew baking. After last weeks uber-baking day I need a break!

I did the challenge this weekend, but used the cookbooks here in the house. I asked The Divine Miss to close her eyes and point while she was in our vestibule getting the dog ready to go for a walk. She did, and the cookbook on the shelf there was Potluck Winners! A gift to me from one of our very own 75ers!

Hot Chicken Salad

Preheat oiven to 400.

6C cooked chicken, in small chunks
3C chopped celery
6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped (I used a potato masher, worked fine)
1C walnut pieces (I left this out since none of us likes walnuts)
3 pimientos, chopped (I used a 1oz can of chopped pimientos with liquid)
1-1/2 t minced onion (since I see no point using such a teensy bit of onion, I substituted a chopped scallion)
3T fresh lemon juice
1-1/2t salt
1-3/4C mayonnaise
Topping: 1-1/2C grated cheddar cheese

Grease your 9x13 Pyrex. Mix all ingredients, turn into greased Pyrex, top with cheese, poke into hot oiven, go away for 45min.

**Allow 5min cooling time before serving, he said looking at the little splatter-burn on his right hand.**

Tasty, but next time I'm using a LOT more onion, and fresh red peppers.

>70 richardderus: Oh Gawd..i grew up on that recipe...give or take a few ingredients

Yes, i did

❤

#63: I just checked your post again to see if we had the same book - but no, the library cook book of my choice was called 'Fast Food'. And on page 43 there was porridge! :-)

I tried a second time with a lower shelf and picked a book with African recipes. On page 43 there was Malvenblättersalat. My online dictionary gives me 'hollyhock' or 'mallow' for Malve, I don't know which one is right. In the recipe it said "you'll find Malvenblätter in an African foodstore" - of which we have so many here in sausage and dumpling country.

I didn't have more time today, but I'll try to pick something more realistic on my next visit to the library. I could still make that porridge though.

Mallow, Nathalie, as in the squash. Substitute zucchini, green summer squash. I can only imagine asking for an African foodstore in Italy...oh my heck.