Food For Thought

I confess, I only read for about an hour over the weekend. Instead, I was too busy patting myself on the back after a day spent playing Suzy Homemaker.  I made homemade noodles from scratch on Monday, and the dough didn't have its nasty way with me.  For those not in the know, dough and I are like Superman and kryptonite, oil and water, or beer and chocolate, even -- we just simply do not get along well.  During Thanksgiving, I attempted to make one of the easiest pie dough recipes known to man; it involved, like, two ingredients -- water and flour -- and I still couldn't handle it.  But to make my mom's homemade egg noodle recipe, it was easy peasy!  All I have to say is, thank God for a Kitchen Aide mixer.  It is truly a woman's best friend.  And, yes, that is really my very own mixer in the above picture, doing all the hard work for me. I'm such a talented photographer.

Anyway, the final product looks a little something like this ~~>


I know it's not the prettiest picture imaginable, but color me stoked when it didn't come out liking like total shit.  Doesn't the cheap blue dish towel totally offset the noodles in all their glory?



In my off time when I'm not working, bugging the ever-loving hell out of John or reading as slow as a snail, I love to cook.  Unfortunately, due to some of John's quirks and unfortunate reaction to onions, I'm somewhat limited in the things that I can experiment with in the kitchen when it comes to serving him up a new dish.  I'm a foodie, I guess; he's not.  But these noodles, or "Vic noodles" as he calls them since it's my mother's recipe, are an absolute hit for him.  Thank God... 

So, given my love of anything food-related, including Food Network and the many shows on it that I watch, I'm surprised that I don't read as many books featuring chefs, or cooking, or even the restaurant business.  Oh sure, the Cresswell book I read last week featured a couple in the food biz, but it's the only one that comes to mind which I've read in recent history.  I know Susan Mallery has at least one series that features a family bakery (Bakery Sisters) and another one in which the California wine country is one of the starring roles (Marcelli Sisters of Pleasure Road).  Another book that comes to mind is a historical written by Betina Krahn, The Marriage Test, in which the heroine is a virtual medieval Julia Child.  In fact, her name is Julia of Childress...ha!  And, of course, there's a multitude of cozy mysteries that feature at least some aspect of cooking or baking. 

I may have to put a call out and ask for some recommendations for any book that this foodie would love.  I'd be interested in seeing what is out there.