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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Helen Corbitt and Fit or Fat?

It has been a week of losing ground. I have now successfully gained another pound after starting a conservative jogging program, and completing The New Fit or Fat book! It has also been a week of sitting on my rump doing lots of school work. I have a student who is taking biology via Odyssey Ware, and the counselor informed me that he had to been done with it by the end of the semester, because he has to take speech in the classroom. This is good news and bad news! Pushing a special ed. kid through a year's course in one semester requires lots of work on my part, but next semester he will be in the speech teacher's room having fun giving speeches about whatever he likes, and they won't be about biology! I have about a ream of paper sitting over on the counter waiting for me to read, highlight and write the page where the answers can be found, but instead I am telling you about the fun I am having. I ordered a new cookbook--The Best from Helen Corbitt's Kitchens, and did manage to read a little in it last night. I have three of her cookbooks now, and love to read the recipes--in fact she is my cooking hero. I have even bought the brandy for some of the recipes, so when Grandma gets here, occasionally I will try out a special dish, or maybe we will just drink the brandy. Helen Corbitt, a red headed Irish girl, was born in New York in 1906, graduated Skidmore College, B.S. Home Economics and worked as a hospital dietitian. She quit the job eventually and started looking for a more creative outlet. This was during the depression; jobs were scarce, and the only thing she could find was teaching quantity cooking and tea room management in Austin, Texas! Helen said,"Who the hell wants to go to Texas? 'Only I didn't say hell in those day. I learned to swear in Texas, and to tell a cockroach from a scorpion.'" As soon as I get this biology over with I am going to try some of her recipes, and tell you more. It's time for breakfast. I am starving.

3 comments:

  1. What a great cookbook! I'm taking notes on the title. One of the 5 books I'm reading right now is by M.F.K. Fischer, who writes about food experiences...both in preparation and consumption. She's delightful. And it's just plain fun to read cookbooks, although I'm thinking you must be absorbing calories osmotically from the covers.

    Love you, and hold you tight in my prayers. You'll grind this out and have a great Christmas!

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  2. OOOH!! I love cookbooks too!! I probably should get rid of some of them, but each has a "must fix" recipe that is not in any other book!!

    Have fun, we need more years to fix all the dishes we would like to try. Too bad I gain weight doing that! Ha!

    Miss you bunches...

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  3. As the bumper sticker says.."Some people are lucky enough to be born in Texas...others get here as soon as they can"....;)

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