All-American Meal

Three more cookbooks down, and the recipes were perfect for one of our first crisp, fall-like days here in Boise. Unfortunately, the thermometer is going to go back up again during the week, but at least we had a little taste of fall.

Let me start by saying Matt and I are huge "Top Chef" fans, so I wasn't too surprised when Matt bought "Top Chef: The Cookbook" as one of my anniversary gifts last year. Sad to say we hadn't used this cookbook until today. I made Elia's Roasted Chicken with Vegetables from Season 2's seven deadly sin challenge. I loved that challenge, and we've been in a roasted chicken rut of late. But this one is a definite keeper and one we'll make again in the near future. It was so moist and flavorful. And the veggies—all from the farmers market—were so so fresh! If I would've known how good this recipe was, I would have picked up this cookbook and used it a lot sooner.

The next recipe is Classic Apple Pie from Martha Stewart's "Baking Handbook." I didn't actually make a full pie, I adapted the recipe to use in these new miniature pie molds in apple and pumpkin shapes from Williams-Sonoma. First of all, Martha' s Pate Brisee recipe is the best. You just pulse the dough in the food processor and chill. It rolls out nice, is easy to work with, and a nice-tasting crust. The apple pie recipe was also tasty, with a nice amount of cinnamon. The finished project was quite cute, and now I'm searching for more recipes and ideas to use these pie molds this fall and winter.

I've been waiting to make something with pumpkin. I geared up last weekend by buying three giant cans of pumpkin at Costco. So I decided to do pumpkin bread so we could have it as a snack or breakfast. I made the Pecan Pumpkin Bread (sans pecans) from Pillsbury's "Best Muffins & Quick Breads." First of all, I've had this cookbook since 1999 and have used it a lot, just not this year yet. This bread, which I had not tried before, is really moist and tasty. It made two loaves, so I'll send one to work with Matt. And I can't wait to have a piece of it for breakfast with a cup of coffee. —CS

Seafood Delight

We followed up the shrimp appetizer tonight with wonderful Linguine alla Vongole (Linguine with Clam Sauce) from Williams-Sonoma's "Savoring Italy" by Michele Scicolone. There was very minimal prep work, and what took the longest was gettting the pasta water up to boil. You can't beat dinner at home like that on a Saturday night. Ciao! —CS

Shrimp-o-licious

We've used our first cookbook of the weekend, Mark Bittman's "Fish." It's another great informative cookbook by Bittman. Great tips on what seafood to substitute in recipes, and a range of techniques to prepare different seafood and fish. Matt made the "Spicy Grilled Shrimp." They're so tasty, I found myself just popping them into my mouth. A little spicy, but that's a plus!

That was just the appetizer for the evening. We have another cookbook coming up later for the main course. We're also hoping to use two or three more cookbooks tomorrow for Sunday dinner! Maybe we're finally on a roll. —CS

Belated Entry

Well, the end of summer got the best of us. We're even further behind in our cookbook challenge and didn't post about two we actually used in August.

First, I grabbed Mark Bittman's handy "How to Cook Everything" when making a steak dinner mid-August for steakhouse mushrooms. We had everything on hand to do Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic, which went great with the meal. I do use this cookbook often, but not for the recipes. The backpage is my go-to source when I need to remind myself of meat doneness temperatures.

The other cookbook we used toward the end of August was "Creme Brulee: The Bonjour Way" by Randolph W. Mann. Normally you wouldn't think creme brulee for a summer dessert, but I thought the S'more Creme Brulee would be a perfect ending to an evening BBQ. And I was right. It was a hit. I loved the chocolate melted on the graham crackers in the oven as well as torching the marshmallow creme on top.

So, our goal this weekend is to use four cookbooks to try to get back in this cookbook game. Another option to get back in the game is to consider putting some of the more obscure cookbooks into the community garage sale at the beginning of October! —CS