Prune, 2014 cookbook of the year,

There is a lot of hip over the new Cookbook "Prune" by the renowned New York chef Gabrielle Hamilton!  

Sounds like her book is back to the basics or key ingredients.  Not unlike all those untitled recipes written on envelopes, scraps of paper with little or no method by my Mom!  These recipes were in her collection of recipes.  I was able to title some of the recipes as I recognized them or with the help of google by listing the key ingredients! Some still are nameless!

The section on Garbage would have my Mom laughing!  Nothing was wasted in her cooking! Things like fresh blood, brains and inners that she did not use were given to a neighbour. I remember a bucket of fresh blood being picked up by a neighbour to make Blood Sausage with great delight.  

While visiting my husband's family,  I remember salvaging the meaty chicken breast bones as my sister in law was about to throw them away.  As I proudly served a chunky chicken vegetable soup (yes chicken chunks from the bones) only to have it referred to as "Garbage Soup"!  Talk about being deflated! Obviously I still am!

So this part of the article especially resonated with me!

AGGIE WROBEL FROM THE GLOBE AND MAIL WRITES

My favourite section of the book is the one I talked about at the top: Garbage. What I love, besides the granola-crunchy mindset of saving every last scrap, is Hamilton’s bossy tone. In one recipe for Sardine Spines, she writes, “*Do not sell these* These are just a cook’s treat and to be used as a special wax for good friends and the right people. Don’t waste it on anyone who won’t get it.” The latter could really be the tagline for the entire book.

I also read with great interest an article on Diana Kennedy awhile back,

That a pig’s ear today may be considered trash is part of what bothers Ms. Kennedy. She is antiwasteful — of plastic bags, animal fat, electricity, water, wild herbs, the power of the sun — and is fond of quoting the speech she gave last summer at MAD Food Camp in Copenhagen. “If you invite me into your kitchen, don’t think the first thing I’m going to look at is your food,” she recited. “I’m going to look at your garbage.”

http://munchies.vice.com/articles/youre-eating-fake-tortillas-and-diana-kennedy-is-pissed-about-it