Dollop Book of Frosting.... and dogs.

Two good friends had birthdays this weekend and I wanted to get them something special. I have been shopping local for birthdays and this time I found a gift that is unique and "local". Heather Saffer who once owned the Penfield Dollop Cupcakes, and winner of Cupcake Wars, wrote a frosting cookbook "The Dollop Book of Frosting". It's packed full of creative, delicious looking recipes for frosting.

Heather has a super cute pup named Donald that she adopted from Rochester Animal Services. She posts adorable pictures of Donald on her Instagram feed and blog. Donald's Happy Tails story is even featured in the Verona Street Animal Society newsletter! It got me thinking. Pups and sweet tooth cookbooks go hand in hand (in my mind).

After I gave my friends, Nancy and Tina, each their cookbook, I asked them to take a picture of it with their pooches. Here is Ace and The Dollop Book of Frosting.

Ziva and the Dollop Book of Frosting.

Oscar, Hugo and the Dollop Book of Frosting.

I haven't even made a recipe from the book yet, and I am enamoured. I like to flip through the pages like a magazine, admire the photos, think about which recipes I will make and how I will enjoy the frosting.

With the holidays coming up "The Dollop Book of Frosting" would make a great gift. Especially paired with a cute spatula or whisk! I love gift themes!

Meeting Giada

Giada De Laurentiis was at Allentown Wegmans this evening signing her new book Weeknights wth Giada. I was so excited to drive down and meet her. She is just as gorgeous as she is on her show and even friendlier!

I can't wait to try some of the recipes in her new cookbook. It's true it can be hard to find enough time to make tasty dinners during the week and I'm hoping I find some gems in here.

Cookbooks and Orchids

Some of the goodies I got for Valentine's Day... a Rochester Public Market cookbook and cute spatulas. I am very excited to try something from the cook book.

I also hear rumors that there will be a food truck rodeo at the Public Market! I'll keep you apprised of that development.

For flowers I got this amazing heart orchid. Gah! So cool! I am trying my Grandma's trick of watering it by placing ice cubes in the pot to melt. It might seem like a bad idea knowing that orchids like warm conditions, but my Grandma's orchids are amazing. They look like they could walk out to the kitchen and fix themselves a snack... so I'm giving it a go!

Chef Martin Yan at Wegman's Veggie Fest

Today Chef Martin Yan was at Pittsford Wegmans for Veggie Fest. I was looking forward to seeing him. When I was a kid I used to watch Yan Can Cook on PBS with my Grandma.

Before Yan signed cookbooks, he demonstrated cooking different kinds of veggies. He has crazy knife skills. He can slice a mushroom to feed 25 people.

"Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. Cut. See how cute? You can cut mushroom any way you like! It's a free country!"

He is so funny! And super nice.

Sandwich

Sandwiches seem like a simple thing, bread with stuff inside. I was excited to see there was a 'wichcraft in Vegas, the sandwich shop I became enamoured with in NYC.

This time I got the goat cheese, avocado, celery, walnut pesto & watercress on multigrain bread. It was wonderful and as I was eating it all I could think was "why don't I make sandwiches like this?"

I try to get creative with my sandwiches... an egg in our grilled cheese, avocado in our BLT... but I could do more. I think I will put the 'wichcraft book on my wish list. Time to kick our samwaches (as Aaron says) up a notch.

Betty Crocker Notebook

I love this classic Betty Crocker Cookbook. I remember leafing through my mom's copy and drooling over things like petite fours.

My mom just found this Betty Crocker Notebook.

It has sheets of paper for pasting in your own recipes and dividers to organizing them. It is sooo vintage but has never been used!

I am torn between using it for my own recipes and keeping it mint.

Vintage Cookbook

My mom found this really old cookbook. It has some interesting recipes in it...

... but what I really love are the handwritten recipes on the back of the pages.

Who wouldn't want to try a Rolly Polly, Fat Cake or Sugar Pie?!

More Julie and Julia

I went to see Julie and Julia a couple weeks ago with my peeps. I loved it. I almost yelled when Amander Hesser (NY Times food writer and author of Cooking for Mr. Latte see blog post here) appeared on screen as herself! I also think you could create a drinking game where you take a drink every time butter appears or is mentioned.

After the movie I started reading the book Julie and Julia. I know some people thought Julia's story in the movie was great but felt Julie's was weak, but I loved the Julie storyline too... because she is a blogger. I could relate to so much of her storyline. The book Julie & Julia definitely has less of Julia in it so I got My Life in France to read alongside.

I really meant to look for a used version of Julia Chlld's infamous cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but everyone must have been thinking the same thing as me because I couldn't find it in the used bookstores. So I had to get a new version with the little movie ad wrap. Oh well!

One of these days I will make something tasty from it!

Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It

I stood and stared at ths cookbook for a long time at Wegmans asking myself - do I really need another cookbook?

Then I saw the recipe for kimchee and it came home from me. Of course I could have just got this recipe from my mom but that usually goes like this "Recipe?! I don't write anything down! Little of this, little of that... done!" Plus the photography is nice.

I have been on a bit of baking kick and I think I really need this cookbook. Sticky AND chewy AND messy AND gooey? Yum!

When fall hits I am so much more motivated to cook at home.

I am glad I got these vintage cookbooks at yardsales this summer. 

I can't wait to make a big gooey casserole.

Here are a few more goodies I got at the yard sale yesterday. 

Three vintage cookbooks ($1 each) and a small vintage Pyrex frying pan with removable handle ($4!). 

I am so pleased with myself.

Over the holidays I found this vintage Betty Crocker NEW Boys and Girls Cook Book from 1965 at a flea market. There are a few loose pages, but I loved the photography so much I got it anyhow. I have spotted a few things in the product shots that I would like to find.

The recipes are great too... meatloaf pie with scoops of mashed potatoes? Brilliant! They show how to stick a hard boiled egg inside a meat loaf too. Clever!

The cookbook was from a school library, and I like looking at the check out card on the inside pocket. I wonder what little Sheila Musser or Ernie Ackley made from it?