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LAPL At Home | Let’s Take It From The Top

i’ve got 26 books and a horror flick out on loan.  this is most of what’s at home…

I  got a little ahead of myself.

Months ago, I started thinking about chronicling what an amazing resource the Los Angeles Public Library is and hopefully, will continue to be.(♥: Shade to the Mayor and City Council, intended.)  It’s given me the opportunity to really spend time with books instead of being swayed by aesthetics and a discount at my old house of worship, Barnes and Noble.

I still ache a little when I think about all the books I sold when I packed up and moved west.  Okay, I ache a lot.  The cookbooks took the biggest hit because they’d cost the most to ship.  So, slowly, I’m re-building my collection, using LAPL for research.  Mindfully, looking at the books for more than just a recipe.

The Obvi and Superficial…

Ummm, The Good Stuff Cookbook.  Spike’s cute, I watch Top Chef and he kinda had me at Old Bay Mayonnaise.  There, I’ll admit that.  But, I’m probably a little more critical of the book because of it as well.  Eh, on cursory glance, the photographs don’t grab me at all.  I don’t know why the pictures of the salads and anything with corn annoy me, but they do.  Otherwise, it looks fun.  We’ll see.

Because I Can Can…

Took a bit of a canning/putting up break over the holidays.  Still building my canning library.  Spending time with Putting Food By, The Joy of Keeping a Root Cellar, Urban Pantry, Preserve It!, Canning for a New Generation.  It’s so different reading them for pleasure/information and not looking for Can Jam inspiration.

I Like The World At My Table…

I am so lucky that my mom introduced us to the world when we were kids, even if I HATED IT. (♥: Tofu and Bulgur, still not feeling you) The flavors that I loved make the global culinary adventure exciting and familiar.  I think this year is going to be a serious South Asian exploration.  I wish it weren’t all from books, though.  There was that guy who… Oh, you don’t know that story.  I might have to actually read Ginger and Ganesh.  It’s more a memoir with recipes.

Still trying to feel my way around Japanese cooking without much luck.  Simply Japanese went back to LAPL pretty quickly.

I’m working on an In Bed With | Momofuku.  I can’t remember if this is the second or third time it’s made it home.

On Your Recommendation…

For a minute there, I thought I was losing it.  I couldn’t remember why I wanted to check out Rose’s Heavenly Cakes.  Then, it hit me.  My favorite librarian thought I might like it and held it aside for me.  J’adore her.

I always check out the book section on the Anthro site and cross-reference with LAPL to see if I can’t get my hands on the curated goodness.  It tends to take a while after release, but I’ve become patient.  I first saw The Commonsense Kitchen and Sweety Pies there.

The Odd Man Out…

I’ve been taking out fewer doing books lately.  Sometimes, I like to give up on the illusion that I’m going to make something.  It’s easier that way.  And since I’ve always had a penchant for buying expensive yarn that tends to pill like crazy, I thought it was time to take a few steps back and learn more about it with The Knitter’s Book of Wool.

Time to dig it before this batch of books comes due.

N♥

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LAPL At Home | But I Don’t Even Make Bread…

i’ve got 26 books and one french film out on loan.  this is just some of what’s at home…


Aesthetics & Intuition…

Why didn’t anyone tell me about The Well-Dressed Home?  I know I probably wasn’t listening or was taking a blogosphere timeout.  But, really, couldn’t you have hit me over the head or something?  It’s on the wishlist (♥: Mommy!) and this will be the second time it’s come home with me for an extended stay.  I spotted Life’s Too Short To Fold Fitted Sheets during a Chronicle Books search of the LAPL catalog.  I don’t like to fold much, so this might be the “Do Less” manifesto I haven’t been looking for.

Winter’s Got Me Thinking About The Hog And Hearty Cooking…

I have a confession to make: I have pork fat in the freezer.  No meat, just fat.  I got kinda excited when I saw it in the store.  I cut up some and threw it in the pot with onions, garlic, bay leaves and dried black beans.  Hello, Ecstasy.  Glad you could join me. So, I’m thinking about the pork.  No, beef or chicken or other critters.  (♥:Eeeek!)  And what did I get from the library?  Um, Pork & Sons, The Country Cooking of Ireland and River Cottage Cookbook.

It’s going to be a bit River Cottage-y around here for a while.  The Bread Handbook looks to be an interesting read.  Reading, yes.  Doing, I don’t know.  I haven’t even made biscuit bread in ages.  So love the simple beauty of Gavin Kingcome’s photographs.  The Meat book and Preserves handbook are in the Holds Queue.

Return Engagements and Explorations…

All too frequently, time passes too quickly and I don’t have enough of it to go in deep on books that at first glance seem right up my alley.  Will definitely be spending some quality time with Tamasin Day-Lewis’ Supper for a Song.

I thought I’d revisit Baked while I wait in the queue for the new book.

I live in LA, yet most of my Latin American influenced cooking is based on flavors from the Caribbean.  To be completely honest, I’m not all that adventurous when it comes to real Mexican food.  I know I’m starting small with Antojitos, but I gotta start somewhere.

Ummm…

Another Confession: I got a little squeamish cutting up the pork fat.  I think the tide is too easily turned.  The pictures of all the meat in different states of being isn’t really helping.  Where my beets at?

N♥

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In Bed With | Vefa’s Kitchen

i read cookbooks in bed.  don’t you?

I’ve only made the tzatziki because, well, I’m a bit slow.

I’m in love with Vefa’s Kitchen.

I first saw the book last year on Anthropologie’s site.  I dig their curated collection of style, cooking, travel and garden books.  I tend to have two windows open.  One for Anthro and one for the library.  I need to see, feel, hold and read a book before I buy it these days.  At the time,  LAPL wasn’t down with Vefa, yet.  I tried to peruse the pages at a brick and mortar bookstore.  Hello, Sealed Packaging.

It wasn’t until months later, when I started putting the publisher, Phaidon, in the library’s catalog search engine, did I realize they had finally purchased a copy of  the blue and white beauty.  Yes, it was the jacket design that first caught my eye.

I’ve been thinking about Greece a lot in the last couple of years.  I think it may have started when I finally saw Luc Besson’s Big Blue. Then every time you turn around I was watching a movie set on the ancient isles.  That’s when the fantasy starts.  It’s the month long vacation in my head.  A Greek Isle.  A white house.  That water.  Ahhhh.

Greek cooking wasn’t something I really thought about beyond a bit of baklava or the occasional gyro. (♥:Did you just say that out loud?) Sorry.  I’ve yet to eat Greek here in LA.  Even the Greek restaurants in NYC didn’t hold much allure.  More because my friend, whose mom is Greek Cypriot, put the Umm, No stamp on almost all of them.  It’s like me saying there really isn’t much good soul food in the five boroughs.

So, imagine my surprise when I open this BIG book.  Not only is the love automatic, but there is a familiarity, as well.  The book is full of beautifully simple photographs, each of the islands gets there own bit of history and a culinary merit badge.  There are so many things that are similar to food I grew up eating, so it’s actually easy to incorporate into my every day.  More importantly, I’m all excited to try everything.  (♥: Octopus?) Okay, I’m not trying everything.  But, I am fascinated by all 704 pages.  Marking recipes with all of the blue dotted ribbon glued into the spine and bits of scrap paper.

So, what have I made?  Well, it’s more like what do I want to make.  I’ve only gotten around to making tzatziki, but the “I Wanna” list is long.  There’s even a bit about about preserving.

I need to get a new fresh Vefa’s Kitchen of my own.  I can only renew the library book so many times.  Seriously, I think this is the fourth or fifth time I’ve carted the BIG book home from my local.

This time, though, I just may get another recipe or two made.  There’s phyllo in the freezer and I just brought home some salt cod.  NICE!

Nikki♥