Imagine my surprise when I saw this on Facebook this week:

As some of you may have heard, the December issue will be the last stand-alone print edition of Everyday Food. All EDF subscribers will receive our beautiful, inspiring sister magazine Martha Stewart Living instead. (Oh, and five of those Living issues will come with an Everyday Food supplement—no shortage of fast, fresh meal ideas here in the Martha Stewart test kitchens, that’s for sure!)

We’re sorry to say goodbye to our magazine subscriptions, but SO excited for what’s next. We’ll have big news to share here shortly! (Hint: It involves the same great recipes, clever tips, and delicious ideas, but this time online and updated every day.)

Another sign of the economic downturn, I suppose. I love Everyday Food, and I guess I’ll just hang onto my copies and buy the compendium books. I have the “Light” book that came out on December 28th, and the food is great; I’ve made a number of them.

I’m sure this means another app, which means if you don’t have an iPad, you’re out of the loop. I actually had an iPad for a while until I was laid off, and had to return it. You can have apps all you want, but it’s not a complete computer. Be aware of this before you plunk down $600 to buy one.

Everyday Food magazine is, or was, the companion to Martha Stewart Living for, well, everyday cooking. While flagship magazine MSL was great for entertaining and special occasions, readers longed for more, well, everyday food. Martha and her staff paid attention to online comments and emails.  Readers wanted more easy to cook stuff that didn’t require a trip to a specialty grocery store or mail order, like the cranberry preserves I ordered for a fantastic Thanksgiving dessert on the front cover of MSL a few years ago.

When I called the New England Cranberry Company to order the cranberry preserves, the gent on the phone had no idea why there was a sudden uptick in orders for that one thing. I explained it to him, and then he understood. It was a good product, and boy, what a dessert. But that’s for Thanksgiving. Every day is not Thanksgiving.

When Martha speaks. . . .

My favorite recipe for leftover turkey was found in a Glad advert in the November 2006 issue. I still have it; maybe I’ll scan it and put it here soon. It was the most delicious thing, and I ate it throughout the holidays. Seriously. Always a great time to have another bowl of it, so it definitely qualified as Oddball Eating.

The other night I decided to make something unusual from this month’s Everyday Food, called Lamb-and-Apricot Stew. It’s not on their website, so I can’t give you the link. But what I can tell you is that it’s pretty good. They also say it’s good with beef or chicken thighs, but I wanted to try the lamb, just once.

I can’t say it’s super-duper, but it’s pretty good and worth the trouble. Adding dried apricots to the stew is a nice touch. If you decide to make it, this is what it looks like:

This is what it looked like when I took out of the oven

Six meals, all tidied up for the week.

I make some quinoa and put the stew over the quinoa although that’s not suggested in the recipe. I prefer quinoa to rice for a number of reasons, but you could certainly use rice or any kind of pasta if you like. Recipe is highly recommended for it’s interesting taste, ease of preparation and unique addition of fruit.

Let’s see what’s in the last edition of Everyday Foodand be glad it happened.

Happy Dining!

Sometimes, things don’t work the way they normally do. Today was no exception. This happens sometimes when you have all the time in the world.

Weekends are perfect for the oddball eating. Since there is only one cat now, the step-kitty, and no offspring, there is not always a reason for getting up at a certain time. So, maybe I’m not hungry right away, especially if I’ve been lucky enough to sleep for 9 hours or more. These days, not so much, but I’m trying. Sometimes it’s lunch at 10:30 and dinner at 4, maybe a snack before bed. Sometimes I just nibble all day–nuts, berries, grapes, leftovers, hummus on a spoon, whatever.

That’s oddball eating. And I just made up that term when I started writing this.

Anyway. . .

I survived the starving blood test by packing three boiled eggs and a flask of hot coffee, just the way I like it. IKEA has a great little vacuum flask that keeps coffee hot for a long time if you fill it with hot water for a few minutes and use the little button on the top of the cap to pour the coffee into your little cup. I should use mine more often.

Since I was in a fabulous place today, Market Street in The Woodlands, I sat on a park bench and had the eggs and coffee. The weather was nice, it was just starting to warm a little, and the sun was shining. Shortly thereafter, I was no longer REALLY hungry. But I couldn’t stop there.

There is a supermarket in the same area, so I stopped in for a couple of Larabars. I love the Chocolate Chip Brownie and CC Cherry Torte, but they didn’t have any, so I went with Tropical Fruit. Two, of course, they are too good to eat just one . Had them sitting behind the wheel of the vehicle with some more of the coffee, not driving. Because traffic in Houston is beyond belief, and I did not want to sit in a parking lot for another 90 minutes, I thought out my return route. After figuring out a non-toll route, I headed home.

Because I was up so early, I was pretty tired. Despite a second cup of strong tea, I was still tired and ended up taking a two hour nap. And there was some delicious Halloween candy in my day, too.

I do have a difficult time passing up Mounds and Almond Joy. Mounds especially, since it’s  the much-ballyhooed “healthier” chocolate. It may have health benefits, but the sugar cancels it all out. Resistance is futile. . .but I’m working on it.

To start getting rid of all that, I went walking for a while. About 90 minutes, I think. Plus some pushups and ab work.

And it happened again. I’m hungry, darnit! I hate that.

I didn’t want to have a full meal, so I went after the rest of the white bean mash in the fridge. Then some black eyed peas in the pantry, since I’m out of cannellini beans again (as usual.) Gonna have some more ice water and wash up the dishes. I think I’m good.

No more Halloween candy, darnit. Make my own sweets without sugar again. Darnit. (I like Suzanne Somers’ SomerSweet, it works great.) Lay off the cakes and such, which I normally do anyway. These last couple of weeks have been exceptions.

Also, after not exercising for a couple of weeks, I’m going to get back to it. Maybe not the long walking I enjoy the most, but it must happen. I don’t feel right when I don’t, and never mind wearing a larger size.  (My fault.)

Found out today that there are two upcoming cookbook signings, and I plan to make both of them, if nothing stops me.

This Friday, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, will be in Sam’s in Pearland; I’ll bring my cookbooks to be signed, and maybe the biography. I met her husband, Marlboro Man, and their two sons in the Phoenix airport earlier this year; they were arriving, I was going back to Houston on the red-eye. I got to talk to them for a few minutes before going through TSA. I love the show, it’s like visiting your cousins once a week.

Monday, November 12, Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, will be at the River Oaks Sur la Table at 12:00 pm. Yes, I’m going, if I’m not otherwise busy. I have waited years to meet Ina Garten, and I can’t wait. Her cookbooks are also fantastic, whether you’re entertaining or making a week’s worth of lunch and dinner. When I had to learn to make a Thanksgiving turkey, it was her Barefoot Contessa books that made it easy. Hint: it’s a big chicken.

Well, I’m off for the night, and plan to do another restaurant review from Delray Beach this week. Maybe two, if I remember the other one.

But oddball eating is here to stay.

Happy Dining!