Stir, Laugh, Repeat
Martha
A. Cheves has written a definitive cookbook for the ages. I started reading her book today - and could not put it down, except for running to the store for some much needed ingredients. The steak and potatoes recipe literally had my mouth watering. Recipes I had not tasted in years are reborn in Stir, Laugh, Repeat. I smiled when I saw the Banana Puddin' recipe. To have such a wonderful cook guide in these financially stressed times is a much needed; stress relief resource for all families.
A. Cheves has written a definitive cookbook for the ages. I started reading her book today - and could not put it down, except for running to the store for some much needed ingredients. The steak and potatoes recipe literally had my mouth watering. Recipes I had not tasted in years are reborn in Stir, Laugh, Repeat. I smiled when I saw the Banana Puddin' recipe. To have such a wonderful cook guide in these financially stressed times is a much needed; stress relief resource for all families. From Martha's Meaty Mashed Potatoes - to her Breakfast Pinwheels, this is by far one of the most exceptional cook guides that I have ever read. Young cooks just starting out can be guided to great meals by Martha's easy to read directions. SLR is similar to the red and white tablecloth cookbooks Betty Crocker use to sell; that we all spotted on our grandmother's kitchen table. Martha's book has old flavor and contemporary style suitable for meat lovers and vegetarians. I commend this book to all. Thanks Martha! --Carol Denise Mitchell, Author of "Rovella Starr"
We're so happy to have you visit Bookland Heights, Martha! You're our first cookbook author...It's breakfast time...I'm hungry...
ReplyDeleteWhat's cookin'?
Seriously, how do you get someone like me, a person soooo over preparing meals two decades ago, to ever again embrace her kitchen?
Diana
Welcome Martha (and your cookbook!). The recipes mentioned above sound yummy! I'm hungry for banana puddin' right now!
ReplyDeleteMary
http://www.cynthiasattic.blogspot.com
Diana - For breakfast we are making "Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Mini Pies" found on page 144 of Stir, Laugh, Repeat. The ingredients are bacon, eggs, cheddar cheese, mozzarela cheese and a tube of flaky biscuits. The biscuits are pulled apart and pressed into muffin cups. The other ingredients are mixed together, spooned into the "muffin" and baked. So simple! They can even be made ahead and heated. How does that sound for a quick breakfast?!
ReplyDeleteDiana - Now for your comment about getting you back into the kitchen. I love thumbing through magazines to see all of the new recipes listed. I even start at the back so that I can see them first. As I look at each recipe I come to 2 conclusions. 1 - the recipe has ingredients I've never even heard of or if I have I know it will take a trip to the specialty store to find them. 2 - As I read, I think of ways to change the recipe and make it into "friendly" dishes. That means one that is simple, delicious and uses common ingredients found in most kitchens. What I'm trying to do with Stir, Laugh, Repeat is make the readers/cooks "Think With Their Taste Buds" and enjoy experimenting. Cooking is really simple but so many cooks make it hard. When something is hard or time consuming we usually end up becoming bored. But when you can be creative you start looking for more dishes to be creative with. So jump back into your kitchen and start thinking with your taste buds and create some new, wonderful dishes and have fun doing it.
ReplyDeleteMary - My Banana Puddin' is what started Stir, Laugh, Repeat. My daughter made a request one day. She said "Mom, before you die will you please write down your recipe for banana puddin'." I had no recipe! I just made it by viewing my ingredients... you know, a little of this, a pinch of that. I honored her request and for the 1st time ever I measured my ingredients and wrote them down. If you have never eaten "real" banana puddin' your missing out. There is no way to compare the real thing to the instant pudding type. Give it a try. It as well as everything in Stir, Laugh, Repeat is simple to make.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that..."Think with your taste buds!" Oh, and I can't forget to mention (since I'm a visual person) that I also love the cover where the word "Repeat" is positioned and font colored in such a way that the internal word "eat" appears. Niiiice!
ReplyDeleteSo you say it was your daughter's request for a recipe that got you started. Did working on the cookbook make you appreciate your talents a bit more?
Diana
http://www.basicblackblog.blogspot.com
Diana - When I worked up the recipe for the banana puddin' I decided to add a few other recipes that I knew my kids enjoyed and just work them up a little cookbook. I guess I have always assumed that everyone cooks the way I do. So when I started measuring and writing the recipes down on paper, I did start appreciating cooking by taste. But I have to say, if it's a "talent" we all have it even if we don't realize it. Think about it. You wouldn't add sage to your cobbler but you would add it to chicken to give a "comforting" taste. Most people may not realize this but you can smell an herb or spice and know what dish it will compliment. Give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI love Martha's book! I found it to be filled with wonderful, easy to prepare recipes and stories about her recipes that made me feel as though I was having a cup of coffee and visiting with a friend.
ReplyDeleteMartha's stories are tied to the recipes and that makes it all the more interesting. It takes us all back to when Mother was in the kitchen and we were taught the "art" of cooking by taste, smell and using a "bit of this and a bit of that".
Thanks, Martha, for a real treat wrapped up in a colorful cover.
Lillian
Martha, I think your cookbook is perfect for a generation of women (like me) who didn't pay attention to mom's cooking until it was too late to get the recipes. We were all busy cooking Kung Pao Chicken and trying Food Channel recipes. Now I would kill to be able to make a decent meatloaf or mom's cabbage rolls.
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing back REAL cooking!
I'm with you, Sunny. I'd kill for a great meatloaf recipe! (After visiting Bardstown KY last year, a friend and I still dream about the meatloaf we ordered!) Does your cookbook have an excellent recipe for one?
ReplyDeleteDo you have a fav?
Diana
http://www.basicblackblog.blogspot.com
Oh, I'd love meatloaf and cabbage roll recipe!
ReplyDeleteTrue story: When visiting my mother-in-law, my husband (her son) raved about the meatloaf she served and said how much he'd always loved it. I went to great pains to duplicate it until years later, he admitted that he'd only been trying to please her. He HATED her meatloaf!
So, I'm still searching.
Diana - I really hate meatloaf so I worked with all types of combinations to create one that I would like. I finally came up with my Meatloaf Muffins found on page 76. This recipe makes individual meatloaf "muffins" that can be flavored individually according to everyone's taste. I love the ones flavored with onions and A-1 steak sauce. And the BBQ muffins are pretty good too. One of the recipes that will be in my next book is also one of my favorites. It's meatloaf made and cooked in a round baking dish, then iced with mashed potatoes, cheese and French fried onions. This is my kind of meatloaf.
ReplyDeleteLillian - Thank you so much for your words. As I worked up the manuscript for Stir, Laugh, Repeat I wanted a cookbook that would be different. One that would not only be used but also "read." I especially wanted young cooks to know that even seasoned cooks make mistakes but we just keep on trying until we get it right.
ReplyDeleteMary, Sunny and Diana - I have a manuscript site that has a great cabbage roll recipe stored for my next book. I'll pull it out this weekend and post it on my site http://stirlaughrepeat.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteCheck back there this weekend and see what you think.
I haven't had banana pudding since my Grandma passed away two years ago. Perhaps I will have to try and recreate... with your help.
ReplyDeleteAndrea - REAL Banana Puddin' is simple to make. Follow the directions in my book and you will love the outcome and will never want to eat that instant stuff again. Sometimes when I go out to eat I'll get a small serving of their Banana Pudding just to remind me that it's worth taking the extra time to make my own.
ReplyDeleteHi Martha! Fran Lewis
ReplyDeleteLove your book and you know I can't cook to save my life. But your recipes are great, tasty and easy to make. My husband is ready for your second book. Hope all is well with you and happy for all of your successes. Fran
Fran - You can tell your husband that the 2nd book will be even better than the 1st. He will love the new dishes and the ease of making them.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I love your recipe box--especially the toffee bars! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - The Toffee Bars are what I serve at all of my book signings. I've made so many of these that they have become one of those recipes that I don't have to measure. Once someone samples them at the signings they always pick up the book and start thumbing through. I know exactly what they are looking for. They want to see the actual recipe. So before they even ask I tell them to go to page 73. What really gets them is that there are only 4 ingredients, one being saltine crackers, and that they take about 15 minutes to make. So I understand why they are one of your favorites.
ReplyDeleteMartha,
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you here. A friend I've lost track of (so sad) once made chioppino for a whole group of us. Actually, she made the stock and we all brought something--fish, seafood, etc. to throw in the pot and finish off the dish. Add a baguette or two and some white wine and you've got a party dish! Well, I wish I had the recipe. I've eaten boullabaise in Southern France and it's fine, but nothing like the Italian version of this tomata based fish and seafood dish. Do you have a recipe?
Irma
PS: Thinking of whipping up some key lime pie for the weekend, per your recipe in Stir, Laugh, Repeat!
Irma - I think I've found your recipe for 'Italian Cioppino'. This one is a 1st for me but it does sound wonderful. The recipe is a little long so I'm not going to post it here but will post it for you and everyone else on my site http://stirlaughrepeat.blogspot.com . Check through the recipe and let me know if this is what you're looking for. I'm really glad you enjoy my Key Lime Pie. It's so simple and so tasty.
ReplyDeleteIrma - your recipe for Cioppino - Italian Fish Soup is posted. I go by and check it out. Again, if this is not quite the recipe you are looking for, let me know and I'll see what I can come up with. To view, simply click on my name above and it will take you straight to my site.
ReplyDeleteMartha. I have become a huge fan! If the recipes on your website are any indication of the content of your cookbook, then everyone should get one! The recipes not only sound tasty, they're so simple! Nice to see a cookbook with everyday ingredients and time-saving tips.
ReplyDeleteI adore salmon patties and will definitely try your salmon and mashed potato patties.
Thanks, so much, for allowing Bookland Heights to showcase your fabulous book!
Mary - You won't believe how great the Salmon Puffs on page 131 are. The almonds give them just a touch of crunch, they are moist and so simple to make. But for an entirely different texture and taste, the Salmon and Mashed Potato Patties listed on my site are just as good. I always have a hard time deciding which recipe to use. And did you know that you can use Tuna instead of Salmon? That is a must try.
ReplyDeleteThe recipes in my cookbook Stir, Laugh, Repeat are all simple. I'm a baby boomer that was taught to cook like and by my mother. But, like most baby boomers, I worked when my children were coming up. Between getting them up for school, going to work, coming home to make dinner, oversee homework, baths, do laundry and getting to bed, where was the time to teach them to cook? Those same baby boomer offspring have it even worse. They have all of the above plus after-school activities, weekend activities, sport games, birthday parties, overnights, etc. Their lives are even more active than ours were. This all hit home with me when my youngest daughter told me she couldn't bring deviled eggs to Thanksgiving dinner. That is what prompted me to add cooking tips to Stir, Laugh, Repeat. Now when my daughter calls to ask how do I make gravy I tell her to look in her copy of Stir, Laugh, Repeat. It's the perfect cookbook for young adults but it's also great for us with our own busy lives by allowing us to make delicious but simple dishes using ingredients we probably already have in our kitchens. This weekend I'll be posting a recipe for a cookie that has chocolate chips, coconut, oatmeal and nuts. This cookie is so good. So simple. And when I went to the grocery store the only think I had to buy were the eggs. Everything else are kept in my kitchen as normal staples. I don't think you will be disappointed with Stir, Laugh, Repeat.
I have been following the success of Martha's cookbook and doing so from the sidelines. I didn't think I needed another cookbook, but I have read all the wonderful comments on the "down home" recipes and read all the recipes on her website and decided no more sidelines for me because I wanted to be in on the fun along with everyone so my order has been placed. Now, as I patiently (?)wait for its arrival, I can only imagine how much I am going to enjoy the Toffee Bars, the banana pudding, or any of the other recipes that she has in the book
ReplyDeleteMartha,
ReplyDeleteYou often make references to your children in SLR. Since you are southern, and biscuits are so much a part of southern cuisine, what recipe are your children referring to when they talk about "mama's biscuits." (And I can't imagine any of them are yet teenagers by the looks of your profile picture ;)
Martha, I love your cookbook and have also reviewed it, with five stars, because they don't give you an option of six. What I would like is a good "drop biscuit" recipe that makes biscuits like my "never measure" Mother's.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Mari Sloan
Donna - The Toffee Bars are actually called Cracker Bars (page 73). You will love them. When I make them for signings I use different colors of "white" chocolate. Orange for Halloween, red for Christmas & Valentine Day. You can even use pastels for Easter and add colorful sprinkles. For Thanksgiving I used orange and sprinkled with tiny leaves. When I first started working with my Cracker Bars I made one batch with white chocolate and one with milk chocolate. I passed them out to some of my "food testers" and they all agreed the white was the best. You can't beat white chocolate with the salt from the the crackers.
ReplyDeleteMark - "mama's biscuits" are my mayonnaise biscuits found on page 101 in Stir, Laugh, Repeat. They consist of 3 ingredients - self rising flour, mayo and buttermilk. I have to admit that the taste is so buttery due to the buttermilk. They are not rolled out but made with your hands like grandma used to do. Give me one of my biscuits, some real butter and some strawberry jelly and I'm in pig heaven! But if you give me one of them with a piece of country fried steak I'm a pig with wings in heaven!
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you for the compliment about my picture. Actually, my middle daughter turned 39 yesterday. I have a son 41 and another daughter 35. They are all 3 wonderful and have given me 6 beautiful grandchildren.
Mari - Look at my recipe for biscuits on page 101. They work great as drop biscuits. They also work great when made in muffin tins. Speaking of muffins, that recipe is very easily changed too. You can include cooked, crumbled sausage or bacon to the dough and cook up some really great biscuit muffins. You can also put the dough in the muffin tins, push a hole in the center and fill it with cooked bacon or sausage and even cheese. I like to do this and sprinkle the cheese over the top when they are almost done, letting it melt and even brown just a little. Now I'm getting hungry!
ReplyDeleteHi Martha! I just want to publicly say what a wonderful cookbook you have. I love the stories and the recipes. They are great!!
ReplyDeleteLynn - Thank you so much. I really enjoyed creating Stir, Laugh, Repeat and my friends enjoyed it too. I have about 25 that I call my "food testers." Whenever I work on a recipe I take samples to some of them to rate. Each dish is rated from 1-10 and must score at least an 8 before it made it into the book. I'm doing the same thing with my blog sites which house the recipes for my next book.
ReplyDeleteI have already stated how much I like Stir, Laugh, Repeat...but I neglected to add that I love the book so much that I ordered 7 of them for Christmas gifts this past year! Now, many more can enjoy these great recipes and the "down home" comments and stories from Martha.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for the success of your book, and your next one; you have worked hard for this recognition.
Lillian
Lillian - Thank you for your comments and your help in distributing Stir, Laugh, Repeat. I hope everyone that received them for Christmas is still enjoying them.
ReplyDeleteHi Martha,
ReplyDeleteWhat about the early 50-year-old guy who knows nothing about cooking except for what tastes good and causes weight gain? Is there any hope for him? (Incidentally, your STIR, LAUGH, REPEAT might just be his beginning!)
Darden
www.dardennorth.com
Darden - Stir, Laugh, Repeat is perfect for any age, male or female. At one of my book signings I met a young lady who was 7 or 8 years old. Her mother bought her a copy which she called "My First Big Cookbook." She emailed me later to say that they she had made my Baked Spaghetti (with her mom's help of course). She went into details as to how she cooked everything, layered it in the dish and baked her first "real" dish. So I would say yes to an early 50-year-old guy who knows nothing about cooking. And as far as the weight part goes. I know it's hard to not overeat when something tastes good. But I will say that just about any recipe can be made healthier by using organic. A lady at one of my signings wanted to know if my recipes were made with organic. I opened the book to the 1st recipe that popped up. She and I started going down the list of ingredients and found that every ingredient can be bought organic. Sugar, flour, meats, veggies all can be found as organic. And that's not just recipes in Stir, Laugh, Repeat. That is the case with just about any recipe you have.
ReplyDeleteI wish I lived closer to you so I could be a taster!
ReplyDeleteLynn - speaking of my tasters... My Potato Soup (page 46)took 3 months of making and testing. I think some of my testers were wishing I would find another dish to experiment with. But the final results was worth it. It's so comforting on a cold day. So being one of my testers has it's advantages and it's "disadvantages." But I too wish you were closer so I could add you to my group.
ReplyDeleteI've got a copy of Martha's cookbook myself. Well, actually, I gave it to my daughter who has three growing boys and needs as much help in the kitchen as she can get. She loves trying new things and she didn't hesitate to cook up some of Martha's mouth watering recipes. Thanks Martha, great cookbook, for modern times.
ReplyDeleteHey! I see all of us "Friends of Martha's" are stopping by! Offer to feed us and you'll always draw a crowd. I resurrected my recipe for Swedish Pancakes last Saturday and we feasted on something took less than ten minutes to put together and cook. All you need are eggs, milk, flour and jelly for the perfect rolled up wraps... not crepes, Swedish pancakes!
ReplyDelete:-) Mari Sloan