2 Days In A Row!

Yes, I'm getting better at this, 2 days in a row. Lots of new information coming along.

The chef of the day is Mario Batali. For those of you with excess time and money on November 16, 2009, Mario will be hosting a dinner with wine tasting with winemaker, Chiara Leonini at the Babbo Restaurant in New York City. $495 per person, includes wines, food, tax & gratuity. For more information, please call 917-715-3599. www.mariobatali.com

Up is a cheese dip recipe that I tried last night. Very, very good-but you have to keep this hot, to keep the flavor going.

Val's Cheese Dip

1/2 cup diced onion, 1 cup regular or non-alcoholic beer, 8 oz shredded Cheddar cheese, 8 oz shredded Pepper Jack cheese, 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 tbsp taco seasoning, 2 tbsp chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, 1 cup sour cream, tortilla chips for dipping

Place onion and beer in a heavy medium-size saucepan. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 3 to 4 minutes. In a large bowl, combine cheeses, flour and taco seasoning. Slowly add handfuls to hot beer until melted, stirring constantly. Repeat until all of the cheese is used. Stir in chipotle pepper and sour cream. Serve with tortilla chips.

My recommendations: this takes alot of work, to get this really hot-I would place the finished product in a chafing dish or fondue pot and let it go on its own. I have never worked with chipotle pepper in adobo sauce before, it smells so wonderful. I will have to find more things to use it in.

Extra smooth hands with a butter, sugar and squalene oil treatment:

Stir 3 tbsp sugar into 1 tsp softened butter. Massage sweet scrub onto hands for 1 minute. Soak a kitchen towel in very warm water, squeeze out excess water and wrap around both hands. Leave on for 3 minutes. Wipe away excess scrub and wash hands with moisturizing hand wash. Pat dry and massage squalene oil into cuticles and hands.

Las Vegas Strip Trivia:

Gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931.

Howard Hughes moved to the Desert Inn in 1966.

The world-famous inexpensive Las Vegas buffet debuted at the original El Rancho in the early 1940's.

March is the busiest month for tourism in Las Vegas. Except for Christmas and New Year's, December is the slowest month.

Visitors arrive by car (41%), air (44%), bus (8%), RV (6%) and train (0.4 %).

Useless, but interesting information about the town I am living in now.

Still working my EBay cookbook listing, but sales are way..... down (almost non-existent). Look for me at Valerie2901 or under the general listing of cookbooks. 117 cookbooks listed , there must be something you need!

That's all for now.

Cookbook Val

No news is good news!

I know it's been awhile, but life happens. Here I am today and let me tell you, I have been cooking up a storm.

Remember the Coconut Pie I made-what a success & so easy. Try this sometime, it tastes like a macaroon cookie.

1 cup sugar-2 eggs-2 tbsp flour-2 cups milk-1 cup grated coconut-3/4 tsp vanilla extract-1/4 tsp almond extract-1 baked deep pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, flour, milk, coconut, vanilla & almond extract. Pour into a deep, 9-inch pie crust. Bake until golden brown.

I made adjustments to the recipe-like I always do, so now it is mine and yours.

And remember the electric fondue pot, I bought awhile ago. Last night, I christened it, making chicken wings. It would only hold 3 large drummettes at a time, which I defrosted from frozen to cut down on the cooking time. Normal size chicken wings would probably hold 4 or 5 at a time. But I was making this just for me, so it was perfect. The only thing that was disappointing was the chicken wing sauce. Normally, I make my own chicken wing sauce (after all I am from Buffalo, home of the chicken wings), but I decided to use Frank's Chicken Wing Sauce (again home of the original chicken wings, from the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY). Obviously, the economy has hit Frank's Chicken Wing Sauce-you could tell it's now being chemically produced, with very little real butter in the sauce. Sad, how we have to cut out the key ingredients in certain products to make a profit these days.

In keeping with food ingredients (not necessarily cooking, but a cooked up recipe)-try this f0r your dry skin: PINEAPPLE FACIAL!-why it works: Bromelain, an enzyme in pineapples, quickly softens, hydrates and brightens your skin.

Wash your face with a moisturizing cleanser. Wet a washcloth in warm water; squeeze out excess and place over face for 5 minutes. In a blender, puree 3 pineapple slices, 1 tbsp plain yogurt and 3 tbsp honey. Smooth mask onto face, leave on for 10 minutes, rinse and pat dry.

When I can find them, I will now list Chef's newsletters and blogs. To start with I have Emeril Lagasse, who has a new cookbook out "20-40-60", and soon to be promoting it nationwide with a book tour. www.emerils.com

Last week layovers included New York City. We stay near the La Guardia Airport and I was not prepared to go downtown, clothes wise, now that it's getting colder. I have another layover next week and I'm ready this time. Stops planned-1st Canal St-where you used to be able to get the best knock-off's in purses in the US. Now the item to buy if the Tiffany necklace, still in sterling silver, but only $10 each (bargain, baby). I will be buying some for Christmas presents next week. Also, a new store to look out for is Century 21 Department Store. A cross between Ross and TJ Max, located at 22 Cortlandt St (between Church & Broadway), New York, NY 212-227-9092.

That's all for now.
Cookbook Val

A New Day, A New Beginning

Lots of changes for me. The blog as it is, is not giving me what I want. I want to speak my mind about many things and I have allowed myself to be restricted in my blog and my life. Changes come slowly-so all we can do is try.

I will still be promoting cookbooks that I sell on EBay, but my listing site will also have changes and new prices. I have been trying to keep everyone happy with low starting prices and media mail prices, but that is not working out so good now. Everybody wants something for nothing (me included). So unfortunately, I have to increase my starting prices and I will now be switching to USPS Priority Mail shipping, which is definitely higher costs. And my customers want books packaged now more securely. I understand this, I really do, but packaging costs money. So sales will be slow. Cookbooks will still be new and used and used means used. Sometimes with writing inside, sometimes with previous water damage. Used is used and brand new is brand new. It doesn't get any easier than this.

Over the next few days, new shipping prices will be started, prices raised, new & exciting cookbooks will be available for sale. But it all takes time & lots of energy. So please be patient with me, as I re-start, re-invent this blog and my EBay listing-Valerie2901. I will try and blog more often, if not for you, but for me.

Right now, I'm away on a trip on a Denver layover. As many of you have guessed, I am an aging Flight Attendant. I work with a discount Airline, based out of Atlanta. My crew and I have planned for dinner at Uno's down the street. Because the happy hour has 2 for 1 drinks & $1.99 appetizers. Such is the life of a glamorous flight attendant.

I made an easy Coconut Pie the other day (finally), but by the time it was cooked, and chilled it was time for me to start this trip. I don't have the recipe with me, but after I sample and taste it, I will print it and post the recipes and result. I also made chicken trying out one of many El Pollo Loco recipes. El Pollo Loco is a fast-food, fresh made grilled (never fried) chicken place, available in many major cities. I have tried the dark meat, used it on salads for work-it was wonderful. Still haven't tried the most important part-the chicken breast. Will have to let you know how it goes.

I want to go on an Around-The-World on a Cruise. If you know of anyone who wants a paid companion for this, please let me know. At this stage in my life, I personally can't afford it, but would love to do it. I have been around the world many times, but always by flying in out of different cities.

Cute story on the plane today. At the end of de-planing, this woman was taking quite a bit of time, getting her things together. I asked her if she needed assistance. She laughed and said no.
She had in her hands, a stuffed Moose. This was a family stuffed moose and traveled everywhere with different family members. Since she was traveling to Denver and the moose had never been to Denver before, it was her turn to entertain the stuffed moose. She had just taken pictures of the moose, strapped into the seat belt. And told me that the moose was going snowboarding the next day. The family has a huge photo album of all of the moose's adventures.
How much fun is that.

Cookbook Val

The Pineapple

January 11, 1813, the first pineapples were planted in Hawaii. They may have originally come from Brazil, though other sources say that Columbus encountered them first in Guadeloupe, their true home. As if in tribute, it was also on this day in 1935 that Amelia Earhart took off from Honolulu to make the first solo flight from Hawaii to California.

Fragrant and impressive to look at, most pineapples now come from Hawaii. Fifty years ago the Royal Hawaiian Hotel had a fountain in the lobby that provided fresh pineapple juice.

Pineapples do not continue to ripen after picking. They will keep for some weeks but should not be refrigerated-temperatures below 45 degrees F are not beneficial. A distinctive aroma is one indication of a good pineapple as well as being heavy for its size. The fruit is sweeter at the bottom, so if is to be served plain, it should be cut lengthwise.-Life is Meals by James and Kay Salter.

A week later. That seems to be all I can do these days. But it's better than nothing. After the sinus infection, I developed a head cold, that is thankfully all gone now. Seems to be my year. But I am a lucky woman, sinus infections and colds aside-I am a very lucky person. So not to say, that I have ever won the lottery or I even win at Bingo very often, but I am a lucky woman.

I don't know if I mentioned before, but as I joke, I did a stand-up routine on me being "A middle-aged sex goddess". I do not want to do this as a career, but it seems there is a need in life for a middle-aged sex goddess-I've even been offered paying jobs. It just won't be me. Instead, I'm trying to talk my sister into doing this or my girlfriend in Dallas. Both very funny people, with attitudes that could work on stage. Not me, I want to be Paris Hilton. A woman who is famous, for doing nothing.

Selling lots of cookbooks lately-doing something right. Today, I'm going to promote Chocolate. I have 3 interesting Chocolate books that haven't sold:
Hershey's Cocoa Cookbook
White Chocolate by Janice Wald Henderson-the cover alone should make you want to buy it
BH&G Chocolate
All with luscious desserts and treats await you. Look under Valerie2901 on EBay or under general heading cookbooks.

Live a little, love a little, be happy.
Cookbook Val

I have a new plan with my blog and cookbooks that I sell on EBay. Listing the books each week is so time consuming and wears out my tiny little brain, trying to think out new and exciting things about each and every book. So I have 63 books left to list and then I'm going to take more time actually trying out recipes in some of these books. I will still sell books on EBay, just not as many, since I will be going into a slow time anyway. Look for my cookbooks non EBay-Valerie2901 or under the general heading of cookbooks. And I will still do my blog and maybe become more creative in my writing.

Today, I'm going to talk about Crepes-when was the last time you made Crepes? In the 70's or 80's maybe? But these delicious little French Pancakes can be an economical family meal or elegant party fare at so little cost. I have two of these books available and I highly recommend both of them. Try something different, something new. Look under cookbooks or Valerie2901 on EBay: You Can Do Anything With Crepes or Better Homes and Gardens Crepes Cook Book.

I have more to say, but it will try and do on a separate post today. I have been locked in this house long enough and need to lie out in the sun for awhile.
Cookbook Val

Small Cookbooks

You know those cookbooks, the paperbacks found by the cash register that cost $3.99 and up. I consider those small cookbooks-small gems. Typically those cookbooks hold about 100 pages in recipes. The average hardback cookbook is about 125 pages. And yet, I sell these small gems 5 for the price of 1 and people rarely buy them. These are pretty good buys, at least I think so. I probably have 100 that I keep for me. If you are a future Pillsbury Bake-Off Contestant, you should be getting some of these small books-at least for some ideas. Look under Valerie2901-EBay or cookbooks

Speaking of Pillsbury Bake-Off Contestants, one of the girls I work with, was one of the finalists a few years back, and her sister-in-law actually won it one year. She lived (still lives) in Kansas and she said entering food contests, was a way of supplementing the family income. I have never had any of my recipes considered for the finalist competition, but I'm going to keep trying.

Last night in a hurry to get to Bingo-I am not obsessed with Bingo, just something to do in Las Vegas with big returns, I got out of my car and heard the car next to me still running, I thought to myself how odd. Locked the car door and realized, it was my car still running with the car keys still inside. What a mess! I walked home (thank goodness it wasn't too far), retrieved my extra keys and 30 minutes later, got back into my car. Must have something to do with the blonde hair. Didn't make it to Bingo last night. I did go this afternoon, playing cheap Bingo and still won $17 (cheap bingo is a small buy-in-mine was only $10). So I won my money back and a little extra.

Today, I started going through clothes I haven't worn in a year. Tossing those I would probably never wear again into the Goodwill bag-filling the Goodwill bag.

It was pretty cool today in Las Vegas, almost to the point of being cold. The weather has definitely changed here in the dessert.

My sinus infection is almost gone. It just takes alot of rest and some sun for me to get better.

I have received an Internet message, I am about to lose Internet-high winds in the dessert. More later.
Cookbook Val

Weight Watchers Unite!

Weight Watchers has done so much for its customers over the years. Constantly changing their programs to meet today's needs. I have many Weight Watchers Cookbooks and I'm going to list them for you to pursue. Whether you're on the Point Program, the Quick Start or whatever program they've had in the past and now continue to operate, their recipes and their cookbooks are well worth owning. You can see these under Valerie2901 on my EBay website or look for me under general heading: cookbooks. Keep it up Weight Watchers and America and the rest of the world will continue to lose weight!

Weight Watchers Favorite Homestyle Recipes

Weight Watchers Quick Success Program Cookbook

Weight Watchers Meals In Minutes Cookbook

Weight Watchers Fast & Fabulous Cookbook

Actually these books sell quite well on their own, but who knows maybe this is something you're looking for and didn't know it.

Well, Christmas is coming, lots of mail delays and my prices will be increasing due to this. So buy up all you can now and save. Starting November 15th-January 1st, my starting price will be $1.99 per book on EBay-Valerie2901. Shipping and handling will only be by U.S. Priority Mail, which is much more expensive than media mail. Last years experience taught me that during the holidays, media mail can take up to a month and by then my buyers were very mad at me. Multiple shipping will also be by Priority Mail, using the expensive Envelopes, Medium and Large Flat Boxes. Most Priority envelopes, can only handle 1 regular size book. Medium boxes can hold 2-4 books and the Large Box only about 6 books. Keep this in mind for sales after November15th. I know sales may be slow for that 6 week period, but I'm planning for it.

What's new and different. Well, last week on a plane, I received 2 spider bites, that made my arm swell twice its size. Most have come out of some carry-on boxes, that passengers bring on board. My arm is finally down to normal size, but I am down with a sinus infection, but living in Las Vegas, I am blaming it on the Santa Ana winds.

I have been trying to read different food memoirs and am struggling to get through Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin. The narrative is good, the recipes questionable, but I will continue to read it through. I ran across another interesting book for you beer drinkers out there: Travels with Barley-A Journey Through Beer Culture in America by Ken Wells-a former Pulitzer Prize Winner. Selling it on EBay-Valerie2901, looks very interesting, but I am not a big beer drinker and their are so many other food memoirs I want to read.

Last night I won at Bingo-$50-made my night!

Cookbook Val