Mtn. Green Community Cookbook...Sigh...

Okay for those of you that know me know that I enjoy cooking and trying new things for my family. You also know that this cookbook has been the death of me and may have scarred some new and not so new relationships in my life. I still sit and wonder how I got stuck with the repsonsibility that was given to me to produce, in my words, such a grown up task. I am not capable of such tasks mind you. There were countless days and nights that I would be sick and/or sleepless over this task at hand, producing the "Mtn. Green Community Cookbook." Their were other hands involved in the creation of this book, my Mother In Law which whom I am indebted to for the long hours of service, Jenifer Standbridge who just well, put up with me and Tammy Martin who I am sure wondered if it was actually going to come together. I do, however, think it was a HUGE blessing in disguise. To lay awake worried about a cookbook for fear I would dissapoint friends and neighbors when in my reality at that time I should have been sleepless over things going on in my real world and did not give two thoughts about. So looking back this task took away from my reality and got me through those tough times. I know that may not make sense but it was and is and will be a huge blessing in disguise.

So the "will be" blessing portion. I have decided rather than throwing this cookbook in the snow, because seriously that is what I want to do with the stacks that sit at my house as I type, waiting to be picked up and packaged as very nice Christmas gifts. I am going to blog about this great book filled with fun, tried and true recipes by local friends and family.

My blogging idea came from my new favorite flick, "Julie & Julia." The movie was really good and it just so happens that we have a copy of Julia Child's cookbook which is the 19th re-print, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." I believe in total this cookbook has been reproduced like 47 times! Rich picked it up at the DI for $2 when we moved back to Utah. The cookbook had at that point only been used by Rich so the second I got home after seeing the flick I found one of the recipes they used in the movie, " Boeuf Bourguignon." So I made it like two days later. Can I just say Oh My Gosh, it was so good, like melt in your mouth pieces of beef with such a yummy savory flavor. Perfect "high style" comfort food. Okay, so enough about Julia Child. I do enjoy putting on a winter layer and enjoying me some good home cookn' each year, especially over the holidays and that I am planning on doing and am well on my way of doing just that.

So... I have decided each time I go the the grocery store I will purchase the items needed for 4 - 5 recipes from "The Mtn. Green Community Cookbook" and blog about it. So this evening I am starting with some ingredients that I already had in my house so that brought me to Tracy Madorin's Pork Chops and Potatoes. In Logan's words, "that looks disgusting." In my mind I could just tell it was going to be good comfort food, and so it was. I love onions and it was full of 1 can of french fried onions. The recipe said to bake in a 9 X 13 dish. Mine is full of caramel that is so overcooked I am afraid I will break the glass dish removing it. Never mind the fact that I still break away and eat large morsels everyday until it must be gone. I have finishitis! Okay sorry, back onto the Pork Chops and Potatoes, the recipe says to begin by browning the pork chops then placing in a dish to bake. I browned and baked in the same Fry Pan. A Pampered Chef pan that is versatile from stove top to oven, love it. I also added Johny Spice while browning, it should be a staple seasoning in every woman's spice cabinet. Also the recipe did not specify what kind of hashbrowns other than O'Brian Hash Brown's so I could only find the O'Brian that were cubed and not shredded, worked just fine. Overall a very fine meal that all kids and husband enjoyed and I would make it again!

So I feel this new recipe blog thing is more for my journaling purposes and to prepare good healthy meals for my family so that we may eat as a family. It is on the "To Do List" for 2010 to eat 4 meals at the table with my family a week. That may be breakfast, lunch or dinner and will be a huge family accomplishment if we can do just that.

I am going to award the first reply with a can of French Fried Onions for any comment made on this particular post! Just for the simple fact that it is so long and am curious to see who reads the whole darn rootn' tootn' thing!