Category Archives: Cookbooks

I’ve been a fan of Alex Guarnaschelli from watching her as a judge on the “Chopped” television show. I lost track of her once she became an Iron Chef and never really got to see her style of cook except for the special “judge cooks” show on “Chopped”. What little I saw of her style of cooking, I thought highly of. Enough so that I bought “The Home Cook” sight unseen.

I have a decent collection of cookbooks, most of which sit on a bookshelf in my game room and get pulled out for specialty recipes. I have a few tried and trusted cookbooks which get shelf space in my kitchen. After both looking through this cookbook and trying several recipes, “The Home Cook” has its place in my kitchen and will be a cookbook that I use frequently. Along with the wonderful recipes, the cookbook has many beautiful photographs of the finished dishes (some of which I will include in my review on Amazon.)

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I am always on the lookout for cookbooks which include natural alternatives for sugar. I dislike artificial sweeteners and want to limit my cane sugar intake. This is my second maple syrup cookbook and it is quickly becoming my favorite one.

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“A Jewish Baker’s Pastry Secrets” is another wonderful and welcome cookbook from George Greenstein. His first book, “Secrets of a Jewish Baker”, as a real god-send for me, at the time I received it, as a novice baker. I enjoyed reading and trying a variety of the bread recipes in it.

When I saw that Mr. Greenstein had another book being published, and this one involved pastry, I knew that I would have to get it and have fun making a whole new set of his tried and true recipes.

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This is an excellent book regarding cooking on outdoor grills. Especially for the time at which it was originally published. Some of the grilling methods are dated and some of the methods of cooking (or rather not cooking) some items are not current to health standards of today.

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First of all, the temporary digital copy that I was provided did not include any pictures at all. I’m not sure if that is par for the course with Ms. Varozza’s cookbooks or if it was because this was an Advanced Reader Copy and the pictures were not ready in time to provide with the cookbook. While ARC’s are not finished products, all of the cookbooks that I have received in the past had at least some pictures included. I will not judge this book based on this lack but then again, I cannot comment on the quality of the photos either.

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Chowderland: Heart Soups & Stews with Sides & Salads to Match” by Brooke Dojny is a delicious looking cookbook that has a focus on recipes of various chowders. In addition to those, there are a good number of other recipes for delicious side dishes which can be served with chowders.

I grew up with with New England and Manhattan style clam chowder. I had no idea that there was such a variety of styles to be made. When I met and married my husband, he told me that my creamy chowder was good but not quite what he was used to. It wasn’t until I read this book that I was able to understand the difference between what I made and what he had eaten in Maine as a child. Needless to say, the next time I made a cream clam chowder, I will follow Ms. Dojny’s recipe and give my husband a taste of what he has missed since moving away from his Maine roots.

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I have never had a cupcake from Smallcakes – the cupcake business founded by Jeff Martin but am eagerly awaiting the opening of one of their shops in my city in Texas. In the meantime, I have this wonderful book “Buttercream Dreams” with which I can make my own version of some of their tried and true recipes.

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I own many cook books and use them on an on-going basis. I like to have cook books which present an area of cooking and give me enough recipes to find one that will appeal to my taste palate, my skill set, and my desire try something new or different.

“Made In America” hits a home run for me in all areas. It is a beautiful book with lovely pictures that entice me into wanting to cook almost every recipe. The descriptions that preface each chapter and each recipe and both entertaining and informative. The recipes present a picture of food in America that is instantly recognizable to me. I know most of these foods. The recipes have slight twists from versions I have made in the past and so my interest is piqued to try a new way of cooking. I like the variety of chapters (thank you for having both a chapter on grilling and on barbeque – some people don’t know the difference.)

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This is a fantastic book with up to date information on the best canning methods and equipment. I have several much older books in my cookbook library and this one is so much better, there is simply no comparison.

Both my husband and I are involved in canning and drying various fruits and vegetables; especially those which we grow in our own square foot gardens.

“Blue Ribbon Canning: Award-Winning Recipes” by Linda J. Amendt is a beautifully illustrated book with gorgeous photographs. The book is made up of various chapters, the first several of which involve information about ingredients, equipment, techniques, and jars. There is a goldmine of information here for the new or returning canner – lots of things have changed and improved over the years. I was extremely interested in reading her information about pressure canning cookers.

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“Make Ahead Bread” by Donna Currie is a beautifully put together cookbook which focuses on breads which can be prepped the day before baking. This answers a real need for me and, I would guess, a good number of others who simply don’t have the time for both preparation and baking on the same day.

I love the smell and the taste of fresh baked bread. There really isn’t anything else that has that wonderful scent that gets the mouth watering and gives me a sense of well-being as having a fresh yeast bread baking in the oven.

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