Debs' Hodgepodge Sunday, February Version

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Somehow Super Bowl Sunday has rolled around again! How did this happen? And, um, who exactly is playing?

Sorry, Pats and Hawks out there, just kidding. I don't watch much football, but when I do, I call myself a Kansas City Chiefs fan. (Sorry, you Cowboys lovers. I am a contrary Dallasite.) But I am, as always, in the Super Bowl for the ads, the half time show, and the snacks.

This year it's not just because Bad Bunny is on the bill (although Benito can sing to me anytime) but because I am a big fan of Green Day, who are opening the show. Maybe Kincaid/James readers will remember that in THE SOUND OF BROKEN GLASS, when Andy is supposed to be auditioning for a record producer, it's Green Day's Good Riddance that he plays. I love Billy Joe Armstrong and I'm sure he'll be his usual, um, irreverent self.

As for snacks, I'm having a hard time coming up with something for just two people (and that's assuming I can make my husband sit down and watch the game with me.) But I am tempted by this recipe for nostalgia's sake, Million Dollar Dip, made famous by Dallas's own Neiman Marcus. And maybe we'll treat ourselves to a once-a-year Bloody Mary!

We won't be snuggling up in front of the fire, however–we are in the 70s here in north Texas and will be for the rest of this week. Sending hugs to those of you digging out from more snow, and hoping you are not yet tired of chili.

Not to rub it in, but I was thrilled to get out to the farmers market yesterday, the first time since before Christmas. Apparently everyone else in my town felt the same way because the market was heaving and things were selling out by nine o'clock!

It always cheers me up to see people and dogs, and I was desperate for my favorite salad greens. Not to mention the best latte around!

It will get cold again, never fear, but meanwhile there are the Winter Olympics to watch, so we can imagine snow and ice even if we don't have it.

How about it, lovely REDDIES, what's in your Sunday line-up? Superbowl? Dip? Cheering for Ilia Malinin in the Men's Free Skate?

P.S. One last thing--a grammar question! Should "farmers market" have an apostrophe? (Plural.) My city chooses not to use one. 

Who's Your Top Dog?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I have a rant! I was so aggravated on Tuesday this week when I couldn't find any way to watch the Westminster Dog Show. We have broadcast TV (antenna!) and we have lots of streaming services (too many!) but none of our options carried the show. Apparently, it was on FS1, which is Fox Sports on cable, and on Hulu+, which is streaming but ouchy expensive. So, I sulked, and tried to keep up with the New York Times live updates, but no pictures, so boo. Here's this year's winner (photo courtesy of Westminster Kennel Club), a gorgeous, sassy doberman called Penny. (Or, officially, GCHP CH Connquest Best Of Both Worlds.)

I couldn't find a photo of the Best in Breed German shepherd, but you can see him at about 22 minutes in this video of the herding group. What a beautiful boy!

I adore dog shows. I think it's fascinating to see the variations in all the different breeds. Of course, I have my favorites--German shepherds, obviously. I also love all the Herding Group, the Working Group, and the Hunting Group, especially the spaniels, but I have cheered for little bichons and terriers and all manner of dogs.

This made me think about why we love the dogs that we love. We have had German shepherds (Jasmine, who will be twelve on Valentine's Day (ish) is our 4th) because Rick's family kept a friend's German Shepherd for a few months when he was about four. From then on, the GSD was the perfect dog for him and there is no substitute.

I love them, too, but as you might guess from the dog I gave Gemma in my books, I have a big place in my heart for cocker spaniels, both the English and the American varieties. A cocker was my first dog as an adult, brought home by my ex-husband as a six-week-old puppy--as a surprise! Here I am with my darling boy, Taffy, in my author photo on the back flap of DREAMING OF THE BONES.

Where Kit's little rescue terrier, Tess, comes from I don't know, as we've never had terriers in our family, but I can tell you that she looks like a Norwich terrier.

Dog genetics are endlessly fascinating to me. My daughter, Kayti, and her family adopted a rescue puppy after Christmas. Her name is Tillie and she's missing one of her front legs--it had to be amputated due to a bad break. Look at her little face!!

Kayti sent off her DNA to be tested and while waiting for the results, she did a fundraiser for the rescue organization, giving people a chance to guess Tillie's lineage.  

You can see that we were all convinced there was terrier or schnauzer in there! We were so wrong.

Here are Tillie's DNA test results.

Tillie and Jasmine are cousins!

Dear REDs and readers, do you have a favorite dog breed? And, if so, why?

Cooking with a Little Help

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I know quite a few of us have been cooking-challenged in the last couple of weeks. When you can't get out to the store, for whatever reason (iced in for a week here!) you have to get creative. So did I pull out my favorite cookbooks as I was perusing the pantry and planning meals?

Uh, nope, I'm a little embarrassed to admit. I searched for recipes online. Don't get me wrong–I love cookbooks. But I'm more likely to read them than I am to actually cook from them. I've almost finished reading the copy of Samin Nosrat's GOOD THINGS I got for Christmas, but have I made anything from it? Oops, no, although I even bought the special vinegar for one of her salad dressings... Maybe tomorrow...

I do, however, have favorite online cooking sites that I use practically every day. 

#1 is New York Times Cooking.

I know it's a subscription, but to me it is absolutely worth it. I love that I can save recipes in my searchable Recipe Box. And I really love the comments from other readers. They can be incredibly helpful and have often made the difference between a recipe that is just okay and one that goes on instant dinner repeat.

#2 is Jeanine Donofrio's LOVE & LEMONS. I actually have one of her cookbooks that I never think to open. We're not vegetarian but I'm always trying to ramp up our fruit, veggie, and grain proportions, and she's a terrific resource on how to cook all of those things.

#3 is another vegetarian site, COOKIE + KATE. If one of your New Year's resolutions is to eat healthier, this will inspire you.

I also subscribe to The Washington Post's Eat Voraciously column (free with the paper's digital subscription) and I subscribe to Mark Bittman's substack, The Bittman Project which does require a small fee but is a great resource for healthy eating and food news.

And of course there is Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, who can be relied upon for many a great recipe. (Short ribs, anyone? Yum, I think, with this cold weather, those might need to go on my menu this week…)

Darling REDs, do you turn to favorite internet cooking gurus in a pinch, or do you actually use your trusty cookbooks?

LUCY BURDETTE: I requested and received 3 cookbooks for Christmas and Birthday, including Good Things. I’ve only made one recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s cake book. John wonders why I need cookbooks when I get everything online? BIG SHRUG. I’m an addict!

I love New York Times Cooking, Once Upon a Chef, Sally’s Baking Addiction, King Arthur, and most recently, Alexandra’s Kitchen. And more…

DEBS: Oh, I use Once Upon a Chef, too!

HALLIE EPHRON: My go-to source is The New York Times Cooking, too. But I also find myself dipping back into the first cookbook I ever used: The Joy of Cooking. It’s cover has decayed and many of the pages are stained, but it’s so easy to follow, simple and reliable. I’m not a fan of recipes that include obscure ingredients or fancy equipment. (No air fryer or sous vide or crockpot even …)

And then there are all the recipes I’ve cut out or printed over the years, which I keep in a series of manila folders (Mains, Desserts, Soups…)

DEBS: For some reason, I've never really cooked from Joy, even though I have the 1970s edition and the newer one. You Joy fans will have to list me some of your favorites to try.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Ladies, I have to confess. I cook because I like to eat. Any small stirrings of cooking as a creative act were trampled underfoot by thirty years of making dinners (and lunches) for a family of five. If I could hire someone to make delicious, healthy meals for me, I’d do it in a minute, and I’d never open the oven again except to re-heat take-out pizza.

That being said, if I am looking for a recipe for a dish I’ve never made before, my technique is to search with a list of the main ingredients, see what pops up, and then sort the recipes by the number of reviews and how many stars each one received. Then I go back and forth, reading several of them. Sometimes, I choose just one. Other times, I mix and match. If a dish was a success, I’ll bookmark it, which is the modern version of the manila folders with newspaper and magazine clippings which I, like Hallie, collected.

Where are they now? I guess we’ll find out when my Swedish Death Cleaning is complete.

DEBS: Julia, mine in are the kitchen bookshelf, and I do actually use some of them!

RHYS BOWEN:  I have become anti-cooking. After fifty years of feeding a family every night all I want is a personal chef to call me when dinner is on the table and delight my senses. But one thing I do still enjoy is making soups in the winter. My friend Susan Shea gave me a lovely book called Sunday Soups for Christmas and I have already tried a couple of them.

I do save recipes I see online but I have to confess that my rule for trying them is now how good they might taste but how many ingredients they have. If I scan down and read “first grate the ginger, crush the garlic and saute the xxx then put aside while you…”  No. My favorite meals these days are things like lamb chops, asparagus and new potatoes or pan fried petrale sole. 

DEBS: So many of the NYT recipes tell you that you can make them in 30 minutes. I will tell you that THEY LIE. I used to think I was just a really bad cook because things would take me at least twice as long, but I see other people in the NYT comments saying that they lie! Maybe in a professional kitchen, with someone to prep...

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I think I get a newsletter from–All Recipes? Which I never make anything from, but I get ideas. Like–oh, I have chicken and mushrooms, and that’s an interesting way to put them together. And then I do it my way. Sometimes I enter the ingredients I have, and see what it comes with that’s different. I am less and less inclined to try something complicated. I have NO time for that.

I do have a stash of cookbooks, though, and if I need any advice, I go to Mark Bittman or the Blue Strawberry Cookbook. They always know.  I will never give up my young-bride compilation of recipes clipped from the Washington post and who knows where else, some in handwriting on  peoples index cards and some weird copies from an office copier (I bet) and all taped with now-yellowed and brittle scotch tape into spiral steno pads. I bet it has chicken divan and fondue sauces and chicken Kiev and french onion soup (Julia Child's) and boeuf bourguignon and fettucini Alfredo.Things like that.

Recently I calculated that in the time I’ve been married to Jonathan I have probably cooked 7500 dinners. Just saying.

JENN McKINLAY: I don’t cook so while I love looking at cookbooks — the Magnolia Bakery cookbook is divine! — I handed my apron to the Hub during the pandemic and never took it back. So recipe searching isn’t for me, although I will ask the Hub to cook chicken or fish or whatever I’m hankering and he is wonderfully accommodating and a much better cook than I am. 

DEBS: How about it, dear readers? Do you reach for a cookbook, look up a dinner recipe online--or order out!