Cooking Books

This had some great old school recipes. However, if you are an Italian American you do not need this book. Had stuff my Great Grandmother and Grandmother have passed down.

Hill's book is extremely insightful. It's very descriptive and chocked full of authentic Italian recipes and stories from Hill's gangster life. The recipes range from very simple to somewhat complicated, depending on the reader's preference. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about the real-life, but old style of Italian cuisine.

A colorfull presentation of some excellent recipes, I truely value this book, in my collection. Try his shrimp receipe for the grill, excellent, my guests loved it and I the simplicity.

I've made a few of the meals in here, and they were very good. Not all that different from the way I cook anyway, but a few differences made the meals better. No problem with the recipes.

My problem is with the marketing of gangster life. This isn't a merely an Italian cookbook-- this is promoted as a MAFIA cookbook ("cooking on the run"?). His life stories are told in euphamistic and humourous fashion, but the reality is very different. The end of the book is almost enraging-- Henry says he he sees pierced and tattoo'd kids eating dinner at McDonald's, and wonders where their parent are-- they ought to be having a nice family dinner at home.

PUHLEEEEZE!!! Read his childrens' book-- "On the Run--A Mafia Childhood". Years of drinking and drug related abuse, not coming home for days at a time, turning his home into a drug and sex den, both before and after his bust-- and much worse stuff-- if you find yourself getting amused by his engagingly told tales of gangster glory or if you find his stories of his Broolyn childhood endearing, then you need to read his childrens' book for balance. See the link below.

Buy this book used. I wouldn't put a dime in Hill's pocket.


On the Run: A Mafia Childhood

I got this for my husband last Christmas and we haven't found anything that wasn't totally delicious. The only problem is, we can't eat Italian in a restaurant anymore! We cook better at home!! With Henry's precise step-by-step directions, and his delightful autobiographical inserts, this is our favorite cookbook.
If you can stomach it, a viewing of "Goodfellas" really makes the cookbook a lot of fun and brings the voice of Henry Hill to life. Sometimes we can feel him running around our kitchen in his drug-induced haze, preparing his Michael's favorite meatballs just like in the movie!

If I could give this book 6 stars I would. My children love this book and it is so much fun to read. The story is very interactive as the kids shout out "Salsa!" and "Ole!" etc. I have read this to my own children and groups of children and it never fails to capture everyone's attention (even the adults) and make everyone laugh. I don't think there has been a single time that I have read this book that I was not asked to please read it again, and again, and again..

Chicks and Salsa is a delight! Our little ones loved the story, funny names for familiar southwest food (Quackamole), and especially the refrain: "Olé."

Great gift book! We bought two as gifts for grandchildren, then two more for other friends, and finally one for the kindergarten teacher, along with a grocery gift card, since her classroom's certified for cooking. She loves it too. Chicks & Salsa's so ... "Ooo, la la!"

Wonderful read aloud. Illustrations are super and so is the vocabulary. You can't go wrong with this one. Wacky farm animals who are tired of the same old, same old. They are cooking up some interesting recipes. My daughter loved it and so did my 5th graders.

I picked this one up at the library because the title caught my attention. This book has been read every day since we checked it out, and had to buy our own copy. Wonderful illustrations and the cadence of the story is fun and easy for kids to get in to.

A pig can eat only so much slop. Fowl may need to part from their feed. Even a duck might tire of fish.

This is the premise of "Chicks and Salsa," a celebration of culinary diversity in general, salsa in particular. The "salsafication" of the farm animals is the brainchild of a rebellious rooster, although there's a rat (literal, not figurative) who--behind the scenes--supplies the ingredients. The rooster is the face of the salsa revolution, but the rat, lurking stealthily on most pages, is the muscle.

Like a great chef or musician, Aaron Reynolds riffs on salsa within a structured format. AS the zest for salsa spreads from one species to another, the recipes change. The rooster and chickens pick farm fresh (naturally) onions and tomatoes, the ducks dine on cilantro and garlic, and the pigs go for beans and chopped chilis. Paulette Bogan gives these mischievous animals distinctive personalities and emotion. She draws a bored chicken like no one else. A pig turns fier red after eating chilis, while another pig proudly juggles them. Bogan's seems to thrive on low-light scenes; the animals become luminescent, and their glow warms the barn and surrounding farmland. Her shadows and shadings use unusual color combinations, and the fiesta preparations are vivid and rich.

Sadly, the fiesta never takes place, as the humans, who finally wake up and smell the animals' spices, seize all the ingredients for a tamale entree entry at the state fair. The conclusion is a little bit abrupt, but it's clever: The rooster sneaks into the kitchen, and with the rat's help shifts from one cuisine to another, becoming a master at crepes. The fiesta turns into something of a salon, and--zut alors--the animals done "French" clothes, a bit of attitude, and share the hors d'ouevres. "Chicks and Salsa" is delightfully entertaining, with mugging animals and other silly stuff alternating with keenly observed humor. The very talented Bogan gives the reader a visual feast on every page; the animals look as welcoming as teddy bears. 34 pages long, with a book cover that can be made into a poster, and three recipes to try: "Hog Wild Nachos," "Quackamole," and "Rooster's Toasted Salsa."

This book was given to me a few years back. Every recipe I use is fantastic! Many wonderful colored pictures and helpful hints. I'm buying more as gifts for friends who also love to bake. The only issue with this book is the binding, mine has come loose in a few places. It does not open flat which would have been a nice feature.

I received a copy of this cookbook 13 1/2 years ago from my grandmother as a wedding gift. I have used it so much it is falling apart. I wanted to share this great book with my sister and best friends. I was able to find it here. It is a fantastic baking guide. Every recipe is out of this world. I hope it will last so I can pass it to my children. Excellent Buy!!!

I agree with the others that this is the best cookbook on baking that I own. People generally like the baked goods I make from this book. Grandma's date-filled cookies, which I think are pictured on the cover are especially good as is the chocolate and orange cheesecake.

I thought I had lost this book during a move, and losing it took away my desire to bake altogether (though it didn't help that the missing box where it was also contained all of my other favorite cookbooks and loose recipes). When I checked here to get a replacement, the cheapest used was $50!!

Now that the replacement price has come down, I found the misiplaced box containing this book and the others, and now all I want to do is bake! How ironic that it was found while I was packing up our things for yet another move, so baking is out of the question!

It was a great disappointment to my family that I couldn't make my famous bread pudding during the holidays last winter, so they will all be very happy this year when I return to form! And I love the variety of delicious cookies that I give away as Christmas goodies to friends. Everyone always thinks that the cookie recipes must be family heirlooms, and they are shocked that they are actually simple recipes of Pillsbury origins!

I have many great baking cookbooks, but if I had to chose just one to keep for the rest of my life, this would be it!! Needless to say, it will be closely guarded during this next move so it doesn't get misplaced again!

This cookbook, and Pillsbury, have never let me down. The book covers everything from cookies to cakes to fancy desserts to yeast breads and coffee cakes. I have had this book for at least ten years now, and I have found many of the recipes to be 'tried and true'. They are thoroughly tested so you get very consistent, yummy results, and now that I live at high altitude, I really appreciate the adjustments included for every recipe. That has helped me learn how to adjust other cookbooks' recipes for high altitude too. The glossy pages withstand the occasional batter spatter, and the pictures make you want to try all the recipes! Like others have mentioned, my book's binding gave out too and a good chunk of the pages have detached. Still, it remains my favorite baking book.

Classic drinks with tasteful recipes. The book itself has an air of sophistication, and so will your drinks if they are prepared accordingly.

This book was fun and fascinating. It had a lot of facts and lore included as well as delicious recipes and pictures. It goes through the basics, such as terms and descriptions, as well as gives tips in each section. I have many cocktail books, but will refer to this one time and time again. It should be on everyone's shelf!

Every serious bartender should have this book in his or her collection. It's sleek modern meets art deco with its arsty type and angled text. Also, the most famous bartender in America of the wrote it.

Cheryl Charming

If you are into the art of coctails, and want a book that uses no premade mixers, this is the book for you. This book is very informative. Way more than a recipe book, as I read I aspired to be a gourmet bartender. This book makes mixing drinks an art.

If you are a bartender looking for more knowledge to better yourself at your craft..then this is the book for you. I've even started doing training from this book for my new guys...Mr. DeGroff is the best! I can't wait to go to his B.A.R. classes. Anyone interested in making the most delicious drinks whether it be at the bar or at your house...you need this book!

I have been looking for this cookbook for a long time. My Italian mother-in-law had made many of the recipes from this book and they were wonderful.

EAT THIS . . . IT'LL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER! MAMMA'S ITALIAN HOME COOKING AND OTHER FAVORITES OF FAMIY AND FRIENDS is a beautiful and priceless celebration of food prepared in some of the finest ways imaginable. Some of my Italian friends think that some of the rest of us cannot cook truly Italian food. Here's a little secret: with this book all of us can cook wonderful Italian food.

In Dom's book, we have all we need: detailed and easy-to-follow recipes for the best dishes, such as meatballs, Mom's Sunday sauce, marinara sauce, and pizza dough; pictures of Mamma helping cook the food; and funny stories about Dom's interaction with the food.

My book actually was published in 1988, and it has been used well; yet it still looks brand new. If you can get a copy, do so. This is bound to become a collector's item.

Oh, there is something else too. The book has several pictures of celebrities way back when.

I love to cook. Over the years I have collected a large number of cookbooks of all varieties. I am also of Italian decent so naturally I am somewhat biased with regards to Italian cookbooks. I owned a copy of this book for years and I used it so often that it literally fell apart so I purchased another copy. The recipes in this book are extremely easy to follow and Dom Deluise fills the book with humorous stories that any Italian can relate to. The meals I have cooked bring back memories of eating at my grandparents home and the taste is almost identical to the way my grandmother made them. I thought those meals would be lost forever when they died but thanks to Dom, I can re-create them in my own home and my children can carry on the tradition. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to cook and eat great southern Italian food.

I lived with a very Italian aunt who made the best food, and for so many years I assumed that these recipes- lental soup, pasta fagioule, eggs with tomato sauce, pasta primavera etc were from hand me down recipes. To my surprise, after inquiring about how to make "her tuna fingers," she handed me this book. It blew me away how simple and easy the recipes were. Really good Italian food! Its a shame that I bought so many Italian cookbooks trying to perfect these dishes when they were all right here. Dom Deluise adds personal stories which are a little sappy but still entertaining as well. It gives you something to read while your cooking dinner. Enjoy

My mom bought this book when it first came out in the late 80s. This was probably the first cookbook I ever looked at. I loved the stories and started trying out the recipes when I was about 11 or 12. Throughout the years the book has lost a few pages, gained quite a few smudges, and has literally broken in half, but it's still my favorite cookbook. In fact, I like to think it is this book that ultimately inspired me to go to Italy to attend culinary school. I'm now moving into my very first apartment and am ordering another copy of it (don't want to take my mom's) so that I can have it with me...even though I've pretty much memorized it. I know I'll be using this book my whole life.

I've had this book for almost a year and have absolutely loved it. It has come in really handy at times, especially, the days you crave your Mom's home made food!! This book is different from most others, as the recipes are more for day-to-day cooking and very easy to follow. I was recently on the website for this book and found the cooking demonstrations to be quite helpful.

As someone who doesn't fancy cooking, I approached this book with skepticism. It was after a fight with my cook, when I knew that if I wanted to eat, I had to cook. The first experiment was karhi, and there has been no looking back. Everything that we have cooked has been phenomenal. I do take the credit for it, but in reality it all goes to this book and the precision with which way it has been written. The pictures and easy layout are an added bonus. It won't be long before we've been through every recipe, and then it will be time for vol 2! This book is a must buy.

I have over 10 cookbooks in my pantry that claim to be the 'best' Indian cookbooks around. So, skeptical of adding yet another book to an already overcrowded shelf of unused cookbooks, I made the purchase...mainly becuase the pictures and recipes just looked so delicious...and my strong desire to have good home-made Indian food. When I tried out a recipe...I noticed that the directions were easy to follow and were accurate (in my experience, Indian cookbooks are not accurate about all the ingredients necessary or the amounts or even the preparation times)! To my surprise, my dishes turned out just as the book described (unlike the results I got from some of those other cookbooks in my pantry). This book has given me confidence that I can actually cook Indian food...successfully. I especially like the recommendation at the beginning of the book that tells you the essential spices to have in your pantry. I hope Pushpa Bhargava will consider writing a Vol. 2!

The recipes in this book are very easy to follow. The food comes out so delicious that even seasoned Indian food lovers praise it. The Bhindi Masala recipe is amazing! I had to scout some ingredients in specialty stores (I am a non-Indian Indian food aficionado) - but it was worth it. With the right spices on hand and Mrs. Bhargava's precooked masala in my fridge no guest leaves my house hungry or disappointed. Thank you very much!

Yea, I was very impressed with the entire format and layout and step by step help that this book provides when you want to make your kitchen and your table "Indian". Would HIGHLY recommend if you're at any level of cooking experience with this world of cuisine; from zero to skilled, this handy, complete guide takes the mystery out of preparing it, while leaving the mystery of Indian food for your family and guests to savor. I guess I'm enthusiastic because now I have a cooking book I can recommend without 'reservations'. Dinner, anyone?

I grew up in Southern Virginia and while I come from a white middle class background, we still enjoyed many of the dishes, Miss Edna writes about in this book with Scott. Unfortunately I didn't appreciate the importance of my 'food' heritage until it was too late - both grandmothers were gone and all their recipes and tips with them. While this book is a delightful read on its own and provoked many a trip down 'Memory Lane' I am enjoying the challenge of recreating my childhood memories with Miss Edna and Scott's well-written recipes. If you are a Virginian and over 50, this book should hold pride & place on your shelf - but I'll wager it spends more time open than many of your fancy new cookbooks!

The Gift of Southern Cooking is one of the best collections of pure southern cooking to be found, from a grand dame of the South. These recipes preserve much of the history of southern food, handed down from generation-to-generation, and brought to life in the inspired talent of Scott Peacock.

I have all of the late Edna Lewis's cookbooks. She wrote so beautifully and her recipes never fail. This is one of her best. I highly recommend it.

A wonderful book, full of insight, basic instruction, social and historical instruction. I bought this book after finding one recipe from it online for Fried Chicken. What I found was book full of my childhood memories. The authors have managed to fill me in on why I do certain things in the kitchen that were done only because I seem to remember my grandmother doing them or an aunt saying it should be done that way. This book inspired me to make my first batch of sweet southern pickles and they came out just as I remember available at every home we visited during my youth. They came out so delicious that I immediately made a second batch to give as Christmas presents.
For anyone interested in southern cooking and the reasons for things being done in a certain way, this is the book for you.

The macaroni & cheese is KILLER - literally. TONS of fat stuff..yummmmm. I mixed the cheese topping with my homemade wholewheat bread heels made into crumbs. I thought that at least I'd be able to break up the clots in the heart and colon a bit. The addition of the breadcrumbs added a nice, crisp crust. The recipe doubles easily, and travels well. It's not yo' mamas mac & cheese. The only recipe that let me down a bit was the pineapple upside down cake that didn't direct me what to do with the brown sugar caramel after making it. Ah well.

Not only does this book have fantastic recipes, but it is a great tool for learning more about greens, how to prepare them, and how to come up with your own recipes.

THIS IS GREAT COOKBOOK TO LEARN HOW TO EAT WONDERFUL GREEN VEGETABLES IN EASY, DELICIOUS WAYS. A GREAT WAY TO LEAN HOW TO EAT MORE GREEN VEGETABLES AN LIKE THEM.

Amazing book. The recipes and information are so diversifed and delicious. If you want to make a salad interesting there are number of ways to turn salads and vegetable dishes ordinary to extraordinary. I encourage you to buy this book. You will be so happy that you did.

Excellent recipes and background information for adding interesting, tasty and nutritious greens to your diet.

I really love this cookbook, and have given it to a number of my clients (I'm a nutrition counselor). It's got a wide variety of recipes, and I find it very helpful that they're organized by individual variety of green. My very favorite is the Sesame Creamed Dandelion Greens.

I have many cookbooks but I love this one for empowering busy moms
(and dads) to cook with fresh healthy ingredients and throw out the processed food that lurks in everyone's kitchen. The recipe for "nutricious nuggets" was worth buying the book for on it's own. My kids love it!!!

I LOVE this cookbook. I purchased it for my family and we have utilized this cookbook more than any other we have in our house. We now make smoothies almost daily. I tell everyone about this and would recommend it to anyone who wants to cook healthy. It's fun to enjoy the kitchen again.

the title had me buying it. though my kids weren't thrilled with some of the dishes I liked, there's enough recipes in there for the family. If you liked this book for family-friendly food, you'll love "The Frantic Woman's Guide to Feeding Family and Friends" because it gives fun ideas for you to do with your kids and lots of shortcuts in the kitchen that saves time.

In general, I love the book. Particularly the intro full of motivating and inspiring ideas. I've made quite a few recipes and would say that a handful are now regulars. I have two copies - one at work and one at home. If I can't think of anything to make for dinner, it's at my fingertips to look through before I leave for home. I love it!

I just re-ordered several copies of this to pass along to both my "foodie" Mom friends, and those that are kitchen-phobic and hurried in their lives. It is full of quick, easy, healthy ideas (who would have thought to freeze peanut butter sandwiches, or sneak nutritional yeast into chicken tenders?!). I recommend this to anyone who is looking for healthy meal and snack ideas that families will truly enjoy.

The New England Soup Factory cookbook is fantastic. I tried the Split Pea soup and it was so delicious - restaurant quality. I was so excited to serve it to my husband. He loved it! The recipes are easy to follow. I even resurrected my immersion blender. I highly recommend this book.

This was a great book, not for the waistline, but certainly for the tastebuds.

I love the recipes in this book...The clam chowder is fantistic with a different flavor of tarragon. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Great reading and even better cooking. If you are an afcianado of cold soup's this is your cookbook. Interesting and inventive.

I haven't tried many of the recipes in the book yet, but so far so good! I picked the book based on all the other positive reviews, and from what I have seen so far they are very accurate. Almost all the recipes in the book look very appealing and I suspect the ones that don't appeal to me probably would to someone else (we all have our favorite or less then favorite ingredients!) The ones I have tried are delicious and I have a long list of other ones to try. I just finished making the spinach, feta cheese, and toasted pine nut soup. I was actually making it to have around the house for lunches this week but I tasted a bit when I finished and I'm just going to have to have it for dinner now! Yum! So far I have found everything very easy to make and the ingredients are easy to find with out a hassle at the grocery store. Its also been easy to make small changes to the recipes to make a few of them a little healthier. (I'm trying to do the Mediterranean diet thing, whole grains, lots of veggies, light on the meat, heavy creams, etc.) For example the soup I just made called for cream. I ended up just leaving it out because it was already a great texture and very tasty already. But I think the recipe would have been great with the cream or with half or whatever. Anyhow, if you like soup this one is worth buying!