Hi, kids. I’m having a hectic week working on two different cookbooks at two different stages. First, let me talk about the 
first book. What, No Meat? is finally close to being finished. Not just yet, but close. My publisher, Rogue Books (an imprint of Bedazzled Ink) fell way behind schedule and even though I contracted with them last summer, I’m only now seeing the proof. The fact that it took so long in and of itself doesn’t upset me. What upsets me is that we missed the Christmas shopping season. Christmas is THE prime buying season for cookbooks because people buy them as gifts. I take partial responsibility for this because this is Bedazzled’s first cookbook and I knew about the Christmas season thing, yet didn’t say anything. Honestly, I didn’t think I needed to say anything because I kept thinking that it would be out by that time. By the time it dawned on me that it wouldn’t, it was too late to say anything. Don’t get me wrong, I did keep checking in from time to time, but I should have been more aggressive about it.
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18Feb
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05Feb
Hi, gang. I hear sales of big-screen TVs have gone up recently. Why? Because
it’s SUPERBOWL TIME! This Sunday, February 7 is Superbowl Sunday and people all over the country are gearing up with new sets, stocking up their refrigerators and coolers with beer, and planning their munchies spread.This year, it’s the Indianapolis Colts vs. the New Orleans Saints. And since this is the first time in the team’s history that the Saints are going to the Superbowl, I’m sure many New Orleanians and Louisianans are going to party hardy this weekend.
Now, I won’t claim to know much about football, but if you’re having a Superbowl or tailgate party, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s see what’s on the menu…
Filed under: Appetizers, Food Holidays, Miscellaneous foodie stuff, Special events, Uncategorized, cooking
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22Jan
Hi, kids. It’s been a really rough week for me. I’ve had to deal with a broken sink, bad news from various friends and, worst of all, a malicious virus on my computer. It’s the Malware Defense, and if any of you have had to deal with it, you know how heinous it is. My entire week was taken up w
ith combating this vicious thing and in the end, I had to wipe out my computer and reload my OS. It’s going to take me days to reload all my programs. A couple of programs I lost altogether because I no longer have the installation disks. <huge sigh> The people who created this obviously have knowledge and skill—why can’t they use their powers for good? I hope the proper karma is in store for the people who sit around and come up with this stuff. People like that are a waste of humanity.Anyway, on with the show.
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04Dec
Hi, gang. This week, I spent a lot of time testing recipes that required coconut. The recipes are mostly Indonesian and African, and call for
shredded coconut, chunks of coconut, and coconut milk. It’s not that I was jonesing for Southeast Asian or African food, or even coconut—it was a decision of practicality. I decided that if I was going to go to the trouble of cracking open a coconut and working to get the meat out, I’d might as well do two coconuts at once and have enough for all the recipes that require it. So that’s what I did. Now I have some in the refrigerator and put a container of it it in the freezer.Filed under: About Food, Cooking Tips, Culinary Experiments, Ethnic food, Food History, Recipe Tests, Uncategorized, cooking
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28Nov
Hi, there. I hope everyone had a great, safe Thanksgiving this year. This one was a little different for me because I’ve gone through many life changes this year, which have affected how and where I celebrate the holidays. I’ve been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my family for the past 10 years. The number of guests has varied from 12 to 20, but the amount of food has always been the same. My philosophy is, better to have too much than not enough. After all, people will want to take leftovers home and there’s always THE DAY AFTER.
Filed under: About Food, Culinary Experiments, Ethnic food, Holidays, Recipes, Seasonal Cooking, Uncategorized, cooking
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23Oct
Hi, gang. You know, like any other cook, I have a dream kitchen floating around in my head. In it, there is a six-burner Viking range
with a grill top, an overhead rack for pots , pans and utensils, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves for my bazillion cookbooks, a wood-burning oven to make bread and pizza, a Sub-Zero 
refrigerator, and a large prep island. (My fantasy extends to an outdoor deck area, where there would be a full barbeque grill and cook area for those summer get-togethers. 
Oh, wait, I have to run out and buy my lotto ticket before the store closes.) -
02Oct
Hey, all. Well, I had the drawing for a copy of my cookbook this evening. I had an impartial party draw a name from a hat (actually, it was a Corona bar tray that my brother brought back for me from Mexico
). Anyway, I’m happy to announce that the winner is… SANDRA. Congratulations, Sandra. I hope you enjoy the book and will keep me posted on how the recipes turn out for you. -
11Sep
Hi, gang. Still working on getting that KHEN interview audio track up here. DJ Andi downloaded it to a CD for me, but when you take something off a CD, it’s a “cda” file, which nothing but a CD or DVD player can read. (I’m so not up on this audio technology stuff.) I can upload the file to the Wordpress server, but it won’t recognize the file and I can’t seem to convert the file to something else. If anyone out there knows how I can get around this, I’d appreciate a suggestion from you.
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28Aug
Hi, gang. First thing’s first: I want to remind all my fellow writers out there that there are only a few days left to submit to Skulls and Crossbones, the female pirate anthology. Quick, polish up those stories and send them in! Make sure to follow the guidelines and send them to pirateanthology@gmail.com.
Filed under: About Food, Ethnic food, New Food, Recipes, Regional foods, Uncategorized, cooking
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22Aug
Hi, gang. One of the things I like to pick up when I go to rural areas is honey produced by local farmers (beekeepers, really). We’re talking pure, raw honey that hasn’t processed. You can taste the purity of the nectar and once you’ve tried it, you’ll never want to go back to the processed stuff.
Filed under: About Food, Cooking Tips, Food History, Miscellaneous foodie stuff, Recipes, Uncategorized, cooking
2 Comments
