sprinklefingers

no, this isn’t a post about baker’s twine. or even nests of pasta. it’s a post about my brain. a tangled mess indeed.

while i was physically absent from work last week, i was kept up to date on the goings-on…thanks in large part to email & txt messages. but now that i’m really back, there’s so much to do. for example, my brain is so tangled it absolutely will not let me pick flooring for our new shop. additionally, while chairs got crossed off our list last week, picking tables is making my brain an even bigger mess. and don’t even get me started on countertop material. add to this the fact that i’m woefully behind on menu planning and my brain just feels like it’s going to expire.

and then i get two new cookbooks and suddenly the brain is calmed. amazing that even the thought of food tames me. [well. i guess it’s not that amazing, especially if you’ve been reading this diary for a while.]

while i haven’t yet cooked a single thing from either of these two books, i still highly recommend them. beautiful design, pretty pictures and perfectly written. i’ve been reading them like novels.

first up, chicken & egg by janice cole. i don’t keep chickens. i have no plans to keep chickens. but my lack of chicken husbandry doesn’t mean i don’t like reading about chicken coop drama - and this book is full of it. in addition to tales of actual hens, the book is stuffed with recipes…and i can honestly say that there isn’t one recipe in the entire book that i don’t want to make. my upcoming easter brunch features a dish from this book - of course i’ll tell you all about it in due time.

look at that cover! so adorable!

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and second, the glorious pasta of italy by domenica marchetti. with photographs by my favorite food photographer, france ruffenach. i cannot wait to make the spring pea soup recipe. and, hello, a sauce made of zucchini? FINALLY something new to do with the abundance of zucchini my friends grow each year.

don’t you just want to eat this cover?



more to come after i get cooking!