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Cookbooks: I think I might be done.


Chris Amirault

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The Time Life Japan had quite a life for me. I am not overly fond of the cuisine but it taught me a lot about the culture. Helped me when I tutored Japanese wives of "salary men" here for 2 years at Honda & Toyota. Then my son's good buddy who called me his "other mother" became Japan fixated. I got him a copy, he took Japanese in high school, did a Junior semester in college there. Well it was short circuited by a massive earthquake 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. but he still has the book.

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3 minutes ago, heidih said:

The Time Life Japan had quite a life for me. I am not overly fond of the cuisine but it taught me a lot about the culture. Helped me when I tutored Japanese wives of "salary men" here for 2 years at Honda & Toyota. Then my son's good buddy who called me his "other mother" became Japan fixated. I got him a copy, he took Japanese in high school, did a Junior semester in college there. Well it was short circuited by a massive earthquake 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. but he still has the book.

Don't know what it was, but in addition to diving headlong into all things French, I went nuts for all things Japanese.  Parents bought me some drafting tools one Christmas, "designed" a world where water and green were everywhere, and loved the idea where indoors and outdoors were not well defined...a pool that spans the LR and outside, with a sliding wall to close off for winter (I was such a weird kid, lol).  Learned what katakana I could, and wrote a gushing letter to the L.A. consulate about my almost adoptive love for Japan, received a gazillion brightly colored travel materials.  Right now, about 3 feet from me..."Gardens of Kyoto", etc.

 

Of course, the only problem, is you grow up, take it seriously, move inside a zen and martial arts temple and get the snot kicked out of you as a personal disciple of a master...

 

..and still haven't learned a damn thing.

 

-In all seriousness, it was really kind of you regarding your son's friend.  Terrible disaster.

 

 

IMG_0399.jpeg

-Paul

 

Remplis ton verre vuide; Vuide ton verre plein. Je ne puis suffrir dans ta main...un verre ni vuide ni plein. ~ Rabelais

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I lived for years in a very Japanese section of town. From Wiki - As of 2014 Torrance has the second largest concentration of ethnic Japanese people of any U.S. city, after Honolulu. The city has headquarters of Japanese automakers and offices of other Japanese companies.[12] Because of this many Japanese restaurants and other Japanese cultural offerings are in the city, and Willy Blackmore of L.A. Weekly wrote that Torrance was "essentially Japan's 48th prefecture". - We did the dancing at the temple. My son's martial art though is Hapkido (Korean) - black belt  Not his passion - father pleasing. Anyway we are drawn to difference at times in food and life.  The cookbooks I also re-purchased were all of Marlena de Blasi's : 1000 Days in Venice, Tuscany, and others. She is a passionate writer. I didn't miss them till I reached for one and remembered I'd let it go. 

So I still love the actual books versus electronic, like that library will usually purchase on request, and personally purchase what I think i will refer to as inspiration. Melissa Clark "In the Kitchen With a Good Appetite", and Kim Severson's "Spoon Fed" reside on the nightstand.

 

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30 minutes ago, heidih said:

I lived for years in a very Japanese section of town. From Wiki - As of 2014 Torrance has the second largest concentration of ethnic Japanese people of any U.S. city, after Honolulu. The city has headquarters of Japanese automakers and offices of other Japanese companies.[12] Because of this many Japanese restaurants and other Japanese cultural offerings are in the city, and Willy Blackmore of L.A. Weekly wrote that Torrance was "essentially Japan's 48th prefecture". - We did the dancing at the temple. My son's martial art though is Hapkido (Korean) - black belt  Not his passion - father pleasing. Anyway we are drawn to difference at times in food and life.  The cookbooks I also re-purchased were all of Marlena de Blasi's : 1000 Days in Venice, Tuscany, and others. She is a passionate writer. I didn't miss them till I reached for one and remembered I'd let it go. 

So I still love the actual books versus electronic, like that library will usually purchase on request, and personally purchase what I think i will refer to as inspiration. Melissa Clark "In the Kitchen With a Good Appetite", and Kim Severson's "Spoon Fed" reside on the nightstand.

 

(I began my martial life as a kid with a rather b.s. "fusion"; truly began in my 20's, with tae kwon do; when my teacher, Master Ki Chung Han, was tragically killed in a freak auto accident, there was a tremendous turnout of Korean masters - among them, Master Bong Soo Han, who many consider the "father" of Hapkido in the U.S., as well as fight choreographer - Billy Jack, etc.  Quite a martial artist and teacher).

 

The de Blasi books sounds wonderful.  Digging in now - thanks!

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-Paul

 

Remplis ton verre vuide; Vuide ton verre plein. Je ne puis suffrir dans ta main...un verre ni vuide ni plein. ~ Rabelais

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On 12/27/2012 at 1:47 PM, Porthos said:

I have thought about this more during the year. I definitely don't think I'm a great cook who couldn't learn anything more.

I used to read cookbooks the way some people read novels. When it comes to buying new cook books I think I've just realized that the subject matter of a new one will look interesting to me, I'll buy the book, then I never make any time to actually try the recipes and techniques. Also my wife and I don't have people over to dinner very often - a major change from once or twice a month twenty years ago. And for my sweet wife's part in this: except for certain tried-and-true recipes when she wants to find a new (to us) recipe she uses the internet instead of our collection of cook books. We have a lot of the standards: Fannie Farmer, The French Chef and maybe 5 other Julia Child books, several of Jeff Smiths, probably 18-24 ethnic-specific books, etc... We just don't seem to look at them for new things.

Maybe 3 years ago I realized just what a cooking rut I was in. I did start to try to cook something new from our cookbooks, at first once a week, then it dwindled back down. Enter getting a Samsung Tablet with a Kindle reader on it. I started buying and using them again. Some cookbooks are e-versions of stuff on my shelves, but mostly they're new-to-me cookbooks.  Early in my marriage I tended toward more involved preparation, but now quicker, fresh-ingredients cooking is my main interest.  Michael Symon's Five in Five is a favorite of mine. While our kitchen was down for renovation, just getting food prepared was enough. The continuing home renovation often leaves me spent and not interested in cooking that night. I recently read Jacques Pepin's autobiography and when his Fast Food My Way and More Fast Fast Food My Way showed up in the Crazy Good e-Book Bargains  I grabbed them. I'm reading through More right now and will make something from it very soon.

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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  • 1 month later...

This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times but there's a paywall, I believe, so I am posting this reprint from MSN:

 

"Mar Vista's cookbook queen wants her living room back, so she's selling treasured titles"

Quote

When her interest in cooking was piqued after marrying in 1961, Palmer, now 82, imagined one day owning a bookstore. She would sell antique salt and pepper shakers, and everyone would sit on the sofa and read. “I started to collect cookbooks en masse and booked myself out of existence,” said Palmer. “Now I’m ready to get my living room back.”

 

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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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