Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Happy New Year!

A fresh slate, new ideas, new things to cook. Such a rush of energy accompanies the first days of January.

In that spirit, I've decided to devote a little more attention to some of my favorite cookbooks. My collection isn't as extensive as some people I know, but it fills a number of shelves in my kitchen island, plus I'm always borrowing cookbooks from the library. I use them often as references, but maybe making a recipe as written in the cookbook will expand my knowledge and skills. Can't hurt. Recipes will come from retro cookbooks, library cookbooks, old favorites in baking, vegetables, regional cooking and more. We might visit with Julia Child or James Beard from days gone by, or Alice Medrich' new book Pure Desserts or the fabulous Dorie Greenspan's Baking, From My Home to Yours from right now.

If I were the kind of person who made actual New Years Resolutions *TahDah!*, I'd promise to visit Cookbook Corner once a month. As it is, the visits will be more or less frequent than that, depending on free time, ingredients, and what sounds good at the time.

If you have a hankering to do some cooking from cookbooks, too, feel free to use the 'logo', but then could you link to this post? Excellent! Let's get cooking.

A cookbook that has been sitting almost unused came in very handy today. We were having barbecue pork sandwiches for an easy dinner and I like mine with coleslaw. I bought some cabbage, but forgot to get any coleslaw dressing. Then I remembered that The Good Home Cookbook is excellent for basic recipes. The link tells how I came to have this cookbook. It had a delicious sounding creamy dressing recipe for coleslaw. I only made minimal changes: I used Dijon prepared mustard instead of dry mustard and substituted 1/4 cup fat free sour cream for 1/4 cup of the mayo...plus used fat free mayo. Sweetie was very appreciative of the coleslaw, especially the dressing, so I can recommend it to you, too. It goes together very easily and used ingredients that are usually on hand.

Creamy Coleslaw Dressing
from The Good Home Cookbook, edited by Richard J. Perry

3/4 cup mayonnaise (or 1/2 cup mayonnaise and 1/4 cup sour cream)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard (I used 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch celery salt

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. (If the dressing is too stiff, thin with a little milk if desired.)

Pour over a head of shredded cabbage mixed with some grated carrots and, if desired, minced celery and sweet onion. Stir to coat the vegetables with the dressing. Serve salad chilled.
Serves 6-8




11 comments :

  1. Happy New Year Elle!!! I look forward to your renewed dedication to your cookbooks. Now if only I can keep mine from hearing you say that... :)

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  2. Happy New Year!
    I love coleslaw on my bun with my pulled pork BBQ sandwich. There was this place in Phoenix that made them that way and I loved it. Of course it helped that they made the best onion rings ever too.

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  3. This sounds delicious!

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  4. That sounds delightful for when I find I've run out of the Marzetti's slaw dressing we like.
    Cook books, I always find them tempting!

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  5. That recipe is the one from my childhood! Hah!

    Happy Cooking!

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  6. Happy new year to you my dear friend!

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  7. Ah, I've made a similar resolution myself, ratcheting it up a notch and vowing to create a spreadsheet with all my favorite recipes and ingredients. It would be fab if I could pull it off. :) Happy new year to you too.

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  8. We must be on the same wavelength, because I've promised myself to cook from each of my cookbooks this year!! I'm looking forward to seeing what you make!

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  9. I can't remember the last time I made cole slaw--and I love it! Thanks for the reminder.

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  10. Anonymous7:16 PM

    Happy New Year Lewis! I won't tell your cookbooks if you don't.

    Anna, It was.

    Tanna,I usually use Kraft, but this is tastier.

    Davimack, Nostalgia can be good. Happy cooking.

    Cynthia,Happy New Year to you, too.

    Annemarie, What an ambitious undertaking...but clever. Let me know if you succeed. I wish you well with your spreadsheet.

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  11. I love the idea of the Cookbook Corner. I look forward to reading more!

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