because we can all make mondrian cakes.

now, this is a book trailer. and how much fun are their jobs? incredible. 

**photo credit: sfmoma

i don't know how this was done.

because casey made it. here's what i do know:

• we got to eat two slices of this crazy seedy bread i baked from his cookbook. with butter.
• the fried egg was super perfect and delicious.
• the rest is a mess of what i had in the fridge, mostly chard (my fave) and potatoes (his fave). maybe there's garlic in there? maybe onion? who can remember?

i am hoping he comes back and cooks some more. because that would be awesome. 

on another note, i am reading cathy erway's the art of eating in. she had a blog about never eating out in new york and it became a book. it's super easy and fast and not really mind-blowing but keeps me reading all the same (which is more than i can say for last month's book club choice). it's kind of gimmicky but the stories are interesting and there are recipes. i requested it from the library in a weird detour from researching for my dissertation and now i bet i finish it by the end of the week. 

it's safe to say.

i am in a grapefruit phase. to the point where i have started referring to casey's dog as pamplemousse (or maybe that's because i bathed him in the delicious grapefruit soap). but i am eating grapefruits like they are going out of style, or probably more like i live in california or florida, like they are here, growing in my backyard. 

they are not.

but i was thumbing through the baked cookbook (they actually have 3 books now), looking for something delicious to take to book club. they have what seems to be a delicious orange olive oil bundt.  and i was thinking about adapting it to grapefruit instead. naturally. 

but then! i opened the smitten kitchen book. and there it was:  the grapefruit olive oil cake.

 done. i made it. it was the best thing ever. to the point where casey said it tasted like candy (in a good way). and my friend megan called it a "fruit loaf," because she's given up pastries and confections for lent and wanted to eat it.

i feel like you should own this book, and i am not going to transcribe the recipe. but it involves putting grapefruit rind in the dough, injecting a grapefruit syrup mixture into the top of the loaf, and coating the cake with a grapefruit-powdered sugar frosting. i was so excited about it all that i put mine on too early and so it's not so white (see below).

do it. do it now.

all about deb (mostly).

i've pretty much been hanging out and making smitten recipes. in the last week:

• light wheat bread
• light brioche burger buns
• grapefruit olive oil cake (you're going to have to buy the book)

additionally:

• lemony hummus
• cowboy cookies (adapted from baked)
• strawberry-blueberry jam (inspired by cookfight)

photographs and details to come. 

she was there.

while i might be a vegetarian, i was never very aggressive about it--never a vegan, never really into animal rights, though i do care about them. this book was the first (and maybe only) vegetarian cookbook i received, presumably from tina.

and today, i am reminded that paul (can i call him just by his first name? i mean, he's a BEATLE.) is still a vegetarian. he penned this sweet article about his life as a vegetarian, with a commercial for linda's (his?) food company. i think it's adorable and wanted to share.

lastly, when courtney and i went to see paul mccartney play when we were the 9th grade, linda was there. which is awesome, no doubt about it.

baked.

baked explorations.
the most talked about cookbook in the interwebs.
well, maybe. i see it A LOT. so i bought it; it arrived today.

i told my friend, renato, one of the baked masterminds, that i wanted to bake my way through the new cookbook. like julie and julia but better and cutier. and then, he posted a link on facebook to a group that is doing that very thing.

i am joining up. i love the idea of a nationwide (worldwide?) baking club. shira is probably best going to benefit from this adventure. she does not even know it yet.

ready? set.

inter-library.

this ode of sorts is sort of for lindsey, the bestest librarian.

i love the library. like big fat nasty love. miles and aisles of books and journals and magazines and films and even records and photographs if you dig deep enough. it's probably apparent that i spent lots of time in the local library when i was small (smaller).

and, i am one of those people who continue to use the library; i love borrowing books. i enjoy the entire system of it all; it makes sense i am back in school, committed to the library for many more years (well, 4).

one of the coolest things about being a member of a library is the inter-library loan feature. if you want a book that your library does not hold, you can request it and they will have it sent from another library. any library! it could come from anywhere!

so, i wanted (needed) good meat for a paper i am writing. i put in a request, unsure if it would be possible; i mean, it's a cookbook. but then, it arrived! in 4 days. and it's awesome; i actually recommend it to you meat-eaters and cookers out there. it's almost 400 pages of intelligent writing and seemingly easy recipes: a meat bible.

and now? i plan to order all kinds of cookbooks via ILL and test them out before i buy! how smart. i can't believe it took so long for me to come up with this plan; i did borrow ina garten's parties! book once, but i thought nypl only had it because it's like a party guide.

how wrong i was.

enumerated.

a surfeit of things. yes, just things.

• the anatomy of a burger. let me tell you where the e. coli comes from. or not.
• the 2008 farm bill, which includes the conservation reserve program transition option, which includes "offers a special incentive of two years of extra CRP rental payments to owners of land, which is currently in the CRP but returning to production, who rent or sell to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers who will use sustainable grazing practices, resource-conserving cropping systems, or transition to organic production." holy moly. subsidies to organic farmers. it's a start.
  
• a podcast: what farmers think of michael pollan.
• libertarian ideas on wal-mart and the selling of good food.
• the "fried food capital of texas," the texas state fair. wishing i was eating deep-fried peaches and cream.
• purchased the 1957 betty crocker cookbook for kids for jordan rose. if she grows up to hate baking, i expect to get this book back. it's amazing.
• for myself, eating for victory by jill norman. one of these days, i am going to write a cookbook for eating during the current depression/recession/cataclysmic economic mess.
• oh, and, um, i am on twitter. follow me here.
  

alone, eating.

there's a new book called what we eat when we eat alone and it's by deborah madison and patrick mcfarlin. it makes the suggestion that what we eat when we eat alone is different than when we eat with others. (and there are recipes.)

i tend to agree, reminding you of this and this. and i am going to give away some more secrets. i am feeling honest and open this morning.

1. i also really enjoy chickpeas straight out of the can. why? it's gross. why don't i put them in a bowl at least? no idea.
2. potato chips (ruffled or crinkled) with ketchup. it's like french fries, people!
3. saltines, straight from the sleeve.

what do these things have in common? ease and salt.

a podcast from npr interviewed the author and illustrator. i learned that people eat many more disgusting things than me. thank god.

i want to know what you eat when you eat alone.

bonnie slotnick.

there is a cookbook bookstore in the west village: 163 west 10th st.

it's teeny and lovely and full of smart and weird and dated and funny books. new and classic. it's owned by a woman named bonnie slotnick; the store is open 6 days a week, but her day-off changes, so it is best to call ahead.

among other treasures, i purchased a pamphlet with 10 cake recipes to please your husband, all made with spry. i guess that if i were to actually make one (the drawings of the cakes look tasty), i would have to use crisco. oh my.

anyhow. go. it's exceptional.

farmer in the dell.

and one day, i will compose a post just about the farmer john book. an ode, maybe. but not today.

to read.

i am a fan of cookbooks. new ones, yes, but especially old, quirky ones. dated. full of weird recipes that one cannot imagine anyone ever used. i have cookbooks for ice cream, pickling and canning, dedicated to cold dishes, and even corn. it's hard to use many of them on a regular basis. the big, comprehensive ones are best for that purpose.

this year, the james beard cookbook award went to fat: an appreciation of a misunderstood ingredient, by jennifer mclagan. i have perused this book more than once, oddly obsessed, but fully understanding that, as a vegetarian, i will never use the majority of the recipes. i love that there are sections on duck fat, pork fat, marrow.

but i digress.

i just read an article about the popularity of cookbooks and the winners of cookbook awards. the best-sellers are rarely cookbook genius, it claims. i don't necessarily even see why this article exists. we have different cookbooks for different purposes. why a person would only have one is beyond me. and if that were the case, i would choose the joy of cooking. it's so perfect; it has everything you ever wanted, and weird things, too.

but, in case you were wondering, here is my ultimate favorite:

• farmer john's cookbook: the real dirt on vegetables, by john peterson

but, i also love:

• the barefoot contessa cookbook, by ina garten
• venturesome vegetarian cooking, by j.m. hirsch and michelle hirsch
• moosewood restuarant daily special, by the moosewood collective

of course i have mastering the art of french cooking, by julia child. and the art of simple food, by alice waters. and one of the fanny farmer books. and a variety of others.

but usability wins. the fat cookbook might be spectacular, but i still LOVE the ones that i can easily understand, get messy in the kitchen, and use all of the time. and those are probably the reasons why i haven't bought the alinea book yet.