The Culinary Library

With summer deciding to take leave of us again for a bit (thank heavens it at least showed up for opening day), I thought now would be a good time to head back into the kitchen and talk cookbooks...the storage of them to be precise.
After winning the "Fearless Baker" cookbook, I was not only very excited to use it, but I was also extremely excited by the fact that I now had another wonderful book of culinary delights to add to my well loved and ever growing 'kitchen' library, which by the way, was started on my eighteenth birthday when I received my very first cookbook...

"Good Housekeeping's Illustrated Cookbook" (above on the right). To this day I still rely on this abundantly instructive book, it's amazing...but I digress, back to cookbook storage (it might be fun in the future though to go through favorite cookbooks and post favorite recipes out of them...I can feel myself getting sidetracked by that thought as we speak, we best move on).

By the way, yes...that is a little bobble head Miss. Ginger sitting atop my Martha By Mail (sigh) recipe box. I purchased her with the very first proceeds I earned from the sale of my cards at the little French Flower shop that was the first to sell them (Maxine's, a magical place!), she's very special and she's been keeping me company in the kitchen ever since.

When designing 24C, a top priority was to have plenty of open shelving for storing all of our culinary books. Many are like old friends and having them out and about, continually cheering me on to try new things and offering constant inspiration and guidance has made cooking much more of an adventure and treat.

Some shelving was planned specifically with books in mind...

But the majority were planned for a mix of both cookbooks and whatever else my heart desired to have out at the moment.

On this shelf, a few of my everyday go-to books hang out with some favorite ironstone and restaurantware pieces.

Gitzi painted the little glass jar that I use for a bookend...it's filled with dried sour cherries which I use in just about everything from gorp, to oatmeal, to cookies...to chili!

One day there will be shelving on this wall as well and I'm looking forward to placing some well loved editions here too...and maybe even some new ones (such as Balthazar's beautiful cookbook which I've been dreaming of for quite a while now).

In our previous home I liked having our cookbooks sprinkled throughout the house (dining and living rooms, even hallways)...as did our guests, the books were always being picked up, perused and enjoyed by them. Cooking books are such great conversation starters and a wonderful way to connect with people. Many times recipes were copied, stories were read and shared, and sometimes a new appreciation for food was begun...loved seeing that happen.
Needless to say, 24C has been sprinkled with culinary books as well, and guests seem to be enjoying them just as much as before which has produced some very nice and nostalgic feelings.

The image above was taken for the recent Lilac Love post but because it was slightly crooked I didn't use it, but now... since I don't at the moment have a fluffy bouquet on the counter to block all the boxes that are living where our dining table is supposed to be, I'm going to have to use it to show our dining room built-ins. Normally I've just shown bits and pieces as a means of avoiding afore mentioned boxes.

I've particularly loved having cookbooks in the dining room, especially the essay, vintage, and historical ones...they're a bit more library-ish and they mix well with the regular books.

And even though they're behind glass...people are more than welcome to enjoy these books as well as the ones that live out in the open.

One of my favorite cooking essay authors is Elizabeth David..."An Omelette and a Glass of Wine" and "Is There a Nutmeg in the House" are fascinating reads. She almost single handedly taught the post war British generation how to cook again and brought olive oil and garlic into a spotlight that had never even existed before. Her recipe's and essays are a pure joy to read and a must for anyone in love with cooking...I promise, you'll love her!

Some of you may remember this teacup...I still haven't used it! :/

A vintage gardening book was thrown in with this bunch...just cause it's pretty!

I don't have cookbooks in the other set of glass cabinets yet ...

But I do keep my favorite, often used recipe clippings, printouts, and booklets there...for now.

At least they're all in one place and I'm not continuously rummaging around for them, which used to drive me crazy! They most likely won't stay here...but for now it works.

And now that this post is coming to an end and our Fearless new edition is tucked away in it's new home getting to know Ina and friends while awaiting it's first assignment (Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!)...it's time for me to start thinking about what to have for dinner...which since it's so late...looks like it's going to be pizza!
(Mario Batali's dad has a Salumi shop here in Seattle and he supplies our local pizzeria with his spicy salumi...it's so good...that's what we're having...with mushrooms!)

Guten Appetit (Gitzi's German influence here), and happy cookbook reading!!

Summer? Are You Really Here? For Keeps?

Wishing everyone sunny days filled with blue skies, blue waters...and maybe a little Scotch Broom to brighten things up even more!!

This one's for you Liz...(huge wink and a smile!).

Happy First Day Of Summer Everyone!!

Happy Father's Day!

May our hearts never outgrow the remembrances of Daddy time...

Wishing everyone happy memories of those sweet and special times that were spent with your Daddy's or Papa's....and even Grandpapa's. And to all of them, especially my own...I wish you a very happy and very special Father's Day weekend!! ♥

Artfully Winding Down

The school year is coming to an end which means that my art classes are also coming to an end, and it is always such a bittersweet and very busy time that I have quite a difficult time concentrating on much else, hence...I've been trying to pull together a wonderful kitchen-ish post for over a week now but to no avail.

What with field trips to Venice (first time for all of us!).....




Helping lost parakeets find their way home....


And learning flower growing tips from some very special master gardeners....




We've been having a very busy, yet very fun time of it, and I just haven't been able to concentrate very well on anything else!

I'm so proud of all that my students accomplished this year...they've been absolutely wonderful, and I'm going to miss them terribly (that's where the bittersweet part comes in). But now it's time to get ready for THIS crew....

The summer camp crew!!! Let the preparations begin!

A Delicious Win

I recently had the absolute pleasure of winning this scrumptious cookbook, or should I say - 'bakebook'...from the lovely Kathleen over at Purple Flowers, who's sister-in-law Emily Luchetti (love that name) was the authoress, along with her 'baker in crime' Lisa Weiss. Emily is the executive pastry chef at Farallon & Waterbar restaurants in San Francisco...Lisa is a food writer and stylist.
This is my third bloggy-giveaway win and I am beyond thrilled..and not just a little bit surprised as my past history with contests and the like does not have the best reputation....so happy that I am now developing a much better track record in this department!

The book is so clever, delightfully illustrated, and chock full of recipes that will have me baking up a storm and hopefully, developing some new, mad (and fearless) baking skills...
such as mastering the art of *Dessert Sauces*!
I've never made Chocolate Sauce or Caramel Sauce from scratch and I think it would be lovely to learn how to do so as Mr. 24 has ice cream every single night no matter what and I can just see these two sauces being added to the nightly routine (somehow...he has managed to do this for years without gaining a single pound...totally unfair and something I think science needs to take a closer look at!).

The name of the book "The Fearless Baker" was created when Emily kept hearing how 'fearful' many of her family and friends were in the baking department. She had the brilliant idea of turning them into 'fearless bakers' by baking along side of them whilst Lisa recorded their conversations. This resulted in the little talk bubbles that grace almost every recipe and are full of the same kind of questions and thoughts you or I might have when making for example the Lemon Creme Brulee below (who wouldn't have questions while making that?!).

"Can you put the custards under the broiler? Seems like that would be easier." Good one!
Answer: "Some people do but you have less control over the browning of the sugar, and if you leave them in to long it can curdle the custard." - So smart!

And..."How far ahead can you brown the sugar?"...Great question!
Answer: "About thirty minutes. I like to do it right before I'm ready to serve them and sometimes get my guests to help me. Just make sure they haven't had to many drinks with dinner." Good point!

There are also all sorts of mouth watering fruit desserts to choose from and since we are headed into most abundant time of year for luscious fruits, I am very much looking forward to trying some of these...the first being...

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie! This time of year I always make tons of regular Rhubarb Pie but I've never made a strawberry rhubarb...and it's about time I did!

Look at the cute lattice crust illustrations...I'm going to give this a go as well. Normally I just smush my crust on as best as I can...time to get fancy!

Love this teetering tower of muffins that help to usher you into the "Breakfast" chapter....oh yes! Apple Muffins, Blueberry Streusel Muffins, Raspberry Corn Muffins, Golden Raisin-Lime Scones, and my all time favorite, Maple-Oatmeal Scones, which I've made before and I'm very curious to try Emily's version...the more varieties the merrier if you ask me!

So a very big thank you to Kathleen, for the opportunity to win this wonderful new addition to my cookbook collection, and a huge thank you to Emily for creating it in the first place....I'm thrilled that you will be rooting me on with your "be fearless" message every step of the way in all of the baking endeavors I'm going to attempt from your truly inspiring book...it will be just as if you are in the kitchen with me...and how cool is that?!!