this week...food and books

 I made Ina's Blueberry Crumb Cake from her Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook. It was delicious, more like a coffee cake because it is not too sweet and has a thick crumb topping. Too much topping we thought, overwhelms the moist yummy cake below. Seemed like half cake, half topping.

Next time, will make much less topping. I used a springform pan to make releasing the cake from the pan easier.

We tried her Mustard Roasted Fish recipe from Back to Basics. Very tangy and good, everyone liked it. Much richer than our usual grilled fish. The color was kind of blah and unappetizing. The food stylist made the fish look prettier for the book. Made her Roasted Potatoes in the oven at the same time. Same method we all know for this dish. Used a separate plate for the salad, this would have been prettier with some green on the plate.

I have been receiving beautiful books in the mail. In January, I go though my Amazon Save for Later cart of book titles. I add them whenever I hear of a good one throughout the year. I then purchase several after researching for the best prices and narrowing down the list. Once they arrive, I ration them, reading through them very slowly to savor each one. It takes me months to go through them. 

I have just started Martha Stewart Entertaining, A Year of Celebrations that was published in 2011.This book is huge and gorgeous! It is the new version of her amazing first book Entertaining that is full of beautiful ideas and does not seem dated.

Each page is a visual treat.  Her gardens, her homes, her collections of every kind of tableware, glassware, etc. the presentations, the recipes, the serving ideas, it is all quite astounding! I am loving this book! 

I also purchased her Martha Stewart Gardening, a Month to Month Guide book which for some reason came without the cover but here is a page from it, equally as pretty as her Entertaining books.

 Here are a few others I bought....

And my husband was sweet to order Carolyne Roehm's Flowers and surprise me after seeing it mentioned on the blog.

These books will keep me company throughout the winter, simple pleasures.....