Costume Time

Well...it's almost that time of year again. I need to get the Hound her costume. Hmmm.

Or...

Cutesy pea pod, or glow-in-the-dark x-ray. I suspect she'll be mad either way...Stay tuned, and I'll let you know.

New! The Caldrea Company

Clever Girl is proud to announce the addition of The CALDREA Company to our great line up of offerings.

I must confess that I have an incurable attraction towards new, exciting products and gadgets that promise to transform your life into one of ease and perfection. Infomercials on late night TV mesmerise me with tantalizing promises and pitches: Made in Germany. Money back guarantee. Snuggie anyone? And, my personal favorite, "patent pending." But, every now and then, a company comes along that deliverers on its promise of doing what it says. The Caldrea Company is a prime example...Caldrea offers a premier cleaning experience with products that are highly effective, consistently earth friendly, and an absolute pleasure to use. Already customers are raving about this line! It seems everyone has a favorite scent or cleaning product that they love to use--and, they are dying to share "cleaning miracles" with us. For example: "Cladrea Dish Soap Liquid is the only thing I have found that really cleans my plastic food storage containers." And, "Even my husband noticed how fresh the laundry smelled after I used the Basil Blue Sage Laundry Detergent." {Really, what price can you put on THAT?}

So stop in soon to discover your favorite scents and products, and be sure and enter to win a complete Caldrea cleaning kit that we'll be giving away on October 5th.

I must say, the whole kitchen smells quite spiffy after I've wiped up with the Sea Salt Neroli Countertop Clenser... Clean and fresh, and less than $9.99!

Merci, Julia

With the arrival of suddenly cooler weather here, I recently went in search of some fall-like recipes with soup on my mind. In rummaging about, I happened upon the old family copy of From Julia Child's Kitchen, by Julia Child. Unless you've been living up at the North Pole, you know that Julia is all the rage again, and her books are topping the Amazon best sellers list like crazy. (I guess a major movie helps...) As I flipped through our copy I re-discovered the inscription at the front. Julia herself had signed the book, as well as her husband, Paul! Why it was ever dedicated to my dad, I'll never quite know...he was a master at scrambled eggs, but his interest in the culinary arts never went much beyond that, so why a world-famous chef would ever be asked to sign a copy for him is a bit of a mystery. Now my Grandmother, that would make sense...

Grandma was not what you would call a "TV" person. PBS was the only station she ever tuned in to. All Creatures Great and Small, Upstairs Downstairs and The French Chef pretty made up her entire viewing schedule. Let's just say the Nelson Ratings people were not beating down her door...However, when Julia came on, she sat in rapt attention, 3 x 5 note cards and pencil at the ready. In her perfect, clear handwriting, she took notes and made comments on everything Julia Child ever whipped up on her show. (There was no Food Network then, after all) My mom and I have all her old recipe boxes filled with authentic, complex, detailed recipes for everything from Bavarian Cream to Roast Chicken. There isn't a single dish that calls for a can of Cream-of -Mushroom or a packet of onion soup mix--such a thing would be unheard of. Grandma was a wonderful cook, and, I think, quite ahead of her time. She was of old school, like Julia. No shortcuts. No quick and easy.

Julia and her cookbooks really were the best thing to ever happen to the home chef--nothing else like it had been done before. She began the revolution. As I look at the dozens of beautiful cookbooks we stock here at Clever Girl, they are filled with great recipes, ideas and beautiful photographs. We really do owe it all to the love, passion and the determination of Julia Child to provide us her textbooks about real food and real cooking. She launched the foodie nation we've become way back in the 60's, and we benefit from it to this day...so thank you to Julia, and Bon Appetit!