BethNH's Reviews
Cookbook Reviews
8 books reviewed. Showing 1 to 8Sort by: Rating | Title
The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook
By King Arthur Flour
Countryman Press - 2004
When I lived in Vermont there was a country store whose motto was, "If we ain't got it, you don't need it." That could be the motto of The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion.
This book has recipes for every cookie and bar type cookie imaginable. The folks at King Arthur know a lot about baking as they run a baking center at their flagship store in Vermont.
The recipes in the beginning of the book for things like chocolate chip, sugar, oatmeal and peanut butter come with many variations. Every recipe comes with an introductory paragraph as well as nutritional information.
There are only a few pages of photographs in the middle of the book but there are numerous drawings sprinkled throughout.
I have tried numerous recipes in this book and they all produce spectacular results. Simply put, if you're looking for a cookie recipe and this book doesn't have it, you don't need it.
The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Heavy-Duty Revised Edition
By America's Test Kitchen, Daniel J. Van Ackere, Carl Tremblay
America's Test Kitchen - 2006
Simply put, I think this is an excellent all-round general cookbook. There's nothing terribly fancy or gourmet here but the recipes from America's Test Kitchen are always tested thoroughly and rarely disappoint.
This has become my go to cookbook when I'm looking for every day family type fare. I can always find something that my entire family will eat and the ingredients are not difficult to find.
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America's Most Trusted Cooking Magazine
By Editors at Cook's Illustrated Magazine
Cook's Illustrated - 2011
Truly the best of Cook's Illustrated all in one hardbound volume.
Like the earlier reviewer, I love the fact that there is minimal explanation before each recipe - just the basics without all the long windedness that CI is known for.
Great directions with all necessary steps illustrated. Simply written recipes with clear step by step directions. A recipe for almost anything you could possibly need.
Our entire Easter dinner was made from this book this year - scalloped potatoes, spiral ham, roasted asparagus, spice cake with cream cheese frosting - and everything was delicious and the recipes had no surprises.
The Chinese Takeout Cookbook: Quick and Easy Dishes to Prepare at Home
By Diana Kuan
Ballantine Books - 2012
You get exactly what the title says - recipes for Chinese takeout. The book doesn't claim to give recipes for authentic Chinese food; it's aim is for those of us who enjoy the food we can get from our local Chinese restaurant.
After a quick trip to a local Asian market to stock up on some basic Chinese condiments like oyster sauce, black vinegar, soy sauce, chiles, etc. the recipes are easy to make. The directions are very clear and easy to follow.
My entire family has enjoyed these recipes and we look forward to trying many more.
Icebox Pies
By Lauren Chattman
Harvard Common Press - 2002
This great little book has recipes for crusts, pies and sauces. Each pie recipe comes with suggestions for which crusts to use. The crusts themselves are generally made from crushed cookies or crackers. The pies require either refrigeration or freezing.
The recipe for sugar cone crust is exceptionally good and a great match for ice cream pies.
King Arthur Flour
May 8th, 2012The King Arthur Flour website has everything any baker could possibly need. There are recipes for just about anything a baker could dream of - all for free with no subscription required.
All of the recipes have been exhaustively tested and there are user reviews posted also. Many recipes include "Tips from Bakers" with ideas on how to make the recipe successfully or how to make substitutions.
Wonderful photography! Great search engine!
My only quibble with the website, and indeed many of the recipes that King Arthur is currently coming out with, is that they often call for specialty ingredients such as pizza dough enhancer that only they carry through their catalog. It doesn't happen all the time but it's often enough to be annoying.
Fat Witch Brownies: Brownies, Blondies, and Bars from New York's Legendary Fat Witch Bakery
By Patricia Helding
Rodale Books - 2010
I really wanted to love this book. Baking brownies and bars is so much faster than baking cookies. I love being able to mix everything up, put it into a pan, baking the pan, and having dessert.
Unfortunately, none of the recipes I've tried from this book have been better than average. The baking times are definitely off. The results are never spectacular. I'm not tempted to try more recipes from this book when I believe I could probably get better recipes from various other sources.
Mastering the Grill: The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking
By Andrew Schloss, David Joachim, Alison Miksch
Chronicle Books - 2007
This is a terrible cookbook. I bought it from Amazon without checking it out first. The layout of the book is terrible. The print is very small and difficult to read. Recipes flow into one another. There is too much information crammed into small spaces.