Tag: cookbook

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The Only Celebrity Cookbook I will Ever Buy

Andi

If you’ve been missing my casual cooking and recipe posts, I apologize. I’ve been trying to cook and haven’t had much time to try new recipes. But, I did find a new cookbook and it triggered a need to cook.

Now, if you know, you know I do not like celebrity cookbooks. I am intrigued by them, so I pick them up, but end up just putting them back without even trying to make anything. The only exception was Chrissy Teigan’s Cravings Cookbook. I was able to make a few recipes and they were pretty good. The peanut cluster bites in there were to die for!! Having said that, I also returned it to the library and haven’t bought it or picked it up again. There never has been a celebrity cookbook I loved enough to actually purchase it.

UNTIL NOW

For some people, who knew Snoop Dogg back in the day, this may seem so odd. How could this guy, of all people, write a cookbook? I did not. I did not discover Snoop Dogg until I was an adult, where I’ve also realized I knew his songs but had no idea it was him or who any of these artists were. So when I heard about it, my first thought was, “well duh, he’s like BFFs with Martha Stewart”. Who by the way, did help him with this. But I realize how this may be odd. But I promise, this book is worth it.

I picked it up despite my general dislike of celebrity cookbooks because every time I’ve seen him, he’s always so chill and seems down to earth and genuine. This book reiterated that to me. It’s full of good meals, several of which has simple ingredients I use on the regular. Even the pictures of his pantry and kitchen look nice, but they aren’t over the top extravagant. It was so amazing.

But the real test came when I tried to make one of the recipes. I chose the Pork Chops and Mashed Sweet Potatoes. I expected it to both take me a long time and make a lot of dirty dishes, but I was surprised to be proven wrong on both. It only took me about an hour to make, and far fewer dishes than I thought. I was pleasantly surprised. The entire family loved it too, so it was delicious as well.

And if you still need convincing that this is the best cookbook on the shelf, then allow me to share his quote on Biscuits and Gravy.

“If you’ve been Down South, then you’ve eaten this on plenty of day breaks. This is that real soul food classic. The key here is to get those biscuits fluffy. And that gravy, well thats gotta be like that humid air of a Dirty South Summer- extra, super thick. But eat too much of this and you might as well just take your ass right back to bed. This ain’t for the meek. It’ll put your ass right back to sleep.”

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Teigan Candies

Andi

I got Chrissy Teigans new recipe book and guys, I actually love it. I generally don’t go for celebrity cookbooks as they tend to be full of expensive ingredients or tedious processes. We are on a budget, I can’t afford mutton. And I have kids, I don’t have time for a time consuming recipe.

I was so pleasantly surprised with the kinds of recipes I found in her book. I also liked that she included both her parents in the book with childhood recipes they made for her growing up. I seem to have horrible luck making Thai food, but this is almost making me want to try again. I tried probably the easiest recipe first, these peanut clusters.

Perfect for Christmas! For real. If you have a Christmas party or family gathering to attend, these are literal perfection. And pretty quick to make as well. And they are yumm-mmy! So delicious. Of course, I love peanut butter and just nuts in general, so they can’t go wrong. Everybody, go snag this cookbook. It really is the best. You can purchase it, or, probably find it at your local library. Get to snacking!

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Chicken Pot Pie

Andi

When we got married, I was given a Pioneer Woman Cookbook as a wedding gift. At the time, she was just bursting onto the big stage and had quite the buzz. Being that we lived in Oklahoma then, her popularity was amplified. Everyone loved her and loved that a rural Okie had made it big. Shortly after, she opened her Mercantile and groups of ladies started making trips to visit. She was only a short drive away after all.

I never really got onto the bandwagon. Her kitchenware is indeed pretty, but I wasn’t going crazy over her. Her recipes looked delicious, and the book itself is well designed, but the recipes also looked involved and too time consuming, so I never used it. Until now! I finally used my Pioneer Woman Cookbook!

My husband loves chicken pot pie, and so do I. However, I’m also slightly lazy and would buy those frozen individual pot pies for sudden cravings. But, he convinced me I needed to make it from scratch, because of some unseen magic that makes him persuasive.

I was surprised actually by how simple it turned out to be. I did cheat a little bit though. She made a pie crust from scratch, and I did not. She also probably used fresh picked veggies from her garden, I used some frozen, some fresh. None of them homegrown however. I also doubt I used the right baking dish. It was in the midst of this that I suddenly realized I couldn’t find my deep pie pan and had to opt for a casserole dish instead. I did have to use a pot, to cook the chicken, then a skillet to mix all the ingredients, and then the baking dish for the oven. So clean up was a little intense.

I also forgot to snap a photo before I dug into it. But this way, you can see the yummy filling! And believe me, it was yummy! It had the perfect savoryness and crispyness. I’m going to say, yes, it was more difficult than popping a frozen pot pie into the oven, and more messy as well. But I will also say, yes, this was infinitely tastier too.

So, on the whole, I’d still give the recipe a thumbs up because it did taste so good. It’d loose a couple points for the number of dishes I had to wash afterwards. But for a warm, delicious fall dinner, it is worth it!