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Here are the tastingspoons players. I’m in the middle (Carolyn). Daughter Sara on the right, and daughter-in-law Karen on the left. I started the blog in 2007, as a way to share recipes with my family. I’m still doing 99% of the blogging and holding out hope that these two lovely and excellent cooks will participate. They both lead very busy lives, so we’ll see.

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BOOK READING (from Carolyn):

Music of Bees, Eileen Garvin. Absolutely charming book about a woman in midlife, lonely, who raises bees, also makes unlikely friends. Heart-warming and very interesting about beekeeping.

A Postcard from Paris, Alex Brown. Really cute story. Dual time line, 1940s and present day about renovating an old apartment in Paris, things discovered.

Time of the Child, Niall Williams. Oh such a good book. Very small village in Ireland, 1960s. A baby is left on the doorstep. The town all whispers and helps. I listened to an interview of the author, which made me like him and his books even more.

Sipsworth, Simon Van Booy. If you like animals you’ll swoon. An old woman who really wants to die finds a tiny mouse in her house and befriends it and finds a reason to live. Utterly charming book.

The Forger’s Spell, Edward Dolnick. True story. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of Johannes Vermeer.

If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now, Christopher Ingraham. Could hardly put it down – about a journalist who takes on a challenge to move to small town in Minnesota and write about it. He expects to hate it and the people and place, but he doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful true story.

The River We Remember, William Kent Kreuger. 1950s, Minnesota. A murder and the aftermath. Could hardly put it down. Kreuger has such a vivid imagination and writing style.

How the Lights Gets In, Joyce Maynard. An older woman returns to New Hampshire to help care for her brain-injured son. Siblings and family, lots of angst and resentments.

The Filling Station, Vanessa Miller. Every American should read this book. A novelized retelling of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Absolutely riveting.

The Story She Left Behind, Patti Callahan Henry. Love this author. Based on a true story. A famous author simply vanishes, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She had invented a mystical language no one could translate. Present day, someone thinks he’s solved the riddle, contacts the family. Really interesting read.

The Girl from Berlin, Ronald Balson. Love anything about Tuscany. An elderly woman is being evicted from a villa there, with odd deed provenance. Two young folks go there to help unravel the mystery. Loved it.

The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks, M.D. Nonfiction. The dr is intrigued by a remote Pacific island where most of the inhabitants are colorblind. He also unravels a mystery on Guam of people born with a strange neurological problem. Medical mysteries unveiled. Very interesting.

The Bookbinder, Pip Williams. Post 1914 London. Two sisters work at a bookbindery. They’re told to not read the books. One does and one doesn’t. One has visions beyond her narrow world; the other does not. Eventually the one gets into Oxford. Lovely story.

The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue. 1895 on a train to Paris, a disaster happens. You’ll delve into the lives of many people who survived and died in the crash.

A Race to the Bottom of Crazy, Richard Grant. This is about Arizona. Author, wife and child move back to Arizona where they once lived. Part memoir, research, and reporting in a quest to understand what makes Arizona such a confounding and irresistible place.

The Scarlet Thread, Francine Rivers. A woman’s life turned upside down when she discovers the handcrafted quilt and journal of her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray, a young woman who was uprooted from her home only to endure harsh frontier conditions on the Oregon Trail.

A Place to Hide, Ronald Balson. 1939 Amsterdam, an ambassador has the ability to save the lives of many Jewish children. Heartwarming.

Homeseeking, Karissa Chen. Two young Chinese teens are deeply in love, but in China. Then their families are separated. Jump to current day and the two meet again in Los Angeles.

North River, Pete Hammill. He always writes such a good story. A doctor works diligently healing people from all walks of life. His wife and daughter left him years before. One day his 3-yr old grandson arrives on his doorstep.

A Very Typical Family, Sierra Godfrey. A very messed-up family. Three adult children are given a home in Santa Cruz, Calif, but only if the siblings meet up and live in the house together. A very untypical scenario but makes for lots of messes.

Three Days in June, Anne Tyler. The usual Anne Tyler grit. Family angst. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it was entertaining and very short.

Saved, Benjamin Hall. Author is a veteran war reporter. Ukraine, 2022, he nearly loses his life to a Russian strike. Riveting story – he survives, barely.

Grey Wolf, Louise Penny. Another Inspector Gamache mystery in Quebec. She is such an incredible mystery writer.

All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each. Could hardly put it down.

Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Winner of 2024 Booker Prize. I don’t usually like those, but I heard the author interviewed and she hooked me. This is not a normal book with a beginning, a story and an end. It’s several chapters of the day in the life of various astronauts at the ISS (Int’l Space Station). All fictional. She’s been praised by several real astronauts for “getting it” about space station everyday life.

The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins. An island off Scotland. Inaccessible except when the tide is out. Weird goings on. An artist. A present day mystery too.

Iron Lake, William Kent Krueger. A judge is murdered and a boy is missing. Riveting mystery.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Carol Ricks Brunt. 1980s. A 14-yr old girl loses her beloved uncle. Yet a new friendship arises, someone she never knew about.

Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Zhang. 1880s, a young girl is kidnapped in China and brought to the United States. She survives with many hurdles in the path.

The Boy Who Fell out of the Sky, Ken Dornstein. Memoir, 1988. The author’s brother died in the PanAm flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. A decade later he tries to solve “the riddle of his older brother’s life.”

Worse Care Scenario, T.J. Newman. Oh my. Interesting analysis of what could/might happen if a jet crashed into a nuclear plant. Un-put-downable.

Song of the Lark, Willa Cather. Complicated weave of a story about a young woman in about 1900, who has a gifted voice (singing) and about her journey to success, not without its ups and downs.

Crow Talk, Eileen Garvin. Charming story which takes place at a remote lake in Washington State, about a few people who inhabit it, the friendships made, but also revolving around the rescue of a baby crow.

The Story Collector, Evie Woods. Sweet story about some dark secrets from an area in Ireland, a bit magical, faerie life, but solving a mystery too.

A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young. A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death. She goes to a small town in California to figure it out, to figure HIM out.

The King’s Messenger, Susanna Kearsley. 1600s England, King James. About one of his trusted “messengers,” and his relationship with a young woman also of “the court.” Lots of intrigue.

In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, Emily Matchar. Interesting mystery in/around the area of the famous resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Isola, Allegra Goodman. Hard to describe, survival story on an island in the 1600s.

Save the Date, Allison Raskin. Rom-com, witty, LOL funny. Clever.

The Sirens, Emilia Hart. Numerous time-lines, Australia. Mysteries abound, nightmares, abandoned baby, weird allergies.

Red Clay, Charles Fancher. LOVED this book. Mostly post-Civil War story about the lives of slaves in Alabama during Reconstruction.

Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo. Dual time line, 1946 and recent time. Love stories and a mystery.

Battle Mountain, C.J. Box. Another one of Box’s riveting mysteries. Love his descriptions of the land.

Something Beautiful Happened, Yvette Corporon. A memoir of sorts in Greece, tiny island of Erikousa, where the locals hid Jews during WWII. All elusive stories told by the author’s grandmother.

The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian. 1860s Virginia, about a woman who saves the life of a Union soldier. Really good story.

Song of the Magpie, Louise Mayberry. Really interesting story about Australia back in the days when it was mostly a penal colony. Gritty strength of a woman trying to thrive with her farm.

The Boomerang, Robert Bailey. A thriller that will have you gripping the book. About a lot of secrets surrounding the president (fictional novel, remember) and his chief of staff and about cancer. A cure. Such a good story.

Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever. Really interesting memoir of a woman driven to succeed in the restaurant business. She worked for Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. Gritty stories.

Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green. Maybe not a book for everyone. A real deep dive into the deadly tuberculosis infection, its history. I heard the author interviewed and found the book very interesting.

The Book Lovers Library, Madeline Martin. Fascinating read about Boots’ drug stores’ lending library. And the people who worked in them.

The Arrivals, Meg Mitchell Moore. LOL funny, about a middle-aged couple whose children (and their various family members) return to the family home and the chaos that ensues.

My Life as a Silent Movie, Jesse Lee Kercheval. About grief. A big move to Paris, finding herself a new life with a new set of real blood family.

Escape, Carolyn Jessop. Another memoir about a woman really in bondage in Utah, Mormon plural marriage.

 

Tasting Spoons

My blog's namesake - small, old and some very dented engraved silver plated tea spoons that belonged to my mother-in-law, and I use them to taste my food as I'm cooking.

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Posted in Veggies/sides, on August 1st, 2017.

twice_cooked_cabbage_bacon

An easy side vegetable, could be made ahead.

Back a week ago I’d purchased a package of pre-sliced green cabbage at Trader Joe’s. I’d intended to use it in a cole slaw, to go with some Italian sausage I’d defrosted. I didn’t, so needed to find a recipe for cabbage. Searching through my recipes I came across this, a Kalyn’s Kitchen one. I had everything except Mozzarella, so I substituted Cheddar. And I needed to use up a red onion (so I substituted for the yellow onion). I had a package of thick-sliced bacon in my refrigerator that needed to be opened and rolled up and packaged for freezing, so it was an easy decision to make this recipe. Kalyn’s adheres to a South Beach diet, and this one qualifies on all counts. My DH would have loved this casserole.

I used just one skillet – I cooked up the bacon and removed it to a paper towel. There was very little fat left in the pan, so I used that plus a tad of olive oil and sautéed the onion until it was wilted, then added the cabbage. That needed to be stirred frequently or only the cabbage touching the pan would have been cooked, so as I prepared other parts of my dinner, I just tossed the cabbage several times until it was about 2/3 cooked. Then the bacon is put back in and stirred a minute or two. Then that mixture went into a deep pie dish (I made a smaller version of Kalyn’s recipe). Sour twice_cooked_cabbage_bacon_casserolecream was haphazardly spread on top, then I grated the cheddar and sprinkled that all over the top. Into a 375° F oven it went and baked for about 18 minutes. If you make a larger casserole, it likely will take longer to bake, to get the cheese all bubbling and beginning to brown here and there.

I scooped out that big spoonful onto my plate and had my dinner. I needed to let the cabbage sit a few minutes because it was tongue-burning hot. Thanks Kalyn, for a easy, tasty recipe!

What’s GOOD: I loved the flavor of the cabbage, onion and bacon. I mean – – – really, what’s there not to like about that? Surely this qualifies as comfort food with the ooey-gooey cheese on the top. I could easily have had 3 servings. I don’t suppose I would say this dish knocked my socks off, but it sure was satisfying. Easy. Tasty. I had enough for 4 dinners for myself. If I’d been making this for eating in one meal, I’d have left the cabbage mixture in the cast iron skillet and just added the sour cream and cheese and served the whole thing on the table. Minimal dishes! It’s also very low calorie.

What’s NOT: nothing, really. Takes a bit of preparation, but not much.

printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook 15/16 file (click link to open recipe)

* Exported from MasterCook *

Low-Carb Twice-Cooked Cabbage with Sour Cream and Bacon

Recipe By: Adapted slightly from Kalyn’s Kitchen, 2016
Serving Size: 4

2 slices thick-sliced bacon — cut into thin strips
1 teaspoon olive oil — or bacon fat
1/3 cup yellow onion — finely minced
1/2 head cabbage — core cut out and cut into thin strips
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup sour cream
3/8 cup cheddar cheese — grated (or mozzarella)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F/190C. Slice the bacon. Cut the core out of the cabbage and cut it into thin strips. Mince the onion.
2. Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat, add the strips of bacon, and cook until the bacon is browned and very crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels.
3. Heat olive oil (or use the bacon fat that’s in the pan, if you prefer) in the frying pan, add the minced onion, and cook over medium-high heat until it’s barely starting to brown. Add the sliced cabbage, season with paprika, salt, and pepper, and cook just until it has softened partly, stirring frequently. Then add the crisp bacon pieces, stir to combine with the cabbage, and cook 1-2 minutes more to combine flavors.
4. Spray a glass baking dish with olive oil or non-stick spray. Pour the sauteed cabbage in the casserole dish and spread the sour cream over, then sprinkle with the grated cheese.
5. Bake about 20-30 minutes, or until it’s bubbling hot and the top is nicely browned. Serve hot.
Per Serving: 159 Calories; 14g Fat (77.5% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 29mg Cholesterol; 185mg Sodium.

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  1. Toffeeapple

    said on August 1st, 2017:

    A dish made in heaven! Do you know what kind of cabbage you used? I think I would opt for a Savoy since they have a good texture. I don’t buy buttermilk anymore since it comes in a large pack so I think Greek yogurt would be my replacement. I shall try to remember to do this the next time I am home alone.

    I used regular green cabbage, but am sure Savoy would be fine. It’s quicker to cook, so I’d do it less time in the pan and less in the oven. I do buy buttermilk and freeze what I don’t use in 1-cup quantities. It works fine for cooking and baking (although it separates, it still works fine). . . carolyn t

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