Coffee Queen Keeps Busy

Impromptu mini cheese board for happy hour!  Gouda from Oakdale Cheese paired with some Beetroot Chutney from my foodie friend Carmen.  If you are lucky you might still be able to grab a jar of Beetroot Chutney from Carmen's Organic Kitchen at Gene's Fine Foods in Pleasanton!  Tonight's cocktail was a Rob Roy from 3-Ingredient Cocktails by Robert Simonson. Links: Oakdale Cheese Carmen's Organic Kitchen Gene's Fine Foods 3-Ingredient Cocktails

Orchard Mule from page 90 of the 2021 Christmas with Southern Living cookbook. I'm officially 1 month post-op for my hip replacement and off all of my pain medication. Happy Hour can resume and this Orchard Mule was the perfect way to celebrate! Vodka, apple cider, a little lemon juice, and ginger beer combine to make a perfect seasonal beverage. This beverage will definitely be on repeat throughout fall and winter! Thank you to Abrams Dinner Party for the advance copy of this book in return for an unbiased review. Links: ABRAMS Books 2021 Christmas with Southern Living

 Cookbook #20 in my Cook the Bookshelf Challenge is Atkins for Life by Robert C. Atkins, M.D. About the Book   I bought this book a while back while I was in a low-carb phase.  The recipes were good then and are still delicious even though I am no longer restricting my carbohydrate intake. This book outlines the complete Atkins plan and has a lot of great recipes.  The Recipe I Chose To Make I made Coconut Chicken on page 266.   How Was It?   I was looking a for a quick, easy, and flavorful recipe and the Coconut Chicken did not disappoint!  I had Thai chili peppers on hand and used them instead of jalapenos to add a bit of heat. What’s Next? The next cookbook in my Cook the Bookshelf Challenge will be Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. Click here for previous recipes made in my ‘Cook the Bookshelf’ challenge.

Cookbooks #19: Atkins Best Recipes and #21: Atkins: The Complete Cookbook are the next 2 cookbooks in my Cook the Bookshelf Challenge . These books are grouped together because despite the different titles and covers they are the exact same book!  Same introduction, same recipes on the same pages, same photos....exactly the same!     About the Book These books are full of recipes that follow the low-carb Atkins plan.  I bought them when I went through a low-carb phase a while back. Some recipes call for ingredients that I prefer not to use like Atkins baking mixes, Atkins bread, various low-carb products, and sugar substitutes but there are a lot of recipes that sound great even if you are not following a low-carb diet. The Recipes I Chose To Make: From Atkins Best Recipes I made the Mexican Chicken Salad from page 90.  I substituted a regular tortilla for a low-carb tortilla but otherwise kept the recipe the same.  This recipe was perfect for a main dish salad. From Atkins: The Comple

Cookbook #18 in my Cook the Bookshelf Challenge is The Asian Cookbook from Parragon Publishing. . The Recipe I Chose To Make I have made several recipes form this cookbook already so I had my daughters decide which recipe I should make for the challenge. They decided on Daam Daam Min (Dan Dan Mian) on page 76. Dan Dan Mian is a Chinese Sichuan dish with a spicy sauce made with preserved vegetables, chili oil, Sichuan pepper, ground meat, and scallions served over noodles. The dish can either be served dry or as a noodle soup, this recipe noted that it is a dry noodle dish. How Was It? I was a little skeptical of this recipe. It called for Sichuan peppercorns, preserved vegetables, and black Chinese vinegar, none of which I had ever cooked with before. It was drier than we are used to for a noodle dish, just as the recipe described, but it was very good. The recipe calls for 2 finely chopped scallions but the directions do not say when to add them to the dish causing me to complet

Cookbook #17 in my Cook the Bookshelf Challenge  is Amazing Recipe Makeovers from the editors of Cooking Light.   Amazing Recipe Makeovers About the Book This cookbook was sent to me from my friends at Cooking Light and the Cooking Light Diet along with some of their other cookbooks that were not yet in my collection. This cookbook has so many delicious recipes for comfort food, takeout favorites, appetizers, sides, and desserts--all with half the fat, calories, salt, and /or sugar. About the Author Cooking Light is a lifestyle publication that provides delicious low-calorie recipes and tips. The monthly magazine is no longer available but they do publish 4 single issue magazines a year that are filled with their delicious recipes and healthy eating tips. The Recipe I Chose To Make A photo of the Cheddar Cheeseburgers with Caramelized Shallots is on the back cover of this cookbook and it caught my attention. When this burger was posted on Cooking Light Diet's