Aug 25, 2017 |
by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68
Frankly, My Dear . . . : My Favorite Cookbooks
Pretend this is real paper and you’re reading my scribble: As I’m prepping this blog post, my Mississippi Bestie Cara Pearson called and gushed about the great cookbooks she picked up at a used bookstore for about five cents each. And then she has the nerve to ask if I’ve ever seen the movie Julie & Julia. Please, girl. You know that’s what started me on my blog journey. Now I love her and all, but that’s just rubbing it in, dontcha think? Rub. Dry rub. That’s right! We’re talking about cookbooks today. Grab your go-juice and read on:
Hey, y’all. I’m so excited to be planning a big shopping trip to WinCo. Just another joy I have when cooking, baking, and blogging. But dangnabbit, it always makes me hungry! (Note to self: Eat before shopping. And bring your coffee tumbler.)
This trip will be a dash different than the norm. I’m starting a new job career [insert happy dance here, y’all!] next week and since I don’t know what the break room or lunch schedule is like yet, and because it’s just plain high time I did so, I’m changing up my dietary habits to include more health-friendly grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches, along with prep-easy, autumn-friendly dinners, and of course, snackage. I’m gonna learn and relearn great protein smoothies, bento lunches, and one-pot dinners.
Mmm. I can hardly wait: I’m also gonna try my hand at a red lentil soup, reminiscent of my trip to Seattle and lunch at Mamnoon’s.
Oh, sorry. I drifted into food memories for a moment. What were we talking about? Ah, yes. Food. Glorious food.
Y’all are familiar with my Stock That PDF List, yes? Of course that’s coming to the store with me. Now, like oh-so-many people I don’t have an endless budget when it comes to food buying. That’s one of the reasons I love WinCo. I can take my food allowance and make it stretch. And this time, I’m allowing myself a tiny (and by tiny I mean one meal’s worth) of funds for food experimenting. I want to develop my palate, y’all! But how can I do that if I keep buying the same foods?
So, in search of some new flavors, I looked at my cookbook shelf and, well, you guessed it. Say hello to this week’s #FiveThingsFriday.
- The Unemployment Cookbook.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : The Unemployment Cookbook
Like sweet tea, this is a given, so let’s just get it out of the way. A labor of love and hard work, I created and/or compiled these family favorite recipes when Dot was in grade school. She wanted to have friends over, and I didn’t want to say she couldn’t, so I had to come up with some recipes that were affordable and delicious. And get this: Her friends’ parents were asking me for the recipes. Me! I couldn’t believe it. I had something to offer society after all. Naturally, I ran with it and the Cookbook idea was born. My Slow Cooker Pork & ‘Kraut recipe was the start of it all, and it’s been so long since I’ve made it. Thanks. Y’all just helped me decide what’s on my plate next week! [Feel free to click on the photo above to order your copy.]
- My Happy Planner Recipe Book and Meal Planner.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : My Happy Planner Recipe Book and Meal Planner
Don’t get your fireflies in a trap, this definitely counts as a cookbook. Like my Unemployment Cookbook, my Recipe/Meal Planner holds great hand-crafted recipes, cooking tips, meal plans, and coordinating grocery lists. Thanks, Hobbes, for the meatloaf inspiration. Plus, it’s like scrapbooking! Stickers, colored pens, washi tape. How could this amazing tool not be in my top five?
- Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Deceptively Delicious Cookbook
I picked this up on the discount shelf of a local book store when I moved into Bedford Manor. Folks, can I just say, ain’t no way this book is geared just to kids! With some amazing recipes and helpful hints (like how to equip your kitchen and making coffee cake with butternut squash), this is a great do-to idea guide when you’re not sure what to do with what’s in your pantry or fridge.
- KitchenAid Recipe Collection.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : KitchenAid Recipe Collection
Who can forget the day I ordered my beautiful Isabella? [Oh, please. Like you don’t name your inanimate objects. So just, shush, my brother.] The special collection included a few attachments, the warranty, and this beauty. Chock full of cooking tips, detailed recipes and coordinating photographs, I recommend this book like I recommend blackened seasonings. It’s that good, girlfriend!
- Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.
Frankly, My Dear . . . : Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook
I think everyone has some version of this cookbook on their shelf. That familiar pattern, the familiar title. It’s comfort cooking at its best. This was the first cookbook that was my own, a gift from my Momma (hi, Momma! Thank you!) when I moved into my first apartment. My first recipe used? The sugar cookies cut-outs (Page 200, if you have your own cookbook).
I don’t know ’bout all of you, but I’m ready for some home cooking and baking.
What are some of your favorite cookbook recipes?
TWEET THIS: What are some of your favorite #cookbook recipes? @RealMojo68 #FiveThingsFriday #amcooking @WinCoFoods
TWEET THIS:
With a wooden spoon and hungry eyes,
Happy cooking!
~Molly Jo
And Frankly, My Dear . . . : That’s all she wrote!
Jun 16, 2012
My friend Mary lives in Canada. Which is prob’ly a good thing.
We’re both Chocoholics, and if she lived any closer to me we’d most likely be at each others’ door every day sharing the dark sweets in its various forms.
That doesn’t stop us from still encouraging one another to indulge without the other one present. Thank goodness we know our limits. So we’re actually more apt to post pictures on each others’ Facebook wall. Most of the time.
Beautiful, lovely, delicious looking chocolate pictures.
My friend Del introduced me to this website, Foodimentary.com. It’s a fun blog that tells you what foods to celebrate each day. Each. Day.
Seriously, Del?! I owe you the biggest plate of baked goods evvver.
So. Yeah. I finally checked out the blog and discovered that June 16th is National Fudge Day. How awesome is that?
I’m betting you can guess what I’ll be doing after the morning housecleaning, right?! Yup. I’m gonna try my hand at making fudge.
I’m so happy I could cry chocolate tears.
Now, I don’t have any photos of fudge since I haven’t made it yet, but I do have some great photos of my past delicious chocolate goodies.
I hope they inspire you to try your own hand at making some wonderful treats. Enjoy!
The Tiramisu at Bella Trattoria, Mission Inn in Riverside, CA. The coffee was also delectably delicious.
My date with Bocelli.
These donuts will be great when dipped in my ganache.
I made this batch when I wrote my blog review of “Julie & Julia.”
Homemade donuts. Yum!
I didn’t make this great Cheesecake, but it was the finishing touch to my Bunco at Tiffany’s party.
Authentic NYC Junior’s Cheesecake
This is some of the best baking chocolate ever.
Direct from New York!
My Scharffen Berger Prize Package
And it makes a really great holiday drink.
Chocolate Martini made with Scharffen Berger Chocolate.
I use my Wilton Cake Decorating Kit
for more than just icing.
Best Cake Kit
This great ganache was used as a topping
and also a soft chocolate candy.
Making Ganache
These chocolate-covered pretzels are my current
favorite
homemade treat.
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
I hope by now you’re drooling and making out your grocery list. Go on, now! It’s time to make some fudge!
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Nov 16, 2011 |
My blogging experience over the past two years has taught me some valuable lessons and given me great insight.
It can be (and for the serious blogger/writer, should be) considered a job. Accordingly, I need to approach it as such. That means I keep at it, even when I want to call in sick or take a personal day. I show up, I put in a good amount of time and effort. And when the situation calls for it, I go above and beyond the norm. Maybe this means finding a hot topic to discuss, or just a new writing style to try out.
I used to think blogging was for wanna-be’s and cheaters. No way am I putting my writing out there. On the internet. For everyone to see, and, you know, steal. No. Stinking. Way.
But then I got sucked in. A few friends were blogging, so I checked it out. Oh, okay. It’s like an online journal that you share. With strangers. Yeah. That’s not intimidating.
Facebook gave me my first taste. I started posting Notes, and getting some responses. Hey. This isn’t so bad. And I felt… valued. Like what I said was important to someone else. And it was. How do I know this? Because. They left comments. Saying what I said was important. Huh. That worked out nicely.
Over a year ago, I started my first blog. It went nowhere. I had five followers ~ all friends. And not a clue about what I was doing. I mean, I loved writing. And sharing little life-stories. But it wasn’t growing, and neither was I. It atrophied. And I was a bit embarrassed.
So last April I tried again. I thought I had this Blog-as-a-Job thing figured out: I had a clear goal, a direction, a theme. I knew what I wanted to focus on, and how to focus. It was a mainstream blog idea. It should have done fine.
It didn’t.
Because I didn’t.
Because I still had no clue what I was really doing.
It was like being made office manager when I didn’t even know how to answer the phones.
But little by little, staying in the deep end that I had thrown myself, I learned how to swim. I read other blogs. I googled ideas. Most importantly, I received an immense amount of counsel and assistance from two professionals: Keri and Erik, distant (as in, physically far away) friends who, through the blessings of the instant internet, have been available to answer all my questions and help me out accordingly.
I soon realized my blog had its own idea of what it wants to be. Well, you can raise a child but you can’t control them… so my blog and I grew together. We branched out, tested some waters. Stepped out of the swamp of chaos and into the cool, refreshing oasis that is now Frankly, My Dear…
And it’s working. Because I treat it like work. In the past three months, my dedication to my blog is superceded only by my love of writing (I miss you, Meg!) and cooking. I giggle every time one of my unsuspecting friends suggests I remind them of “Julie and Julia”. I’m just waiting for that literary agent to notice my blog and call me up with a book deal. (I’ve got tons of ideas, and some are even finished.)
So. Blogging is my job. I put in hours every day. I count other blogs as coworkers, and check in regularly. I look at the want ad’s: those blogrolls that list other blogs I might be interested in. I’ve found quite a few. It’s fascinating how many blogs there are. For any and everything.
I look at formats: do I have too much? Not enough? How can my content improve? And I get ideas. I get links. And now I’m getting Likes.
Readers are the currency of blogging. I know I’ve written a good post based on how many “likes” it gets, how many “shares” and “posts” and “tweets”. (It never ceases to amaze me that the ones I think are going to be popular, aren’t so much; but there are other ones that just take off and surprise me!)
For a few weeks now, I’ve seen my blog grow. In content. In design. And lately, in readership. Every time I get a new subscriber, it’s like getting a pay raise. It’s like a floral delivery and a chocolate cake all rolled into one. It’s like saying I have something worthwhile.
And while I’m not trying to be narcissistic about it; being a writer, you can’t help but have a bit of that. Because if I didn’t have faith in myself and my writing, how on earth could I possibly put it out there for everyone else? Yet, I always say, a writer is only as good as the readers allow. And getting new readers is that acknowledgment that I must be finally doing something good. (And now, for some strange reason, I’m singing the song, “Something Good” from The Sound of Music). But that’s actually how I feel: perhaps in the past I screwed up, perhaps I’m not all I once thought I wanted to be. But here, on my blog, you accept me. And you make me feel okay about being who it is that I now want to be. So I just want to thank you.
All of you.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote.
