Gourmet on a Hot Plate

Sneak preview: 

New cookbook due in November

Four years after that last post, I'm far from closing down my food blog--in fact, I'm rejuvenating it under a new title. With a new cookbook on the horizon in November, I want to invite you to be part of my ongoing cooking adventure. For two years I've been cooking in a postage-stamp kitchen with no built-ins. That's right--I cook with a magnetic hot plate, a toaster oven, and a coffee pot. And it's not a hardship. It was my choice.

As I aged, my children and I wanted to be proactive about where and how I lived. Many possibilities were discussed, and it came down to some basics: I was still in control of my faculties (or so I still think), still actively writing, still independent to some degree. The best solution? Redo my existing garage and guest quarters into a cottage for me, while my youngest daughter, her husband and child moved into the main house. After six months construction, I had a wonderful cottage--600 square feet, with a living/office space, a bathroom with a walk-in shower, a large closet and a fairly small bedroom--plus the postage-stamp kitchen which does hold a good-sized refrigerator/freezer.

My first six months in the cottage involved a broken ankle, extreme reconstructive hip surgery, the cleansing of my system of a variety of drugs, (some of which caused hallucinations). I didn't care what I ate, let alone cooked. But gradually I reclaimed my cooking skills and learned new methods of cooking and using food. The results is my third cookbook--Gourmet on a Hot Plate.

Tada! Publicaiton is scheduled for early November--so you can add it to your Christmas giving list, and after that this blog will, I hope, become much more active.. Meantime, check in for an occasional recipe, to comment or ask questions. You know the Insta-Pot Community? This is sort of the opposite end of the cooking scale.

So welcome. To subscribe and receive posts on a regular basis, please go to my web page: www.judyalter.com. And to get you started, here's one of my favorite recipes, a good one for  football games and watch parties coming up in the fall:

Sherry cheese pâté

 6 oz softened cream cheese (not whipped)

1 c. grated sharp cheddar
1 Tbsp. dry sherry
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 8oz jar mango chutney (or any chutney you prefer)
2 green onions, chopped

Mix cream cheese, cheddar, sherry, curry, and salt together, thoroughly. Spread the mixture on a serving plate. Chill. Spread the chutney on the top of the mixture and sprinkle green onions on the top. Serve with crackers

Happy cooking, y'all. I'll pop in with a new post now and then, but after November I expect things to get popping around here. Meantime, if you want to be on my mailing list please write me at j.alter@tcu.edu