>The boxes are broken down, the ribbons rolled up, and the tissues neatly folded on the shelves for reuse.
Cookies are frosted and decorated, ready for eating, and coffee brews in the pot.
What next?
Read, of course. On my list:
The $64 Tomato: How one man nearly lost his sanity, spent a fortune, and endured an existential crisis in the quest for the perfect garden (not a gift, but on my wishlist at Paperbackswap.com and arrived just in time for break)
40 Years on the Street; a history of Sesame Street. La Petite grabbed this out of the bag already; I’ll have to snatch it back to read it! We’re loving the photographs.
Food to Live By: The Earthbound farm organic cookbook. I’ve browsed it a little already; this book has more than just recipes. I’ll be making more detailed lists for the farmers’ market next summer with this book in hand.
Fix it and Forget It Big Cookbook: 1400 best slow cooker recipes!
This reinforces my desire for an additional crockpot in a smaller size. I have my regular 6 quart and the Little Dipper that came with it. Now I’m going to look for a 4 quart size for smaller quantities and different recipes. I’ll check the thrift stores first; maybe I’ll score an almost-new one like the steamer I found at Saver’s.
Suddenly Frugal by Leah Ingram. Yes, it’s by thewriter of the Suddenly Frugal blog. I’m looking forward to reading and reviewing this book. I enjoy her blog, her philosophy, and her style. This will be fun!
For more fun in the kitchen, Taste of Home’s Fast Fixes with Mixes. This cookbook features simple starters and decent meals: just the kind of thing I can use to put together a good supper every night after teaching all day!
Meanwhile, Amigo is reading The Black Stallion in braille, a cookbook for 30 minute skillet meals called A Flash in the Pan, and on CD, Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.
This year was the season for cookbooks, definitely. Chuck received Dining on the B&O: recipes and sidelights from a bygone age. Amigo was skeptical of the concept: how good could railroad food really be? Then we reminded him that our meals on the Empire Builder were delicious and varied, and we had a great time in the dining car. Chuck is a super cook himself; he’ll have fun with the recipes and the history in this book.
On that note, I think I’ll set up the crockpot and sit down with a good book. The coffee’s on, and the cookies are good!
>I enjoyed the $64 Tomato so much–and Fix it and Forget it is a great cookbook. I need to check out Suddenly Frugal!
>I just RE-read the $64 Tomato and enjoyed as much the second time as I did the first.
I also just got Leah Ingram's new book, but haven't started it yet, as I'm juggling two other books that I want to finish first.
And then there's the rest of the new book pile — mine, my husband's, and my two daughters'.
Lots of books … a wonderful thing indeed.
>Sounds like I need to read the $64 Tomato. Of course, that's about what I seemed to spend on our garden when I set it up two years ago.
Joe