Get to Know a Serious Eater.

Angie_Earthy's Profile

Website: http://www.earthy.com

Location: DeWitt, Michigan

About: Fun Loving "Foodie" both professionally & personally. Wife & Mom (kids & canine)

Favorite foods: Chocolate, Seafood, Steak

Last bite on earth: Chocolate of some sort.

The Ten Most Recent Comments By Angie_Earthy

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

Well I Have lots of cookbooks and I love the two above mentioned but I have to say my very favorite is the Better Home & Gardens from the late 70's that was my Mom's. It is always just a good place to start with anything. I have my Grandma's from the 1940's and a recent pink ribbon update version that I also bought for my daughter.
They each have a little variance between recipes included and ingredients in the recipies but the consistency throughout them is they offer good solid recipes that even the most basic cook can follow. I hardly ever follow a recipe as written (unless it is baking) so it is a usually a nice guideline for quanities. Not Gourmet just good home Cooking. For Gourmet I like to buy specialties subject type cookbooks.

From Required Eating

In Videos: 'Waiters Who Are Nauseated by Food'

I watched this while eating my lunch at work and almost spit out my food this cracked me up so much!!

From Talk

meat from humanely raised animals

I read an article recently, (I think it was in Gourmet but I'm not sure), about the stance that Wolfgang Puck is taking regarding this issue. He has made the statement that his restuarants will only serve meat that has been humanely raised. Whether it is for publicity or a strong ideals regarding this issue I'm not sure. I do know that it is difficult for the average consumer to aquire humanely treated, hormone free etc.. meat. I know that I do whenever possible but sometimes it is very difficult and much more expensive. Maybe if this issue gets more press it will become easier for us regular people trying to feed thier family and make the ethical choices they believe in.
A little off subject but in the same vein I keep looking everywhere for wild caught shrimp, in my area of the world (MI) it nearly impossible.

From Talk

Mail order food: yay or nay?

Specialty Food websites are a great way to purchase many hard to find, unique and or specialty foods such as truffles, fresh morels, aged balsamics, etc... The key is to work with a company that is reputable and offers good customer service, just as in a brick and mortar store. About.com has a nice write up (http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/wheretobuygourmetfoods/tp/bygourmetonline.htm)
on companies that are reputable. I do have to disclose that I work for one of the companies listed but I will not say who as I don't want to use this as an advertisment. I have also made purchases from several of these companies personally and found this to be a very convienient way to shop especially if you live in an area that does not have many choices.

From Talk

Tricks to get kids to eat.

As a Mom I have found that kids like to be part of things, getting children involved in the preparation of thier meals is a great way to get them to try new things. There are lots of age appropriate tasks that can be performed starting as young as two with a simple stir.
This does require a bit of patience sometimes (especially after a long day at work) however the result in the long run is a kid who will eat most things. For me it has been time well spent.
I have never forced the kids to eat foods they don't like but encourage them to at least give things a try. I would not want someone to force me to eat something I despised.

From Talk

What's your favorite STOREBOUGHT food gift?

Special Salts

Truffle salt, Fluer de Sel, an assortment of different salts is fun also.

From Talk

Need a new Dutch Oven

I have a Lodge 8 Qt that I Love and use all the time. It is a very good value but not quite as pretty & "Cool" as the LC.
I did notice that my local Williams Sonoma had some of the LC colors on sale last week, about 25% off (still expensive though).

From Talk

What are some of the best meals to freeze?

Stuffed Pasta Shells
Whenever I make stuffed shells (one of my daughters favorite meals) I always make double the amount I need. I fill the shells with the cheese filling, place in a devilled egg plastic container that I have and keep in the freezer. On the day I want to cook them for dinner, I take them out of the freezer and put in the fridge before I go to work. When I get home from work they are ready to pop into the oven. I also usually have some marinara sauce thawed as well. It makes for an easy yet delicious work night meal. Also a very nice treat for a friend with a new baby or medical condition.

From Talk

Yucky foods of the past

Raw Onions

Now I love onion. Especially Slices of nice purple onion on a Steak & Blue Cheese Salad!

Responses to Comments by Angie_Earthy

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

@BlueIris - You're right about thrift stores as a great source for cookbooks.
Try used book stores too, and check out the spiral-bound Junior League-type collections. They can have great regional recipes and a real sense of place. Charleston Receipts is one of my favorites. And I still use the "Silver Palate" cookbooks. I know, very 80's, but they make everything sound like fun.

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

As a collector of cookbooks for many years, my dislikes are anything artha Stewart or Bobby Flay. My all time favorites chefs are Julia Child and James Beard tho my really best favorites are "Two in the Kitchen" by Joe & Jeanne Anderson published in 1974; "With a Jug of Wine" by Morrison Wood published 1949. I agree with @cibercita that Laura Colwin's two books are wonderful and so sad she died so young. So many good recipes and so little time to cook.

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

@ Stephie: new cookbooks are expensive. You may want to start with the library if you can find any cookbooks that aren't checked out.

Also, thrift stores often have good old reliable cookbooks for very little. Every once in a while I take some in as donations and buy a few more. Kind of rotate my stock. ;-)

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

moosewood! mollie katzen is a fave of mine. also anything by Ina Garten

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

I'm going to go along with all the Barefoot Contessa fans. I own all of them, and they are indispensible to me. I use them for grilling, baking and cooking. Her style is simple, good ingredients done to satisfy the beginner and the expert cook. I own about 150 cookbooks, but these are the ones with food stains on all the pages!!

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

@Angie_Earthy: I'm with you. My fave is Better Homes and Gardens from the 70's. So great! My mom made the mistake of letting me "borrow" it, 9 years ago. Never giving it back. She has since stopped asking for it back. I also bought the newer edition that's pink. I wanted to buy it because it supported Breast Cancer Research and to see if there were any new recipes. It's a good one as well.

Looks like I am going to invest in Joy of Cooking for myself-my mom has a copy at her house. Oddly enough, she won't let me "borrow" this one :)

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

The go-to's are Baking by Dorie Greenspan, The Way to Cook, because nobody does it better than Julia and The Frog Commissary Cookbook because it's just a great cookbook.

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

The Au Pied de Cochon and Le Halles are my favorites.

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

Julia Child's Kitchen Wisdom and Beard on Food are at the top of my list and I use Jacques Pepin's books too. Lately, I've been using Books from Gourmet and Bon Appetit where they feature their all-time "best"

Must say I don't "use" a lot of recipes, except for baking, and read for ideas and then cook from what's in season and/or at hand. After cooking for a very long time and, now, scaling my favorites to a "cooking for one after work" format, my menus have changed a lot. I have a massive collection of my favorite recipes that I use a lot. Most of my favorite dishes are from many sources. Kitchen Wisdom is my book of choice for young cooks - if you had no other book, you'd be able to learn to cook without any other book. I am enjoying browsing the web too - versions of almost anything are there for the taking

From Talk

MOST favorite cookbook in collection

World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey - she's never failed me
(but if the veg thing puts you off you can get one of her meat friendly books)