cookbook – Kristin Houlihan, Writer

Top Ten Tuesday: Food in Books!

Today for the first time I am participating in Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I’m going for a loose association here, as I don’t really have a “top ten yummy foods mentioned in books,” and I’m only choosing five today. Here is basically my dump of the first five books I thought of when I read the prompt. Without further ado…

Frog and Toad Together – I already had Frog and Toad on the brain, and I just love the story in this book about Frog and Toad uncontrollably eating cookies and their subsequent discussion of willpower. They remind me a little of me…

Frog and Toad Together (Frog and Toad I Can Read Stories Book 2) by [Lobel, Arnold]

2. The Mossback Café Cookbook – This is a lovely cookbook put together by Thomas Fenske to highlight the fictional Texas café from his books The Fever and A Curse That Bites Deep. Check out the cookbook, but then read the books! They’re great! See my reviews here, here, and here.

3. A Life More Complicated by Lizzie Steel – The effort and dedication Josh shows in his quest to make the perfect pizza for Corina is a heartwarming example of someone stepping outside his own comfort zone to complete an act of love for another. Have I mentioned before how amazing this book is? Somehow I’m still the only person who has reviewed it on Amazon – I’m telling you, you are all missing out if you don’t read it!

A Life More Complicated by [Steel, Lizzie]

4. The BFG by Roald Dahl – So, this is NOT yummy, but I couldn’t help thinking of snozzcumbers!

5. 100 Days of Real Food: Fast and Fabulous by Lisa Leake of 100daysofrealfood.com – I posted about this book a while back when I had yet to cook anything from it, and I have to say, after actually using it, I really love it. There are still tons of recipes in it that I haven’t tried, but I’m making my way through them slowly. Lisa’s slow cooker chicken and chicken stock recipes have become staples in my house, and my kids are big fans of her oatmeal applesauce pancakes (as am I, yum!).

100 Days of Real Food: Fast & Fabulous: The Easy and Delicious Way to Cut Out Processed Food by [Leake, Lisa]

I’m sure I could think of more if I really tried, but instead how about I throw it out to you — anyone game for filling in the next five for me? I’d love to hear what you think up!

The Mossback Café has a cookbook!

Hopefully you all remember my review of The Fever by Thomas Fenske. If not, click here and read it, and then click here and buy a copy and read it yourself! There’s a second book, too, A Curse that Bites Deep, that I have on my Kindle and haven’t yet finished (see my previous post – I haven’t been reading, so sad), though I’m sure is as excellent as the first.

In any case, now that you’re reacquainted with the books – some exciting news: the lovely Mossback Café, which plays an important role in the books, has a COOKBOOK!

The Mossback Cafe Cookbook: Texas Cooking from the Pages of The Fever and A Curse That Bites Deep by [Fenske, Thomas]

I was so excited when I learned about it that I downloaded it immediately and read it straight through in one sitting. My husband asked me, somewhat incredulously, “You’re reading a cookbook?” Technically, yes, but in the author’s words, it’s so much more than a cookbook!

The Mossback Café Cookbook is “compiled” by Thomas Fenske, writing in the voice of Smidgeon Toll, a character from the books. It’s a treasure of Texas-style cooking that I’m sure will go over well in my house (well, at least with my husband…) when I have a chance to try the recipes out. Having read The Fever, and looking forward to restarting A Curse that Bites Deep, it was a lot of fun to learn more about Smidgeon and the Mossback Café from Smidgeon’s perspective. I smiled throughout, and it definitely rekindled my desire to pick up A Curse that Bites Deep again soon.

I can’t see how anyone would read the cookbook (check it out! only $.99!) and not want to read the books themselves, so even without trying the recipes I call the cookbook a great success. And I can’t wait to try out the homemade chorizo!

Five stars!!!

Released Today: 100 Days of Real Food – Fast and Fabulous, by Lisa Leake

Hi, everyone! I’m popping in post-baby (she’s one month old and perfect – and I’m very busy… so many things to write about, no time to write!) to let you all know that Lisa Leake of 100 Days of Real Food released her second cookbook today: 100 Days of Real Food – Fast and Fabulous.

As one of Lisa’s Cookbook Ambassadors, I was privileged to receive an advanced, autographed copy in exchange for some reviews and sharing her book here at The Edifying Word. Having just had a baby, I have not been able to actually try any of the recipes in the book…but I am SO excited to start trying them. Lisa has an incredibly down to earth way of approaching cooking “real” (read: unprocessed) food, and her book truly makes it look easy enough to integrate into my busy life. I’ve been reading her blog now for several months and learned SO much and gotten such great ideas – I was so excited that I jumped at the chance to be a Cookbook Ambassador even though I knew it would be kind of ridiculous for me to try blogging with a newborn… but here I am!

So, to show how very simple this can be, I’ve chosen one of the more basic recipes in the book to share: Veggie Cream Cheese. I love this because it integrates a simple recipe I think my kids will actually eat with one of my favorite parts of Lisa’s blog – where she shares school lunch ideas. With one kid in kindergarten and another who eats lunch at preschool, I can always use more ideas in this arena. So, here’s the recipe with a nice picture from the book:

Veggie Cream Cheese

We found our new favorite snack food — and it’s this cream cheese! It’s fabulous as a dip for crackers or veggies, but (as you can see here) equally great on sandwiches with some thin cucumber slices for lunch.

Also, if you’re looking for some wholesome entertaining food for a wedding or baby shower, these would be super cute cut into little tea sandwiches and displayed on a pretty cake platter.

Difficulty: Easy

Prep time: Less than 10 minutes

Cook time: N/A

Makes about 11/2 cups

Special tools needed: Food processor

GLUTEN-FREE

VEGETARIAN

NUT-FREE

– 1 carrot, peeled and cut into large chunks

– 1/4 cucumber, skin on, cut into large chunks

– 2 garlic cloves, smashed

– 1 green onion, white and green parts, roughly chopped

– 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

– 1/2 teaspoon salt

-One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature

1. In the food processor, combine everything but the cream cheese and pulse until finely chopped.

2. Drop the cream cheese into the veggie mix and pulse until well combined. Serve or store in the fridge for up to 4 days.

So, check out the book, and happy cooking! I hope to be back soon(ish).