Good Monday Morning Monson!

Hope everyone enjoyed this spectacular fall weekend! The Friends held their jamming Oktoberfest Saturday. The beer was cold, the mood was festive and the food was delish!

In keeping with my weekend routine, I cooked my first pork tenderloin ever! I think I am entertainment for the butchers when I walk in with my list of meats. I didn't eat meat for a long time and have never cooked it so this is all new to me! You should have seen the discussion that ensued over the pork spare ribs! I think they hide now when they see me coming! But, I found the tenderloin on my own. I'm getting better. So here's what I did with it... I seared the pork then covered it in mustard and fennel seeds and roasted it over apples and onions. Oh my goodness! Then I made a cheddar stuffed meatloaf for Monday night and I have some catfish for Emeril's fish-in-a-bag recipe. We are kickin' it up! And in keeping with our library theme here, the MFL has a great cookbook section as well as some great foodie reads. Currently I am reading "Katish: Our Russian Cook" by Wanda Frolov. A delightful true tale of a Russian immigrant and the American family she cooks for....comes complete with recipes! And a friend recently recommended "Heat: An Amatuer's Adventure as a Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta Maker and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting butcher in Tuscany". Whew...what a title! Again, I can go on with the list but if you need to start somewhere, I highly suggest anything by Ruth Reichl, most especially "Comfort Me with Apples". That's the book I started with way back when I wasn't even interested in food...so beware, you too are in danger of developing a penchant for all things culinary! And I truly mean that....last night after dinner, I was on-line looking for a large saute pan, a griddle and good knives...and how to sharpen them! I'm telling you, I'm obsessed!

Finally, I did make it into the Big Apple last week (Oh, thank goodness! I was having withdrawals!) This was kind of a shop-til-you drop trip since I haven't done that in a LONG time but I did manage some culture along with new shoes! On trips to NYC, I have decided to try a new museum each time. If you remember, last time I visited the New Museum and this time I went to the American Folk Art Museum. What a great place! It was small enough not to be overwhelming but the exhibits were first rate. Check out their site. Every exhibit was diverse and in-depth. "Martin Ramirez: the Last Works" was phenomenal. He was unknown to me and I spent a significant amount of time with his drawings. Really, visit the site, it's worth the time.

So hopefully I've given you some reasons to visit your library...cookbooks, good reads, lots of art magazines, travel books....plus we're warm and cozy on chilly days!