Ahhhhh. Soooooo happy to be home. Work can be so stressful! Naomi, The bread isn't too difficult as far as bread goes. If you have ever baked bread from scratch, you will find it to be very similar. I am lazy so I make the dough in my bread machine or food processor. I have gotten good results baking it on a pizza stone (when I follow the recipe and use white flour). I also go the extra step to make it into garlic naan (not part of the recipe) by brushing the bread with olive oil (ghee (clarified butter) would be tastier but I am lazy)and topping the bread with minced garlic and cilantro. Here is my library: Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey. I would describe this book as indian home cooking. This is my main bible for the cuisine. Here is what I love to cook out of it over and over again: Lemony Chicken with fresh coriander Chicken in red sweet pepper sauce Gujerati-Style cabbage with Carrots Cauliflower with fennel and mustard seeds (really yummy) Naan bread Spiced basmati rice (we ate the leftovers by itself- yummy) Aromatic Yellow rice Healthy Indian Cooking by Shehzad Husain. This is part of a series of books on healthy ethnic cooking. I have to admit, I have used the thai book more than the indian book because I use the Jaffrey book so much. I have only made the chicken skewers but they were delicious and made tasty leftovers. I want to make the Baked tomatoes with panir and vegies and Roasted chicken with lime and herbs. This book is good because everything is low fat and contains lots of vegies but the food is still flavorful. India: The vegetarian table by Yamuna Devi. I bought this book for $8 at a discount book store and then stored it away and forgot about it until last weekend. I made the Roasted Carrots with Garam Masala and they were amazing! I am going to make some more recipes soon. I am eying the vegetarian kofta and there is a recipe to make cheese (panir) which I might try since the recipes that contain panir look awesome. Here are two books I got and have not tried out (I have a book collecting problem that rivals my orchid collecting problem). Dakshin: vegetarian cusine from the south by Chandra Padmanabhan. The recipes are for food we don't often see in Indian restaurants here in the states. The previous three books contain recipes you can make with ordinary ingredients. This book has a lot of exotic ingredients that may take some searching. I love indian food with yummy sauce to eat with the rice. This book is loaded with those kinds of dishes. The Indian Cookbook by Shehzad Husain. Same author as the healthy indian book. I picked this one up at Costco for $6.99 because it was cheap and I liked her other book. The recipes look good. Hmmmm... I think I need to start exploring the other four books. I didn't realize I was in such a rut, lol!! Lis, I would love the recipe for Seafood Karala too. It sounds wonderful. I miss Sunita. I don't know why so many people are afraid of Indian food. I had to literally beg my coworkers to go to an Indian restaurant one day. They liked it. Happy cooking everyone!! -Mimi

No sweat Jeff, first you pass the baton, now you want a book! lol. Here is where the helping hands come in for sure. Steve, can you do some fishing and get us some numbers? I need everybody else to start printing out recipes. We may get a book or we may have to view them online. Everybody loves cookbooks. Let's hope it is feasable. I never did find Steves potato salad that I so wanted to taste. I did not find Jeffs banana pudding either. he he. I could not tell you which banana pudding I tasted that was so rocking as I only spotted one but I did hear angels with the first bite. It would probably be a good idea for everyone to bring two copies of their recipes to the swap, one to be filed for the book and one for folks to look at so no recipes are lost or covered in mud. What do yall think?

"If they could they wouldn't buy the book." Uh, yeah. I guess that's what I was saying. I just assume in today's world the pictures are faked so they don't 'inspire' me to anything especially to make a purchase. I read the recipe for inspiration. To me, it borders on false advertising. There should be one of those disclaimers, "Not representative of average results. Your results may vary." lol I'd much rather see a picture of the dish made in a home kitchen by a home cook. Also, I'm paying for recipes not photos. It is, afterall, a cookbook. If I want a coffee table photo book I buy something on Big Sur or the Grand Canyon or, more likely, a garden book. Guess I feel about garden books much like some here feel about cookbooks. I am inspired looking at pictures of successful garden compositions. Food pictures here on the forum are fun because they are taken by home cooks. It's nice to share the successes & offer sympathies for the not so successes alike. I don't much look at the food photo websites unless somebody here has a photo. Then, I'll go look. /tricia

Heavens, I could give you hundreds--I used to teach a Kindergarten Storybook Cooks Class. Without opening my files, here are a few ideas that have always been popular with my little students: Walk-Away Breakfast Sundaes--press a large marshmallow into the bottom of a flat-bottomed ice cream cone. Spoon in diced fruit (fresh or canned), spoon in fruit-flavored yogurt. Top with a sprinkling of Granola. (Ice cream cones are also a good way to serve egg or chicken salad, for a fun change) Butterflies (used with "The Very Hungry Caterpillar")--spread cream cheese or peanut butter in celery sticks. Add small pretzels for wings, raisins for eyes, and broken pretzel pieces for antennae. Grilled Apple Cheese Sandwiches--Use Raisin or cinnamon bread, sliced apples, cheese (American, mild or sharp Cheddar), and--if desired--some raisins or walnuts. Grill as you would a regular grilled cheese. I used to make these for DD when she was little--she's grown and STILL requests them from time to time. Alternatively, you can do the same thing with a whole wheat tortilla to make an apple cheese quesadilla How about BBQ meatballs (for "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"). Put a pound of ground beef into a heavy duty ziplock bag, add a teaspoon or so of grill seasoning, a small handful of bread crumbs. Seal the bag, squish together. Make meatballs using a cookie scoop (Good place to teach about food sanitation and the dangers of touching raw meat). Put in a microwave-safe dish. Zap 5-6 minutes or until done. Make the sauce using Ketchup or chili sauce and grape (or other favorite) jelly. Spoon over and microwave another few minutes to glaze. Another very popular kid-pleaser. Mouse Cookies (If You Give a Mouse A Cookie) Shape slices of refrigerator dough into teardrop shapes (the body). Cut another slice into quarters--use 2 to make ears, press into the mouse. Add raisins or sunflower seed eyes. Bake. You can add a licorice tail after they're baked. Spaghetti Salad (Strega Nona)--Using a clean pair of safety scissors or a plastic knife, the child can cut up: pepperoni, sun-dried or grape tomatoes, cheese (such as provolone), green peppers, etc and add to a bowl of cold spaghetti. Add a little bottled Italian dressing. Mystery Lemonade Cookies ("The Lemonade Mystery") Mix:1 cup Bisquick, 1 small box instant lemon pudding, 1/4 cup oil, 1 egg. Shape into small balls and roll in: 1/4 cup sugar. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Custard's Easy Tarts (The Tale of Custard the Dragon) Make instant pudding, spoon into individual graham cracker tart shells, top with fruit and/or Cool Whip. A few practical tips for mom. Put a piece of that spongy drawer liner under the bowl when a toddler is stirring--helps keep the bowl from slipping and sliding. Always use a much larger bowl than necessary--it's easier for a small one to keep everything in the bowl that way. Keep tasks simple and always have an adult helper on hand to do the more dangerous work. Even very young children can be taught to cut properly--I recommend a plastic knife, soft foods such as lunchmeat or canned fruit, and a pie pan. Cutting in a pie pan helps catch any bits that fly or roll away. Scissors are also a good way for youngsters to cut some foods. Children are often more likely to try a new food, if they've gotten to prepare it themselves. Great way to get them really interested in cooking and eating.