Untangling the Envelope, and the Winner Is……

Here’s what our fabulous featured author, Victoria Abbott Riccardi has to say about our last Cook the Books roundup.

“First, I am honored and delighted that you chose my book for your group. I was so glad to read from your various members that Untangling My Chopsticks either brought back fond memories of their time in Japan or sparked the desire to go there. Japan is, indeed, a magical (and very tasty!) place.

Choosing a Cook the Book winner was very hard! Everyone had a fascinating story to accompany the recipe they made and it was obvious that people put significant time and energy into creating something pretty and tasty. I know that it’s not always easy to find Japanese ingredients, so substitutions are often necessary.

Since you left the criteria up to me, I decided I would choose a winner based on who best managed to get into the spirit Japanese cooking, both in terms of the recipe they submitted and their story. As I said, this wasn’t easy. In the end, however, I chose Glennis of Can’t Believe We Ate. Glennis ran the culinary marathon, so to speak, by preparing her four-course feast. She really seemed eager to create an authentic Japanese meal, beginning with her dashi soup and ending with the very impressive shabu-shabu! I also loved her genuine enthusiasm as she described the various dishes she made.

For example, for her miso soup, she writes, “I was so tickled to actually find light miso paste!  I’ve looked before, and not been able to find anything but red, so this was delightful!”

Then, she writes, “Next up was Chicken Yakitori.oh my!  Simply oh my!”

Finally, in talking about enjoying the rich broth left over from cooking all the veggies and meat for the shabu-shaby she writes, “At the end of the meal, the noodles would be added to the pot, and finished in the steaming soup.  This was fascinating and warrants trying again!”

Congratulations, Glennis. I am so glad you enjoyed my book and preparing your various dishes. What a lovely way to ring in the New Year, which, for all of you I hope brings many memorable moments around the table.

All best,
Victoria”

Congratulations Glennis!  Johanna will be sending you your Cook the Books Winner blog badge and I’ll get you listed in our pantheon of CTB winners in the righthand sidebar toute de suite.  And thanks for our wonderful author and guest judge for taking us on an armchair visit to Kyoto and for taking the time to check out our blog posts.