Friday, November 20, 2009

Not to change the subject or anything

But it is hard to weigh a live turkey on a bathroom scale. I did it, sort of. She weighs about 20 pounds. I didn't even try with the Narragansett tom, who is about half her weight and even more skittish. He's really skinny. For an interesting take on heritage turkeys, I recommend this blog post

The author of that blog owns a ranch that is featured in the beautiful and inspiring Big Sur Bakery Cookbook, which I have. Of course. Since it is well past time to move on from Gourmet Today, I've been considering starting up with this book. But there are two other strong contenders. Here's the lineup:

-The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook (California cuisine; very concerned with purveyors; lots of text; seasonally organized)

-Moro (Spanish/Northern African. Downside: I have the British edition which means converting all measurements, which I dread. But it is supposedly a brilliant book)

-A16 (Italian; challenging; recipes for squid ink pasta and pancetta)

There's a poll, if you feel like voting.

13 comments:

  1. Here's how you weight skittish animals, and it's so easy, you will feel stupid. Weigh yourself, holding the animal, then not and subtract the two numbers. Duh!! One of my husbands few use of logic contributions to the world.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're right!! I feel stupid. There I was trying to hold the thrashing turkey on the scale.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I know you just finished up a mexican themed "cook-off" with two other cookbooks, so spanish food may be a little bit of an overlap (at least in my American-not-that-well-traveled head) but I am really curious about n. african cooking. I don't see it featured that much on the popular blogs. I guess if cooked north african food everyday, my opinion would be different. Anyway, I think it would be kinda different.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ok, that last sentence didn't make any sense. I meant it would be a nice change of pace.
    Also, I don't mean to offend anyone of Mexican or Spanish decent...It's those damn Chipotle and BajaFresh chains. Wait, are they TexMex? You see, Tipsy? This is why you need to test Spanish recipes so I can tell the difference between the two. At least until I get the chance to travel to both countries to find out for myself.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, North African! But Big Sur sounds cool, too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That technique is good for weighing babies and squirmy toddlers too (in case you want to see how much your nephew has grown).

    ReplyDelete
  8. i'm for north african. i think big sur would be great in the spring or early summer when procurement would be fun and exciting.
    spanish is okay in due time.
    but i vote for north african if for no other reason than reading about your picky family's horrified reactions night after night.
    they'll be hoarding stouffer's frozen dinners in neighbors' freezers.
    what fun!

    ReplyDelete
  9. correction: i meant italian could wait. spanish comes with the north african. sticking with my vote though.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I would appreciate it if you'd take a test run at North Africa for me, so that I'd have a better idea what to do with this tagine I bought. But on the other hand, I have been SO curious about the Big Sur Bakery book that I'm going to cast a vote for that.
    A16 I'm taking an obnoxious Bay Area position on, namely I ate there once and it was really good, but not nearly as good I don't think, as SPQR or Pizzaiolo, so therefore, I have doubts about their cookbook. So that's a vote against. But I am persuadable.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm for Moro... I eat Italian out--that kind of Italian--octopus under brick and egg en carrozzo regularly, so I won't cook it at home. I'd love to hear about N. African cooking.

    ReplyDelete
  12. We offer personal Business loans services around the world. We strive to provide high quality service and high customer satisfaction, while possible financial services. We pride ourselves on our commitment to our customers; We can give you personal loans, auto loans, business / investment loans, short term loans. You can contact us for an affordable loan now at 2% interest rate. Contact us now via E-mail: abdullahibrahimlender@gmail.com
    WhatsApp Number +918929490461
    Mr Abdullah Ibrahim

    ReplyDelete