bookwoman's Reviews
Cookbook Reviews
20 books reviewed. Showing 1 to 20Sort by: Rating | Title 
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
By Jeff Hertzberg MD, Zoe Francois
Thomas Dunne Books - 2007
Being a bread lover, I was intrigued with their claim that you could produce a delicious loaf of bread in just a few minutes each day - the kicker, of course, is that you mix up 4 loaves at a time, put them in the frig and then just pull them out and let them raise (5 minutes a day is a bit deceptive and it only refers to the actual working time - not raising or baking). But even so - this is a great way to have fresh bread every day (I put the book away because it is too easy a way to have fresh bread every day). I did find however, that while the basic recipes worked really well, some of the speciality breads were a bit disappointing.
Being Dead Is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide To Hosting the Perfect Funeral
By Gayden Metcalfe, Charlotte Hays
Miramax - 2005
OK - you get cookbooks for lots of reasons. This one you get because it is very funny. I wouldn't actually use the recipes because they are mostly made from a variety of prepared foods tossed together and I am a from-scratch cook but - again, it's pretty funny.
The Book Club Cookbook: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors
By Judy Gelman, Vicki Levy Krupp
Tarcher - 2004
This is a specialized book. The editors have collected recipes from book groups where eating and reading are pretty much synonymous . They have a book recommendation and then the recipe for the related food that was served by the group. Recipes I have tried from the book have worked.
If you are looking for that kind of book - here it is.
The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat
By Tal Ronnen
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2009
I bought this cookbook because I have a family member who is trying to move to Vegan eating and I will try some of the recipes but my initial reaction is that the recipes are a bit complicated - I can live with that - but the ingredients are quite hard to find. Unless you live near a good natural food store or have an on-line source, I think you will have trouble using this book.
Cookwise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed
By Shirley O. Corriher
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1997
I love this book. It is not just a recipe book - it's a cooking school. The recipes are divided by techniques and you learn how to manage the categories while you are mastering the recipe.
All the recipes I have tried have been excellent and the directions are detailed to the point of telling you how to store your eggs in the refrigerator for deviled eggs (sideways).
Dinner in the Diner: Great Railroad Recipes of All Time
By Will C. Hollister
Trans-Anglo Books - 1984
This is another cookbook that you buy for the history rather than the recipes. It is kind of fun, though, to see what was considered elegant dining 50-60 years ago.
Emeril's TV Dinners: Kickin' It Up a Notch with Recipes from Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril
By Emeril Lagasse, Pam Hoenig, Brian Smale
HarperCollins Canada / Non-Fiction - 1998
I should start by saying that while I think Emeril is delightful, not all the recipes in all his cookbooks work for home cooks - his banana creme pie is a good example of that.
But this book - on the recipes I have used - seems pretty reliable.
The Fannie Farmer Cookbook: Anniversary
By Marion Cunningham, Fannie Farmer Cookbook Corporation, Archibald Candy Corporation, Lauren Jarrett
Knopf - 1996
This is my go-to every day cookbook. When all the others fail me, Fannie comes through. Contains a wide range of recipes, I have not found any that didn't work (may not love them all but they work).
Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook
By Nell B. Nichols
Doubleday & Company, Inc - 1965
I got this as a gift when I was first married and while it is stained and falling apart, I still pull it out as my most reliable pie book. It has both sweet and savory recipes including a double crust lemon pie recipe that my Mother -in-law hadn't had in years - big hit.
The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1000 recipes
By Zanne Early Stewart, Ruth Reichl, John Willoughby
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2006
This is an excellent cookbook with recipes for everything from home cooking to truly gourmet choices. However, I do have one complaint. I bought my copy when it first came out and someone (who should have known better) decided to match the yellow cover with yellow ink for the recipe titles. In poor light, they are completely unreadable. I am pretty sure I am not the only one who was annoyed because later editions have darker ink.
But the recipes (when I can find them) are excellent.
In Nonna's Kitchen: Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Grandmothers
By Carol Field
Morrow Cookbooks - 1997
I have to define good a little differently here. This book is wonderful to read. It has interviews with 50 Italian cooks of the grandmother generation and its stated goal is to document their recipes before they disappear since even the Italians don't cook like this any more. So some of the recipes are very doable - some not so much. My favorite of the latter is the one that starts - 8 days before you want to serve this. But for those of you who - like me - love to read cookbooks in bed, this is a fascinating one.
Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies
By Maida Heatter
Random House - 1995
The recipes aren't bad in this book but I found it an annoying one to use. The recipes are so detailed they cover a couple of pages so you have to keep going back and forth. I guess if you have never made a cookie, it would be OK but it seems a bit of overkill.
Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts (Moosewood Collection)
By Moosewood Collective
Three Rivers Press - 1997
Very good reliable cookbook (I find the Moosewood books in general very dependable) and it contains a few of my favorite recipes.
The New England Cookbook: 350 Recipies from Town and Country, Land and Sea, Hearth and Home
By Brooke Dojny
Harvard Common Press - 1999
This is one of my favorite cookbooks - great standard American recipes - everything I have tried has been excellent. Recipes are clear and easy to follow
Rosie's Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No-Holds-Barred Baking Book
By Judy Rosenberg
Workman Publishing Company - 1991
Based - I guess - on the principle that if you are going to sin, you should sin big, this is a cookbook that cuts no corners. The recipes I have tried are very good, fairly easy to make and pretty decadent.
For bakers new to the craft, she offers some helpful hints at the front of the book including tools needed and techniques for the basic processes. And yes - she does include the recipe for chocolate orgasms.
The Royal Scotsman Consumables
By Alan Mathieson and Neil Forbes
The Royal Scotsman - 2000
We took a trip on the Royal Scotsman and had some of the best food I have ever eaten. Haven't tried lots of the recipes but I am pretty sure the recipe for Lemon Tart (which is the one I got the book for) has an error. lists cooking temp as 50 C and I am pretty sure it should be 150C would would translate to about 300F.
At 50C, it would never bake. But Sticky Toffee Pudding works and is delicious.
Take Two & Butter 'em While they're Hot
By Barbara Swell
Native Ground Music, Inc - 1998
This is a little book I picked up on a trip south. Has stories and recipes from Appalachia. I got it more for the stories than the recipes but discovered a perfect version of the Finnish cardamom bread that we have for Christmas morning breakfast and that I had despaired of finding once our local bakery closed.
The Uncommon Gourmet's All-Occasion Cookbook
By Ellen Helman
Font & Center Pr - 1996
This is a great cookbook. Recipes are dependable and in addition to the recipes, she includes menus to include each dish. The author has three and I have them all but this is my favorite.
Vegetarian Planet
By Didi Emmons
Harvard Common Press - 1997
This is my favorite vegetarian cookbook - I am not a vegetarian but grew up on a farm so I love veggies. Everything I have made from the book has been delicious - it is pretty easy to use although I could have used a stronger binding since I use this one enough so it's falling apart.
The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook
By Christopher Kimball
Little, Brown and Company - 1998
If you are familiar with America's Test Kitchen or with Cook's Illustrated Magazine, you will be at home with this book which uses their techniques of testing, testing and then pronouncing that this is the very best version - and often it is.
The goal of this book is to take old recipes and update them a bit but keep the simplicity - home cooking at its best. And there are some excellent recipes. It doesn't reach Julia's level in butter and cream, these are generally not recipes you would seek out if you were cutting back.