Tonight I invited my friend Mandy to join me for a cookbook signing at Inkwood Books, Tampa's only local independent bookstore. It's an incredibly charming little shop -- the kind of place that upon walking though the doors, I wanted to hand them my resume and ask about possible employment opportunities.
Food blogger turned cookbook author Jessica Merchant released her new cookbook Seriously Delish today and Tampa was the first stop on her book tour! My friend Marci introduced me to Jessica's blog How Sweet It Is years ago and I followed it regularly until the death of Google Reader about a year ago. I adore Jessica's bubbly writing and unfettered enthusiasm for food. One of my favorite recipes is her portobello fajitas with fontina queso -- it says it serves four but Robert and I couldn't stop eating all of that ooey-gooey cheese and we polished off the entire thing with just the two of us.
I didn't have a chance to eat any dinner before the event but fortunately Jessica had prepared a small feast. She made not one, but two types of macaroni and cheese. (My apologies for taking all of these pictures with my phone.)
I had seconds and then thirds of her Brown Sugar Bacon Biscuits.
She also served an asparagus ribbon pasta salad, grilled fruit salsa, and whole wheat chocolate chip cookies. We munched while she prepared the recipe featured on the cover of her new cookbook: whipped goat cheese with warm vanilla berries on toast.
How about that? It's just like the cover photo!
It was neat to see that Jessica is just as bubbly and fun in person as she comes across on her blog. I felt inspired when I left tonight, which is great because lately I've been thinking about how I want to put more thought and effort into our family meals. I want to introduce Abby to a wide variety of flavors and ingredients. I want to feel more at ease in the kitchen. Sometimes it seems like we are stuck in a rut, preparing the same recipes over and over.
That being said, we're off to a pretty good start. We gave the following recipes a try this past month and agreed we'd enjoy eating each of them again.
- easy thai chickpea curry with coconut rice: Our rice needed a bit more liquid so I recommend using the measurements on your bag of rice.
- PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Quinoa Enchilada Casserole: We used enchilada sauce from Trader Joe's. Overall, this seemed a bit soupy. Robert thought it might be good scooped up with chips? Adding some diced or shredded chicken might be a nice addition, too.
- Parmesan Broiled Tilapia: I'm trying to eat more fish...begrudgingly.
- Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo: More delicious goat cheese!
- Penne alla Vodka: From the book Delancey by Molly Wizenburg.
Family and friends, do you have any recipes I should try? Please share!
So fun! Thanks for letting us live vicariously through you and Mandi! How is the vegetarian section of the book? Surprised you don’t consider yourself at ease in the kitchen! Nonsense. I’ll try to send you some meal ideas…I have a pumpkin mac-n-cheese (speaking of) that I think you’d love. It screams fall.
ReplyDeleteThere's an entire veggie chapter! Chapter 4: Salads, Soups & Vegetable-Like Things (ugh, if we must). Ha!
DeleteI forgot to tell you that someone asked her what her favorite recipe is and she said if she had to answer, it would be her lobster mac & cheese. She makes it for Valentine's Day, Christmas Eve and I think her husband's birthday or their anniversary? More food tied to celebrations, I love it.
I think I'd just like to be more creative (even playful?) in the kitchen. I'd love to have some improv skills!