COOKBOOK REVIEW: The Looneyspoons Collection

The Looneyspoons Collection by Janet and Greta Podleski
Granet Publishing | November 1, 2011 | Trade Paperback


I have decided instead of starting a whole new blog for cookbooks and food, that I would just include a Foodie Friday post where I review a cookbook and share a recipe from it!


Today I am reviewing and sharing from the Looneyspoon gals, whom I adore.  They are a super fun sister duo that focus on healthy eating without sacrificing flavour.  Their recipes are easy and fun, and kids love the wacky names that they choose for them.  One of our old standbys around here is the Lord of the Wings recipe, I make it about once a month, and it is a huge HUGE hit.  


So far I have tried three recipes, they were all soup.   I am a huge fan of soup.  ANYway, the three that I tried were:

• Thai One On -  Exotic sweet potato and coconut soup with shrimp  -  This soup was excellent and super easy to make.  What I loved about it was the coconut milk flavour.  I did not add the shrimp, but I can honestly say that with the shrimp it would have probably made a 9 instead of the 8.5 that I gave it out of 10.  Super tasty. 
• Bean Me Up, Scotty Spicy, high-fiber black bean soup with a sour cream swirl-  This was rated a 10 by my finicky husband (especially in the soup department!) and by me, my oldest daughter gave it an 8 out of 10.  This was so super yummy I can't even articulate it well enough to describe.  The only thing I added was fried corn tortilla strips, super easy.  You slice up corn tortillas into 1/2 inch strips and then fry them in vegetable oil until slightly brown and crispy. 
• The Squash Court - Silky butternut squash soup with pears and ginger - I was the only one that tried this soup and I gave it a 7.  I'm not sure about the "silky" part of this soup, but it was pretty tasty.  The only thing I might omit if I ever make it again is the 3/4 cup light cream, it doesn't really need it.  

Here is the recipe (credit - Janet and Greta Podleski Looneyspoons Collection) * if someone in book blog land knows if for some reason I am not allowed to publish recipes from books, can you let me know??!  Thanks!

THE SQUASH COURT

2 tsp  olive oil or butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp  grated gingerroot

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

4 cups reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable 

broth

3 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash

2 cups peeled and chopped pears

1 cup peeled and chopped carrots

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup 5 % cream or evaporated milk 2%

• Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic.  Cook and stir until onions begin to soften about 3 minutes.  Add gingerroot, curry powder and ground cumin.  Mix well and cook for 30 more seconds. (I asked a friend who is a chef why I always had to cook curry powder for a bit before adding broth and he said it was to keep the curry from being gritty)
• Add broth, squash, pears, carrots, salt and pepper.  Bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 12 to 15 minutes or until squash and carrots are tender.  Stir occasionally.
• Working in two batches, carefully transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth.  Soup will be very thick (mine wasn't).  Return pureed soup to pot and stir in cream.  Serve hot.  

               

So far I love this book, and there are over 300 recipes in it!  I highly recommend it!


RATING:  4 out of 5 spoons

In which I spend money on books.... again.

Okay, so I'm sure that many of you can relate to this story.  I have A LOT of books around my house.  I would guess that 97% of them I have not yet read.  And despite my yearly promise to myself that I will not buy another book until I have tackled the hundreds that are already crammed in every small space in my house, I cave in probably within two weeks of making said promise.  When I bought my Kindle I thought, "HA! Now I won't have to have book buying guilt as I won't have to add any physical books to my shelf!"

Um.....

So, now do I not only have still hundreds of books unread that we are tripping over, used to stop a table from rocking, whatever... you get my meaning, I also have probably about twenty samples and maybe half a dozen books waiting on my Kindle, and some I started and will never finish.

Book buying diet... FAIL.

Not to mention cookbooks, I have a THING for them.  They also line shelves inside my kitchen, not in the hundreds but lets say there's more than two and less than thirty. (cough)

And while I was snooping around on the interwebs, always dangerous, I realized I had not stopped over at Pioneer Woman's abode in quite a few months, so I grabbed my Bailey's tainted coffee and knocked on her "www."

Well..... not only do I marvel in the force that her blog has become (a recent poll she took on one post about how young people feel took in over 46,000 comments.  Thaaaaat's right, not 46, not 460... FORTY SIX THOUSAND people commented.) I started to meander around her recipe index and then I saw that... GASP (and that's a REAL gasp, not the Christian Grey variety) SHE HAS A NEW COOKBOOK OUT!  

So there I was at Chapters this morning with my 5 year old in tow with every intention of just looking at it.  I picked it up and it was gorgeous in all its pioneer woman glory.  I took my daughter to the kids section so I could really give it the 'ol once over, and I looked once and it was over.  It literally took me about three seconds of flipping to know I wanted it, nay... MUST HAVE IT.  And then I looked up and saw a lovely display of YA novels just staring at me.  One may have been winking, but I'm not exactly sure.

Next thing I know a copy of Divergent AND the new Pioneer Woman Cookbook had somehow magically ended up in my hands and I was handing them to the cashier with a gamblers glee at the blackjack table.

Here I sit on my living room couch like a dieter who just went on a binge.  Even though it is just two books (I've done worse... much MUCH worse) I still feel like my house will actually be made of books someday, you know furniture, fridge, the whole thing.

Anyway, this is why I get very good at hiding Chapter's receipts like they are evidence of a crack habit from my husband.

Just like he hides receipts for his motorcycle doo-dads.  Right?  RIGHT?!!