response 18 of 85:

Nov 11 00:50 UTC 1993

Well, I've been on another cookbook binge for the last couple
of months, yet neglected to mention any of them here.  Just
last week I got a book by the authors of "Bread Machine Magic."
It's called "The Bread Machine Magic Book of Helpful Hints,"
and gives lots of problem-solving and troubleshooting
techniques for bread machine owners.  I haven't perused it
too thoroughly yet, but it looks very helpful.

I also recently bought "The Bad For You Cookbook," but I find
I am uninspired by it.  I was hoping for an antidote to all
the food police I feel surrounded by lately, but it just
hasn't lit my fire (probably too many recipes with mushrooms
in them--I *hate* mushrooms).

Then there's "The Back of the Box Cookbook," which collects
many of those classic recipes clipped from Ritz cracker or
Cornflakes, or Rice Crispies etc. boxes.  They include the
long sought after Mock Apple Pie recipe that used to be on
the Ritz boxes (but which hasn't been printed in awhile).

Well, there are a few more I could talk about, but I'll save
them for next time.  I think I'm drowning in cook books!

response 20 of 85:

Jul 17 12:19 UTC 1994

I bought _The Back of the Box Gourmet_ (mentioned in #18) on Friday.
Neat book!  It seems like the kind of book someone could collect up
really easily and publish it solely as a moneymaking venture, which
would be fine, but actually the author seems to regard these recipes
as beloved bits of Americana.  He's written an intro for each recipe
that talks a bit about the history of the recipe or of the company that
makes the product.  Did you know Hellman's mayonaise started at a
Mr. Hellman's delicatessen in NYC many years ago?  Their mayo was so
popular that people used to come by and buy it instead of trying to
make their own at home.  Eventually, the mayo became the whole business.
This is described in the intro to a "mayonaise cake" recipe.  The idea
of a mayonaise cake sounds Really Gross until you think about the
ingredients in mayonaise: eggs, oil, and lemon juice, all of which are
normal cake ingredients.  The cookbook says the final cake doesn't
taste at all mayonaise-y, just moist.

I can't wait to make some mock apple pie!  There isn't enough lead time
to do it for today's Grex birthday picnic, but one o' these days I'll
make some and bring it to a Grex event....  :)

response 22 of 85:

Sep 11 12:42 UTC 1994

There is now a "Back of the Box, II" cookbook out.  I haven't
purchased it, but I browsed it in the bookstore.  Looks like fun,
but I'm trying to keep my cookbook purchases to a minimum for awhile.

response 24 of 85:

Feb 12 14:25 UTC 1995

It might have been the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book.  Or book 4 of the
Donna German series of breadmaker cookbooks.  Hm.

By the way (you may already know this) when you bake bread, the yeast
eats the sugar in order to form the carbon dioxide bubbles that make the
bread rise.  So, just because you're eating a loaf of bread that started
with, say, two tablespoons of sweetener doesn't mean that you're actually
eating a whole two tablespoons of sweetener in the finished loaf.

Also (and this is also probably a topic you know more about than me, and I
could well be wrong here) I've read that sweetener is sweetener -- it's
still basically one form of sugar or another.  So substituting another
sweetener for white sugar isn't the same as avoiding sugar.  But I might be
remembering wrong, or for hypoglycemia it might be helpful to use a type
of sweetener that takes longer to digest.  I don't know.  I'd be curious to
learn more.

Good luck with the radical diet change -- those are never easy!!

response 26 of 85:

Nov 8 17:11 UTC 1996

I bought _The New Vegetarian Epicure_, by Anna Thomas last
night after a cooking class at Kitchen Port.  The class had
nothing to do with this book but when you enroll for a class
you get a discount coupon for 10% on anything you purchase
that day.  Evidently, this book is an updated version of
Ms. Thomas' first version, _Vegetarian Epicure_.  Has anyone
here ever tried any of her recipes?  The recipes look 
interesting, non-traditional, mostly healthy, and not
particularly difficult to assemble.

response 28 of 85:

Nov 11 04:08 UTC 1996

We had guests over this evening and when one spotted _New_
on the kitchen shelf she pulled it off and all the while
thumbing through it raved about the earlier edition and
how it brought her some of her favorite recipes - especially
the bread recipes.

But cookbooks are like lids and pots. ;-)

I'll let you know how the recipes come out.  I'm looking
to make one of the soup recipes later in the week.

response 30 of 85:

Nov 14 04:32 UTC 1996

i'm getting "baking with julia childs" for christmas...i'm VERY excited...:)

response 32 of 85:

Nov 15 04:49 UTC 1996

Re knowing ahead of time what you're getting for the holidays:
In my family, none of us knows each other well enough to have much idea about
what kind of holiday gift the others would appreciate, so we all tell each
other what we'd like.  It's pathetic, but it's also a lot easier to get
someone a gift they'll actually use and enjoy if they choose it.  My sister
and I usually make a shopping expedition together to get each other a Hanukah
gift.  Actually it's a lot of fun.  We see so little of each other that it's
wonderful to have an excuse to do something together.

Nope, Grex has recipe archives, but there is no Grex cookbook.  People have
talked from time to time about putting one together, but so far it's never
happened.  Hey, that could make an interesting holiday-time gift.  Hm....
The hard part is finding a volunteer to put it all together.

response 34 of 85:

Nov 15 13:09 UTC 1996

Re 31/32 - My parents have already gone over the major things
they want to get me for Christmas, to make sure I'd want them.
A situation made more bizarre by their not telling me what I'm
getting for my birthday next week.  >8)

response 36 of 85:

Nov 16 23:02 UTC 1996

In my family, nobody can figure out what anybody else wanted so nobody gave
anyone presents.  It made life a lot easier when growing up.

Now I have to remember silly things like getting *cards* for people for their
birthdays.  I still forget 99% of the time and send off a rushed e-mail.

I know it's just because of my different upbringing but still, I can't help
feeling guilty when looking at the nice jewelry that a very special someone
has since gotten for me...

response 38 of 85:

Nov 18 06:25 UTC 1996

Cool!  Jim, go for it!  Yell if you want a volunteer to edit/proofread/
whatever.  Neat!

response 40 of 85:

Nov 27 20:25 UTC 1996

 Actually, the prohect has turned into a nightmare for me. I don't have
the appropriate software/patience for this sort of thing.