The season is here

Once a year, Quail Ridge Press has a Warehouse Sale to offer people in our community the opportunity to get slightly hurt books at big discounts.  It helps us clean out our warehouse for sure.  But mostly, we love meeting our customers and hearing their comments and suggestions about our cookbooks.  This year the weather was perfect!  We had people, not only from our own community, but from all over Mississippi.  There was a lot of Christmas shopping going on by some very smart people who know cookbooks make lasting gifts with delicious results.  

The 500 Fast and Fabulous Five-Star Five Ingredient Cookbook, More Five Ingredient Cookbook, and the Party Foods and Appetizers cookbooks were among the most popular as gifts for young cooks.  What am I saying? They were also buying them for themselves!  Our new regional series was popular, too.  And One-Dish Wonders was a come-back-for-more discovery.

Patty Roper's beautiful new cookbook, Easy Does It: Winners and Favorites had just come in, and though there were not any hurt copies, people were excited to be among the first to buy this beautiful new cookbook.  And as always, The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookbook, the first book we published back in 1978, continues to be our best seller at this event.  

The season is here.  We hope you will be cooking up some delicious dishes for the holiday season, with lots of help from our cookbooks.  Enjoy the season...and all the goodies that go with it.

Think Different

We salute the life of Steve Jobs, who taught the publishing business and the world to "think different."

Young at Heart

Since I am on the Board of Directors of the Jackson Heart Foundation, I was not happy at all to have to miss our annual Heart Gala. I had a QVC appearance and could not make it, but one of my staff members, Emily Burkett and her husband Michael went in Barney and my place.

Having gotten there early, she took some photos of the awesome arrangements and settings and delicious hors d'oeuvres that were so beautifully displayed. Thanks, Emily, and thanks to hosts Dr. and Mrs. Stone for opening their beautiful house to host such a worthy event.

Use the code BLOG when you checkout, and get a 20% discount through October 2011!

American Adventure

In early September we were privileged to entertain a guest from Oerie, Germany. Kim was delightful and so curious about every thing American, especially the food! It was special that after tasting gumbo in two different restaurants, she liked homemade best. She tried everything I fed her in the week she was here and loved it all. Imagine watching someone eat grits for the first time! And then she was amazed at the wafer-thin bacon. Her favorite breakfast was Popover Pancakes.

We also took her on a river boat tour of the Mississippi, which was on her list of want-to-do's, and took the office crew and spouses with us. It was so much fun! And the sun setting on the river was awesome! We got to see so much more of our surroundings than we ever have. I recommend you take a visitor around, or just treat yourself as if you were. America is truly a beautiful country no matter where you go.

Tasty Tailgating

At the end of August, we are forced to say goodbye to summer, but welcome the return of kids-back-in-school and more scheduled routines...and of course...football! Not sure if it is now America's favorite spectator sport over baseball, but it is most definitely a sport that carries special fun around it, like parties before and after, especially tailgating! And of course, that involves feeding lots of hungry people. Need some good take-along recipes? Well, mam, have we got the cookbook for you!

I think you are going to love my new Recipe Hall of Fame cookbook called One Dish Wonders. It's got tailgating written all over it! Lots of casseroles, of course, but we expanded it to include appetizers, breakfasts, soups, salads, and desserts...anything that ends up in one dish. There are so many beautiful new casserole dishes out there these days that go from freezer or frig right to oven, and the clean-up is a snap. They even come with carry cases that make tailgating a snap. We added some good reading and conversation starters by including photos and trivia about Wonders of the World. There's more than seven...in fact, there are more than seven lists! You have to order it from QVC till October 3rd, but they have a super good advanced price. Treat yourself to tailgating or just plain good meals at home with these 350 award-winning recipes in One Dish Wonders.

Here's a sneak preview:

Friendship Chicken Casserole

6 chicken breast halves

2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup

1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained

1 (15-ounce) can chop suey vegetables, drained

1 cup chopped celery

1 (7-ounce) can Chinese noodles

1/2 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped green onions

1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped cashew nuts

Combine all ingredients, except nuts, in large bowl. Place mixture in greased shallow casserole dish. Cover with nuts. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Serves 10-20.

Miriam Weems

Barney and Gwen McKee and the entire staff of Quail Ridge Press deeply regret the passing of our beloved author Miriam Weems. We offer our sincerest condolences to her family and all of the people who knew her and were blessed to have experienced her delightful personality. May she rest in peace.

Use the code BLOG when you checkout, and get a 20% discount through September 2011!

Breakfast in Prague

Believe it or not, this is breakfast! Who says breakfast has to be bacon and eggs? Well, in the Savic Hotel in Prague, the breakfast bar was anything but usual. I welcomed beans and carrots and potatoes to go with my bacon and follow my cereal! We spent the entire day hoofing around this beautiful city, and a hearty breakfast is exactly what we needed. I didn't choose the cheeses and cold meats and fishes that morning (like son Shawn did), or the Nutella to chocolate up my pastry (though made in America, available at almost all European breakfast buffets), but there was lots more available. These carrots were pretty bland, but I'm a carrot lover and look for ways to encourage people to eat more of them.
I really like the recipe for Cody Carrots in our Best of the Best from Big Sky Cookbook. It was shared by the Great Entertainer Cookbook, and I suppose Wild Bill Cody had something to do with it, perhaps if just to lend his name. Nevertheless, it has a bit of wildness to it, but delicious! Mention this blog by using the code BLOG when you checkout, and get a 20% discount through September 2011. You'll be glad you did!

Scallops in Scotland

Traveling is always so much fun to tour interesting places, to chat with people you meet, but also to be able to sample the local cuisine. It is truly an education about the culture of most places you go.
On our recent trip to Europe with our son and daughter-in-law, Barney and I always enjoyed reading menus, although we were sometimes challenged to actually know what we might be getting. In most countries you have to ask if they have a menu in English, so it was a treat in Scotland to not have this problem.
These appetizer scallops at the Tiger Lily in Edinburgh were so delicious, I was reluctant to even offer them around. Of course, you can see Barney eyeing the beautiful presentation on a board of slate (well, it looked like slate), and well he should. It was fantastic! We always tried to eat what the locals did, or at least what is indicative of the area. Fortunately, we had already had our haggis, neeps and tatties, and so branched out to a bit fancier cuisine. And yes, I shared my scallops...and he shared his dish with me. Barney and I always order different things so we get to sample more. Fun!

My favorite recipe that echoes these is called Teriyaki Scallops on page 28 of our new edition of Best of the Best from Florida Cookbook. The Courtyard on Grove (Merritt Island) serves these and shared their recipe. So many great seafood recipes in this book. Mention the code BLOG and get a 20% discount off your next Best of the Best Cookbook order! Yummm....

Sold Out!

Fresh from the Farmers Market Cookbook sold out on QVC! Click the link below to watch the show!

http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.CM_SCID.coll.item.F09511.desc.Best-of-the-Best-Fresh-from-the-Farmers-MarketCookbook

More books will be available August 10 when Terresa Ray returns to QVC on My Time with Mary Beth at 8 a.m. CST and In the Kitchen with David at 8 p.m. CST!

Recipe Hall of Fame Fresh from the Farmers Market Cookbook will debut this Sunday, July 10th on QVC! Watch "In the Kitchen with David" 11-2pm (central). Terresa Ray will be filling in as the on-air guest.

ON QVC

Marie Louise Ludwig will be a back-up guest for Gwen Wednesday, January 12, at 3pm Eastern since Gwen is unable to make the scheduled appearance. Marie Louise has guest hosted Gwen's cookbooks on-air in the past and does a beautiful job of showing what the cookbooks are all about. We are hoping for a sell-out of the remaining 3,000 (out of 50,000) copies of this "While Supplies Last" bargain. Together, the two cookbooks retail for $39.90, and this incredible WSL has them both for just $16.21! You're getting over 900 recipes, all delicious, fast and fabulous, with, of course, lots of good reading inside. Better hurry...this won't last long.

Gwen