Here are a few things that caught our eye over the last month that aren't necessarily recipe-related.
While in Tennessee over the holidays, we picked up bar of chocolate
from Nashville-based Olive & Sinclair Chocolate.
We were sucked in by their cute labels but immediately became fans after tasting the Sea Salt chocolate bar. It seems the company is just getting going, judging by the limited info on their website.
Here's hoping they expand nationwide in 2010!
The December issue of Real Simple featured Herb-Savor, a product designed to make your herbs last up to three weeks in the refrigerator.
Admittedly, we've pulled our fair share of dead herbs out of our fridge, so we're intrigued. Prepara, the company who makes the product, is sold out online, but if you want to try it, Amazon has is it for $29.99. If you already have one, let us know what you think!
We featured ROOT Organic Liqueur in our holiday gift guide. Zach gave Clay a bottle as a Christmas gift, and we've enjoyed trying it. On the rocks, it's a bit much for us, like a really boozy root beer. But we loved it mixed with ginger ale. Want to try it? You can order ROOT here.
In their December issue, Fine Cooking features an interesting blog that was new to us: TheOldieFoodie.com. On the site, author Janet Clarkson writes about food history and historic recipes. The recipe archive is astounding, with titles like "To dresse a Hare or Cunny in brothe, with a pudding in their bellyes (1588)." We're adventurous cooks, but we're steering clear of that one.
And finally, friends and family gave us some wonderful food-related books at the holidays. Here's a rundown of what we'll be reading over the next few months:
The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis -- We've read raves about this book for years and can't wait to cook from it ourselves.
Craig Claiborne's A Feast Made For Laughter -- The autobiography of a former New York Times food critic and writer, we wrote about this previously when we recommended Gael Greene's Insatiable. It's out of print, but available online through resellers.
Cleaving by Julie Powell -- We're keen to hear about Powell's experience apprenticing as a butcher, even if we'll only be able to imagine Amy Adams wielding a cleaver the whole time.
The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis & Scott Peacock -- Another classic Southern-themed cookbook. We've been meaning to to buy this book for years. We're glad it's finally on our shelf!
Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller -- It seems that everyone was talking about this book over the last few months. We look forward to trying out some of the recipes.
The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook -- We spent a lot of time thumbing through this book while staying with a friend in San Francisco this spring. We're happy to have a copy of our own.
What's on your reading list?
