Just Life| Food for the soul

The other day, my mom made us this wonderful dish. All I had to do was pick it up from her house after work. It was so thoughtful of her to do that for us. Even if you can afford restaurant quality food every night, homemade food is something else.

Speaking of cooking, a few months ago, I was reading this article written by a woman whose husband had become disabled out of the blue. That disability caused the family financial hardship and isolation. She was telling everyone that if you have such a person in your inner circle, one of the best ways to help them out is to share some of your homemade food with them.

Dinner at my aunt's house

My mom did the same thing for one of our friends and it was totally appreciated. So I followed her example and did the same thing for a friend recently and it felt good.

Me and my mom posing for the camera

Since we are talking about food, I just want to mention that your local library has thousands of cookbooks for you to check out free of charge.

Here are a few of these books at your finger tips:

• Slow cooker revolution: One test kitchen, 30 slow cookers, 200 amazing recipes

• Cooking light, Italian

• The gourmet dad: easy and delicious meals the whole family will love

• Taste of Home simple & delicious cookbook

Happy Monday everyone.

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

The Wanderlust Librarian | Thanksgiving WHOAs

Is it November already? Wasn't it summertime only a breath ago? I guess in California, you know it's getting to be autumn when the high dips down below 75 degrees. 

As many of you are planning a meal with friends and family, so is this Bloggess. Right now, my mother and I are planning our Thanksgiving meal for our family. This will be the 4th time that my mom and I will sit and come up with a strategic plan for dinner.

I do, though, would like to share why this is only the 4th time and not the 34th time that we're having Thanksgiving dinner. 

Once upon a time, the mother of the Bloggess got married. She decided that, as a married woman, she wanted to make Thanksgiving special and cook a turkey for her husband. She found the recipe for all of the sides she wanted to make and made all of the preparations for a fantastic feast. 

On Thanksgiving eve, she thawed out the turkey. On Thanksgiving morning, she prepared the turkey as per the recipe and was excited to pop the turkey in the oven. Things went well for a little bit. Until....

***!!!!!!!!!!BOOM!!!!!!!!!!***

The sound sent her running to the kitchen where she saw smoke pouring out the sides of the oven. She turned the stove off and opened the oven door to find her beautiful turkey still fairly raw... with a gaping hole. The issue? She sewed up the bird too tight and none of the built up steam had anywhere to go. From then on, my mother decided that she would just....sidestep the issue of making a turkey. We had other Thanksgiving delights: meatloaf, pizza, steak, fried rice. 

Thanksgiving wasn't a big deal until I was a little older and wanted to start some traditions of my own. My mother had to come clean with her story. I took it upon myself to cook the first turkey our household had seen in years. Needless to say, it went well. A year later, my brother decided he wanted to make the centerpiece bird. 

It ended up looking like this: 

Inedible, fried turkey

Burnt to the very core

As a family, we decided that turkey just wasn't for us. Our family has a new Thanksgiving food tradition: prime rib. It's a delicious change to the turkey. To be honest, if I was my mother, I'd be gun shy about seeing a turkey go in the oven. 

Over the years, I've collected recipes from various books and websites. I hope you find your delicious mains and sides for this upcoming holiday season from some of my favorite places! 

Pioneer Woman: before she was a Food Network star, she had this great (WITH PICTURES) website for her recipes! 

Bon Appetit magazine: delicious food with simple ingredients. You'll be surprised at the simplicity of the dishes! 

Food Network: I love to see the different ways dishes are made. Check out the varieties of Macaroni & Cheese!

You're Doing it All Wrong: Who knew?!?!?!? I learned to make deviled eggs and grilled cheese sandwiches the right way from watching these videos! 

Share your food successes and failures here! We've all had them and we all learn from them. Enjoy the time and food with your loved ones!  Cooking adventures are out there!