cookbooks | Ramblingrose

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This is the real guts of this website. The old website and its archived posts is still available at its old url. Newcomers might like to dip into it every now and then.

Welcome to you all. Amazingly I still don't seem to be running out of ideas on what to write - well occasionally - but I have my writer's block strategies to turn to - see the text on the right. Check this page for the latest posts and if something interests you just click on it. It's easy to leave a comment and I love to read them. And now you can subscribe to the blog and get emailed notifications of new posts. And sorry I just don't understand Facebook.

"We are not here for long. So let's at least make ourselves something good to eat."

Nigel Slater

"I was born hungry, not a cook."

Julia Child

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well"

Virginia Woolf

Writer's block

Every now and then I can't think of a suitable topic and so I have devised a few strategies to get around this.

Lucky dip

The first strategy I devised is to go to one of my three cook book bookshelves, close my eyes and pick a book. Close my eyes again and pick a page. It's really quite an enlightening method of getting over writer's block.

'A word from'

My second strategy is to devote a post to the thoughts of one of my favourite cooks. Hopefully it will introduce them to you

Or

I shall choose a picture I have come across and extemporise on that.

A second kind of lucky dip

I have been thinking about first recipes in cook books - so I shall choose a book not quite randomly and then look at the first recipe for inspiration.

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enjoy

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Nasturtiums - a first recipe ramble

" Besides being delectable, these floral “greens” seem indulgent, whimsical, and oh-so-gourmet." Kitchen Lane The painting is by Monet. He loved them so much that one of the alleys in his garden at Giverny - the main one in fact - was lined with profuse beds of nasturtiums. Everybody says they grow like weeds - are weeds in fact - in the western world anyway - having originated in Central and South America - and then having been brought back by the conquistadores, they spr

1 day ago

Ixta Belfrage excites again

"Not seasoning food is against my religion" Ixta Belfrage Well it's time I did a kind of overview of this exciting cookbook. It's been sitting on my desk for a while, with a dozen or so yellow post-it stickers poking out of it, saying, cook me, cook me. So today is the day. I just worry that then I will find it a place on my shelves and it will never see the light of day again. Although I see I have already made one thing from it - a passion fruit and white chocolate mou

Nov 12

Tasty little things that make a difference

"all the added extras that dress up a meal, making an already good dish deliciously better." Tara Wigley?/Extra Good Things After my minor meltdown the other day I have indeed been trying to spend time doing a few other things, one of which is working on that cookbook for the grandchildren. Although I seriously do wonder whether it's worth it. After all they have the internet to help with everything via their phones. Nevertheless I persevere and this brings me to flavour

Nov 9

Indian cookbooks - then and now

"Books, even cookbooks, are written for a diversity of reasons and it is often more profitable to enquire why they have been written than analyse their contents in an uncritical manner. " Shylashri Shankar/The Peepul Tree I guess this particular post stems from one of those books on my desk - The Food of India - a large beautiful book which I picked up from the op shop for a song. Like it's companions in this series from the Murdoch stable on various world cuisines, it feat

Nov 4

Recipe problems - they still exist

"If you learn a recipe, you can cook the recipe. If you learn the technique, you can cook anything." Michael Symon That cookbook I was planning for the grandchildren - well I'm still working on it, although having been treated to dinner cooked by one of them last night - butter chicken, pumpkin masala, naan - I sometimes wonder why I'm bothering. I also wonder what is the best approach. I think I am aiming, in a less grandiose way, to do what Michael Symon says in his open

Nov 3

Food for celebrities - a book

"Staying in really is the new going out." Nisha Parmar The pile of books on my desk is not getting any smaller because I keep on adding to it. It's becoming a bit of an addiction which is a somewhat worrying thought. So today I decided to tackle yet one more - a birthday gift from my son and his ex, so it dates back to June. I did look at it pretty much straightaway, but then it ended up in the dreaded pile. So a quick summary - a beautiful cover - well done designers. Go

Oct 16