Thanksgiving Leftovers Become Make Ahead Freezer Meals With These Fabulous Cookbooks
Thanks to these life changing cookbooks, this working mother of five has had a healthy, homemade dinner on the table every night for the last several months. The idea of "assemble-and-freeze" meals was new to me, and I’ll never go back to cooking and washing pans every night again!
The Christmas season is now upon us, and I can’t wait to make (and eat!) some Christmas cookies! I remember when I was little, going to my grandma’s house in the weeks before Christmas for a day of baking. I would help her mix up the dough, cut out the cookies using her huge supply of cookie cutters, and patiently wait for the first batch to come out of the oven and cool enough that I could begin my cookie decorating extravaganza. There were all kinds of colors of icing and sprinkles to use.
The holidays are fast approaching! It's time to plan that special holiday meal. It's also time to bake tasty treats for the special people in your life. Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? Did you know that MCPL has a fantastic collection of holiday cookery? A few of my favorites are:
The winter season is upon you. Your somewhat warm days curdle into long cold evenings. A persistent iciness seeps into your home and steels its very warmth, giving you in return an aloofness for this unpleasant season.
Did you know your that local Mid-Continent Public branch is a storehouse of recipes? We are a little like the shelf in Mom's kitchen where the recipes are kept. Remember, it has the Betty Crocker cookbooks and the box with recipes clipped from the newspaper with Mom's favorites?
My co-workers and I were just discussing the merits of having a cookbook without pictures. Many of us cannot understand the appeal or utility of having a cookbook that does not illustrate what the delicious outcome is supposed to look like. Most of the time, pictures are useful in helping you decide what you want to make.
With the winter snow and wind, I think chili makes a great simple dinner idea to warm the body inside and make the house smell great too. I have my own easy chili recipe that my family loves (listed below). MCPL has many cookbooks featuring soups and chili’s that you might want to try for a new recipe.
How about a super bowl of hot soup for a meal on a cold night? If you need a good recipe, check out Soup Classics by Linda Johnson Larsen. This cookbook is full of colorful photographs, and features 100 delicious recipes plus 250 variations. The author makes it easy for everyday cooks to prepare soups, chowders, and broths from scratch.
There is something about a snow day that makes me think of baking. I immediately start thinking of the pantry, and what’s inside that could be thrown together to create something mouthwateringly delicious. I become so desperate that I’ve been known to dash to the grocery store in weather no one else would brave for that crucial missing ingredient.
When Life Gives You Lemons, Look Up a Good Recipe!
Recently, I have become aware of a parallel universe, one where there are no grains in the diet. It is quite a challenge to learn to cook without any grains—and to learn all the tricks for replacing grain-containing ingredients in favorite recipes.
