Please welcome our special Saturday guest, Christine Myskowski. She is the owner and manager of Salt and Pepper Books in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC. [Note: name has an ampersand, but blogger doesn't like that symbol for some odd reason!]
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It’s been almost seven years, but I still sometimes stop and
think, “I own a cookbook store… how did this happen?” The short version is that after leaving a
career in the financial industry, I decided to turn my hobby of collecting
cookbooks into a business. The learning
curve was steep because I had no small business, retail, or bookstore
experience. The money was an issue
because I had only a very tiny budget.
And the progress was slow because the store opened a month before the
recession began.
Salt and Pepper Books' new location |
But there were angels along the way (they know who they are)
and a steady stream of loyal and supportive customers, many of whom have become
good friends. I was also lucky to have
opened in the quaint town of Occoquan, Virginia.
It was the ideal place for a small bookstore
and the town welcomed it with open arms.
This summer, however, we said goodbye to Occoquan after a bittersweet
decision to accept an invitation from the National Harbor.
View of the Potomac River from our front door |
In the meantime, we have a makeshift break room kitchen
where I test the recipes for our newsletter.
The “kitchen” includes only a small refrigerator, toaster oven,
microwave, blender, and a slow cooker.
The only “counter” space is a small round kitchen table so prep work can
sometimes be a challenge. A couple of
weeks ago though, my cooking options were greatly expanded thanks to a gift of
an electric wok (which works for way more than just stir-fry dishes). Simply plug in and go! I normally make this soup at home in a Dutch
oven, but the wok worked just as well.
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Curried Carrot Soup
3 tablespoons Canola oil
1 tablespoon Curry powder
2 teaspoons Tumeric
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
2 pounds Carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
6 stalks Celery, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
1 medium Onion, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
6 cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped
6 cups Vegetable stock
Juice of 1 small Lemon
1 to 2 cups Water, if necessary
1 tablespoon Curry powder
2 teaspoons Tumeric
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
2 pounds Carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
6 stalks Celery, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
1 medium Onion, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
6 cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped
6 cups Vegetable stock
Juice of 1 small Lemon
1 to 2 cups Water, if necessary
Combine oil, curry powder, turmeric and salt in a Dutch oven
over medium high heat and cook for 1 minute.
Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic and toss to coat evenly with the
flavored oil.
Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Stir in the vegetable broth and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. (You can test this by mashing a piece of carrot with a fork.)
Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Stir in the vegetable broth and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. (You can test this by mashing a piece of carrot with a fork.)
Reduce heat to low and use a stick blender to puree
soup. Alternatively you can puree the
soup in small batches in a blender (return soup to pot and heat through
afterwards). Stir in the lemon juice and
water, if necessary.
Serves 6.
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Salt and Pepper Books (it uses an ampersand...but blogger doesn't like that symbol) is an independent bookstore in
beautiful National Harbor, Maryland. We
love all things food and cooking! We
have a large selection of cookbooks, including books on kitchen basics, baking,
soups, vegetarian meals, gluten-free recipes, international cuisines, and
more. We also carry many food writing
titles and a growing inventory of culinary mysteries. The store also features an ever-changing
variety of kitchen gifts from aprons to recipe cards to pepper mills. Please stop in and take a look where there's
a book for every cook!
Website: http://www.saltandpepperbooks.com/
Salt and Pepper Books
171 American Way
National Harbor, MD 20745
(301) 839-1849
171 American Way
National Harbor, MD 20745
(301) 839-1849
So glad to have you here Christine--can't wait to visit the new store!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the soup recipe. So glad I found your blog.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautifully presented and delicious-looking recipe! Thanks for that, Christine. I loved visiting Salt and Pepper and really look forward to seeing the new location.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you could visit us here at MLK!
MJ (aka Victoria Abbott)
Welcome, Christine! And thank you for feeding my cookbook habit over the past few years, and for all the fun cookware toys and gadgets too. I can't wait to see your new place!
ReplyDeleteThis recipe sounds perfect for chilly fall-winter days.
Christine, you know how much we love your store! Thrilled for your new success and can't wait to visit you in April! PS Love the soup recipe. I adore curry!
ReplyDeleteDaryl / Avery
You're welcome Sarah! So glad you like the recipe!
ReplyDeleteLadies - we can't wait to see you in April! Thank you for having me as a guest today!
ReplyDeleteThis recipe looks so yummy! As soon as we get out of the upper 80's, I'm going to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the Kitchen, Christine! What a wonderful post. Thank you for sharing the story of your brave start and happy success; it's truly inspiring. We're entering the perfect season for soup recipes and yours is a winner. I'm looking forward to whipping up your recipe--and shopping at your gorgeous store (what a great addition to offer cooking classes, too). Cheers and have a delicious weekend...
ReplyDelete~ Cleo
It really is a bit ridiculous how hot it is this week!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cleo!
ReplyDeleteHi Christine! I'm so thrilled that you could join us today. Your bookstore is definitely my favorite. I could spend hours there going through all the cookbooks. And you carry so many other clever items, too! Can't wait to see you and your new location for our signing in May.
ReplyDeletePeople are always asking me for vegetarian ideas for the holidays. This would be a great soup for Thanksgiving dinner. Or just by the fire with a loaf of bread when it gets colder outside. Yum!
~Krista
Hi Christine, it was so nice meeting you in April! I'm looking forward to the temperature dropping here in Michigan (tomorrow--normally it would be waaay colder by now!) to make this yummy sounding soup! Thanks for joining us today.
ReplyDeleteThank you to all of our author friends for your kind and generous comments! We can't wait to see you in the Spring!
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious . Thank you for the recipe. I'm going to try this recipe tonight.
ReplyDelete