Two amazing cooks – Mary Constantine, Food Writer for the Knoxville News-Sentinel and Jennifer, the Midday Host for Knoxville’s B97.5 have joined forces to share their love of all things food and cooking as the Sisters of the Skillet.
One of the things the Sisters of the Skillet provides is a newsletter with recipes and other cooking-related information. They also give away culinary items as well as the cookbooks Mary gets from publishers to review.
And they have one for the readers of TheMommyhood.com…The Crabby Cook by Jessica Harper.
I looked through it and it’s my kind of cookbook. 1. I’m definitely crabby about cooking. 2. She fully understands picky eaters. 3. She’s FUNNY! She has stories and cooking survival tips that go along with her recipes.
I think if we knew each other we would probably be friends. Especially since she is more of a cook, and I am more of an eater (who likes to laugh). And this woman is one heck of a mompreneur with a best-selling children’s book and a bunch of children’s music CDs. Oh and she’s an actress who has worked in movies with Tom Cruise and in the theater with Al Pacino. I looked her up on IMDB and there is a picture of her with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters. Wouldn’t you love to hang out in a kitchen with this woman and listen to her tell stories?
Anyway, I haven’t made anything from this cookbook, so I can’t speak to the recipes personally, but I have to admit there are several that look good (and easy) to me. And I am all about looking for the humor in anything. For example, in one of her recipes for grilled fish it says “It takes a grillage.”
To enter leave a comment on this blog post and tell us why you are a crabby cook. The contest end Tuesday August 8th at midnight EST.
Have a great day!
PS – Jessica Harper’s site TheCrabbyCook.com has many more recipes if any of you are looking for inspiration.
Three kids to go, a cat, a rabbit, a far too small kitchen, one hubby who likes to steal from the dishes in progress, and a too small range. GAHHHHHH. Get OUT of mah kitchen!
Maybe I should be giving away wooden spoons to smack at the hands. The food-grabbing seems to be a common occurrence in busy kitchens. You need a decoy!
Picking in the garden come home to cook, 5 waiting on diner to get ready and every time you turn, somebody’s eating what you have cooked off a two burner stove that you have to rotate the items to cook. Whew!! No fan in the kitchen and the air’s not working so it’s HOTTER than Hell in more ways than one in my kitchen. Not to mention the 2 dogs that wait for me to drop something under my feet. I have dreams of a large Country Kitchen with the island in the middle, but as long as I don’t loose another eye on the stove, we will eat..LOL.
I dream of the kitchen I don’t have, too. I guess I am not the only one. I do have more than two burners, though. I don’t envy you that. I don’t know if it would help, but have you ever considered a strategic first course? http://themommyhood.com/wordpress/2010/11/27/a-strategic-first-course/
Getting up @ 3:45 every morning going to workout then to work and then home between 4 and 5 then no time to sit and catch my breath must now think of dinner for a family of 5.. oh dont forget to feed the dog before she gets mad and tears something up!!! Stay focused must cook somrthing for dinner so that the kitchen can be cleaned then get ready for the next day,,,, I need help wait maybe I need a vacation…lol
Robin, when I was reading this it made me think of that old Dunkin Donuts commercial…time to make the donuts. We need Alice from The Brady Bunch. Where’s Alice?
Ms. Heather
Somedays I feel like I am the star of that comeercial. I Have hope for light at the end of the tunnel by having this greta book of receipes and tips for serviving a normal day,,, lol
We had flooding in our kitchen a couple of years ago, and slowly have been in the process of rebuilding. At one point, no counter tops, just a sawhorse with a sink. It’s been difficult to work around!
Wow, what a pain that must have been, Cee!
Why am I a crabby cook? Let me count the ways! My answer this summer is it’s too hot to eat unless it’s ice cream. Family not buying it ;o) Hope I win!
Hi Margo, hope you are well! I will shoot you an email so we can catch up.
I love a new cookbook and have some picky eaters so this book sounds fun.
Can I nominate my husband? Every time I try to cook, which I love and am good at, by the way, he comes in all ostensibly sweet and says, “do you need help, honey?” then within five minutes I have been shoved out of the kitchen and he has taken over, and I am not allowed back in.
No you cannot because clearly you are the crabbier cook. I think it’s excellent he wants to cook. So move over, bacon, and let him do it. Pour yourself a glass of wine and take a load off. You can cook another time.
I menu plan two weeks in advance, and still end up making the same thing over and over. I have a two year old who refuses to eat anything he doesn’t decide on eating. I have a type 1 diabetic husband who works all day long and is starving when he gets home.
and I work afternoon/evenings, so it all has to be able to be made ahead of time.
that’s why I’m a crabby cook.
Krissy,
You have every right to be crabby. I have to say I am impressed you plan. That’s one of those things I always think I should do, but never actually do do. Ha ha I said doo doo!
Anyway, I have a picky eater, too. It’s hard because you want your kiddo to eat, but you don’t want to be a short order cook. It’s exhausting to work to get it done and then it not be enough.
Thanks for your comment, Krissy.
I absolutely LOVE to cook. But I am crabby about it lately because my kids rarely like what I make – even when I try to go super kid friendly. Maybe one will like it but certainly not both. Count me in to this contest, sister!
That has to be frustrating when you have really put some effort into it. Picky eaters are detrimental to our sanity, aren’t they?
I’m crabby because there is no time to make dinner (much less any other meal). I’m tired of the same old meals – I rely on those go to meals because they are quick, effortless, and enjoyed by the family. BUT, I’m seriously getting bored with our meals and need some new ideas!!
I do that too, because I know what ingredients to buy without looking at a list. We might have to make a list and take it with us – or put it in our phones.
Wow- I could use some strategy in this area. I am beyond crabby because I can’t plan meals. I always seem to wait until the last minute and then it’s too late. I know some people cook everything for the week on Sunday….haven’t tried that yet. Looking forward to some tips.
I know a couple of girls who would get together and do a month of cooking and freeze it. I’m not that organized, but I bet it sure was nice to always have something to pull out for dinner.
Once a week is more reasonable, but somehow I don’t see that happening either. If I buy too far in advance I end up wasting food which makes me crazy.
I try to menu plan, but then something always comes up to spoil it. With 3 daughters, I’m alsways having to take/ collect one of them somewhere, so often have to feed them within 20 minutes of them getting home from school (when I’ve just walked through the door from work, too). When I was working less, I had time to pre-cook and freeze meals, but now I’m working more, just when I need the pre-cooked stuff, I just don’t have time! My husband’s idea of ‘cooking’ is getting a pizza out of the freezer – he just wouldn’t know how to prepare any fresh veg! aaarrrggghhh