Crumbs in our Pages: What’s for Dinner?

April 24th, 2013 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews, Cooking
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Curtis Stone’s What’s for Dinner?

Since we haven’t been successful in having Curtis Stone come to our homes in person, we’ll have to settle for the next best thing: Curtis Stone What’s For Dinner? Delicious Recipes for a Busy Life Cookbook! And just so you know, there’s no settling going on here – this is one fabulous cookbook…

What's For Dinner Cookbook

Neatly divided, each night of the week has a different theme:

Motivating Mondays (start the week off right with healthy fare)

Time-Saving Tuesday (because so often Tuesday is “to-do” day)

One-Pot Wednesday (is there anything better for midweek pick-me-up)

Thrifty Thursday (so there’s a bit more for splurging on the weekend?)

Five-Ingredient Friday (being exhausted ≠ drive through window)

Dinner Party Saturday (food + family + friends = joy3)

Family Supper Sundays (#1 best way to grow happy, healthy kids)

And one final chapter, because no dinner is complete without Something Sweet (Peaches with Melted Bûcheron…be still my heart!)

The layout is just like we want it: enticing photograph (every dish!!) and complete recipe on one page (thank you for listening, cookbook editors).

Last week we went for Motivating Monday’s Grilled Chicken with Arugula and Zucchini Salad with Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette (henceforth dubbed A to Z salad).  A simple supper that was packed with bright, light flavors.  The star of the show was the Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette – a snappy sauce that made both the salad and chicken come alive – just a splash was enough to bring a little mojo to what could otherwise be Mundane Monday.

grilled chicken with A-Z salad

arugula - freshly picked

zucchini - micro thin

Last Sunday, Julia, Valerie and I headed to the Tanger Outlets in Texas City where Curtis Stone will be signing copies of What’s For Dinner. Who knows, maybe we’ll even convince his to come to our house for Sunday Supper –Martha

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Book(s) I Want You To Love

February 6th, 2013 Posted in Author Visits, Blue Willow Best Books, Book Reviews
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Book(s) I Want You To Love

Ok I know this might be cheating, but I want you to love the entire Heist Society Series by Ally Carter. Over the last few weeks I have read Uncommon Criminal, Double Crossed, and Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter. Each time I finished a book I thought that Ally’s writing could not get any better and it did! Yes, Kat comes from a family of thieves but the loyalty and trust they have for one another is priceless. One of my favorite characters is Uncle Eddie, who is the head of the family and who Kat and her crew turn to when they need advice. Pick up this series and go along on some of the most amazing adventures with Kat and her crew! Trust me you will be singing Ally Carter’s praises as well!

-Maria

 

heist books

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Crumbs In Our Pages AUTHOR VISIT Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman

November 26th, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews, Cooking
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Editor’s Note: This is definitely one of our FAVORITE COOKBOOKS this year. I ate the broccoli slaw (page 72) for lunch today.

 

Smitten Kitchen

 

It’s ALMOST here!!!!  We have been waiting many months for this day and it is finally almost here.  SMITTEN KITCHEN’s Deb Perlman will be at Blue Willow on December 1.  That is just a week away!!  We are busily planning our menu.  All the Blue Willow bakers and cooks are poring over the cookbook to decide on the perfect treats for the day!  We are so excited to host this author event.

Most of us at Blue Willow follow the wildly popular Smitten Kitchen cooking blog, and Deb has been giving us teasers about the cookbook for a while now.  The other day her Whole Lemon Bars came into my world.  Honestly, I’ve been making lemon bars for years, but these are BY FAR the best ever!   Imagine a little bite of sweet sunshine every time you take a bite.  By the way, I should mention this recipe is grandmother approved – I made them for our Thanksgiving for a “boost” on the dessert buffet!

 

Smitten Kitchen blog

Meyer Lemons from the backyard

 

Ingredients

Ingredients

 

Smells so good

Smells So Good!

 

Start with the crust and press that firmly into your dish and chill.  Now bake the crust until it’s light brown and let it cool.  Next is the gooey lemon layer: whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour and lemon juice – starring MEYER LEMONS from the tree in my backyard!  Pour this lemony goodness over your crust and bake until the filling is set – about 30 minutes.  Let this cool, cut and then dust with confectioners sugar.  ENJOY!  These are perfect for the holidays or any day actually!  Just a whole lot of happy in one little bite….

 

Cutting The Bars

Cutting The Bars

 

Plating The Bars

 

I hope you are all as excited as we are to meet Deb Perlman.  Again, she will be at Blue Willow on December 1st at 1:00.  Her new cookbook is the perfect Christmas gift for all the cooks on your list.  You do not want to miss this one.  All the Blue Willow bakers are ready to go!  Let’s give this New York girl a BIG TEXAS Welcome!

~~ Julia

 

Serving The Lemon Bars At Blue Willow

Serving Lemon Bars to our friends

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Crumbs In Our Pages — The Smitten Kitchen

November 12th, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews, Cooking, Neighborhood News
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Smitten Kitchen

The Smitten Tour is stopping here on December 1.

Bonjour, y’all!  I have left Paris and returned to Houston for the summer (I’ll let you ponder that one for a moment), and Valerie reluctantly agreed to let me jump back on the blog for a guest appearance.  Martha and I had a “Crumbs” reunion and spent a wonderful morning   cooking out of a new cookbook we both love, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman.  We were already fans of the wildly successful Smitten Kitchen blog, and had both been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Deb’s first cookbook.  Martha had to wrestle our advance copy  out of the hands of  some other (weaker) BWB employees, and I savored each page of it while our food was in the oven.  It is, as I expected, fabulous.

 

Deb Perelman

Deb Perelman

 

First, lets talk about Deb Perelman, shall we?  She is, like most of us, not a restaurant chef or one who was trained in a culinary institute.  She started a blog because , like most of us, she loves to cook.  I love that.  Deb lives in New York City and creates her incredible dishes in a teeny, tiny kitchen that is probably a fraction of the size of most of ours.  Plus, she is usually kept company in her teeny tiny kitchen by her teeny tiny (and precious) toddler.  All of these contribute to my admiration of this mom who can produce a gorgeous blog, and now an incredible cookbook.  However, what I really love is her casual and funny writing, which makes you feel like you are her best friend and makes you wish desperately you lived next door to her.  Or at least on her floor.  Martha and I suspect that she makes regular deliveries of her kitchen bounties to those lucky enough to actually be her best friends or her neighbors.  The easy, breezy style of her blog is also present in her cookbook, making it fun to read. And did I mention her photographs?  Oh my.  Food porn at its best.
So now that you know why we love Deb and her blog and her new cookbook, I”ll tell you about what we cooked today.
First we made leek fritters with garlic and lemon.  Leeks?  Fritters (=fried)?  Garlic? Lemon?  Really- how could you lose? These came together quickly and were absolutely delicious.  We chopped up three big leeks and cooked them in water.
Leeks

Leeks

 

Leeks Cooking

Cooking Leeks

 

Then we mixed the drained leeks with some dry ingredients and an egg.

 

Mixed with flour

Mixed with flour

 

Then Martha fried them like pancakes in a little olive oil.

 

Martha working hard!

 

As you can see, they get a nice brown crust on the outside.  Aren’t they gorgeous?

 

Finished

 

And Plated

 

Finally, we mixed up a little garlic lemon sour cream sauce to plop on top and it was time to eat!

 

Kate and Martha enjoy their fritters

 

Being the kind of girls we are, we wanted a sweet after our leek fritters, so we whipped up a delectable blueberry cornmeal butter cake.  Oh yes we did!  This cake was a quick but perfect combination of butter, cornmeal, lemon zest, blueberries,plus the other usual suspects.  On top went a streusel topping of sugar, flour, cornmeal, cinnamon, and butter.  Into the oven for long enough to bookmark a dozen other recipes in the cookbook I want to try, and then voila!  A delicious, moist cake with just the right balance of lemon, cinnamon, blueberry and butter.  Oh yeah.

 

Crumble

 

It has been a pleasure reconnecting with my “Crumbs” friends.  Stop by and see what I’m cooking up  at www.maisouiparis.wordpress.com! ~~ Kate

 

 

 

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Crumbs In Our Pages — Hugo Ortega’s Street Food of Mexico

November 2nd, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews, Cooking
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Editor’s Note: Join us in welcoming Hugo at 7 p.m. on Wednesday November 14

 

Hugo

 

I still remember going to Hugo’s for the first time; my girlfriends and I used to try different places around Houston for brunch once a month. As soon as I walked in, I knew it would be a brunch to remember. There was fun music, great people watching and the food was to-die-for!!! I piled my plate high with octopus-ceviche, quesadillas, corn bread egg Benedict and an amazing dessert table- who would have guessed hot chocolate in July would have been so good!?! So when I saw that Chef Hugo had a cookbook coming out, I knew I had to try some of his recipes!

When I first picked up the book I loved going through the recipes- it has everything from rabbit to squash blossoms to corn cups and other traditional Mexican street food fare…. I was excited to see a recipe for flautas- they just make me happy some days. But I decided that my first “Hugo’s recipe” needed to be ceviche.

I’ll have to be honest with you, part of me was scared out of my mind to make ceviche- “cooking” raw fish in lime juice tastes amazing, but 8% of my mind hoped that the shrimp/scallops/red fish  really we’re cooked before I ate it… Little did I realize how easy & impressive this dish would be!! I love the texts I got from friends lining up to try it- hopefully they will still be impressed next time when I try to octopus!

ceviche

Ceviche

 

– Jordan

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Bird Saviors: Author Visit by William Cobb

October 15th, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews
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Editor’s Note: Haven’t heard from us lately? Just look at the website and you will see where we have been.

We last saw Bill Cobb in 2006, when he was touring for his novel GOODNIGHT TEXAS.  We’re delighted to welcome him back home again, this time for his novel THE BIRD SAVIORS.

 

 

Alice really enjoyed BIRD SAVIORS and highly recommends it.  Here’s her review:

 

This story of several flawed but good-hearted characters and a few total jerks is set in a climate-ravaged central Colorado city of the near future. If there is a main character, it is Ruby, a teenage single mother who, along with most of the other characters, yearns to break free from the meaninglessness of daily life. She finds some hope in her job as an assistant to a scientist who has come to investigate the bird populations of the area after a major epidemic has wiped out a significant number of both birds and people. This novel is peopled with a lot of quirky characters — some LDS members who have gone to the dogs, Mexican immigrants, a Native American artist, a policeman who rides a horse, and their multiple story lines are loosely connected as we see their varied responses to life’s challenges in this verging-on-dystopian society.  Bird Saviors is vividly written and was an immensely enjoyable read.

 

Join us on Thursday night as Bill discusses and signs his latest novel.  If you can’t make it, but would like a signed copy, give us a call or order online.

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Blue Willow Bios: Martha Brockenbrough, Jeff Hirsch, & Eliot Shrefer

September 28th, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Back Flaps
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Editor’s Note: Last night we hosted THIS IS TEEN thanks to our friends at Scholastic. We have not done the lightning round in a while so it was fun with connect with these fun authors:

Martha Brockenbrough, Jeff Hirsch, Eliot Shreger

On Your Nightstand Now:

Martha Brockenbrough: Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas

Rats Saw God

 

Jeff Hirsch: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Dark Places

 

Eliot Schrefer:  Tiny Beautiful Things by Eliot Schrefer

Tiny Beautiful Things

Favorite Author to Meet (Living or Dead!):

MB: Robert Fulghum (he was her professor at one time)

JH: Susan Cooper of the Dark is Rising series

ES: E. M. Forster

Something You are a fan of:

MB:  Joss Whedon

JH:  My new miniature pinscher Rosie

ES: Computer games

Wine or Beer:

MB: Yes

JH: Beer

ES: Beer

Coffee or Tea:

All Coffee!

Mountains or Beach:

All Mountains!

Ice Cream or Chips:

MB: Ice Cream

JH: Chips

ES: Ice Cream

 

Enjoy their books here

 

 

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Crumbs In Our Pages — HOT SAUCE

September 10th, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews, Cooking
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This week our mouths are ready for a fiery fiesta as we dice, chop, and puree ourselves into Hot Sauce Heaven with Jennifer Trainer Thompson’s Hot Sauce! Techniques for Making Signature Hot Sauces, with 32 Recipes to Get You Started; Includes 60 Recipes for Using Your Hot Sauces.

 

Jennifer Trainer Thompson

Jennifer Trainer Thompson

Hot Sauce!

 

 

 

After a brief yet fascinating history of hot sauce, Jennifer’s 32 sizzling recipes for mild to wild hot sauces, salsas, and dips are sure to please all who want to add some zip to their table.  Salsa verde has always been my favorite, so I decided to give Jennifer’s recipe for Tomatillo Salsa Verde a try.

 

Freshest Ingredients

Freshest Ingredients

 

After broiling the tomatillos, they were gently pulsed in the food processor along with the remaining ingredients of a couple of serranos, a clove of garlic, on onion, a handful of cilantro, the juice from one lime, some cumin – and not five minutes later we were dipping our chips in a perfect green sauce.  Fresh is always best!

 

Tomatilla Salsa Verde

Tomatilla Salsa Verde

 

Hot Sauce! Cookbook also includes a chapter on recipes that use all of the sauces – from Jerk Chicken to enchiladas to brisket to chowders – there is a sauce or a salsa to enhance the flavor.  And just to top off the already perfect meal, a chapter providing recipes for tongue tickling cocktail is sure cool off mouths that have been set aflame.  Blue Willow staff members enjoyed Mexican Eggs with chorizo at last week’s staff meeting: scrambled eggs with chorizo and Monterrey jack cheese on a toasty tortilla with tomatillo salsa verde – who could say no to that?

 

staff meeting mexican eggs

Janet enjoying Mexican eggs at our staff meeting!

 

Join us this Friday at 5:00 when Jennifer Trainer Thompson visits Blue Willow to discuss her book.  We’ll have plenty of treats for sampling!

– Martha

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Blue Willow’s Happiness Project (Or How Nancy cleaned out her junk drawer)

August 24th, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Neighborhood News
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 Editor’s Note: Gretchen will be appearing at the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce Luncheon featuring her new book HAPPIER AT HOME on Tuesday, Oct 23. Tickets are available. Book sales will be handled by the happiest bookshop in Houston!

In 2009, Gretchen Rubin wrote a book called The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.  The book chronicles her 12-month adventure in researching theories about happiness and setting personal goals to become happier herself. It is fun to read, as well as inspiring. The world really could and should be a happier place and Rubin believes that goal can be reached one person at a time.

 

The Happiness Project

 

When Rubin came to Blue Willow shortly after the book’s release, we knew we had to have some fun, happy, quirky stuff happening that evening. One of the things that caught my eye while reading the book was a part that mentioned cleaning out your closets and using up all those old special occasion napkins that you’ve got stashed away. Yes, I could relate to that. I contributed several partial packages of napkins to the event, my favorite being the “Congratulations Class of 2006!”

Adding to my happiness of 1) Getting them out of my pantry, and 2) Amusing Ms. Rubin, was the fact that many of our bookstore patrons also thought this was a great idea. We initiated the Blue Willow Happiness Project and put out a call for napkins. We received BAGS of Halloween, birthday, Christmas, etc. napkins, promising that we would not throw them away, but instead put them to good use at our author events.

And guess what? We’ve finally run out. So, in our continuing quest to make West Houston a happier place, we’re once again taking donations of all those napkins that you can’t bear to throw out, but also can’t imagine actually using again. Here’s my contribution:

 

Happiness Project napkins

Happiness Project Napkins

 

And if you’ve got something that tops “Congratulations Class of 2006!” I can’t wait to see it. – Nancy

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Crumbs In Our Pages — Cowgirl Chef

July 24th, 2012 Posted in Author Visits, Book Reviews, Cooking
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Oh this was the best morning ever (well since the last best morning ever which was probably yesterday) – cooking with dear friend and fellow-blogger-before-she-moved-to-Paris-Kate; cookbooks were strewn all over the counters, mixers whirring, knives chopping, chit chat tumbling from our lips (that is, when we weren’t busy taste testing). What is it about being in the kitchen with a dear friend, or a precious grandmother, or a sweet child, or a big ol’ group of friends that is just so much fun (remember that great scene from The Big Chill)?

Ellise Pierce

Ellise Pierce

 

Cowgirl Chef, Ellise Pierce, discovered the same joy when she shared some of her favorite treats with her Parisian friends one day.  It wasn’t enough to just sample Ellise’s tasty tidbits, they wanted to get in the kitchen with her and have her give them cooking lessons.  That’s when Ellise’s love affair with food – whether from Texas or France – became her passion. She started her popular cooking classes, a flourishing catering business, and a fabulous blog.  This all led to her new cookbook, Cowgirl Chef where she mixes together the culinary best from both Texas and France.

rolling out the dough

Rolling Out The Dough

Texas Killers – a yummy cheese cracker in the shape of Texas – were on the to do list today to get ready for Ellise’s visit to Blue Willow this Saturday @ 1:00.  These tasty little treats have just the right amount of cayenne to give your mouth a kick. It’s the type of cracker that you could make a batch, serve some today and freeze the rest for another day.  Which is exactly what we’ll do…so when you come by the store this week, be sure to try a sample.  But don’t worry if there are only one or two left on the plate, there are more in the freezer for Saturday.

Texas Killers

Texas Killers

You’ll want to be sure to come by for some signed copies of Cowgirl Chef – one for you and one for each of those on your holiday gift list – this is the perfect present for those family and friends, both near and far, who share your love affair with all things Texan – with a whole lot of French flair thrown in for good measure! See you Saturday at 1:00 (à samedi à une heure, mes amis)! – Martha

Cowgirl Chef

PS – yes, you noticed right away that our Texas Killers are not Texas shaped – but you had no problem realizing that these were Lone Stars, didn’t you? They’re just as delicious…promise!

 

 

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