The Cookbook Road Test series takes a rarely used cookbook from my collection out for a spin. We’ll kick the tires, rev the engine and put the pedal to the metal down an open stretch of highway. Meaning we’ll try a few recipes and tell you what we think. Sounds much better in car lingo. Yes, we’ll play some music too. Every road trip needs a soundtrack, right?! 

The Cookbook: In a former life I was a meeting planner for Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA), a very worthy charitable organization whose conference that year was held in Milwaukee. In addition to providing high-quality education for attendees, we also hosted a fundraiser with a celebrity chef doing a cooking demo at the Milwaukee Public Market. We had no budget for the enormous fees that some of the big name chefs command, so we called in favors and wound up with a perfect fit in the lovely and talented Chef Wynnie Stein, a longtime member of the Moosewood Collective.

Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York, became well-known in the ‘70s as a very successful vegetarian, natural foods restaurant operating as a collective instead of a traditional business model. They’re still going strong, and have added cookbook-authoring to their menu of delights. Still not ringing a bell? How about this: The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Found in many kitchens including my own, this famous and beloved vegetarian cookbook was written in the ‘70s by Mollie Katzen, an early member of the Collective (but no longer).

That evening Chef Wynnie prepared several dishes from the Simple Suppers cookbook while speaking about the emotional and health benefits that kids derive from having family dinners at home on a regular basis. Strong families are what PCAA is all about, so this special event scored a home run in terms of message and donations. And I scored a free cookbook, autographed by the chef herself. ​

​​The Cookbook Road Test stories usually get decorated with fast car photos, but since this one is all about a simple, family-friendly meals we’ve got a safe, sensible minivan instead. 

As a guide to preparing quick, easy, delicious, mostly-vegetarian meals (there’s a small section on fish) this cookbook is modest and unassuming – no bling-bling recipes here! Here are a few representative recipes:

• Indonesian Sweet Potato & Cabbage Soup – recipe tested and included in this post (keep reading)
• Easy Egg Rolls & Duck Sauce – recipe tested and included

The next few recipes are not included here, listed only to whet your appetite and give a broader sense of this cookbook's range:

• Pasta with Broccoli, Edamame & Walnuts 
• Vietnamese Noodle Salad
• Black Beans with Pickled Red Onions

​Keep reading for recipes, pictures galore, a cool playlist, and the verdict. 

Look at that post title. Look at it. There’s nothing there I don’t like. Or is there? Let’s deconstruct it and examine the elements.

National. Although the spotlight is strong on the national stage, I firmly believe that all cake, like politics, is local.

Chocolate. Food of the gods. Symbol of decadence. Health benefits – hey, that becomes important to those of a certain age, you’ll see!

Cake. I know, I know, it’s for special occasions only. But it really is the cake that makes a special occasion special, amirite?

Day. This year it's Wednesday, but IMO every day should be a day in which cake is celebrated and given the recognition it so well deserves. 

Official National Chocolate Cake Day Proclamation: In moderation, anything goes. If you crave chocolate cake, have the cake. Maybe you'll make trade-offs elsewhere – salad for lunch, extra 20 reps at the gym. Maybe you won’t. Maybe you'll have just a thin slice, or savor all you want. Your choice. But if chocolate cake is in your future – and I do hope that it is – make sure it’s a good one. Never settle for so-so desserts!

Decadent-looking chocolate cake recipes straight ahead! You’ve been warned.
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• Salted Caramel Six-Layer Chocolate Cake – from Martha Stewart
• The Best Chocolate Cake (Ever) – from Add a Pinch
• Chocolate Cake with Divinity Icing – from Trisha Yearwood via Food Network
• Chocolate Roll Snack Cakes – from Food 52

Afternoon Dance Breaks are a recurring feature that invites you to get up from the desk, crank up the tunes, and dance your fool head off for a few minutes before resuming the daily grind. 

Ilise and I went to see Mr. Buddy Guy in concert Sunday night at his Legends Blues Club on Chicago’s Near South side. Amazing is a word that gets over-used these days, but this show was AMAZING! An innovator since the age of 7 when he crafted his first makeshift guitar, Buddy is now 79 and shows no signs of slowing down.
 
He rocked, he rolled, he moaned and wailed, all the while coaxing sweet riffs from his electric guitar. He even broke out an acoustic guitar for a trip through the Wayback Machine to compare and contrast the sounds of other blues greats including his pals Sonny Boy Williamson, John Lee Hooker and Eric Clapton. Although it’s hard to pick a favorite song from the 90+ minutes that he played, I’d have to say it was between his strong opener Someone Else was Steppin’ In and Meet Me in Chicago, the closing number that left the crowd begging for more.

Buddy is on the road touring the world’s great venues more than half the year, but each January he takes up a multi-week residency at his club. The houses are almost always full and the crowds warm and pre-disposed to love every minute of the show. They’re never disappointed, and neither were we.

Now let's all bring some bounce to the blues with the Buddy Guy Playlist. Get on up! 

Even if January weren’t designated as National Soup Month, I would still be making pots and pots of the stuff. Because winter, duh! And also because delicious.

Soup is one of my favorite things to cook, largely due to its flexible and forgiving nature. I no longer use recipes for my tried and true soups, chowders and stews, preferring to taste and add and fiddle to my heart’s content. Even with a new dish I’ll follow the recipe more or less but allow for culinary flourishes of my own (or subtractions, when the ingredients don’t suit our taste buds).

So in solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the East Coast, hunkered down against the blizzard of the century, or whatever hyperbole the newscasters are using this time (I’ve heard Snowmageddon and Apocalypse Plow), we made a big pot of minestrone soup. Pull up a chair and I’ll serve you a bowl.

Afternoon Dance Breaks are a recurring feature that invites you to get up from the desk, crank up the tunes, and dance your fool head off for a few minutes before resuming the daily grind. 

​The gentlemen in the photo above are Morris dancing. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it:
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You may or may not be happy to learn that today’s Playlist has nothing at all to do with Morris dancing. Just some good old “get up and shake your booty” tunage for your afternoon grooving pleasure.
Click the musicians’ names to learn more – OMI + Pentatonix
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Fish for Dinner is a feature chronicling my education in the ways of fish-cookery. I grew up avoiding fish other than sticks and was well into adulthood before adding the real deal into my diet (over time and usually at a restaurant). The impetus to cook more fish at home comes from joining a sustainable fish program through Hooked on Fish, like a CSA that delivers boxes of farm-fresh produce but with seafood instead. I’ll tell you what we made and how we liked it, plus a few tips and fishin’ tunes too.

Cod is a wonderfully versatile fish – mild in flavor, firm texture, easy to prepare in many different ways. Icelandic cod was the offering from Hooked on Fish, larger and leaner than its cousin, the more familiar and overfished Atlantic cod.  

I always enjoy the opportunity to cook things en papillotte (in paper), so was happy to find this easy yet elegant recipe for Mediterranean Cod Packets. (I guess “packet” is the down-home name for papillotte. Like when Charles III becomes Chucky to his pals.)

I had a little trouble with the packet-folding and had to resort to the stapler. I wasn’t sure if I should admit that, but hey, this is a “tell it like it is” kind of website after all.

Continue reading for the rest of the story, the recipe, plenty of pictures, and a fishing ditty for your listening pleasure.

Well, it’s official. Ilise and Ann’s big kitchen renovation project is finally all-the-way complete. We’re living in it, cooking in it, making a mess in it (some of us more than others, Ilise) – you know, just like normal. The major work was done in mid-November so we moved all the pots and pans and dishes and cereal boxes (so many boxes!) back into The New Kitchen … hereafter known simply as the kitchen. Window treatments and furniture arrived over the next several weeks and now the final-final punch list items have been checked off.

It turned out even better than we imagined. This kitchen has form and function. Not only do we like its looks but it also works like a dream. The flow between work spaces is so much more efficient – no more pardon me/’scuse me bottlenecks at the end of the peninsula! Storage to die for! Restaurant grade range and oven whose tricks we’re still learning. Lighting where we need it. We’re in love!
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And guess what, you guys, our kitchen has paparazzi! Okay, fine, one paparazzo. The wonderful design team at Kitchens and Baths Unlimited wanted pix for their portfolio, so there was a professional photo shoot in early January. Check out the gallery with photos by Saundra LaLone.​ Click to enlarge the photos.

​It’s been a full year since Ilise and I began our renovation journey. Time to reflect on the process, share some lessons learned, and offer a few tips for those who are considering your own renovation projects. Oh yes, there will be plenty more pictures too! (Click Read More below for the rest of the story.)

So how’s your new year going so far? We’re about 2 weeks into 2016 and, I’m experiencing familiar mixed feelings: a saucy blend of hope and self-criticism tempered with renewed vigor. Let me explain.

As warm and wonderful as the holidays were – and I do love the happy chaos of irregular work schedules, extensive pajama-wearing, and a little too much food and drink -- I’m never sorry to say Seeya Later to the Happy and the Merry and the Ho Ho Ho and get back to a regular routine of work and life and knowing what day of the week it is.

I enjoy the excitement and promise of a New Year. Beginning anew. Starting fresh. Out with the old, in with the new. Whether you make resolutions or not (I don’t make a specific list but do try to visualize the year ahead and my place within it) there’s something comforting about pressing that invisible Reset button on January 1. “As of NOW I’m going to do everything right.” My good intentions for the year include the usual things – better health, more family time, increased productivity – as well as reviving the blog and growing the readership. Two weeks ago these goals seemed realistic, measurable and achievable. I was psyched. THIS is the year!

So this post is my public announcement of intent to flip the script – for me and for you. I vow to NOT kick myself for having posted so infrequently of late, and instead will do my very best to create fresh, interesting new content as often as I can and when it’s fun to do so. I’m not going to condemn myself for the DID NOTs and the NOT ENOUGHs in the nutrition and exercise and productivity categories, but rather will  encourage myself to keep doing the things that I know will make me a better me. I deserve that.
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And you do too. If we’re able to keep walking down our self-determined paths, being gentle yet firm with ourselves along the way, I foresee a rewarding and fulfilling New Year for us all. Cheers to that!

On a somewhat related note January is Hot Tea Month. Also Soup, Slow Cooking, and Oatmeal Month(s). The common links among these are comfort, warmth and coziness. Employ these things liberally as you build new habits, experience change, and coach yourself to the success that you deserve.
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You have my very best wishes for a Happy New New Year. 

Afternoon Dance Breaks are a recurring feature that invites you to get up from the desk, crank up the tunes, and dance your fool head off for a few minutes before resuming the daily grind. 
 
Does it surprise you to learn that I'm a fan of loud heavy metal music? Not all of it, and not all the time. These days my heavy metal intake is pretty much limited to a few odd bands (the odder the better!) at the annual Pitchfork Music Festival. Back in the day, though, I did a little headbanging right up next to the big speakers. 

For some reason I really dig Rob Zombie, whose 51st birthday was yesterday. I think it’s because he adds a goofy B-movie horror ethos to the heavy metal rush. Doesn’t sound like it should work but give a listen to the Playlist below. I think you’ll be Headbanging right along in no time.

By the way, this is what Wikipedia has to say about Headbanging: 

Please enjoy this video clip from Revelations, one of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater's signature pieces. So beautiful. So powerful. If you have the chance to see them perform live, take it. You will be moved. Today would have been choreographer Alvin Ailey's 85th birthday. 
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Afternoon Dance Breaks are a recurring feature that invites you to get up from the desk, crank up the tunes, and dance your fool head off for a few minutes before resuming the daily grind. 

Let’s start the New Year dancing! Monday is Michael Stipe’s birthday – lead singer for R.E.M., the seminal alt-rock band from Athens, Georgia, that came up in the early 80s and peaked in the 90s, paving the way for indie bands to make it big without selling out.

Click here to learn more about Michael Stipe and R.E.M.

Click here for a cool video of the band.

Click the playlist below for your Afternoon Dance Break. Get up from the desk (or whatever) and shake it/ don’t break it for a few cool tunes from birthday boy, Michael Stipe and R.E.M. 
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