So what cookbook for November?

[Candy]

Any concensus or ideas? November begins Wednesday, if something was decided mid-month, I was away and missed it.

[redwood2bay]

Hi, Candy,

Yes, we are cooking from Bayless' Mexico One Plate at a Time for November. I decided to take the suggestion from several hounds and move the West Coast restaurant cookbook (either Zuni Cafe or Sunday Suppers) to January when folks said that they'd have more time.

Thanks to everyone who responded--

[DanaB]

Have the threads been posted yet for this book?

I'd be interested in comparing which recipes people are going to do -- I'm seriously considering the turkey mole.

[Candy]

Make the mole a day or two ahead. It is labor intensive and needs a chance to set up. After making it once you will undersatnd why there are so many people Mexican and not who use the bottled stuff and reconstitute it.

[blue room]

Is this process as simple and as informal as it seems? Anybody who wants to, prepares a dish from a chosen-for-the-month cookbook, and then reports on it here? No registration, or getting on a list? (Nobody need know if I try, and fail miserably?) Please let me know if there are any "rules" to this. Thanks!

[King of Northern Blvd]

Very informal. Just start cooking away and post on the proper threads...

[beetlebug]

No rules. But personally, if the recipe didn't work, please post. I would like to know why, especially if it could be a printing error. Or if the flavors didn't come out the way the book describes. After all, haven't we all had recipes that have failed, or haven't met our standards?

[altond]

I'm new to the boards, but I've got the book in hand and am ready to give it a go. I've looked through the book a little and like what I'm seeing so far!

[Candy]

Well I made the excellent carnitas from the book last night for dinner. I have cooked a lot from it in the past. Mexican is not especailly holidayish to me, it is just regular comfort food.

I thought there had been some discussion of maybe holiday baking?

[Katie Nell]

I think that book is going to be for December, although a lot of people were not happy about it!

Edited to add: I did look through his cookbook this weekend, and I'm really excited about it! I've been terrible about cooking from the books thus far though I've enjoyed reading along and look at the books, so I hope I can get my act in gear this month! I've bookmarked a lot to try!

[Smokey]

That's funny. I checked it out from the library after it was chosen and read through it. I ended up returning it a few days later and deciding I wasn't going to participate this month. Very few recipes really grabbed me from it. Many of them looked like they would benefit from really fresh tomatoes, which I (obviously) at this time of year won't be getting. I don't eat chicken/pork/beef/offal/lamb/etc., so most of the main course dishes wouldn't work for me. I can't explain it, but it just didn't grab me. Chacun a son gout (or something like that!).

[Katie Nell]

I think I'm just really excited because my husband is half Mexican and his grandparents were originally from Mexico, but I never got to meet them and I feel like I missed out. I feel like this will be a way to connect to something that I've never known, if that makes sense. I've bookmarked lots of things, but I'm most looking forward to trying the gorditas and the pineapple tamales!

[antrobin]

Tamales are traditional at Christmas. Christmas in my household ALWAYS involves Mexican food. But I'm from a Mexican American family, so, well, it makes perfect sense to me.

[kitchensalli]

Here you go:

on Oct 14, 2006 redwood2bay replied

Well, by a slim margin, it looks like Mexico One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless is the cookbook of the month for November 2006. Thanks for voting!

[pikawicca]

I don't get Mexican food during the holiday season.

[blue room]

LOL I'm sure Mexican people "get" it! I think tamales are traditional at Christmas, I love tamales! Rick Bayless probably writes about more sophisticated/authentic food than I know, but it sounds like a good idea for December in North America. (Feliz Navidad!)

[jsaimd]

The holidays makes me think of Mexican food. A lot of the highly intensive preparations I never do except at the holidays and I love thme. But then again, my husband doesn't like roast turkey dinner or ham, so we have always been a bit non-traditional.

[DiningDiva]

Two dishes pikawicca:

Chocolate Pecan Pie
Chile Sweet Potatoes

Neither is in One Plate at a Time, but they are in one of his earlier books and are great for adding a new twist to Thanksgiving. The pie is especially good and there is a variation for turning it into bar cookies in Salsas that Cook.