Before I got married, I had cooked very few times and probably baked even fewer. When I got engaged my future mother-in-law talked endlessly about the cookbooks she had stacked next to her bed, which she read religiously before bed each and every night. All I could think is who “reads” cookbooks, especially every night?! My own mother rarely used cookbooks (although, everyone knows she’s a great cook), so this was all pretty foreign to me. My fiancé elaborated on the dishes she used to prepare and how he hoped I would do the same. Well, although I was hopeful, I also knew those were some big shoes to fill. My mother-in-law is a completely “from scratch” person – in a good way, so they said. I think she was just trying to make sure I fed her little boy as well as she had. So, once Hubby and I were married, very quickly those cookbooks started traveling on to my nightstand, and man was I hooked! Fortunately, I’ve always been a HUGE fan of food, so since I really had never made much, I was a blank canvas and poured over every detail of every recipe and I could finally understand what Alice meant by “read” a cookbook. Hubby was a car salesman at the time and often came home late after a sale and I’d have produced a meal fit for a king. Yes, he gained about 30 lbs the first year (he could handle it since he’s 6’1” and was about 155 when we got married).
Over the years, my mother-in-law has continued to give me an endless supply of her old cookbooks (especially after we lost Hubby’s father) and ones from all the thrifts stores on her “route”. For five years before we had June Bug, cooking became my favorite hobby, with many desserts, breads, pastas, candies (all the best carbs you know), and of course roasts, veggies, sauces, soups, stews and casseroles. As a salesman, Hubby worked weekends. This left me alone at home, which often involved a whole day or whole weekend in the kitchen! I think I’ve mentioned before that grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do as well, and you can only image why. I love to just walk down the aisles dreaming and thinking of all the incredible things I can create. Hubby never minded the grocery bill too much since he knew he’d be the beneficiary! And when we had too much to feed ourselves, we invited our buddies over, or better yet, go to HOS and feed them (I miss those days most)!
So, what does this have to do with delicious pillows or Gnocchi? Well, Gnocchi’s one thing I have never made! When the October issue of Bon Appetit arrived and I saw their recipe, I knew I had to make it. I even had a half a pumpkin from our garden just waiting in the fridge to be cooked and pureed for it. Hubby and June Bug needed to go to the hardware store Sunday morning and for a moment I felt like old Sarah, alone with my thoughts in the kitchen – bliss. I set to work on the bread (Garlic Bread or Pain d'Ail from the Bread Lovers' Bread Machine Cookbook, just four crushed cloves kneaded into a French Bread dough – simple, but the smell was amazing), then the gnocchi. After an hour and a half of work and they still weren’t done, I looked again at the recipe and saw prep work was 1 hour 45 minutes. E-gads! That doesn’t even include chilling and cooking! It was truly a labor of love.
All that work didn’t keep me out of the kitchen tonight – I had another practice run of the cake for the wedding that’s in 12 days!! Hubby insisted a little batter be made into cupcakes, but I insisted on a little frosting and made the Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting from Joy of Cooking. Yummo.
P.S. My internet wasn't working so this post is delayed by one day
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