noodling around with grandpa’s cloudy with a chance of meatballs cookbook by judi barrett and ron barrett

October 28, 2013September 14, 2017 ~ jama ~ 16 Comments

Hungry?

Let’s check the weather report to see what’s on today’s menu.

I hope we’re not getting any hamburger storms or pea soup fog. I wouldn’t mind a little drizzle of orange juice, followed by a few low clouds of sunny-side up eggs with lightly browned pieces of toast drifting in from the east. If you see any cream cheese and jelly sandwiches out your way, don’t eat too many or you’ll get a tummy ache.

I twirled my spaghetti with glee when I learned that my favorite meatball maven Judi Barrett had published a brand new cookbook containing some of Grandpa’s favorite recipes. Now, you and any nibble-happy munchkins hanging out at your house can create your very own culinary weather!

As you know, the original Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs book starts out with Grandpa flipping pancakes on Saturday morning. So it’s only right that the first recipe in the cookbook should be for these very same pancakes, which taste just as good any day of the week, any time of day. Flipping them onto someone’s head, however, is entirely up to you.

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pishlets for roald dahl’s birthday

September 13, 2011August 27, 2017 ~ jama ~ 12 Comments

“I have always longed and longed to own a sweet-shop. The sweet-shop of my dreams would be loaded from top to bottom with Sherbet Suckers and Caramel Fudge and Russian Toffee and Sugar Snorters and Butter Gumballs and thousands and thousands of other glorious things like that.” (The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl)

“Nose Bags On, Grubs Up!”

Happy Roald Dahl Day!

I can’t think of any other children’s author who invented quite as many wildly imaginative fantasy treats for his stories — from lickable wallpaper to the pickled spines of porcupines to hot noodles made from poodles on a slice of garden hose. I’m convinced I would have done much better in school if I had had some candy-coated pencils for sucking in class. Perhaps the reason I’m so obsessed with food now is because I grew up without mosquitoes’ toes and wampfish roes most delicately fried. Good theory, in any case. ☺

From all accounts, Roald was a lifelong foodie. In her introduction to Roald Dahl’s Even More Revolting Recipes, Felicity Dahl mentions that many of the letters Roald wrote to his mother while he was in boarding school included a request for food. It was quite a challenge fulfilling his every craving, especially when it involved raw eggs. He also asked her to send him a Primus stove so he could cook some of those raw ingredients. Continue reading →

peeking into tina davis’s look and cook

August 17, 2011November 30, 2017 ~ jama ~ 11 Comments

The second I spotted this cookbook on the Laughing Elephant website a few years ago, I knew I had to have it.

I’m a sucker for vintage illustrations and culinary ephemera, and this wonderful collection of 50+ classic recipes is chock full of charming old cookbook clippings from the 1900’s to the 1960’s.

Aside from its obvious appeal to nostalgia buffs like me, it’s a great kid-friendly first cookbook containing almost every standard comfort food dish you can think of: meat loaf, mac and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, gingerbread men, griddle cakes, waffles, biscuits, chocolate pudding, apple pie, and scalloped potatoes. And what about soup, you ask (please do)?

Well, the Soup Section begins with this adorable illo from The School Lunch (Postum Company, 1928),

and there are recipes for Split Pea, Vegetable, Cream of Tomato and Chicken Noodle Soup. Nothing you haven’t seen before, but we’re talking about all-time classics, remember? And if you’re a budding child chef, working in the kitchen with a grown-up, you’d probably want to make something familiar and satisfying.

I like how the book begins with illustrated tables of cooking tools, explains how to measure ingredients, and then offers some all-important safety tips. The book is very sturdy, spiral bound with thick grease-proof pages (lays flat), and will definitely stand up to repeated use. There’s even a diagram showing the proper way to set a table and blank pages for recording favorite recipes. Definitely makes a nice gift for young foodies and cookbook collectors of all ages.

Thought you might like to read Tina Davis’s lovely intro, “The Best Meal I Ever Ate”:

The best meal I ever ate is one I ate often. It was made by my mother for my school lunch. Most days, I had the same lunch as my classmates, but sometimes my mother would put a hot dog in my thermos, cover it with boiling water, and screw the cap on tight. She spread mustard on a hot dog bun, wrapped it in waxed paper, and put everything in my lunch box. At lunchtime, I opened the thermos, took out the amazingly hot hot dog, and put it on the bun. I was always the envy of everyone around me. Other times she made my sandwiches on pieces of frozen bread so that by the time I ate them, the bread had thawed and was very soft. But these sandwiches weren’t nearly as good or amazing as the hot dog.

Doesn’t that make you just want to hug yourself and eat a grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of tomato soup — after you’ve eaten a hot dog or two or three?☺

LOOK AND COOK: A Cookbook for Children
by Tina Davis
published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2004
Ages 8+, 160 pages
*All recipes kid tested; has received very positive customer reviews

Better get two, just in case ☺. . .

**Really like that big bowl and spoon, yes I do.