Happy birthday, SweetTea&Sunshine!

f it's my birthday--and it is--then it's also the birthday/anniversary of this little old blog. And if I'm 44--and I am--then ST&S is all of 4 years old, since post #1 took place on my 40th birthday (wasn't that just yesterday? Certainly feels like it!). Toddler blog no longer, we're a big kid now... sort of. (Thank goodness we're past the terrible twos and the tyrannical threes, right?)

Meanwhile, it's been on my mind for a bit to have a blogaversary giveaway to celebrate such a momentous event. I love the idea of giving presents on my birthday (I can hear the boys asking now, am I planning on making good on that here at home?).

What would make a good giveaway? Something that says "Sher!" and "ST&S!" and also is something YOU would like... Many things crossed my mind, but I always knew I would land on a cookbook. But which one? I am not often drawn to books themselves for recipes these days. Many times it feels like the same themes, repeated; as well, there has to be something special about the printed format, when so many functional and appealing recipes exist online.

There are, of course, books that make the cut. Two came my way last year for my birthday: Tender and Plenty. Both are beautiful to look at, and full of fabulous and fresh ideas. But, they are last year. What's THIS year?

And then it just plopped in my lap, so to speak. Somewhere during the delicious week in NYC, I read a review of a new cookbook.

This lovely gem of a book, by none other than Stanley Tucci (and his family), is getting good reviews as an accessible and family-oriented Italian cookbook. I've been a Tucci fan since Big Night, and my affection has grown since, through Devil Wears Prada, Julia&Julia, The Hunger Games, Murder One (TV) and even The Lovely Bones.

Then I watched the video below, and knew I would need this book, and knew one of you would too!

 

Here's how it works: Leave a comment by midnight on Thursday, Nov. 1 and I'll do a random drawing. Very simple, and good luck to you all! Comment away.

Happy anniversary sweet blog. I've had a lot of fun in the past four years, and look forward to many more!

To see the past three blog-a-birtthday-versaries (I can't decide if it's a birthday or an anniversary, can you tell?):
Year 1 (2009)
Year 2 (2010)
Year 3 (2011)

So how about that food blogging?

f you've been paying any attention, food--in general, and recipes specifically--has lately taken a back seat on this blog. Not just a back seat, but one of those third-row-backward-facing seats that the little kids like to wave from on family vacations. Yes, way back there. As Brian Regan says, those kids are on a whole different vacation from the rest of the family riding up front.

But I digress. I digress a lot. And that's the problem, of late. Well, not so much a problem, but more of an explanation. Obviously I'm cooking. Obviously we're eating. And sometimes it's even interesting. (A lot of the time it's fair to middlin' on the interest spectrum, honestly.) But the space between cooking-eating-taking a picture-blogging has seemed vast... like slogging through mud.

Part of that vast mud slogging distance is my little obsession with the crafty side of life--if I'm not in my applique infatuation haze, I'm crocheting or calligraphying or thinking about it or researching it online. My food feeds get a breeze through, an occasional "star" to come back and look at later, and there they sit.

Another factor is the between-seasons menu blahs... I'm tired of soups and stews and winter eating (yet that's still what the weather seems to call for and what the grocery store still has to offer for ingredients) and while I'm ready for all things fresh and green and spring-like, the locally available ingredients are taking a minute or two to show up...

Sigh.

But at least I'm finally acknowledging my slacker-ness, right? That's the first step. The second step, for me, is to get my inspiration back on track... spend some time looking at new recipes, new menu ideas, new ingredients, and get my cooking mojo back. I found a recipe book yesterday that lit a little fire in me--Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson. It is that just-right combination of interesting and creative healthy recipes and beautiful photographs that gets me going. (In my humble opinion, if you're not willing to have photographs in your cookbook, don't bother publishing.) I have already pegged a number of recipes to try in the next few weeks, and am looking forward to playing around with:
* Chickpea wraps
* Kale salad
* White beans and cabbage (a salad)
* Little quinoa patties (I have been wanting to experiment with quinoa)
* Oatcakes (looks like a good breakfast alternative)

101 Cookbooks was involved in previewing the cookbook, and offers a six-recipe sampler on their site, so that is worth checking out if you're not sure if you want the cookbook (you do, really you do!).

I admit, looking at that recipe list, it looks a little healthy. Lest you think I have completely left my sweet-and-fat tooth behind, I was also most happy to see this beautiful cheesecake recipe yesterday:

Doesn't that just scream SPRING?!

Stay tuned, Sweet Tea and Sunshine will return to it's roots of "a little food, a little gratitude." Gratitude is great and all that, but a girl's gotta eat, right?!

Thursday Thirteen: 13 favorite cookbooks!

I've been wanting to do this list for Thursday Thirteen for some time.... I have masses of cookbooks (as you saw last week!), and love them all in their own way (even though I am willing to part with a few to blog-following friends, yes indeed).

Here are my top 13 cookbooks in no particular order (kind of...):

1. Think Like a Chef, Tom Colicchio. When I found this book seven or eight years ago, it completely changed the way I saw cooking and recipes and experimentation. I love his approach and finally felt like I had "permission" to play in the kitchen--not that I'd been holding back from playing before! Here's a great review of the book... OK, so maybe there's a reason this one is mentioned first. It is one of my all-time faves.

2. Whole Grain Baking, King Arthur Flour Co. I love baking and desserts, but also like knowing I can make them a big healthier if I want, as well.

3. Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. Classic. Great for those old standbys/family favorites.

4. The New Best Recipe, The Best Light Recipe and Baking Illustrated by the editors of Cook's Illustrated (I put these all together since they're very similar in bent/writing/style.) These guys know how to do it--they take the time to try out almost every conceiveable way to make something, and share how they arrived at the final recipe. Good reading to boot!

5. Brilliant, Food Tips and Cooking Tips. Technically not a cookbook per se, but a great reference. I turned to this book over and over again in my catering kitchen, and still do today. Conversions, substitutions, definitions, ratios... all there.


6. Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant. Such a wonderful romp around the world. Many cookbooks by the Moosewood group are worth looking at; this one's my favorite. I have made the Pear-Almond Tart and the Cheeze Blintz Casserole (oh yum) many many times. And there's a very reliable pastry recipe too...

7. Barefoot Contessa Parties, Ina Garten. I have her whole series of cookbooks, but this is the one I use the most often. I'm not a fan of watching her on TV--too self-conscious for me, but I haven't watched her in a couple of years... maybe she's improved? Regardless, I very much enjoy her menu ideas and recipes. Yum.

8. The Dean and DeLuca Cookbook. This choice is a little sentimental, since I associate it completely with NYC and all that I love about visiting that city. And the food featured in the cookbook is exactly the kind of stuff I like to eat... simple, hearty salads, soups, sandwiches; not fussy but with great ingredients.

9. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman. I am a fan of Mark Bittman, very much. And thoroughly enjoyed his regular, meat-filled How to Cook Everything. But, since we are mostly meatless around here, this one gets more perusing and I love that he took the time to make an edition that skipped the meat. Kudos.

10. Happy in the Kitchen, Michel Richard. Who can't get behind a title like that? This is more of an inspirational, coffee-table book than a cook-from-it-daily kind of tome. But it's fresh and colorful and thoroughly enjoyable.


11. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. This one is a big favorite! My mom gave me her copy years ago, and it's old and tattered and the binding has broken and pages want to fall out. But I don't care and I turn to it probably more than any of the other cookbooks here for the things that are tried and true. Want a basic banana bread recipe? Got it. Custard, creme brulee? Absolutely. I will never part with this one!

12. Fields of Greens, Deborah Madison's cookbook from the much-celebrated vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco. Some really great ideas and combinations. Sometimes the recipes are a little more complicated than I'm in the mood for, flavor-wise, but I am usually able to adapt to meet my palate's needs! A really great resource.

13. Food and Wine, best of... Their yearly cookbook is a real go-to for me. Time and again, great recipes and food ideas.

I have plenty of other cookbooks that I enjoy, but these ones stand out.

Just noticed, but wasn't surprised, that there's not a Martha cookbook in the lot... true story, as a good friend of mine likes to say. Martha's just too complicated. "How many MORE steps can I put in this recipe," I imagine her saying to herself some days... "It makes me look very accomplished to have so many unnecessary steps."

Happy TT! Now I'm in the mood to go browse the cookbooks! And cook, and eat...

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Yummy nut patties

These little gems are a family favorite. I used to try and make them into balls, like meatballs, but because they aren't really that consistency, they would have a hard time holding together. So gone are nut balls (aren't you relieved?) and here are nut patties.

They are mostly based off An Apple A Day recipe, but largely done by feel and by memory at this point. Today we had them with mashed potatoes and gravy and a broccoli bake, and I'm surprised I got off the couch and went for a ski afterward! But I did. After a bit of a pause, I did.

Nut patties
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 t. salt
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
1/2 c. grated cheddar
1 T. chopped parsley
1 egg
1 c. bread crumbs
1 c. cottage cheese

Mix all ingredients together and from into patties. Fry in a nonstick pan (sprayed with Pam or some such spray, of course, who trusts nonstick anyway?) until brown on both sides. Serve with mushroom gravy.

And enjoy!

Did he write it just for me?

This week Amazon picked their top 10 books for 2008.

This makes me a little sad for those authors with books still releasing between now and the actual end of 2008. Is it just common knowledge that books published in the last two months of the year aren't any good? I get that there needs to be a cut-off date (like for the Oscars, of course!), but... just sayin', if I had a book coming out right now, I'd be a little peeved... I might get over it if books published Nov/Dec 2008 get included in 2009's picks. Might. See, rich fanasy life. No book, no publisher, yet peeved I haven't been picked.

So of course, there's a separate category for the top 10 cookbooks, oh yeah! And number one, yep, it's got figs written all over it! It looks like a good one--anyone who has cooked with Alice Waters is worth a read. In my humble opinion, of course.

And check out No. 7 on the list as well (I think someone's ripping me off!).

I know that Sweet Tea and Sunshine sounds incredibly southern, and have been told so repeatedly. However, for me, it's a twist on "Sweet Pea." Who wants to read a blog--or visit a cafe--that was why I originally thought up the name--called Sweet Pea and Sunshine? No thanks--I'll leave the visual images to your fertile imaginations. And, it's also a tip of the hat to Canadian iced tea, which is always served sweet, like the south. I do forget that sometimes when I order it north of the border and that first sip is like, WHAT? And then I remember and relax and don't have to add sweetener!

Both these cookbooks will have to go on my Amazon wishlist. I'll even write reviews if (when) I get them for Christmas!