CRAZED MIND: Foodie Weekend

I have a wonderful friend who was here for a visit the last few days. And she brought with her a feast. We have eaten so much yummy food that I feel I will pop. But I enjoyed every bit of it.

From different kinds of cheese (apricot ginger, smoked mozzarella to fresh goat cheese and pepper corn) to all kinds of breads (white chocolate peach, sourdough on to garlic sesame pepper and Irish soda bread) then add in the fruits (blackberries, blueberries, peaches, watermelon and cantaloupe to start with) topped with salads, chicken n'dumplings and coffee. I feel like the south has risen to the occasion...what ever that occasion was.

We plan on doing some more cooking weekends and have a few cookbooks to dig in for recipes out of. I thought I would share some with you.

First is our favorite of Booze Cakes. There is some goodies in here. My favorite is the jello shot cakes. I love the bright colors and presentation beside having a shot and dessert in one. Some of the other votes to make are the traditional black forest cake or go for the sex-on-the-the beach cake. Honest this was a delicious looking book. I love the booze meter from a lil smiling face to a great big ol grin. That tells you just how much booze is in it. But are planning on 4 or 5 of us to get together and then make cakes cakes and more cakes. Wonder how we are going to be able to eat them all?

Another cookbook we all poured over was Yum Yum Bento Box. This is the cutest cookbook on how to make adorable lil lunches. I love that it is a great way to do portion control for diets. And of course who does not love a colorful meal? Since I am a great fan of jasmine rice this is a easy one for me to fall in love with. Using rice balls as a great portion of the meals. It is fun to see all the easy and creative ways to make a easy meal look like fun in a box. I also am cooking up all kinds of ways to use the ideas here to adapt for parties and special occasions. You might wanna use this if you have a picky eater. I mean having a penguin in your lunch box is more fun than just a plain ol sandwich.

Our other fine is The Secret Ingredient by Sally Bee. Now here is a treasure of a cookbook. Sally Bee has taken our favorite meals and has managed to tweak them into heart healthy recipes. With my Dear Hubby having a pace maker and heart values that were replaced along with Grandma's heart stints, we have to make sure our meals are good for all of us to eat. It is so much easier when I do not have to look and dig to find a way to fix a dish. That the hard work has been done for me is a God send. Also the dishes are ones that are common so Grandma will eat almost all of them. You know you can not change a persons taste in food in the later stages of life.

So what have you been cooking? Do you have a few favs to indulge in? How have you changed a dish to make it healthier for you? And what is the secret to getting kids to eat?

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy of this book to facilitate this review. No other compensation was provided.