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I just found out that Sheila Lukins, co-author of the Silver Palate cookbooks, solo author of several other cookbooks, and magazine food columnist, has died.  She was only 66 years old.  Story here.

The Silver Palate Cookbook was one of the very first cookbooks I ever bought.  That, and Martha Stewart’s Quick Cook.

It was the early 90′s.  I was too broke to eat out as much as I would have liked, so I thought it would be nice to learn how to cook.  At the time, I was working in a bookstore that offered a very generous employee discount…40%.  I saw many copies of the Silver Palate books coming across my counter, and when I had some down time, I went to the cookbook section and looked at them.

Oh, I was such a doofus back then.  One of the first recipes I made from the original Silver Palate cookbook was the Creamy Pasta Sauce with Fresh Herbs.  It called for a cup of minced FRESH herbs.  I couldn’t find any of the fresh herbs at the store, so I used a cup of mixed DRIED herbs.  I didn’t know the difference at the time, that dried herbs are more potent than fresh.  I also didn’t know that in some recipes, such as this one, only fresh herbs will do.

The dish turned out awful.  You wouldn’t have needed the best weight loss supplement if this was served to you!  You wouldn’t want to eat it!

But I’ve since learned, and it’s actually an excellent recipe.  Try it!

Creamy Pasta Sauce with Fresh Herbs

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 tablespoons sweet butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Pinch of cayenne
1/4 cup grated imported Parmesan cheese
1 cup finely chopped mixed fresh herbs (our favorite combination – basil, mint,watercress, Italian parsley and chives)

Combine cream, butter, salt, nutmeg and cayenne in a heavy saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes, or until sauce is slightly reduced and thickened.

Whisk in Parmesan and fresh herbs and simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste and correct seasoning. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 cups sauce, enough for one pound of angel’s-hair pasta, 6 or more portions as a first course.

Although I now have more than 500 cookbooks,the Silver Palate books are among the ones I reach for the most.  And the one recipe in the original Silver Palate cookbook that I make again and again is their Chicken Monterey.  It’s a great dish to make in the summer, and it’s yummie over egg noodles!

Chicken Monterey

5 T. best quality olive oil
1 chicken, 2 1/2 to 3 pounds, quartered
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 c. chopped yellow onions
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves peeled and minced
1 c. chicken stock
1/2 c. orange juice
1/2 c. canned crushed tomatoes
1 T. dried rosemary
1 med. sized sweet red pepper, stemmed, and cored, cut into julienne
1/2 large zucchini and 1/2 large yellow summer squash, cleaned and sliced diagonally
1/3 c. chopped Italian parsley(garnish)
grated zest of 1 orange(garnish)

Heat 3 T. of the oil in a large skillet. Pat the chicken pieces dry,season them with salt and pepper,and cook gently in the oil for 5 minutes. Turn the chicken,season again,then cook for another 5 minutes. Do not attempt to brown chicken or you will over cook it;it should be pale gold. Remove chicken from skillet and reserve.

Add the onions,carrots and garlic to the oil remaining in the skillet and cook, covered,over low heat until vegetables are tender,about 25 minutes.

Uncover skillet and the stock,orange juice,tomatoes and rosemary. Season to taste with salt and pepper and simmer the mixture, uncovered,for 15 minutes.

Return chicken pieces to the pan and simmer further,20 to 25 minutes,or until the chicken is nearly done. Baste the pieces with the sauce and turn them once at the 15-minute mark, (if you wish,you may complete the recipe to this point the day before serving. Refrigerate chicken in the sauce and reheat gently before proceeding.)
Heat remaining 2 T. of olive oil in another skillet and saute the pepper julienne for 5 minutes. Add sliced zucchini and yellow squash and season with salt and pepper.

Raise the heat and toss the vegetables in the oil until they are tender but still firm,another 5 minutes or so.

With a slotted spoon,transfer vegetables to the skillet with the chicken and simmer together for 5 minutes, Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and orange zest and serve immediately.

Makes 2-4 portions

RIP, Sheila!

Have you seen this movie yet?  If not, what are you waiting for?  It is wonderful, and I want to see it again.

The story is actually based on two separate books.  This first one is Julie & Julia.  It’s a memoir by Julie Powell, who was looking for some sort of meaning to her life.  She deiced to take on the project of cooking her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  And blog about her adventures along the way.  The blog turned into the book.

Julie managed all of this in a tiny, New York City kitchen, with no fancy kitchen gear, no copper sinks, or anything like that. It was quite frustrating for her at times!

Julie’s story in the 2000′s  is interspersed with Julia’s story in the 1940′s, based on Mrs. Child’s memoir, My Life In France.  Julia was newly married to Paul Child, and they lived in Paris for several years.  Julia was not much of a cook at first, but Paul loved good food, good wine, all the finer things in life.  So she spent her time in Paris studying food and cooking, even going to the Cordon Bleu cooking school.  She just wanted to cook well to please her husband, who knew that it would turn into a legendary career?

If you only need one reason to see this movie, it’s Meryl Streep as Julia Child.  Meryl has always been known for her various accents in movies, and she doesn’t fail here, she has Julia’s distinctive voice down pat.  In the movie, they had Julie (Amy Adams) and her husband watching old “French Chef” shows in their apartment.  Rather than just showing the original clips, they re-created them with Meryl as Julia.  I’ve seen most of these shows, I even have the collections on DVD, and if you weren’t looking closely enough, you’d swear that WAS Julia!

I also adored the love story between Julia and Paul Child.  Of course, I’d read about this before, in a couple of different books, but I loved seeing it played out on the screen.  Stanley Tucci was awesome as Paul, the loving and always supportive hubby.

See this ASAP!  I can’t wait until the DVD comes out, so I can buy it!

I saw an interesting article in the Chicago Tribune about herbs for summer cooking.  You should definitely check it out, to get some good ideas.

Herbs have been used since the beginning of time, not only for culinary purposes, but medicinal as well…maybe there’s even some herbs that would make for a good acne treatment.  Who knows?

But please let me add a couple of tips of my own.  Tarragon is not only good with fish, but it is also excellent with chicken.  Julia Child liked to stuff some in the cavity of a chicken, and then use more tarragon for a pan sauce.

Speaking of chicken, try stuffing a chicken with a few rosemary sprigs and lemon slices.  YUM-MEE!

You can find lots of ways to use the fresh herbs of summer, so enjoy them while they are here!

Another scrapbooking magazine, that is.  Memory Makers has mailed out its final issue., I got mine in the mail yesterday.  That’s too bad, as I really liked that magazine.

So anyway, my subscription actually doesn’t expire until the March/April 2011 issue.  As is customary when a magazine folds, they will be transferring all existing subscriptions to another magazine, Scrapbook Trends.  Actually, I’m supposed to go to the site and convert my subscription over myself.

I think I’ve seen this other magazine before, although not very often.  I don’t think I’ve ever bought it.  If it’s what I think it is, it’s actually more like a high quality paperback idea book than a traditional magazine.

They publish other magazines, as well, all crafty-related, with ideas for everything from beading to home decors projects, such as decorating candle sconces. And if I send them $20 when I convert my Memory Makers over, I can get access to a whole boatload of back issues of all their mags, online.  I might go for it, that’s a lot of material for a low price.

But I hope that they’ll finish out my MM subscription with paper copies of Scrapbook Trends.  Online is nice, but I like paper books and magazines.

I guess this magazine folding is just another sign of the times.  Several years ago, a great mag called PaperKuts went under.  Then there was another one called Scrapbook Answers, which lasted maybe a year.  That one was very cool, as every issue came with a CD-ROM with all sorts of how-to videos and other goodies on it.  I was very disappointed when that one was discontinued.

With the economy being the way it is, I suppose that people aren’t buying as many scrapbooking and other craft supplies as they once did.  The companies that make these products are the advertisers in these magazines, and if they’re not selling as much, they can’t afford as many ads.

It’s sad, but what can you do?

…about the importance of disability insurance. Mike has it through his employer, both short and long-term.  The short-term pays 100% of his salary for up to 12 weeks.  Long-term pays out 60% of his salary, which would be tough, but far better than getting nothing at all.

This insurance really saved our behinds when Mike was in and out of the hospital for so long.  We were able to keep up with our rent, car payments, and other bills, and our credit was not destroyed.

But what if you found yourself permanently disabled?  What do you do, then?  If you’ve worked in the past and paid into the system, you can apply for SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance).  Howver, if you go it alone when it comes to the application process, it’s very likely that you will be denied benefits.  I know that this happened to my friend Kat, who has a permanent, bona-fide disability.  She would love more than anything to be able to hold down a job again, but it’s just not going to happen.  But she still has bills to pay, two teen sons to raise, so she has to get money somehow.

Perhaps if she knew of Allsup, her battle to be approved for the benefits she is legally entitled to would not have been as long and drawn out as it was.  Allsup has an excellent success rate, something like 98%, of getting SSDI and other benefits for disabled people.

Kat finally did get approved for her SSDI benefits.  But don’t let this happen to you, the constant denials, and wondering how you’re going to pay the rent and put food on the table.  If you have a bona-fide disability, do yourself a favor and check out Allsup today!