Everything And Nothing

Good Day for a Picnic

I have added Jeremy Jackson's Good Day for a Picnic to My Fairy Godperson Wishlist solely for this observation in his introduction: "Any food eaten outside will taste better than when eaten indoors."

I have said the same thing many times my self - but I would add "And any food eaten outside on a boat on the water will taste better than when eaten outdoors." (I grew up on boats, so it's hard to tell sometimes if it's a childhood sentimentality thing, but I swear marinated clab claws just taste better on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico than they do on your back porch.)

It's not a cookbook of standard picnic fare. The 120 recipes include everything from Ginger Iced Tea and Fig Pâté, to Lamb Pita Meze and Noodles with Walnut and Blue Cheese Pesto, Sour Cherry Mini-Crumbles and Strawberry Cupcakes. But if you're looking for a way to add some pizzaz to your next picnic, it might help.

If you don't like picnics, consider it Friday Night Food.

I found us a few recipes online from the book to try:

• Asparagus with Hard-Boiled Eggs
• Brown Sugar Almonds
• Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed with Minted Goat Cheese
• Consomme
• Creole Coleslaw
• Crostini with Peaches and Blue Cheese
• Fig Pate
• Grilled Grouper Sandwich with Chipotle Tartar Sauce
• Little Meatballs with Cherries
• Poached Salmon with Tomato-Basil Vinaigrette
• Upside-Down Meatloaf

Plenty of Picnics

Why settle for just a picnic when you can plan a Sunset Romance Picnic, a Snowshoe Picnic, or even a Dinner Picnic in Bed?

$13.57

A Twist of the Wrist

A Twist of the Wrist, by Nancy Silverton, is full of options for weeknight meals. (All of the dishes main ingredients come from a jar or a can and most recipes are timed at 30 minutes or less. But it's definitely a different kind of quick cooking - think a jar of roasted red peppers, not a can of cream of chicken soup. Her Top 5 Pantry Staples will give you some idea of what kind of quick cooking she's talking about.) Charlie Trotter, Mario Batali and other chefs provide recipes revealing their own secret shortcuts too.

I found a few recipes online for us to sample:

• Caramelized Pears With Mascarpone Cream, Brandy-Raisin Brown Butter
• Chicken Salad With Chipotle Mayonnaise, Avocado And WatercressChicken Salad With Chipotle Mayonnaise, Avocado And Watercress
• Chicken Tonnato
• Chilled Corn Soup with Adobo Swirl
• Crostini with Ventresca, Piquillo Peppers, and Caper Mayonnaise
• Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Pie
• Fennel, treviso, and prosciutto salad with anchovy-date vinaigrette
• Garlic Mayonnaise
• Grilled Skirt Steak over Black Beans in Fire Roasted Green Salsa and Garlic, with Avocado, White Onion, and Cilantro
• Mole Poblano Chicken Casserole with Black Beans and Queso Fresco
• Pappardelle with Bagna Cauda, Wilted Radicchio and an Olive-Oil-Fried Egg
• Pulled Barbecue Chicken with Coleslaw
• Radicchio Salad with Anchovy-Date Vinaigrette
• Rigatoni with Anchovies, Garbanzo Beans, and Celery
• Scallops Provencal with Herbed Basmati Rice
• Seared Beef Filet with Black Beans, Avocado, and Green Chile Salsa
• Seared Lamb Chops with Preserved Lemon, Artichoke Hearts, and Fresh Mint
• Spaghettini with Tuna and V8 Sauce

(What is it with Californians and putting every damn ingredient in the title? They do this at restaurants there too. I remember going to a fancy San Francisco restaurant with a co-worker years ago. He looked at the menu, looked at me and said "Where are the nouns on here?" It still makes me laugh to think about it. I took pity on him and we went and had sushi instead - where you generally do NOT want to know the nouns or the adjectives while eating.)

Roadfood Sandwiches

Jane and Michael Stern share the recipes for their favorite sandwiches in restaurants coast to coast in Roadfood Sandwiches.

Why sandwiches? "What could be a more truly democratically American than a meal at which you don't have to worry about which fork to use or what wine to serve?" The book is full of recipes and history, because "a sandwich is far more interesting when you know who makes it, who invented it, who eats it, and where and how it's served."

Hot Brown of Kentucky. Peanut Butter and Bacon sandwiches in Maine. A Catfish Poboy from Middendorf's - "breaded in cornmeal and fried, the ultra thin strips knot into crunchy curlicues and bows like pale gold bunting."

I found us a few recipes online to try:

• Crab Bruschetta
• Fried Bologna Sandwich
• Garlic Aioli
• Muffuletta
• Pico de Gallo
• Santa Maria Spice Rub
• Santa Maria Tri-Tip
• Shrimpburger
• Wasabi Aioli

Seasoned in the South

For more than a decade now, Bill Smith has presided over the kitchen at Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill, NC. Structured around the seasons and inspired by local produce, the recipes in Seasoned in the South capture the flavors of the freshest seasonal foods of the South.

I found us a few recipes from the book online:

• Bill's Blackstrap Barbecue Sauce
• Cornbread
• Green Tabasco Chicken
• Health Slaw
• Mustard Slaw
• Tomato-and-Watermelon Salad

Order a signed copy here.

The Weirdest Cookbooks Ever

Online bookseller AbeBooks.com recently asked its customers for their votes for the weirdest cookbooks ever. The top 10:

1. Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine! by Chris Maynard and Bill Scheller
2. The Original Road Kill Cookbook by Buck Peterson
3. The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook by David G. Gordon
4. Special Effects Cookbook by Michael E. Samonek
5. Cooking in the Nude: For Playful Gourmets by Debbie Cornwell and Stephen Cornwell
6. Cooking to Kill: The Poison Cook-Book by Ebenezer Murgatroyd
7. The Star Wars Cookbook: Wookie Cookies and Other Galactic Recipes by Robin Davis
8. The Mini Ketchup Cookbook by Cameron Pearl
9. Cooking for Cats: The Best Recipes for Felix, Orlando and the Rest by Elisabeth Meyer Zu Stieghorst-Kastrup
10. Strange Foods: Bush Meat, Bats, and Butterflies: An Epicurean Adventure Around the World by Jerry Hopkins

Crescent City Cooking

Susan Spicer will be signing her new book, Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer's New Orleans, soon at the Everyday Gourmet in Jackson. She will also be teaching classes there this fall. (Call for details.)

In addition to her restaurant, Bayona, she is a partner at Herbsaint restaurant and at Wild Flour Breads, a wholesale artisan bakery, all in New Orleans. 

Food and Wine magazine offers 14 recipes from Susan online here.

"Don't mind if I do..."

One of the South's most cherished traditions is cocktail hour. And Denise Gee's Southern Cocktails is overflowing with classics like the Mint Julep and the Hurricane and new concoctions like the Blueberry Martini and the Peach Mojito.

A checklist of Bar Necessities ensures that there will be more than Southern Comfort in the cupboard when company calls, and recipes like Devilish Eggs or Sweet and Sassy Pecans will keep hunger at bay until dinner.

Raise a toast to old-time Southern hospitality!

Your own tropical paradise

Whether they're flowering, flaming or glowing, tiki drinks have an undeniable presence all of their own. From such vintage favorites as the "Tropical Itch" to more contemporary concoctions like "Hawaii 5-0", author Jennifer Trainer Thompson serves up over 30 recipes for sweet, sour, and fruity libations, as well as 20 recipes for irresistible appetizers to serve alongside like Tamarind-Glazed Beef Skewers and Tuna Thai Rolls, in The Great Tiki Drink Book.

$14.95

I found us a cocktail recipe to "try before we buy" too:

• The Tropical Moment

Uncle Bubba's Savannah Seafood

Earl "Uncle Bubba" Hier's, Paula Deen's baby brother, shares recipes from his family kitchen and restaurant, Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, in his new cookbook, Uncle Bubba's Savannah Seafood: More Than 100 Downhome Southern Recipes for Good Food and Good Times. (And you can meet Uncle Bubba in person on June 4 at the Everyday Gourmet in Jackson for a cooking class and book signing.)

Read an excerpt from the book here.