Saturday, September 12, 2009

Julie and Julia Review

A few months ago, the wife and I started doing a Friday night 'dinner and a movie' thing. We both looked forward to Fridays with a new anticipation and of course the usual dilemma of where to eat and what to see would usually arise. We ended up seeing a few stinkers but the one that sticks out was - "Julie and Julia".
This movie was greatly entertaining! It was funny, serious and had a solid story line that kept me interested the whole movie. It contained so much of what I enjoy - food, cooking, history, blogging, romance, Meryl Streep and I can say I was certainly satisfied.
I grew up watching Julia Child and thought at the time she was a 'loony' old lady with a funny voice. But as I got older I realized she set the standard when it came to TV cooking shows and boy did she know her stuff.
One word of caution- eat before you go otherwise all that food and cooking will make you so hungry you'll hit the snack bar on the way out of the theater!

Bon Appetit

Friday, September 4, 2009

Great Collection of Vintage Cookbooks from Time-Life

The Good Cook Series by Time-Life

Good_Cook_Classic_Desserts THE GOOD COOK, TECHNIQUES AND RECIPES

1971-1983

28 Volumes with exceptional "how-to" photos. covering foods by primary ingredients, from the simple "Cakes" to the more obscure "Terrines, Pates and Galantines". Now out-of-print, but still considered a remarkable achievement and coveted classic.

[buy it at OldCookbooks.com]

Monday, August 24, 2009

Easy Veggie Meal Plans For You

For all my vegetarian friends out there, check this out -

Easy Veggie Meal Plans For You

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Barbequed Mediterranean Pizza


With the purchase of a new BBQ any one's imagination will begin to run wild with ideas of new things to try on the grill. Although this isn't the first time I've done pizza on the grill, it is the first time doing it on a gas BBQ, specifically my new Weber Genesis EP -320. YES, Weber is the best - just forget all the rest. You may pay a little more, but quality and durability are priceless. Ah but enough of my new toy here's how to make that awesome pizza I have pictured.

MEDITERRANEAN SNOW CRAB PIZZA

Ingredients:
pizza dough
4 medium size yukon potatoes thinly sliced
crab meat
swiss and mozzarella cheeses
fresh rosemary sprigs
black olives (sliced lengthwise)
crushed red pepper
fresh garlic (roughly chopped)

Preparation: Get all your ingredients ready olives, cheese, crab etc. so you're ready to go when the crust is.
Lay the sliced potatoes on a greased baking sheet and bake in the oven, flip them over halfway through.
The Dough :

Making your own is the best, but to save time buy ready made bread dough or foccacia. Use cornmeal or polenta to dust your work space and roll and roughly press it out into a square. Lightly brush the top with olive oil. Flip it over and oil the other side. Be generous with the corn meal to keep it from sticking plus the oil will help the corn meal stick better on the dough. Slide it on to a rimless baking sheet or pizza paddle. Now your ready to preheat the grill.
Light the BBQ and turn all the burners to high for about 10 min. and close the lid until the temp. reaches aprrox. 500 degrees. While it's heating up you can get your toppings ready. Turn the heat down to medium and slide the dough onto the grill and close the lid. At this point you are really just toasting the one side to get some grill marks then you pull it off. It doesn't take very long but resist the urge to peek. Check it after 3 min. or so and you'll know how fast it's cooking.
Once it looks good, pull it off and flip it over and your ready to assemble.

Baking:
Topping the pizza begins with sauce, then some cheese, your toppings, then a little more cheese.
Lightly spread the alfredo sauce over the pizza to about 1" from the edges. Sprinkle some of the cheese mixture on, then arrange the potato slices, crab meat, olives and whatever else you wish. I like to add some crushed red pepper at this point and some fresh chopped garlic if you're brave.
Sprinkle a bit more cheese and rosemary sprigs on top and it's ready for the grill again.
(When "building" your pie, keep in mind that sometimes less is more, so try not to overload it with mounds of cheese and toppings. You want to be able to taste the crust which is the foundation of the pizza itself.)
Now take it to the BBQ, still at medium, and slide it off onto the hot grill. If you have a 3 burner set up, turn the middle one to low or off. Close the lid and bake until the bottom is browned the way you like and cheese is melted - about 10 -12 minutes. Keep an eye on it! After all this work you sure don't want to burn it.

When it's done, let it rest a minute or two before slicing it up. Grab yourself your favorite beverage and enjoy some of the best pizza to ever hit your lips. Eat your heart out Round Table!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Twist in store for Vintage Cookbook Collector's Blog

Keep your eyes open for an awesome new twist to VCCB. In addition to posting some great info on some really cool vintage cookbooks and recipe booklets, I'm also going to start sharing some specially chosen recipes that I try and include them in my regular posting. Don't worry, only the hits will be posted and I'll also have some pics of the finished dish.
Please note, I'm certainly no gourmet chef (yet) and would most likely be sent packing early on Hell's Kitchen. But when it comes to good food and a good recipe I can smell it a mile away. Besides, it dawned on me that if you're looking into vintage cookbooks you more than likely enjoy cooking and good food.

Bon Appetit!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Cookbook Collector Network

NATIONAL BISCUIT COMPANY

UNEEDA BISCUIT

In one of my earlier postings, I showed you one of my favorite recipe pamphlets from the National Biscuit Company. I’ve received many comments from my readers about this pamphlet, so here’s a bit more information.

I recently ran across a wonderful book, The Public Accepts: Stories Behind Famous Trade-Marks, Names and Slogans, by I. E. Lambert, Published by The University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, 1941. This is a fascinating read and I advise you to keep your eyes open for a copy of your own.

Uneeda Biscuit2-1921 UNEEDA BISCUIT

The National Biscuit Company was organized in February, 1898. At that time crackers were sold in cracker barrels. As a rostrum for the village statesmen the cracker barrel was not a bad idea, but it was a definite evil for the cracker industry. The shopping housewife, upon her return home, often opened her brown paper bag to find that she had purchased broken, stale, and dirty crackers.

Mr. Adolphus W. Green, chairman of the Board of the National Biscuit Company, conveived the idea of selling a fresh and clean soda cracker in a small, attractive package and giving the cracker a distinctive name as a remedy for the menace of the cracker barrel.

In August, 1898, a suggested list of possible names for the new product was submitted, such as “Hava Cracker,” “Usa Cracker,” “Taka Cracker,” etc. The name “Uneeda” was also on this list, and finally, after some hesitation, it was adopted. The word “Uneeda” was probably the first coined combination of words which are so frequently used today for trade names.

In January, 1899, preparations were complete. One morning the people of Chicago and other Illinois cities woke to discover in the newspapers two mysterious words printed in bold type: “UNEEDA BISCUIT.” This suggestive combination of letters aroused the curiosity of the purchasing public and the venture was a succcess almost overnight.

A few months later, Mr. Joseph J. Geisinger, seeking to illustrate the moisture-proof properties of the new package, dressed his young nephew, Gordon Stille, in boots, sou’wester, and slicker, put a package of “Uneeda Biscuit” under his arm, and took him to the photographer. When Mr. Green saw the result he was delighted. Thus the “Uneeda Boy” was added to the gallery of world famous trade-mark figures.

Uneeda Biscuit 2 (back cover) Uneeda Biscuit, 1921

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Latest Sales on Nostalgic Heirlooms

Well, just when things slow down a bit and I'm staring at this pile of old cookbooks wondering if I should box them up or not, all hell breaks loose and someone buys a handful. These are the orders that are really satisfying (and profitable), but even more it usually means the person is in to vintage cookbooks and might possibly be a return buyer.

Check out three of the books I just sold on ETSY.com in my Nostalgic Heirlooms store -
Keep cooking!!


To see the rest of the sale go to my ETSY.com store and search user / nostalgicheirlooms

Monday, March 9, 2009

The White House Cookbook, Fannie Farmer and more


Never gave it much thought but there's actually one that was published many years ago with recipes from the White House. Many vintage recipes I'm sure are included. This site has info on many old recipe books that is fascinating reading!

Old Recipe Book.com

Enjoy!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Must read E-Zine article on selling vintage cookbooks

One item you can usually find in most estate sales are old cookbooks. Old, rare, classic, vintage, antique and collectible cookbooks can be a hidden source of instant cash. You can easily learn how to sell these old cookbooks. Finding them is the easy part-but pricing them can be tricky. You must do a little research in order to be accurate and get a fair price for yourself.

How to Sell Cookbooks - Old, Rare, Used, Vintage & Antique Betty Crocker, BH&G & Others

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Culinary Arts Institute Cookbook 1955


Vintage Gourmet Foods cookbook featuring many classic recipes. From the 50's, it's gourmet cooking before it was cool. Over 150 fabulous recipes to tempt your taste buds and impress your guests. A must have book for the serious collector. 68 pages.

There are several of these books published by the Culinary Arts Institute and each one is special. They were rather inexpensive at the time, but have become a real collectible in today's market.

You can check this out on Etsy.com if interested. Enjoy!

The Gourmet Foods Cookbook

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Vintage Cookbooks Mean Cash $$$


Sell Cookbooks - Get Cash Fast - Sell Your Old Cookbooks!
By Helen Hecker

It's a well-kept secret but many people are selling their old cookbooks to raise some cash in these harder economic times. They want to keep it a secret so they don't have as much competition. Because they've found that after selling their own old cookbooks that they can easily pick up the best used, old, rare, vintage and antique cookbooks at garage sales, yard sales, estate sales, etc.

The average person will have no idea that their cookbooks are valuable and could bring them a lot of money. They just consider them to be old cookbooks with no real value. If they do wonder, they don't know how to go about finding out what they're worth. The average antique appraiser is not going to know without a lot of research either.

Vendors, who are in business to put on garage sales, are completely unaware of the value of any of these cookbooks. These old, collectible cookbooks go for unbelievable prices of fifty cents to a dollar easily.

You can take advantage of this and earn yourself some nice cash. You can sell cookbooks for much more than you bought them for.

Go through your own old cookbooks first, if you have any, or through you mother's grandmother's or relatives cookbooks to start with so you can build up a little knowledge.

What to look for. Although there are hundreds of cookbooks you can make a lot of money with you want to at first concentrate on the Better Homes and Garden Cookbooks and Betty Crocker Cookbooks. Look for cookbooks that are from the 1950s and 1960s and older. Also look for the plaid covers or pie covers. You can also look for the Betty Crocker Boys and Girl Cookbooks. This is a good place to start because they're plentiful and still bring in a lot of money.

What you should forget about - newer cookbooks are generally not going to be sought after by collectors. They can easily get these. The only time you can make any money with these is if the publisher did a short print run and it's a small publishing company but this is usually not the case. Even then you may not get much for the cookbook.

You can sell cookbooks to collectors - old, rare, antique or vintage cookbooks - because they buy year 'round and the state of the economy doesn't make a bit of difference to them. In fact they know they can find even more as people are finding out that old cookbooks have value and selling them. Of course there's a lot more to learn and a lot of secrets in the cookbook market but too much to go into in a short article. You can quickly learn how to sell old cookbooks.

For more tips on selling cookbooks go to http://www.SellCookbooks.com a website specializing in selling old, used, rare, vintage, antique and collectible cookbooks with lots of advice and resources

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Helen_Hecker [http://ezinearticles.com/?Sell-Cookbooks---Get-Cash-Fast---Sell-Your-Old-Cookbooks!&id=1508796]



Blogged with the Flock Browser

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Creative Recipe Scrapbooking

Now for all you scrapbookers, here's a twist on recipe collecting and sharing.

Creative Recipe Scrapbooking
Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Must read article on old, rare, vintage cookbooks

Here's a great article I found on Ezine. It's good reading
if you're looking for an advantage in the vintage cookbook market.

How to Sell Cookbooks - Old, Rare, Used, Vintage & Antique Betty Crocker, BH&G & Others

Monday, January 26, 2009

Vintage Cookbooks

These treasures are usually easy to find at thrift stores and estate sales. Most people overlook the value of vintage cookbooks and are fooled by the fact they usually end up in a box with many other useless books and wind up at the local Goodwill, Salvation Army or local thrift store. Or even worse - the dump. Very sad since cookbooks are akin to history books in that they document peoples current food trends and contain not just recipes, but pictures from the time period they are published in.

I began collecting and selling cookbooks by accident and became hooked on finding even more older and more valuable ones right away. The range of topics and themes is endless as is the authors. Sunset, Better Homes and Gardens, Betty Crocker you name it, they date back generations. I’m lucky to have a few from the WWII era that I am especially proud of.

I will be featuring my favorites down the road and hope you’ll follow along as I hunt for even more awesome treasures as they are discovered. For now, check out my Etsy store where you can see examples of just what I’m talking about.

Enjoy!