Category Archives: Scribbles

a little reading for your weekend

I recently submitted a few essays to the Equals Record — not only did they say they wanted to publish, but they asked me to guest edit a column for their online edition and it went live today. Check out a few of my favorite books and why I love them over here.

One of my goals for the year was to submit some of my writing to a new-to-me publication, and boy did I get lucky with the great people at the Equals Record. Now that I’ve checked that goal off of my list I’m not stopping short, but my creativity is churning and my ego is boosted enough to propel me through several more submissions. Three cheers for goals and the thrill that comes with accomplishment.

Well Fed cookbook review + giveaway

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My copy of Well Fed came in the mail last week, and it only took a moment before I was already lost in the mouth-watering photos, the recipes, the stories, the flavor pairings and the wit of Melissa Joulwan, author and blogger at The Clothes Make the Girl. One of my favorite paleo bloggers, Mel has a tough-but-sweet attitude, and from what I’ve read she really knows how to tackle a challenge with style and grit. Not only that, but she’s an inventive cook with an eye for presentation and a flair for exotic spices, and her cookbook displays all of this.

Plus, nearly everything in Well Fed is Whole30-approved, which is such a blessing. I’m smack dab in the middle of my first Whole30 challenge, and if I wasn’t able to cook and eat the dishes that I was reading about I think I probably would’ve eaten the cookbook itself. Thankfully, it’s all systems go for these delicious dishes!

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I’ve already made her recipe for Creamy Mashed Cauliflower and the Coconut-Almond Green Beans, and I have plans to cook up her Creamy Spice Market Kale, “The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat,” her Salmon A L’Afrique du Nord, her Turkish Chopped Salad, and her Velvety Butternut Squash in the coming days. It’s Well Fed-week on our menu planner!

How could I not want to cook all of her dishes after reading Well Fed? After reading the last few pages I was so inspired to start cooking and fiddling with spices that I could hardly bring myself to make what I had planned to cook for dinner. Mel’s Cinnamon Beef Stew or Scotch Eggs sounded so much more inventive than my simple veggie-and-sausage scramble.

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Mel certainly doesn’t turn her proverbial nose up at simple meals, however. She writes about her tried-and-true methods for putting food on the table despite busy schedules during the workweek, including the ever-important topic of meal prep. Mel takes a day to cook up large portions of protein, wash and prep veggies, do some preliminary roasting and sauteeing and pack snacks for the week in an afternoon — this way, she knows what’s available for meals and nibbles, and dinner is as easy as combining this chicken with those roasted veggies, adding a homemade sauce or a zingy spice blend, and then digging in with gusto.

I was so inspired that I undertook my own form of meal prep on Saturday afternoon. I washed and sliced several bell peppers and radishes, roasted golden beets, steamed greens, washed and spun lettuce for salads, hardboiled half a dozen eggs, thawed chicken breasts, made my own ghee, and cleaned out the refrigerator. I had plans to cook off some bacon and sausage later, and to make some of Mel’s famous sauces and spice blends too. Even though I work at home during the week and usually have plenty of time to make lunch or dinner from scratch, there are days when it all seems too much to do in one sitting. Plus I feel more secure about sticking to my Whole30 guidelines now, knowing I have tons of great prepped ingredients upon which to build meals.

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Overall, this cookbook was an inspiration to me as a Whole30 participant, as a new-to-paleo eater, and as a cook in general. It’s a small book and I like it that way. With just under 100 recipes, the cookbook offers plenty of recipes to try without being overwhelming — and the book itself is small and kind of square-ish, which is a nice change from the hefty hardbound tomes that take up so much space in the kitchen. The photography offers great detail and the layout is pleasing (in addition to being designed by one of my favorite creatives), and Mel’s lovely personality shines through with every anecdote and note on spices. It was a purchase well-made, and now more than ever I am feeling nourished and well fed.

And because I’m feeling so excited about this cookbook I’m offering one lucky reader a copy of Well Fed as a gift, from me to you. This is in no way affiliated with the author of the publisher, and I was not sponsored to do this giveaway — I just want to spread the good news and the great recipes far and wide. To be entered to win, please leave a comment telling me about your favorite meal, the one that makes you feel the most “well fed” and happy. I will randomly draw a winner next Monday, January 21 and your own personal copy of Well Fed will be on it’s way to your kitchen. You have until Friday, January 18 at midnight to enter. Good luck!

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All photos courtesy of The Clothes Make the Girl. From top to bottom: Mel and Jicama Home Fries, Scotch Eggs, Coconut-Almond Green Beans, and Chocolate Chili.

wish list :: books galore

There has been significantly more lazing-about and Downton Abbey-watching this summer than reading, and although I could argue the merits of the aforementioned non-literature related activities, I am happiest behind a page of words with a cup of tea by my side. I’ve been proud to read several books in succession since the big hullabaloo that was the month of May, including a collection of New Yorker essays and The Hunger Games (both read on the honeymoon), but my reading list is growing as my reading progress slows. This week, I share a few of my new additions and some I’m currently working on. The GRE test preparation booklet staring at me from my bookshelf is not included here…nor have the covers been cracked.

I started Atlas Shrugged on the 4th of July and have been slowly making my way through it — a little bit each day — since then. Rand’s skills with metaphor and the austerity of her settings are astonishing, and sometimes I re-read a sentence until it is etched in my brain. I’m learning a great deal about socio-political philosophies as well as the craft of writing.

As far as the Paleo fad is concerned, I recognize that I am severely behind the times. I’ve read some blogs and primal newsletters, and although what they all say makes a great deal of sense, I want to know the science behind the philosophy. Weston A. Price’s famous study is one that has been on my to-read list ever since I devoured Nourishing Traditions last summer. These books, combined with David Gillespie’s Sweet Poison, make for one nutrition-heavy reading list, but I’m not complaining.

My parents sent me a copy of the Best Food Writing 2009 for Valentine’s Day several years ago, and I would love to catch up on the latest trends and essayists with this newest compilation. This book provides a bridge between my nutritional research reading and the creativity/freelancing books I have gathered — I’ve heard nothing but good things about The Creative Habit and Creative, Inc. These, I hope, will be as entertaining and inspiring as they will be valuable to my future as a creator and writer. (Thanks to Holly the Healthy Everythingtarian and Elise Blaha Cripe for the heads up on these!)

Kinfolk has been on my radar for about a year now, but I just ordered my first magazine. I was wavering on my decision about ordering what seemed like such a frivolous expense, and then I saw that their summer volume was all about traveling and roadtrips and I was sold. Now I’m waiting desperately at my mailbox every afternoon for the UPS man to bring it home.

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What are you reading this summer? Let me know, I’m always curious!

all non-linked book images from Barnes & Noble