American Flavor is like America - a melting pot of different cultures.

Mmm.....I'd like an Egg in a Frame right now!

Where's the turmeric?

Not often enough....I wouldn't have to treat stains in my clothes as often if I wore an apron regularly. I do wear one when I'm cooking with turmeric or any kind of curry or masala.

Beautiful photo of beautiful cookies!

Great photo from a nice looking blog. Wish I could read it.

Trader Joe's Paneer Tika Masala is delicious! And Hagen Daz Five ice cream--made with sugar, not corn syrup!

Actually, mine isn't on the list. It's Metropolitan Market in the Puget Sound area.

I have found some interesting cookbooks at used bookstores, but if there is something in particular that I would like, I first look at amazon. I've had good look buying used books from vendors on amazon.

amazon also makes it easy to find out-of-print books, like Naples at Table by Arthur Schwartz. I recently got it for a great price, it's like new and I can't wait to explore some of the recipes.

I enjoy reading food related blogs so I decided to take a stab at it myself. I don't envision a wide audience, I just want to record favorite recipes for my 2 young adult daughters. It's the blog I wish my mother and mother-in-law had done had there been the technology back in their day. It will include old family favorites and also new things that I try. I just started it on New Year's Eve, and, so far, I'm having fun with it.

I really like Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything for everyday cooking.

Diane Rossen Worthington wrote Seriously Simple which has wonderful recipes. They truly are simple, but are delicious! I like this book so much that I also bought 2 more of her books: Seriously Simple Holidays and The Taste of the Season: Inspired Recipes for Fall and Winter. I can't recommend her cookbooks enough. The recipes are easy enough for beginners, but are full of flavor and will satisfy the most discriminating eater.

Sid Goldstein's The Wine Lover's Cookbook was a revelation for me. He writes about the characteristics of different varieties of wine and how to pair them with food so both the food and wine are complimented. And he gives great recipes for each variety of wine. I have used this book often for entertaining.

Both of Jerry Traunfeld's books are awesome. The Herbfarm Cookbook has all you'll ever need to know about growing and using herbs. It will make you want to grow some of your own herbs even if you only have room for a couple of pots. I find the recipes in his The Herbal Kitchen more approachable, but they are still amazing.