Vegetarian Family

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Friday, June 30, 2006

Moosewood & Crockpot

I'd heard so many wonderful things about the Moosewood Cookbook, that I wanted to see for myself. I snagged this one on ebay, and it's a 1977, hardback edition. (Are they all? Curious if there was only one pressing?) This is one of the most charming cookbooks I've seen. It has wonderful hand-drawn illustrations and scripts, recipe notes, and personal touches. It's as if a friend wrote down all her favorite recipes and artfully doodled on each page. It's hard to describe, so look:



How cute is this picture titled 'How To Eat A Tostada'? ~ underneath the drawing is an entire paragraph on how to eat ~ ending with:

"...Eat it sitting down, holding the plate under your chin to pick-up what drops as you progress from one end of the tostada to the other. If you need two hands to eat it, find a trusted friend to hold up your plate for you."




Here is part of the page for 'Cream of Asparagus' Soup. This book is vegetarian, which I suspect could easily be veganized. Any Moosewood fans out there? Which recipes have you tried? Veganized any of them?








I also picked up this little cookbook on ebay. The recipes are divided by countries: Passions of Italy, Colors of Mexico, Asian Delights, Irish Epicurean Delights, America's Favorites, and Slow-Cooker Desserts. I'm looking forward to cooking our first meal in the Slow Cooker ~ just throwing everything in, setting the timer, forgetting about it, & seemingly insta-meal. Any Crock Pot fans?



Dori first got me interested in getting another Slow Cooker - we sold ours years ago when we went veggie thinking it was just for meat. Silly us! Anyhow, we're back in business, and we were happily surprised to find that our new Crock Pot was expecting....when we unpacked her, she had this cute 'Little Dipper' inside. Perfect for hot dips like Creamy Spinach Dip, Chocolate Fondue, Artichoke Dip, etc. Nice bonus.

15 Comments:

Blogger Eat Peace Please said...

Vicki, this post is awesome! I wish I had a slow cooker and a pressure cooker. I like the cute little one you have. As for Moosewood, I only rented one at the Library and it was purple and soft but the inside looks the same as yours. I really like the handwriting and drawings too. It makes it personal.

5:46 PM  
Blogger Freedom said...

With regards to the Moosewood Cookbook, I am NOT a fan, unfortunately. Luckily for me I only borrowed it from the library, didn't buy it. I love the pics, doodles and hand written style - it's just the recipes I have a problem with! I found almost all recipes impossible to veganise because the author Mollie Katzen seems to have a minor cheese obsession (yick!). I hope you enjoy it more than I did!
PS The one I borrowed was a soft cover.

8:00 PM  
Blogger Dori said...

Congrats on the new addition .... a what a lovely lil' dipper! I use my slow cookers for alot of things, more when it's cold though (except for seitan roasts).

I was at Barnes and Noble tonight looking at a couple of veg slow cooker books. I was wondering which one you choose. I had one in my hand to buy, but then decided to buy only one book and Diet for a New America by John Robbins won out, well that and a pack of cinnamon mints to freshen my breath after the wonderful Tazo black tea.

9:41 PM  
Blogger Carrieā„¢ said...

Moosewood was the first vegetarian cookbook I bought. Mine is copyright 2000. There's a note that some of the oil and whatnot has been cut down in some of the recipes, but it's still the same old book. Mine is a softcover. I'm glad you posted this because I haven't pulled that book off the shelf in a while. I should look through it again.
I used to watch her cooking show. I think it was on PBS. Jim then bought me another one of her books, 'The Enchanted Broccoli Forest'.

I have a slow cooker and don't use it as often as I should. I got Robin Robertson 'Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker' off e-bay and have made a couple of things that have turned out well. You really scored with the baby pot inside. What a cool idea to use for dips!

9:49 PM  
Blogger funwithyourfood said...

haha the illustrations are great.

Good thing I know how to eat a tostata now! ;)

Teddy

PS Don't forget to stop by my blog while I'm on vacation. Richard's still posting for me ;)

Teddy

10:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't own any of the mossewood cookbooks because they seem so heavy on the dairy, and I'm lazy and ndon't want to veganize the recipes. That said, I've heard a LOT about this one, and The Enchanted Brocoli Forest (the purple one the Leslie referred to in her comment).

5:26 AM  
Blogger Dreena said...

I'm not sure how many reprints there have been of that book to date - A LOT!! Great purchase, that's one of the things I have always loved about the cookbook too - how charming and personal it seems with all the hand-written text and doodles. It's a pleasure just to look through over and over!

7:13 AM  
Blogger Dreena said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

7:13 AM  
Blogger Christine Cassidy said...

I still have my ancient copy of Moosewood but I hardly ever even look at it because there is way too much cheese and dairy. That used to be the default cooking style when I became veg back in the '70's.

I also have a small, old slow cooker, I am thinking of getting a bigger one. It is the only way I can cook garbanzos beans. Even soaked 24 hours they take all day in the slow cooker to get soft. But, they are so much better than canned beans! Other beans I do in the pressure cooker, which is a pot I would never do without.

10:53 AM  
Blogger Eat Peace Please said...

Oh yeah, I meant... Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Plus, I love that name.

2:21 PM  
Blogger MeloMeals said...

I've never seen it in hardcover... you scored! I have several of her cookbooks and love to read them.. since I never follow a recipe, it doesn't matter that most of them aren't vegan. I've gotten so many great ideas from her books.. on the back of The Enchanted Broccoli Forest there is this dish, a rice dish with broccoli trees... omg.. this is taking me back in time! My kids LOVED to eat their broccoli that way and to this day it is one of their favorite foods. Your daughter would love it too I'll bet. It's basically a rice Pilaf dish served in a shallow platter with steamed broccoli "tree stems".. I'd make a little sidewalk with corn,a flower field with red peppers and green herbs... thanks for reminding me of this time.. kids grow so fast..

2:45 PM  
Blogger KleoPatra said...

Vicki, great crock pot. I had a friend who had one, she was a sometimes-vegetarian who swore by hers. I really wanna get one now!

Love the "How To Eat A Tostada" - now i know! How did i go this long w/out knowing?

Hope you got my e-mail, i sent it from Yahoo! since my hotmail acts up from home and i was not able to get to a computer other than from home for a couple of days.

Can't wait to meetcha!

7:50 PM  
Blogger urban vegan said...

I love TWC and the Enchanted Broccoli Forest. They were my second and third vegetarian cookbooks and I still use them and veganize the recipes. [Freedom's right, tho--Mollie Katsen was a cheese-a-holic. Hopefully-- for the animals and her cholesterol --she's changed her ways.]

7:02 PM  
Blogger Michelle said...

i had the Enchanted Broccoli Forest, and it did have some good recipes. i just got tired of having to swap ingredients in almost all the recipes to make them vegan, it's pretty dairy heavy IMO

5:47 AM  
Anonymous Ferdinand said...

those old pictures make me yet more hungry

9:49 AM  

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