Great New Resource

I love food.  I love every thing about it.  I love growing it, talking about it, working with it, reading about it, learning about it, etc.  For Christmas this year I receive a wonderful new food resource book.  It's called The Illustrated Cook's Book of Ingredients, 2500 of the world's best with classic recipes.  It was given to me by my daughter-in-law Katie (who writes the fab food blog, thegdkitchen) and my son Mike.  And I love it!  Besides my new MacBook Pro, (and my son returning safely home), it was the best present under my tree :)

It has a beautifully written introduction and is organized by main food categories:  

The meat chapter (as well as the other main chapters) is further broken down into sub categories, very organized, well laid out and super easy to navigate and find exactly what you are looking for.

It even has sections on obscure, but important, ingredients, such as Offal, better known as organ meats.  

The book is co-written by 20 expert food consultants (only one of whom is male..heehee :), award winning writers, chefs, home economists, cooking school owners and artisan cheese makers.  

In addition to being beautifully photographed, each chapter is organized by ingredient, then how to Buy, Cuts, Store, Eat, Flavor Pairings and Classic Recipes, for that particular ingredient.  

This book is a great addition to my food/cooking resource library.  This definitive cook's bible answers every question one could possibly have on choosing and using ingredients.  If you are looking for a great book for the food enthusiast in your life (of if you are one), this is your book.  And it's available on Amazon.  Here's the link:

The Illustrated Cook's Book of Ingredients

Thank you Mike & Katie! :)

Wonderful New Cookbook

I need another cookbook like I need a hole in the head :) but when I was wandering through William Sonoma a couple of weeks ago, this gorgeous book leaped out at me (really it did)!  It's called Soup of the Day, 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year, by Kate McMillan.  And Harry and I love soup so I simply could not pass this book up. 

And it is wonderful!  It's organized by month and the recipes are seasonal, which is how I cook.  Look at some of these soup recipes for November:

• Savory Barley Soup with Mushrooms and Thyme
• Apple, Leek & Butternut Squash
• Sweet Potato-Chipotle Soup (hmmm...do I have sweet potatoes?)
• Lemony Red Lentil Soup with Fried Shallots (hmmm....seems I have lemons, too :)
• Kale & Sweet Potato Soup with Lamb Sausage

See what I mean :)  

Since buying this book, I have made at least seven soups out of it and all but one have been delicious.  The one exception was just a little bland for my taste.  And they are the type of recipes that scream for "adding your own twist" which I *love*! The book is available at Amazon and it is worth every penny (in my humble opinion of course :)

There is not a lot going on in my Texas hill country garden at the moment, so I will periodically blog soup recipes from this book as Fall and soup weather are finally here in South Texas.

Great Book

While I was surfing the Internet a few weeks ago, I came across this book, Grow the Good Life, by Michele Owens, who writes the hilarious and insightful blog, Garden Rant.   It looked interesting so I ordered it from Amazon and I was not disappointed.  This book is wonderful!  It's not a garden-how-to-book.  It's a book that makes an entertaining and persuasive case for having a vegetable garden.  Michele Owens is funny, intelligent and sarcastic.  It really is a great read.

This is from the back of the book and her words describe exactly, in a nutshell, how I feel when I'm in my vegetable garden.

"The vegetable garden is as much about the experience as the food, and the experience is simply one of life's most beautiful.  The smell of good soil, the exercise of digging, the beauty of the plants, the sound of the birds, the feeling of the sun on your face, the sense of accomplishment and power--these things are entirely irresistible.  While I garden for a million fine reasons, underlying them all is the fact that I never feel more optimistic, engaged, productive, or peaceful than when I am in my garden."

Michele Owens

Grow the Good Life

Blessings

I have many blessings in my life; and believe me, I count them most every single day.  My husband is the kindest, most caring man (make that--person) on the planet; all of our children are happy, healthy, wonderful adults living productive lives; we have two brand new beautiful grand-babies; we live in paradise here in the hills of Boerne; I have a phenomenal vegetable garden that I lovingly tend to and from which I am able to share my bounties; and we have a rich circle of loving, caring wonderful friends.

If that's not enough (and in my book, that's plenty), we live in an area where we are able to buy local, fresh produce (in addition to what I grow) and clean, humanely raised and harvested meats.  I dedicate today's post to those committed, hardworking people who put their heart and soul into doing what they do so their fellow Texans can eat healthy food that is essential to our well being.  In fact, I've created a side-bar on my blog detailing who these wonderful vendors are along with contact information.  But I'd like to share with you a little more about each of them.  Please note that all these vendors (with the exception of Boggy Creek Farm in Austin) participate in the Pearl Farmer's Market in San Antonio, every Saturday from 9am-1pm. 

L&M Beef - owned by Linda Perez and located in Floresville, TX.  This is quite possibly the best beef I have ever tasted.  All L&M beef is from calves born, raised and finished on grass in Texas.  The calves are never given antibiotics or growth hormones and have been raised in a clean, healthy environment.

South Texas Heritage Pork - located in Floresville, Texas.  The farm raises two types of rare heritage pigs--English Large Black and Tamworth, both originate from the Old English Hog line established in the 16th and 17th centuries.  The meat is incredibly juicy and flavorful and their pigs are raised naturally, happily and are harvested humanely (they only have one bad day in their lives) and are never given any growth hormones, steroids or unnecessary antibiotics.  This is not your ordinary grocery store pork. 

Here is a sample of the bounty Harry and I took home from the Pearl Farmer's Market last weekend from L&M Beef and South Texas Heritage Pork.  I see Short Ribs Braised in Porter Ale with Maple-Rosemary Glaze and Pork Pot Roast with Apricots, Cardamom and Ginger (possibly part of Thanksgiving dinner) in my future :)  There's also a baggie of hard-to-find-cream peas I got at the market.

Thunder Heart Bison - You can find them at the Shape Ranch, Dimmit County, Texas.  Thunder Heart is the only bison ranch in the United States to meet the stringent and exacting requirements of the Animal Welfare Institute as Animal Welfare Approved.  This certification guarantees the consumer that the meat they are buying has been both humanely raised and harvested.  And it is delicious.

San Antonio Farmer's Market Association - A local (South Texas) organization that offers resources as to where to buy locally grown produce, eggs, and grass fed beef.  There is a Farmer's Market every day of the week in San Antonio (except Monday), May through December, and this website tells you where each market is and on what days (under the Contact Us tab).  Great local resource. 

Pearl Farmer's Market - located at the historic Pearl Brewery and a destination in San Antonio.  I know my husband and I spend many Saturday mornings poking in and around this wonderful market.  All Pearl Farmers Market vendors are located within a 150-mile radius of San Antonio, Texas, providing fresh, local, and seasonal products that they themselves planted, raised, and harvested.  They are open 9am to 1pm every Saturday, year round.  Check out the bounty of produce we scored this past weekend.

Kitchen Pride Mushroom Farms - located in Gonzales, Texas.  I've never in my life seen or tasted mushrooms like this...they are incredibly fresh and H.U.G.E!  This is a family owned and operated organization and I'm so thankful they are within our local range.  Their portabella mushrooms are delicious either marinated and grilled, or stuffed with a crab meat, vegetable mixture.  Email me and I'll give you my recipe :) 

Boggy Creek Farm - located just a short drive up IH 35 in Austin, Texas.  This is an incredible urban farm (yes, urban...like in-the-city-farm) that offers wonderful, grown-on-the-premises seasonal vegetables, eggs from laying hens, chicken, goat cheese/yogurt, honey and a variety of other locally produced products.  It's a destination in and of itself and my daughter-in-law and I spent a wonderful morning at the farm earlier this year shopping for seasonal produce, taking pictures of the laying hens, and simply enjoying all this gem of a small family farm has to offer. 

So...as you can see, my blessings are many.  I know this is a long post and I hope I kept you interested throughout it.  It's so important that we support local, family run enterprises such as these so they can continue to provide us the wonderful foods that they do.  Doing so enriches all our lives. 

And remember...It Really Is All About The Food! :-)

Roasted Salmon Frittata with Arugula and Mozzarella and of course, Mimosas

A Perfect Sunday brunch :)

Buon Appetito!

Great New Resource

I don't have any formal training as a horticulturist.  Everything I know about gardening has come from personal experience (years in the dirt), trial and error, other gardeners and books.  I love gardening books about as much as I love cookbooks, which is a lot! 

That's why I was so tickled with a Christmas present I received from one of my sons...a new gardening book.  It's called Rodale's Vegetable Garden Problem Solver by Fern Marshall Bradley and it's wonderful. 

It is encyclopedic in nature, purely organic and an extremely comprehensive resource for the experienced gardener as well as the novice.  It is a collection of essay-like chapters featuring hundreds of organic and natural solutions for dealing with insects, disease and persistent weed problems.  The book also features specifics on when to plant what vegetable, how to determine which variety is best for your region, secrets of success, and what one can do to prevent problems before planting, at planting time and while the crop grows.  It also features a chapter on fertilizers, nutrient deficiency symptoms and a list of organic fertilizer choices.  Organized alphabetically, it is easy to navigate and is written for the average backyard gardener.

Rodale's Vegetable Garden Problem Solver is destined to become a favorite among my gardening resource books.  If you are looking for a comprehensive gardening reference book that will allow you to focus immediately on the problem along with practical, easy to implement solutions, this book is for you.