Cinagro Farm Family Favorites

Cinagro Farm Family Favorites is a 20-years-in-the-making personal

cookbook compiled by Carol Engan Borrelli to honor her Norwegian,

Dutch, German, Czechoslovakian and Italian ancestors. With that kind

of lineage, there have to be some good recipes in it and there are.

Carol Borrelli's background in federal food inspection gives her an

appreciation for the organic lifestyle and her love of cooking and

gardening lets her practice it as well. You can view the beautiful

cookbook at her website at www.cinagrofarm.com

The first thing that catches my eye with this cookbook is the name of

it. Cinagro is "organic" spelled backwards. I love it! Borrelli's

philosophy is to use fresh, organic foods when possible. There are

about 500 recipes within the 250+ pages of the comb-bound book. We

love the comb binding which makes it easy to stay open when cooking

from it.

The recipes range from breakfast breads like Blueberry Orange Tea

Muffins (absolutely wonderful on a chilly Sunday morning like today),

and Homemade Yogurt that uses goat milk, Norwegian Breakfast Crepes

("Jeg elske disse crepes") to appetizers and beverages like

Angloasian Rum Punch and Tangy Orange Cheese (yum).

In the soup section I've marked Cream of Broccoli Soup to try

(probably will be dinner tonight) and I'm sure to try the Sausage &

Lentil Soup Borrelli also. There is also a great section on sauces

and salad dressings that I am pleased as punch to have to find new

favorites. They sound just delicious.

The miscellaneous and unusual section has recipes for seasoned salt,

Cinagro Farm Skin Cream, and Donna's Downeast Biscuits (for the dog),

just to name a few.

There are so many yummy sounding recipes that I can't name them all,

but I see very many I will be trying -- especially those blueberry ones!

The divider pages between the sections have artwork by Sharon

France. Her Americana style is quite attractive, Most of the old

barns in the paintings are set at a distance, showing big sky, green

fields, and an orange strip in the foreground that I believe depicts

a fall harvest. France's artwork can be viewed at http://

www.francegallery.net/ The cover art work chosen by Borrelli was

perfect for this cookbook!

Cinagro Farm Family Favorites is listed at www.amazon.com and also at

www.target.com, but is currently showing as out of stock on both

sites. Since this cookbook would make a nice gift at this time of

year, you may want to go straight to http://www.cinagrofarm.com to

place your order.

I will be watching for the sequel and I'm sure it will be just as

good as this one.

Mo

Bloggy Giveaway Winners Announced!

We have two winners, chosen by random.org and they are #1 Chocolate Queen and #2 Samsakara! 

Congratulations, ladies! Send me a private email with your snail mail address and I will get the Fiddlehead Cookbook over to you.

Here is your sequence:
18
31
Timestamp: 2008-08-03 01:49:01 UTC

chocolatequeen said...
I don't own a cookbook from Alaska. So, if I got this one the first thing I would do is read it cover to cover while soaking in the bathrub. Then I would bake some muffins, cookies or a bread from it!
July 29, 2008 11:22 AM

samsakara said...
This would be a gift I think would be great for my father inlaw. Thanks for the great giveaway!
samsakara@twcny.rr.com
July 29, 2008 5:40 PM

Thanks to all who left comments and entered the carnival.

Mo CookbooksEtc

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival is Here!

It's here! It's here! The Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Giveaway Carnival is finally here!

I am giving away a cookbook called "The Fiddlehead Cookbook" - Recipes from Alaska's Most Cherished Restaurant and Bakery.   There are many recipes in it that you will want to try, from Crabby Eggs to Sourdough Strawberry Waffles.

 

The rules are simple:

1. Leave a comment on this post just saying "Hi!", and you are entered! To be entered TWICE tell me something about your favorite cookbook OR what you would do with this nice cookbook from Alaska.

2. Please leave your email addy or a link to your blog  so that I can contact you if you win.   I would love to know where you are from and those that tell me will be entered TWICE!

3. I will randomly draw a name early on August 2nd and will post the winner here. I will also contact the winner via email, but if I do not hear back from him/her within 3 days, I will have a re-drawing. I will pay ALL shipping costs for the winner.

4. At this time, I cannot extend this offer to those residing outside the United States.

If you like giveaways, you will find lots of them here.

Thanks and I hope that some of you will "cook" with me!

Cowboy Chow

You never know what little gems you'll find at used book stores!  

On a recent used bookshop hop, I came upon the cutest cookbook in the shape of a red cowboy boot called "Cowboy Chow" by Judy Barbour.  It was published way back in 1988 so it has been out a while and had found it's way onto the cookbook shelves at Half-Price Books on Westheimer Road in Houston, Texas.  Lucky for me!

It seems that Judy Barbour and her husband, Barry, are (were?) chef/owners of a western style restaurant in Texas  and some of the recipes in this cookbook were created for the restaurant. 

There is a tribute to the American Cowboy, as well as sections on Cowboy Equipment, Cowboy Slang, Saddle Snacks and others.  Some of the recipe titles are:  "Armadillo Eggs", "Texas Trash", "Jalapeno Jelly", "Mexican Albondigas", "King Ranch Chicken" (of course!), "Frito Pie", a 100+ year-old family recipe for "Heubner Ranch Muffins", "Navajo Fry Bread", "Pastel de Margarita" (Margarita Pie), and thirst quenchers such as "Firefly", "Cowboy Kiss", "Border Buttermilk", "El Vacquero Coffee", and biggest surprise of all for me - "Cerveza Roja" (Red Beer).  I've heard of beer and tomato juice before but thought it was someone's idea of a quirky combination but never expected to see a recipe for it!   There are lots of other delicious sounding recipes in this 77-page specialty cookbook.

There is also a section on entertaining cowboy-style with cute and interesting ideas for a truly cowboy chow experience.

I checked online to see how available it is and located a few copies at Amazon and one at ebay.  If you should run across a copy somewhere and have a special cookbook shelf reserved for cowboy style cookbooks, this one should be on it, so grab it!

If you are a cookbook collector and would like to join CookbooksEtCetera, click here.

Australia Wide Cookbook

A couple of weeks ago I received a wonderful surprise in the mail, all the way from Australia! Michelle Moon of  the Australia Cookbook Collectors Society sent me a most beautiful cookbooks with photography by Ken Duncan, a well known Australian Photographer, and recipes by Valwyn McMonigal. She said she had  picked it up at a yard sale and the condition is excellent. It is such a nice book, not only with the beautiful countryside photos but also the unique recipes throughout.

There are recipes for crocodile, kangoroo, buffalo, Wattle Seed,  Yabbies, Aussie Meat Pie, Anzac Biscuits (yum!), Barramndi with  Orange Sauce, Lamingtons (another yum!), and others. The food photos  are very appetizing and the recipes sound simple and easy to make.  There are sections for different parts of Australia, such as  Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, Western  Australia, The Northern Territory and Queensland.

The photos remind me the Pacific Coast and also the Southwestern part  of the USA. Australia is a beautiful and vibrant place and I would  love to visit and try this food first hand! Between the recipes and  the photos, this cookbook is hard to put down.

Historic Texas Book of Days

"Historic Texas, Book of Days" by Yvonne Bruce & Ann Bruce Henaff, is a nice little planner, but also full of watercolors, quilt patterns, gardening and food "observances". There are a few recipes but this is not a full-fledged cookbook. The size is about 7" x 7" and it is hard cover. There is a beautiful watercolor of a Lone Star quilt pattern on the front of the book, done in red, white and blue.

Though there are no sections per se, to give you an idea of what this little book contains, here are some of the page headings, drawings, and topics throughout:

Garden Calendar (a nice little blurb about the pecan orchard near the Colorado River) and some very nice watercolor drawings of various veggies.

A page about windmills and more cute drawings of them -- they are so cute.

Plantation houses, stagecoach stops, hill country wildflowers, cattle drives, pecan trees, signs, weather events

Recipes for Pinto beans, drop biscuits, east Texas Mint Juleps, Plain Cake, egg nog, Hopping John

Gulf Coast waterbirds, white whicker chairs, gazebos, magnolias, lighthouses, seashells, the Wheelock Log Cabin

I am remembering that Cherrille was born in Texas and several others have lived here or are currently living here. I think you would all like this little "Historic Texas Book of Days".

Mar Jo and I each got a copy from Border's Bookstore at The Woodlands Market Square a few weeks ago and we are both enjoying it!

Collecting Cookbooks

It seems everywhere I look in our home I see a pile of cookbooks waiting to be read for an interesting and new recipe to try.  I pull a few off the shelves and bring to the couch where I sit with my MacBook most nights.  In between emails to CookbooksEtCetera, a group of cookbook collecting friends at yahoogroups, I like to read a little of what makes a particular cookbook unique and different to all others and maybe find a recipe or two to try the next week while doing so.  

They pile so high on the couch beside me that I have to kind of wiggle backwards as I sit down, being careful not to topple any over.  They sit there for a few days and then I'll take them back to the cookbook shelves in the spare bedroom and bring out more.  Usually they are ones that have been mentioned by one of the other collectors and I'll want to reacquaint myself with those cookbooks and see what prompted someone to mention them.  It feels like they are new again to me or that it is Christmas time and I have new presents, even though I've had many of them for years.

One of my favorites is a similar copy of a cookbook my Mother used to cook from called, "Woman's Home Companion Cookbook".  Her cookbook was black and my oldest sister inherited it from her, but when I found eBay, I also found a few copies of it for me and my other sisters.  There were 7 of us girls (and 2 boys), so it was fun to shop and hunt for more of Mama's cookbook so that all of us could have one.  The copy below is a popular one in a cream colored front with bullteted words of the recipes inside it.

Some of the recipes I tried when I first started cooking were fudge, biscuits, and yellow cake. I used to make a jelly cake that was just too easy and everyone loved it!  Even though I don't have my Mama's copy, the one I found on eBay is probably my most special cookbook in my collection of 2000 cookbooks.

Do you have a favorite cookbook too?

Audra Marie -- Winner at CookbooksEtc's Bloggy Giveaway!

Congratulations to Audra Marie for winning the Best of The Best 500 Fast & Fabulous Five Star 5-Ingredient Recipe cookbook that I gave away during the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival. Be sure to check out her cute and sassy blogspot full of sassitude.

I will be contacting you today via e-mail to let you know how to collect your prize. You'll have four days to respond to my initial e-mail with your snail mail address. If I don't hear from you by then, I will pick a new winner.

Thank you to everyone who played along! What fun! I can't wait to share my love of cookbooks with you!

If you are new here and found me via the carnival, why don't you subscribe to my feed (click that orange button on the left sidebar to add me to your feedreader) so you'll know every time I update my blog with more cookbook fun.

If you are interesting in being a member of CookbooksEtCetera, a cool group of cookbook collectors, why not join us at yahoogroups by clicking on the link at the top right hand corner of this blog.

Happy Cookbookin'...

Mo CookbooksEtc

Bloggy Giveaways Carnival is Here!

Bloggy Giveaways Carnival is Here!

Best of The Best 500 Fast & Fabulous Five Star 5-Ingredient Recipes Cookbook Giveaway!

Drawing will be on April 27.

Leave a comment ON THIS POST in order to be entered in my giveaway. 

It's fairly new. It is full of quick and easy recipes. I was going to cook from it every day for a while but now I'm going to give away this copy to a lucky winner. Now you can try a new recipe -- if you win. This is a Best of the Best cookbook series-- but since I want to be a part of the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival ... I think I'll give it away.

So -- in order to participate in my giveaway you need to leave a comment. Long or Short -- it doesn't matter. Make sure when you comment, there is a valid e-mail address so I can get a hold of the WINNER! If you do comment -- will you tell me what part of the country you are from? I love to find out how close or far away people are who are reading my blog.

If you would like to participate in the over 500 other giveaways -- you can click on the pink bloggy giveaways box on the right hand side of this post. That will take you to the starting post. Comment away!

I will be limiting this giveaway to US Residents only. But I'll even throw in the shipping. So it's TOTALLY free.

I'll do a random drawing on April 27 -- probably have my hubby help me out with that... and the winner will be posted here that same day.

Best of The Best 500 Fast & Fabulous Five Star 5-Ingredient Recipes

I am currently working on my collection of the Best of the Best state cookbooks by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley and am only about 1/4 of the way through the states, mainly collecting those where I have so far lived, or have received as gifts during cookbook swaps.  Not even being halfway through the list however finds me wishing for more states in the US besides just 50.  I love the concept of a grouping of cookbooks and then recipes from within cookbooks that these two ladies have found for us, but with only 50 states in the USA, there probably won't be many more of these unless we see some second volumes coming out and that would be o.k. with me!  

I should not worry with Gwen and Barbara in the kitchen as they will continue to find plenty more cookbooks and recipes  to edit and develop for us hungry cookbook collectors and recipe testers.   After researching, editing and cooking for more than thirty years, they were bound to come up with new ideas for new cookbooks and that one of them should be for easy and few ingredients was almost a no-brainer for them, I'm sure.

We were delighted just a few years ago when "Beyond Grits and Gravy" appeared and now I've received a copy of "500 Fast and Fabulous Five Star 5 Ingredient Recipes".   The good thing is that there are MORE than 500 recipes, the better thing is that they are easy, and the best thing is that each recipe requires only 5 ingredients.

There seems to be a "5" theme to this cookbook -- not only in the title but throughout the cookbook.  I didn't expect to read anything about the Pentagon in a cookbook, but it has five sides so there is a short description as well as photo of it on the page with recipes for "Classic Cheese Straws" and "Crisp Criss-Cross Cheese Wafers". On page 63 with recipes for "Enchilada Soup" is a definition of "High Five" -- a celebratory gesture made by two people, each raising one hand to slap the raised hand of the other.  What a fun and interesting theme they have chosen to include here.

The recipes are easy and delicious and I'm delighted to find one for "Peanut Butter Cornflake Candy" since it was a favorite of mine in my teen years.  Other favorites I'm happy to see included are "Lemon Jell-O Cake" and "Apricot Nectar Cake".  

What a fun cookbook this is turning out to be!  HIGH FIVE to Barbara Moseley and Gwen McKee on their latest "Best of the Best 500 Fast & Fabulous Five Star 5 Ingredient Recipes".  They do know how to pick winners! 

Portia's Little Cookbooks

Portia Little's Cookbooks

These little gems are great and you should have a set of them in your collection!  Portia Little is very creative with her little cookbooks and while they are fun to read, they are also of a practical size that you can easily carry along to the grocery store, tucked away in your purse.

Hello and Welcome!

I've shared my cookbook collecting thoughts with hundreds of cyber friends for the past 8-1/2 years at a yahoogroup called CookbooksEtCetera.  We've had fabulous cookbook reviews, e-published several cookbooks of our own, and even met up occasionally at mini-conventions and regional gatherings.  

While we are currently meeting up with each other at smaller regional gatherings all over the US, there is a bigger event coming in October 2009 in Kansas City, MO.  The occasion will be the celebration of our 10th birthday as a cookbook collectors group and it will be a BIG Birthday Bash complete with birthday cake and ice cream!  More details to follow, but if you are a true collector of all things cookbook, you may want to join us and experience the fun of getting together over cookbooks!