My Favorite Cookbooks -- "The Art of the Tart"

Last time I counted (and I have bought more since then) I found that I own over 125 cookbooks. Whenever someone comes over to my house, that's one of the first things people comment about. The inevitable question is "Do you actually cook out of all of those?" Well, the answer to that is, "Of course not". I am a recovering cookbook-buying addict, and I'm the first to admit that many of those books were bought in the heat of the moment. Some of my favorite mistakes, which I have never cracked open include "Salsas That Cook" by Rick Bayless, "The Food of Malaysia" by heaven knows who, "Bobby Flay Cooks American", by, of course, Bobby Flay, and, much to my chagrin, "How to be a Domestic Goddess" by Nigella Lawson. I know, the irony of not even attempting to cook something out of that book is just out of control.

While there are many cookbooks on my baker's rack that go ignored, I have several that I break out on a regular basis. These are the cookbooks that I will be featuring in this new section of my blog entitled, surprisingly, "My Favorite Cookbooks". First on my list has some of the most beautiful food photographs I have ever seen. "The Art of the Tart" was written by none other than Tamasin Day-Lewis, who's very famous brother just won an Oscar for "There Will be Blood" which I actually haven't seen. But don't think that Tamasin is just a hack in the kitchen riding on the coattails of a famous brother. She is amazing!


This book has vibrant and lush photos, and a nice linen weave on the outside cover. She also does something I love which is to include a metallic pantone color (877C, I'm pretty sure) on the inside cover, which adds a very nice classy touch. Once you get past how pretty the book is, you can begin to delve into the recipes, which is where the goods are at.

My top three favorite tarts in this book have to be (not necessarily in this order): The Souffléed Cheese Tart with it's deliciously rich Gruyere and mustard pairing, the Tomato Prosciutto Tarts, covered with fresh basil and baked on a delicious puff pastry base (this tart is pictured on the front of the cookbook), and the Brûléed Black Currant Tart with its fresh berries and caramelized sugar crust on top. There are 90 different tart recipes for every season and every pallet. There are very easy tarts and more advanced tarts; there are tarts for everyone! So do yourself a favor--pick up this book next time you are browsing in Borders for a good cookbook (am I the only one who does that?) You can actually get this book online at Amazon, used for a little over $7.00, which is a steal! Do it!

Friends in High Places

So the other day I saw Orrin Hatch on Facebook and I thought to myself, "That's kind of progressive of Orrin". So naturally, since Orrin is one of my two Senators, I invited him to be my friend. Sure enough, a couple of days later, I got a notification that Orrin accepted my friendship invitation.This opens up a whole new world of social networking. Who's next on my friendship list? Barack Obama? John McCain? Mitt Romney? The sky's the limit.

Cry Me a Riverdance Part II -- The Resolution

For those of you who have been following my Riverdance Saga, I have a resolution to report. If you haven't heard the Riverdance story, you can check it out here. Go on, I'll wait.

So I got a very nice call this weekend from Kingsbury Hall. I sent them an email last week letting them know how disappointed we were to have such poor seats for the Riverdance show, and I even sent them photos of our view, which I previously shared on this blog. Well, Brooke, who is the Ticket Office Manager, left a message for me profusely apologizing for the oversight. Apparently, the seats we were sold were never supposed to be sold unless you had been informed that there was an obstructed view (makes sense). They were also never supposed to be sold over the internet, and Kingsbury Hall had no idea how those seats got into the mix. So Brooke and I finally spoke today and she offered to refund our tickets 100%. She is cutting a check for the entire amount, and as an added goodwill gesture, she is also throwing in 2 tickets to the Saturday night performance of "Celtic Woman" in April. Yes, "Celtic Woman". I wish, with everything inside of me, that you all could have seen John's face when I told him that he has to go see "Celtic Woman" with me to make up for the Riverdance mishap. Priceless. Michelle was over here when he found out and laughed her way out to her car.

To be fair, once I read up on the Celtic Woman group, I actually got kind of excited to see them. Want to share? Here's a sampling of what they do:


So it's pretty much like a two hour Enya concert, but with smoke machines, little jigs and 5 Irish chicks with the most adorable accents. It makes me proud to be 6% Irish.

Words to Live By

I have a new favorite quote. It was given by one of my heroes, Marjorie Pay Hinckley:

“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”

Love it, love it, love it! I ran across this the other night and loved it so much that it is now hanging on my desk, along with the question "What Would Marjorie Do?" Hopefully it will help me to not be ornery during the work week :) No promises though.

Fiesta in February

Fun day today! We got together with a few families in our neighborhood and had a grande Mexican feast. One of our friends made a dutch oven smoked pork roast cooked with cumin, orange and wrapped in banana leaves. She also made rice and homemade refried beans which were amazing. My food assignment today was tamales and flautas. I've been thinking for several months of the best way to make a more healthy tamale, and Eureka!!! today I figured it out. Tamales traditionally have a lot of lard in them, and since I'm not a huge fan of large quantities of pig fat, I've been trying to figure out how to keep the masa dough soft and the texture right while making it healthier. Normally, I don't try brand new experimental recipes on large groups of people who I have never cooked for before, but I decided to give it a go today. I'll actually put the whole recipe up here on a later post, but the secret ingredients that really made these tamales pop were pureed fresh corn, chicken broth, olive oil and organic Grade A maple syrup. I know, I know, who'd have thunk? Watch for this recipe soon!

I also got to hang out with my awesome sister-in-law Michelle today. She celebrated my off-day today by requesting brownies, which I happily made for us. We also watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe since she had never seen it. I have her reading the prequel tomorrow (The Magician's Nephew) which is an amazing book. Chelle, can't wait to hear what you thought! Next up, The Dawn Treader, but that's another book for another day. Poor Michelle tried to take a nap all day today but only finally fell asleep 10 minutes before she had to leave to work. Oh the irony.

Another Successful Girl's Night

With the exception of having a waiter that shot every single picture of us blurry, Lisa having sick kids and Bonnie having to take care of a sick family member, we had a very successful Girl's Night this month (although it is never the same without everyone there). This time we ate dinner at La Vigna in American Fork and it was pretty good! We spent a great deal of time discussing the Little Red Riding Hood century in June, and decided to get custom designed jerseys for the ride. In fact, a lot more time was spent on the jersey design than on how we are actually going to train our bodies to ride 100 miles in one day. Actually, Mary and Lisa are already there, but the rest of us have a bit of work to do. Thank goodness Gold's has a cycling class.

In other news, we talked about taking a girl's trip to Brianhead to do some mountain biking when the weather warms up. I can get us a week at the Cedar Breaks Lodge and Spa, so we need to chat more about that. It looks like a pretty good place to stay:

Plus what's not to like about Brianhead? It's a great little town with lots of fantastic trails. We have lots of good memories there! More on this trip later...

Crazy about Kodiak Cakes and John's New Haircut

Two things today, let's start with the food part:

Those who know me well know that 6 days out of the week, I try to stay away from unhealthy food (sugar, white flour, all the good cheeses, etc.) To keep myself sane and to give myself something to look forward to, I take either Saturday or Sunday (let's be honest, sometimes it's both) as what I refer to as "off-days". When off-days come around, all bets are off. Some weeks, I start planning what I'm going to eat on my off-day on Monday. Oh, and holidays are automatically off-days. John thinks I have an abnormal obsession with food, and he's probably got a point. I do dream about my favorite foods, and think about them more often than is probably normal. In fact, as I type this, I'm thinking about popcorn.

So last week, one of my best friends Candice told me that she met some dude who invented a healthy pancake and waffle mix. They are called Kodiak Cakes and the are made with "100% whole grain wheat and oat flour, natural honey, egg whites and milk, and you only add water. Kodiak Cakes have no added fat, no cholesterol, and are not made with sugar or preservatives." You might think that these would be tasteless or bland, but that is not the case. I tried some yesterday and they were delicious!! Really truly yummy and also very fast and easy. I bought my box at Harmon's, but I'm sure they have these all over. Next time you're at the store, do yourself a favor and pick some up. They are a little pricey is the only downside, but they are also not made from crappy ingredients, so it makes sense. Also, I have no affiliation with Kodiak Cakes, and I don't know the dude who makes them, I just think they are yummy and healthy, and that's a winning combo in my book. Oh, they also have a brownie mix, but I haven't tried that yet so I can't comment on it, only to say that it's out there.

Second thing:

When John and I were first married, we were broke and I used to cut John's hair. Let's be clear up front--I do not know how to cut hair. However, in the interest of saving money, John allowed me to be his stylist for a couple of years. But then, after we started to be a little more successful, he fired me. Kicked me to the curb. So this week, we tried in vain to get him a haircut (he goes to the Supercut). We tried to go twice and they were closed both times. He got desperate and finally asked me if I would cut his hair. So I did! Here's how it turned out:

After I finished the haircut, John told me that I am hired again, so I'm feeling pretty good about myself. He also told me that he really likes the cut because it's kind of a Jack Shephard look from LOST. I could take that one of two ways: 1) Jack Shephard's character is rugged, manly and masculine, and he has a haircut to fit. His hair looks amazing, or 2) Jack Shephard's character has been living on an isolated island in the middle of the pacific ocean for several months, and his only grooming tools consist of a dull razor and most likely a sharp rock. Which is it? Only John knows for sure.

I think I'll go eat some popcorn now.

Cry Me a Riverdance

John and I wanted to do something special this year for Valentine's Day. We both had some good ideas, but when I heard that Riverdance was going to be in town the weekend before V-Day and that it was their farewell tour, I proposed that we get tickets for this once in a lifetime chance to see the famed Irish Dancers. John was less than enthusiastic, but I was determined. Kristina and I went to see Riverdance in Boston a few years ago, and it was amazing, bordering on life-changing. I knew if I could just get John there, he would be shocked and awed by the performance. I had vivid memories of the dances, and was sure I could convince John that it was worth it to pay $65 per ticket to watch Irish dancers, if I could just get him there. Since John is a very sweet and wonderful husband, I won out and we got some of the last remaining tickets to the Friday Night performance at Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake. Here's what I remembered from seeing Riverdance in Boston:


But (and there's always a but), when we got to Kingsbury Hall, we were led to our seats only to find out that, unbeknownst to us, we had been sold tickets with an obstructed view. And by obstructed, I mean really obstructed and really crappy. Here's what we spent the evening looking at:


John made the comment that he could not see much of anything throughout the entire performance, as the top railing obstructed his view of the dancer's heads and the bottom railing obstructed his view of the dancer's feet. As you well know, Irish folk dancers are renowned for keeping their torsos and arms perfectly still as they dance, so all he was able to see was several floating torsos hovering around the stage for 2 hours. We did try to get our seats moved but were told that the show was sold out so there were not other seats available. Did I mention we paid $65 each for these tickets? Did I also mention that they never mentioned at any time during the ticket sale that these seats had an obstructed view? Can I just tell you how livid John was??? He was NOT a happy camper. Having seen Riverdance before, I was so excited to see this Farewell Performance. I was anticipating a nice evening with some great dancing and some wonderful memories to take home with me. Instead, I left with a kink in my neck and a very angry husband who spent the 45 minute drive home telling me repeatedly that he would never go back to Kingsbury Hall. Ah well, it's the luck of the Irish, isn't it?

Last night, I found a video of Irish dancing on You Tube, and when I showed it to John, he said this would have been a lot more entertaining than the show we saw:

Little Red Riding Hood

OK, so I'm not feeling 100% confident about this decision, but I have decided to attempt my first century, or 100 mile bike ride. That's 100 miles, in one day. On a bike. My good friend Lisa (along with her husband) just finished a century last weekend in CA, and has recruited me to ride with her and another good friend, Mary, in the Little Red Riding Hood in June. Kristina has also committed to ride in it, which means 4 of the 6 member's of Girl's Night are in. Next Girl's Night is this Thursday, so we will work on getting the other two, Bonnie and Kelly, to sign on as well.

The Little Red Riding Hood (love the name, by the way) is one of only two all women centuries in the USA. We'll be riding through scenic Cache Valley and Northern Utah which should be spectacular in June, and especially green after all the snow we've gotten this year. We'll be riding on rural and country paved roads and terrain is mostly flat. I've been riding all winter, but just stationary bikes, and it's just not the same, so I have some serious training to do. I'm pretty excited to do this though. It will by nice to ride with my friends again! For old times sake, I have to post this photo:

This is one of my favorite pictures. Left to right, Mary, me, Corey and Kristina after a killer mountain bike ride in Brianhead that dealt us a surprise hailstorm mid-ride. Hopefully there will be none of that in June, but you never know.

Great News from Juarez!

We had some really good news today! Some of our best friends, Zeb and Daisy have been living in Juarez for the past year. Zeb was hired by the state department last year and has been working in the immigration office at the El Paso border crossing. At any rate, they have decided to move back to the states!!! We are so excited to spend some time with them before they head to their new digs in Elko, NV (which is way closer than Juarez, so it's a huge improvement.) Daisy will be flying out here in a few weeks to have her baby close to her mom, and she'll be bringing all the kids with her. We cannot wait to see them!

Spring Fever

This is the time of year that I start to get really stir crazy waiting for spring to get here. I thought we might have an early spring, but nothing doing (stupid groundhog). So many fun things happen in the spring and I can't wait to celebrate them. March 13th is my parents wedding anniversary (51 years this year!), March 21st is my cute mom's birthday, March 23rd is Easter this year, and March 31st is the anniversary of my first date with John, which is also the first day I ever met him (blind date). April is the month we got engaged and it is also my sister-in-law Jessica's birthday (April 13th). March will also bring the all important Cadbury Eggs to a grocery store near you. So much to look forward to!

Just another note on winter/spring: I'm SO sick of the snow!! Last Wednesday I was on my way out to Lehi to visit a client and I got caught in the mother of all snow storms. People were literally sliding off the road right in front of me. I kept calling John and our conversations would go something like this:

Me: Hey, I'm in a really bad snow storm.
John: You should turn around and come home.
Me: I can't, I'm on the freeway, but might be sliding off the road soon.
John: You should probably hang up and drive then.
Me: OK, love you, bye.

So after a few calls like that, I hung up and snapped several pictures of how bad the roads were and then emailed them to John while I was driving.
Next call:
Me: Hey, I'm still in a really bad storm. I just emailed you a picture of how bad it is.
John: You emailed me?
Me: Yeah, from my blackberry.
(Pause)
John: What on earth are you doing emailing me when the roads are this bad??!! Babs! Hang up and drive!!!
Me: OK, fine.

Oh my sweet husband, he really worries about my driving. But seriously, these roads were horrible! Here is one of the photos I took while driving:

This isn't a blurry picture, it's just how bad the visibility was on the road. I guess it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to take a picture under those circumstances, but what's done is done. Please hurry spring!!