R.J. Julia Booksellers Blog

It’s winter: the temperatures are frigid but the kitchen is warm. What better time to get cooking?

My 8-pound cast iron pan has spent more time in my cabinet than in the oven, but now I’m inspired to figure out what to do with it. The Cast Iron Cookbook is full of great cold weather recipes: Croque Monsieur, short ribs, chili, even deep dish pizza. Plus you’ll never need to pop an iron pill again. For pure entertainment value, make sure not to skip the “Cleaning & Seasoning” your cookware chapter. If you’ve let your pan get rusty, simply don rubber gloves and eye protection and spray your pan with oven cleaner. Or if you need to clean a lot of pieces, soak in a mixture of water and lye! If all else fails, go at it with “the fine wire wheel of an electric drill.” You’ll be glad to know they don‘t recommend sandblasting the pan.

For those of us single people, let’s resolve to stop plopping on the couch with a box of cereal, the cats, and repeats of “American Idol,” calling that dinner. Judith Jones, cookbook editor extraordinaire (she discovered Julia Child) has written The Pleasures of Cooking for One. The recipes are surprisingly simple, don’t use a ton of ingredients that will just go to waste, and Jones is very clever at getting three or four wildly varied meals out of a single chicken or pork loin. So uncork a bottle of wine (it will keep for a few days), turn off the tv, and set the table – and don’t share with the cats.

Speaking of resolutions, I’ve already picked out treats for when I fall off my “health kick” wagon (in about a week or so). I’ll be grabbing Salty Sweets and heading to the supermarket – there’s just something about about Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mousse or Sticky Toffee Pudding that causes me to melt. Also included is a chapter on something called “fruit” – but as I don’t believe chocolate is an ingredient of “fruit,” I’ll leave that for others.

As Julia would say, “Bon Appetit, and click on the links to order!”

- Karen