Sunday Salon ~ October 5th, 2008

 

Hello there!  Well, this weekend was not a weekend for reading.  Last week was though and I started Judith Matloff’s Home Girl ~ Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block.  Back in August, Judith joined us here at Planet Books for a guest post.  You can check out her guest post HERE where Judith shared her writing experience with us.  So far Home Girl is reading very well.  It’s almost like watching an episode of HBO’s The Wire, reading about all the drug dealers on her ‘lawless block’ in Harlem and trying to live along side them.

 

 

This weekend did not bode well for reading because we were busy with acupuncture/massage on Saturday morning and with celebrating Hubby’s birthday which is Monday.  We thought he was leaving today for a business trip but that was pushed back a few days so we decided to make his birthday a weekend celebration.  Friday night we tried out a Chinese restaurant we had heard about a couple of years ago and damn was it good.  I think it may have been one of the best meals I have had at a restaurant on this island in three and a half years!  Delicious!!  For all of you readers out there who share this island with me, it was The Peacock Chinese Restaurant on Rte. 58 just south of Futenma Marine Base. 

Last night we went to dinner and karaoke with dear friends of ours, who after living in Okinawa for the last ten years are moving back to the States on Monday.  We will miss you Gale & Jim!!!!

Today I made waffles for Hubby and then we went to the commissary.  This evening Hubby and I (he did 90% of the work) made one of Tyler Florence’s lasagna recipes.  I gave Hubby two of Tyler’s cookbooks for his birthday so he picked the lasagna recipe to make this evening and we will be eating lasagna for the next four days.  It is amazing though and probably THE BEST lasagna I have ever had!  The cookbook is Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen: An Indispensable Guide for Anybody Who Likes to Cook.  The other Tyler Florence cookbook I got Hubby is Eat This Book: Cooking with Global Fresh Flavors. 

Did you have anything sinfully delicious to eat this weekend?  If you made something from a cookbook at home, please tell us about it and which cookbook you used.  Hubby and I love cookbooks as well as learning about new dishes. 

Cookie Marathon ~ Week 4

After this week I’m going to cut down on the baking and only make a cookie recipe every two weeks. The hubby is starting to complain about the yummies every week and I am using so much butter, it’s a bit ridiculous.  Plus it doesn’t help that last week on Martha Stewart Living it was Cupcake Week and I couldn’t resist making two of her cupcake recipes in the last week.  Her Coconut Cupcakes and her White Cupcakes.  DELICIOUS!!!!!  (Sorry there aren’t any pics… they were gone in an instant!)

Today Rocky and I had a lovely day of making Martha Stewart’s Almond Horn cookies from the Martha Stewart Cookie Cookbook and reading BOOMSDAY.  Tomorrow I’m going on a guided tour with friends of the local Japanese Love Motels.  It should be interesting and I will report on what I learn right here on Planet Books.

The Almond Horns turned out pretty well on their own but would probably be better accompanied with a cup of coffee or tea.

Cookie Marathon ~ Week 3

Today the hubby took the day off in honor of our four year wedding anniversary last week.  We took advantage of a beautiful and quiet Monday and drove up north of Nago to a quaint little restaurant on a montain top overlooking the East China Sea.  It’s called “Pizza In The Sky” and it is a pain in the neck to find as well as takes an hour and a half to get to.  Thank goodness the salad and pizza were as good as I remembered!  The hubby liked the view and atmosphere as well as the food.  The dining is mostly outdoors and the view is breathtaking. 

After returning home the hubby took care of the lawn and I made my fourth cookie from “Martha Stewart’s Cookie Cookbook“.  They’re called “Cashew Caramel Cookies” and OH MY GOODNESSS….. they are awesome.  You take the cashews and put most of them in the foodprocessor and pulse till they are finely processed.  Then you take 2 Tbsp’s of conola oil and add that till you have a nut cream.  Cashew Butter.. kind of!!  These cookies were great naked and drizzled with caramel.  Check them out below.

Cookie Marathon ~ Week 2

My newest hobby is making a cookie a week from my new

Martha Stewart Cookie Cookbook.

         

Well today I made her Macaroons and boy are they tasty!  I love, love, love coconut and this was just the easiest recipe to whip up and bake.  Forming the cookie peaks was a messy task but so worth it in the end.  Check out these little mountains of yumminess!!!   

                             

              

         

Cookie Marathon – Week 1

                           

Last week I received my copy of Martha Stewart’s Cookies Cookbook and couldn’t wait to dive in and try some recipes.  Well I may have a new hobby here folks and that is making a cookie recipe a week.  The hubby thinks I should start a blog titled “How Fat Can Pete Get?” but I think I will stick to posting pictures of the cookies I make here on Planet Books instead. 

I actually made two of the 175 recipes over the weekend and man, were they delicious.  The first one is “Thin & Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies”.  Now, I have always made the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Cookie and have never strayed from that sure fire recipe but I was curious about this one.  Well folks, it was AWESOME!!!!  Buttery and crispy and HUGE! 

The second cookie I made was “Chocolate Thumb Prints”.  This was a first of this type of recipe for me and it was fun to make.  I finally figured a better way of making the thumb print with the last batch.  Instead of freezing your finger on ice and than pressing it into the hot hot cookie, I chilled the tip of my coffee scoop and used that to make the indentation.  I got a deeper hole that looked nicer when holding the chocolate filling after completely cooling.  Below are pics of the two cookies on a platter for a going away party I attended on Tuesday.