Farewell to a favorite

My favorite blog Food for Thought, as I know it, over. This was an amazing blog. I looked forward to reading her posts more than any other blog I see.

Jain (aka Once in a Blue Moon) authored said blog. Over the course of 2010, she cooked and photographed the 167 books she read. That's right, 167 books. The pictures were glorious and the food looked wonderful every single time. She was creative with her table-scapes (presentations) and everything was just amazing. Jain is one talented lady and I enjoyed every scrumptious read. And not only were were pictures amazing and her food looked fab, her book picks were great. I read many books from her recommendations (and I have many of her suggestions on my 'to-read' list).

But after reading, shopping, cooking, photographing and posting that many books in a year, she is laying Food For Thought to rest. Or least as we know it. Mary at Home is where the Boat is, will be taking up the torch for the project.

I want to say a huge thank you to Jain for her marvelous blog and I will miss her. It was a wonderful experience and I loved reading, eating and looking at everything she did!

Food For Thought- South of Broad

South of Broad by is a wonderfully written southern tale by Pat Conroy. I think this is one of the best books I've read in a long time- I'd give it five stars.

I've already posted my review of this book earlier this month, but I didn't get my cook on until this last week. I've been wanting to participate in a fellow blogger's concept "Food for Thought."

Throughout the entire novel, Leo King, our protagonist, cooks for his friends and family. All sorts of "low country" food is sprinkled throughout this amazing book. I said in my original review that it was a novel you could sink your teeth into, and it's true about the text as well as the food in the story. All sorts of food is casually mentioned in this story, and Leo and his father at the cooks in the King household, and Leo gets his love of cooking from his father.

This story is told starting at Leo's senior year in high school and then flashes forward to adulthood. And when all his friends gather together, they all want Leo to cook for them. The story is also told with some flashback, to round out high school and then again to present day as the band of friends try to save the twins: Trevor and Sheba. The rich and the poor, and the black and the white folks all become friends for life in this rich tale.

As I got back and re-read my own review, I realize how often I used food terms to describe this novel, which I find ironic now. So I decided to dive into some lowcontry cookin'.

Lowcountry cooking is generally associated with cooking in South Carolina and Georgia, especially Savannah and and Charleston, which is where the story took place. I made she-crab soup (which is served to guests in the novel), and crab cakes stuffed back in the shell. I also made corn bread, which is just a flat out southern dish (both of these were made in the book!). And I made a nice salad, to just round it all out.

I did cheat a bit with my cornbread. I used a Jiffy mix. I just can't seem to make a good cornbread from scratch, no matter how hard I try, and the mix was great! I also doubled it up and made it in a pan, rather than as muffins.

And I think the pretty yellow just rounds out a meal nicely! And like my junior high teacher told us, presentation is everything, so it looks lovely with a nice salad (my son loves his salad with croutons and Cesar dressing, as pictured here!)!

Here's a bowl of the she-crab soup. She-crab soup is a cream based soup that gets thicker the longer you cook it, almost like gravy, and it's delicious. My son is used to it being called Crab Bisque, but in truth, it's she-crab soup. Rather than running my egg yolk through a sieve like the recipe called for, I just chopped them up really fine. I also made a goof- where I live booze isn't sold on Sundays, including cooking sherry, so I substituted apple juice for the liquor and it came out just fine. This was a rich, thick hearty soup and everyone seemed to love it, even my father who isn't one to eat any sort of fish, shellfish or otherwise, at all!


I think next time I make this, I'm going to use white pepper instead of black. I also used twice as much crab as the recipe called for since we love crab meat. I also used a traditional recipe so this was a classic soup made from a roux. Probably the only time I can make a roux work since I'm a gravy failure. I took one other liberty and used chicken broth instead of fish stock.


Here are the crab cakes stuffed back in the shells. I got the idea from a display at Wal-Mart, believe it or not. The only person who liked this was me. And I think rather than bake these, they would be better fried, so I know for next time!

So that's my foray into low country cooking and my personal experience with Food For Thought! Please go visit the web site and see other participants. And our hostess "Once in a Blue Moon" has the most beautiful book/ food postings!

Happy eatin' and readin',
Maggie Mae

Cooking Southern

Even though I already posted my review of South of Broad, I've decided I want to participate in the blog called "Food For Thought" and I want to do some Low Country Southern cooking.

There is certainly more I can say about this book when I show my food and pictures!

Well, maybe I shouldn't get so all fired up sure that this is what I'm gonna do but I'm gonna try. I have all the necessary ingredients to make some Low Country delicacies and if tomorrow goes well, I plan on it!

The next Food for Thought is supposed to be Sat. March 13, so be sure to stop here to see if I did or didn't do it!

Mags

Fellower blogger blends 2 of my favs

I visited one of the coolest blogs ever the other day, and quickly became a follower.

"Food for Thought" is a blog written by Once In a Blue Moon. She reads a book and then cooks food that is either a recipe from the book or that fits the book itself. Then publishes pictures of the food and the book in an artful way. Oh go visit the blog yourself because she explains it so much better.

But I have to rave about Food For Thought for several reasons. First, her pictures of her food are so artful and beautiful. She makes incredible photos.

Then there's the concept. how brilliant is it to combine food and books. It's fabulously wonderful idea, and I wish I had come up with it myself! And books right now have lots of recipes in them as well as being tied into food in so many ways. How perfect to blend them on a blog!

This is terrific and I am thrilled to have found her. Check out her most recent foodie book combo called Every Good and Perfect Gift. If you don't want to eat that pie after seeing her photos you aren't human!

And as for my participation... well, we'll see! for now, I am going to completely enjoy Food For Thought!

Eatin' and readin',
Maggie