Cookbooks Books

I purchased this book since I had scheduled a cooking session with the author, Maureen Fant, to learn more about Roman cuisine. When it was delivered, I was blown away by not only the recipes but the beautiful pictures. I could hardly wait to get there.

I met Maureen in an area of Rome called Testaccio, a working class neighborhood yet largely undiscovered by tourists. We toured their fresh market and several specialty shops, then went to her apartment to cook what we had bought. It was a memorable meal, simple yet elegant.

Now that I am home, I often pick up the book and the pictures bring back such memories of my whole Roman stay. But this is no coffee table book! The recipes are delicious and easy to follow. She does an excellent job of providing you with the background as well as the steps, so you can understand what make the Roman cuisine unique among Italian styles of cooking.

If you purchase this book, and try the recipes, chances are you may be booking that flight to Rome in the near future. (Maureen offers her courses through ContextRome.com)

I lived in Rome for more than 18 years and return frequently to visit family there. This book beautifully captures the Romans' love affair with food in it's simple deliciousness. Meat and produce markets have always been the bloodline of Italian cuisine. They're one of the things I miss most about life in the eternal city. I love that the rich photographs in this volume and the accompanying narrative transport you to the city streets. Beware they will make you want to visit. The recipes are authentic and the ones I've tried are delicious. And they're relatively simple too. I've given this book as a gift to several people now. If you love Rome or food, or both, I recommend this book!

This review is written from the perspective of someone that has been studying cooking for 25 years, and concentrating on Italian cooking for the last 10 years. I have more than 100 cookbooks on Italian cooking and have traveled to Italy many times. I am a tough critic on Italian cookbooks.

This book begins with a little history of Italian cooking, the outdoor markets in Rome, and the distinct differences in the neighborhoods. Then the book discusses the following topics from a Roman perspective:
Coffee
Pasta
Greens
Pizza
Cucina Ebraica (Jewish Cooking)
Wine
Dolci (dessert)

The recipe section is subdivided as follows:
Antipasti
Primi (first course: soup, pasta, pizza)
Secondi (second course: meat and fish
Contorni (side dishes: vegetables)
Dolci (sweets)

The photography in this book is fabulous. They did a wonderful job of capturing what it is like to walk down the streets in Rome. As you turn the pages each new photo is another little peak into Roman life and food.

The recipes are very authentic. I was pleased to see that the recipe for Carbonara did not include the Americanized version which adds cream. This recipe is for the Carbonara that you would find in Rome. Of the recipes that I have prepared (approximately 50% of the book) all have turned out exactly as I expected them. A few of the recipes are time consuming. But, making homemade stuffed pasta is not something that happens in a flash.

If you are looking for a nice authentic cookbook on the cooking of Rome, written for Americans, you will love this book. My only complaint is that the book left me wanting more photographs and more recipes. Overall, this is an excellent book for those that love Italian cooking.

This is my favorite cookbook. The recipes are terrific and the pictures bring back wonderful memories!

I bought this cookbook in order to prepare a romantic multi-course meal for my husband and we were not disappointed. The recipes were easy to follow and the food tasted fantastic! This book is defintely only for those who love to cook because the recipes do take quite a bit of time to prepare. The four course menu I chose took roughly three hours to complete, but the time was well worth it for the incredible food!

What a wonderful change of pace! The emphasis here is on eastern/northern European cuisine with some north North American, although any place that gets cold (e.g. central Asia) certainly is represented.

Goldstein goes well beyond root vegetables and mushrooms--there are a hearty number of millet and buckwheat recipes as well as other delights. The ingredients required are not particularly exotic, yet the recipe selection is fresher and more accessible than the norm. The author is somewhat eclectic in her writing, organization, and selection, but one senses she's actually strongly recommending the recipes that do make it in. This is a vegetarian cookbook that actually makes a serious contribution to the genre.

There do seem to be some minor mistakes in the recipes, but I haven't found anything crucial yet.

Ms. Goldstein is a scholar and a university professor, but this book is anything but dry and academic. Instead it is an affectionate, joyful look at the little-known cold-weather food and recipes from many cultures, from the Finnish pulla bread Ms. Goldstein loved so much as a student, to an arcane but wonderful-sounding fruited Bairam plov from Central Asia. There is an entire chapter devoted to the "much maligned" rutabaga, and chapters about Tolstoy's table and Shrovetide festivities which include recipes for Russian blini and Swedish semlor buns. In all, this is a fascinating look at winter culinary traditions around the world as well as a wonderful book to actually use in the kitchen.

I first came across this cookbook from a recipe that our community supported agriculture (CSA) group shared with us along with our weekly share of the harvest. We've been trying to cook along with the seasons, using what's fresh locally and this cookbook has been great in terms of giving us neat ideas on soups/stews/casseroles to try out. Some of the things we've tried so far are: Garlicky Winter Greens, roasted vegetables with mustard sauce, and winter vegetable stew. There are a lot of recipes with legumes/grains which I'm looking forward to trying out since those are so satisfying in winter time. The ingredients are all pretty straightforward, easy to find. Cayenne and hot peppers are used here and there for a little kick which I like too.

What a great find - my boyfriend gave it to me last winter. The recipies might sound or read strange but be adventurous and TRY THEM. They are imaginitive and oh so tasty. I have tried the veg. stew, roasted winter veg, the baked millet, mushrooms and chestnut in red wine, the jerusalem artichoke, cooked greens etc. etc.

This is very well written book that explains the writing and publishing process in simple and easy to understand language. Mr. Wolfe do not want his reders to have the misconception that publishing a cook book is an easy process. But at the same time he helps you understand the process step by step, and encourages you evey step of the way. One of the best books I have read on publishing.

Write a bestseller! Mr. Wolfe is an author of four cookbooks, this includes at least one bestseller. Follow his lead. Write your own cookbook to preserve your favorite recipes, raise money for your club, or to make your own bestselling cookbook. Step-by-step instructions guide you through every step, from selecting what kind of cookbook to make, designing the cover, what illusrations to use, assembling the recipes, to the distribution and promotion. And much more.

J. Kevin "Doc" Wolfe is the author of three cookbooks, host of a radio food show, and a lecturer and consultant on cooking.

Mr. Wolfe firmly believes that cookbook writing should be first-rate. It is a given, he says, that you must provide your audience with excellent recipes. But beyond that, what really makes a cookbook special is when you as author put "something of yourself in your recipes."

He has certainly followed his own advice in creating this how-to on cookbook writing. A breezy, personal tone spices up his writing, making this guide as entertaining as it is informative.

The following topics are covered thoroughly in You Can Write a Cookbook: the purpose of a cookbook, types of cookbooks, the ingredients of a good cookbook, how to write a recipe, finding a theme for your cookbook, organizing the recipes in your cookbook, creating an appealing layout for your cookbook, selling your book to a publisher, going the self-publishing route, and promoting your book. There is an excellent index and multiple appendices, including: recommended books, promotion, media etiquette, media connections, and a glossary of publishing terms.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever thought of writing a cookbook for any reason, whether as a fundraiser for your local church or civic group or with the hope of becoming the next Julia Child. Cooking hobbyists like myself, who gleefully putter about devising their own recipes, will find this book very useful, too. After reading Mr. Wolfe's advice, I have gotten a lot better about recording the exact measurements of the various ingredients of my grand experiments--a big help when you are trying to figure out what worked and what didn't in a new recipe. In addition, I believe this book will intrigue people who, though having no desire to write cookbook themselves, get a lot of pleasure out of reading and using them. They may be very interested to hear the many careful steps involved in the creation of their favorite cookbooks.

What a great help this is! You Can Write A Cookbook is a resource for writers that can be utilized by many organizations. So often women's clubs and charities publish cookbooks with little to attract buyers. Using the suggestions in Wolfe's book can mean a real "Book" rather than just a collection of recipes. It offers the opportunity to present an appealing offering, likely to be in demand.

I have been considering writing a cookbook for a while. I read this book, and now believe I can do it.

Despite the fact that a lot of the information is common knowledge. I think I actually needed to read that I needed to, for example, index in a certain way.

The information on how to approach publishers is priceless.

If you are considering in writing your own cookbook, then pick up this book first. It is a must-have!

I have added more recipes to my arsenal from this book than any other. Most recipes are tasty, not too difficult and don't require hard to find ingreds.

I bought this book because I didn't know where to start with low fat cooking, and the other reviews were very favorable. What a find! The six or seven dishes we've already tried have been very tasty, and not too difficult to prepare. I was surprised to find that low fat dishes can actually taste good too. Great photos and a wide variety of dishes to select from. My only regret is that I should have purchased the hardback. We're using it so much that I know we're going to wear the paperback before too long. This one is a keeper!

Nancy Bagget and Ruth Glick have put together an easy to understand guide to Low Fat Cooking. with some sound and practical advise on why its an important lifestyle change. What makes this book even more worthwhile is the recipies! I have made meals and baked deserts from the recipies in this book on many occasions; And have always received compliments.This book proves that Low Fat Cooking dosn't have to mean no flavor and no fun.

The recipes in this book are wonderful. They may be a little time consuming in some cases, but well worth it. You would never know the dishes were reduced fat if someone didn't tell you. I particularly like the soup recipes, and many of the chicken recipes are regulars at our house now. Portion sizes are actually realistic, not the tiny bits that most 'diet' cookbooks use as a 'normal' portion. This cookbook has been one of the things I used to lower my cholesterol and to lose 24 pounds in the last several months. I have learned from the techniques used in this cookbook how to lighten some family favorites, and my husband has lost weight, too. I highly recommend this cookbook to anyone trying to lower their fat intake without feeling deprived.

I love the ease of the preparation.
I have many ingredients in my pantry.
I want 101 more recipes PLEASE.

I love this book. It is a great way to have a hot delicious meal and not the rush.

Stephanie Ashcraft and Janet Eyring love to cook and also love teaching. They enjoy sharing their recipes and if you tried the recipes in their first book, this one might become another favorite cookbook. There are recipes for beverages, fondues, dips, soups, stews, vegetarian delights, turkey, chicken, beef, pork and desserts.

So, for everyone who wanted more vegetarian recipes you can now look forward to Zesty Bean Burritos, Corn on the Cob, Thanksgiving Dressing, Veggie Lasagna, Honey Wheat Bread and Cranberry-Orange Bread.

Holiday Recipes:

Christmas Hot Chocolate
Raspberry-Chocolate-Caramel Fondue
Apple Cider Turkey
Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs
Dulce De Leche (South American Caramel)

The authors also give a list of helpful hints. Each recipes has a short list of ingredients and the instructions are so short you may think you are dreaming. They are divided up into sections for the steps, which is perfect. A few have extra tips at the end and some give serving suggestions.

~The Rebecca Review

The recipes are easy to follow and it's easy to find the ingredients for them

Nothing too fancy, just reliably delicious Italian-American dishes. My mother (2nd generation I-A) loves this book and bought copies for all her daughters.

Don't let the title fool you - these are some terrific, easy recipes.

I originally got this book because I was looking for [an inexpensive] Italian cookbook. I had low expectations, just wanted a couple of quick recipes. Instead, I got one of the best cookbooks I have ever owned. My wife and I love this book and use it all the time. The recipes are usually very easy, and always delicious. We are constantly amazed at how good the food turns out.

We cook alot of Italian dishes and this book has not failed us yet. Veal Chops Stuffed with Spinich has become our favorite "company dish". When we aren't sure what we want for dinner or if we feel like trying something new, this is the first book we consult.

This was the first cookbook I ever bought, back when I moved into my own apartment about 12 years ago. Many times I relied on the straightforward recipes and advice to easily create wonderful meals. These are the kinds of recipes you can knock off at a moment's notice, invite a few people over for dinner, and listen to them rave about your cooking for YEARS after that.

To keep in mind, they are mostly Italian-American recipes, so they're more hearty immigrant fare than complex northern italian-style (though there is a whole chapter on risotto - which breaks down the process so simply that literally anyone can make homemade risotto). Also no pictures, but every word of the text is helpful.

Very highly recommended!

This book is compatible for Access 2007 and 2003(title of book doesn't let you know that), what it does is answer questions that the author poses. Many of these scenarios are relevant. I have never bought an o'reilly cookbook previously, but this book is very refreshing especially when you look at the current books out there. This book isn't for new people, this book is for people who want real solutions to the problems that they might face. If your looking for a first book to get a real grasp of access, get Access 2007 Inside and Out, if your someone who has read a book or two, or has some experience but still runs into hurdles in data manipulation, get this book.

Any involved in database management in general and Access in particular will want the ACCESS DATA ANALYSIS COOKBOOK, a survey which shows how to solve common problems of extracting data and performing calculations from large databases. From developing better queries and applying them to inserting, updating and deleting data to managing text-based data and using arrays, this offers a wealth of high-level technical Access information perfect for managers who already have the basics down.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I am not sure if this was the intention of the authors, but I find this book to be amazingly helpful given my set of circumstances: I am pretty skilled in Excel and very new to Access, and I want to use Access in the same way I use Excel, but with much larger quantities of data. Of all the Access books I have been referencing, this one is by far the most useful. It provides lots of information on SQL if you are interested, but I'm ignoring that for now and still the book is great at providing the answers I need. I suspect there are lots of people in my shoes (heavy Excel background, but little experience with Access) and so I want to let you know about this excellent reference. I hope it helps you as much as it is helping me!

To be more specific, if you are skilled at constructing formulas in Excel to convert and reformat and analyze data, and you have at least a rudimentary understanding of Access (I have attended a few 2-hour workshops and that's all), and you find yourself stumped in terms of how to do something in Access that would be easy for you to do in Excel, but you can't do it in Excel because you have millions of rows of data, then I'm guessing you will love this book.

This book is not about designing forms, primary keys, or the use of built-in wizards to make easy queries or reports. This book is about applying Access to real-world business problems. The book addresses how to query data, how to move data to and from Access in various ways, the calculation of different financial and investment terms, and other such problems. The reader of this book should already have some Access experience and thus know how to get around the Access user interface, know basic table structures and relations among them, and how to construct simple queries. As long as you know this much or more, the book should be quite useful to anyone interested in business solutions using Access to analyze the data that is involved. The book consists of a series of recipes that provide example queries, programming tips, and also some requisite math. The following is a summary of each chapter's contents. Each section of each chapter is actually a recipe consisting of a problem - the section title - and its solution(s).

1. Query Construction - A variety of query issues are addressed, including the use of the AND, OR, IN, and NOT operators; creating union queries; and understanding join types.
1.1. Finding Unmatched Records
1.2. Making AND and OR Do What You Expect
1.3. Working with Criteria Using the IN Operator
1.4. Excluding Records with the NOT Operator
1.5. Parameterizing a Query
1.6. Returning a Top or Bottom Number of Records
1.7. Returning Distinct Records
1.8. Returning Random Records
1.9. Fine-Tuning Data Filtering with Subqueries
1.10. Combining Data with Union Queries
1.11. Inserting On-the-Fly Fields in Select Queries
1.12. Using Aliases to Simplify Your SQL Statements
1.13. Creating a Left Join
1.14. Creating a Right Join
1.15. Creating an Outer Join

2. Calculating with Queries - More on using queries to find solutions to business problems. It demonstrates how to apply aggregate functions, custom functions, regular expressions, and crosstabs.
2.1. Finding the Sum or Average in a Set of Data
2.2. Finding the Number of Items per Group
2.3. Using Expressions in Queries
2.4. Using Custom Functions in Queries
2.5. Using Regular Expressions in Queries
2.6. Using a Cartesian Product to Return All Combinations of Data
2.7. Creating a Crosstab Query to View Complex Information

3. Action Queries - How to apply queries to perform activities such as inserting, updating, and deleting data.
3.1. Running an Update Query
3.2. Appending Data
3.3. Deleting Data
3.4. Creating Tables with Make-Table Queries

4. Managing Tables, Fields, Indexes, and Queries - Introduces how to programmatically create and manipulate tables and queries.
4.1. Creating Tables Programmatically
4.2. Altering the Structure of a Table
4.3. Creating and Using an Index
4.4. Programmatically Removing a Table
4.5. Programmatically Creating a Query

5. Working with String Data - Recipes on managing text-based data. Shows how to isolate parts of a string, how to remove spaces at any place in a string, and how to manipulate numbers stored as text.
5.1. Returning Characters from the Left or Right Side of a String
5.2. Returning Characters from the Middle of a String When the Start Position and Length Are Known
5.3. Returning the Start Position of a Substring When the Characters Are Known
5.4. Stripping Spaces from the Ends of a String
5.5. Stripping Spaces from the Middle of a String
5.6. Replacing One String with Another String
5.7. Concatenating Data
5.8. Sorting Numbers That Are Stored as Text
5.9. Categorizing Characters with ASCII Codes

6. Using Programming to Manipulate Data - How to use arrays, access the Windows Registry, encrypt data, and use transaction processing. Also covered are search methods, charts, and manipulating data relationships.
6.1. Using Excel Functions from Access
6.2. Working with In-Memory Data
6.3. Working with Multidimensional Arrays
6.4. Sorting an Array
6.5. Flattening Data
6.6. Expanding Data
6.7. Encrypting Data
6.8. Applying Proximate Matching
6.9. Using Transaction Processing
6.10. Reading from and Writing to the Windows Registry
6.11. Creating Charts
6.12. Scraping Web HTML
6.13. Creating Custom Report Formatting
6.14. Rounding Values
6.15. Running Word Mail Merges
6.16. Building a Multifaceted Query Selection Screen

7. Importing and Exporting Data - Different ways of moving data into and out of Access. Covers import/ export specifications, using the FileSystemObject, XML with XSLT, and communicating with SQL Server. Exchanging data with other applications in the Office suite is also covered. Also covers how to create an RSS feed.
7.1. Creating an Import/Export Specification
7.2. Automating Imports and Exports
7.3. Exporting Data with the FileSystemObject
7.4. Importing Data with the FileSystemObject
7.5. Importing and Exporting Using XML
7.6. Generating XML Schemas
7.7. Using XSLT on Import or Export
7.8. Working with XML via the MSXML Parser
7.9. Reading and Writing XML Attributes
7.10. Creating an RSS Feed
7.11. Passing Parameters to SQL Server
7.12. Handling Returned Values from SQL Server Stored Procedures
7.13. Working with SQL Server Data Types
7.14. Handling Embedded Quotation Marks
7.15. Importing Appointments from the Outlook Calendar
7.16. Importing Emails from Outlook
7.17. Working with Outlook Contacts
7.18. Importing Data from Excel
7.19. Exporting Data to Excel
7.20. Talking to PowerPoint
7.21. Selecting Random Data

8. Date and Time Calculations - How to add time, count elapsed time, work with leap years, and manage time zones in your calculations.
8.1. Counting Elapsed Time
8.2. Counting Elapsed Time with Exceptions
8.3. Working with Time Zones
8.4. Working Around Leap Years
8.5. Isolating the Day, Month, or Year
8.6. Isolating the Hour, Minute, or Second
8.7. Adding Time

9. Business and Finance Problems - Ways of calculating depreciation, loan paybacks, and return on investment are introduced, and investment concerns such as moving averages, Head and Shoulders patterns, Bollinger Bands, and trend calculations are discussed. One recipe explains how latitude and longitude are used to determine distances between geographical areas.
9.1. Calculating Weighted Averages
9.2. Calculating a Moving Average
9.3. Calculating Payback Period
9.4. Calculating Return on Investment
9.5. Calculating Straight-Line Depreciation
9.6. Creating a Loan Payment Schedule
9.7. Using PivotTables and PivotCharts
9.8. Creating PivotTables
9.9. Charting Data
9.10. Finding Trends
9.11. Finding Head and Shoulders Patterns
9.12. Working with Bollinger Bands
9.13. Calculating Distance Between Zip Codes

Chapter 10. Statistics - The most math intensive of the chapters, it discusses statistical techniques such as frequency, variance, kurtosis, linear regression, combinations, and permutations. All the recipes here have great value in data analysis.
10.1. Creating a Histogram
10.2. Finding and Comparing the Mean, Mode, and Median
10.3. Calculating the Variance in a Set of Data
10.4. Finding the Covariance of Two Data Sets
10.5. Finding the Correlation of Two Sets of Data
10.6. Returning All Permutations in a Set of Data
10.7. Returning All Combinations in a Set of Data
10.8. Calculating the Frequency of a Value in a Set of Data
10.9. Generating Growth Rates
10.10. Determining the Probability Mass Function for a Set of Data
10.11. Computing the Kurtosis to Understand the Peakedness or Flatness of a Probability Mass Distribution
10.12. Determining the Skew of a Set of Data
10.13. Returning a Range of Data by Percentile
10.14. Determining the Rank of a Data Item
10.15. Determining the Slope and the Intercept of a Linear Regression
10.16. Measuring Volatility

One final word of advise is to purchase "Head First SQL" or some other good book on SQL if you don't already feel proficient. Although the book briefly explains each query it shows, I don't think the explanation is sufficient unless you see the stuff every day. A good thing about the book is that it shows screenshots of the application in just about every recipe and usually gives directions in clear numbered steps.

[Also posted on my blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/luisabreu/archive/2008/06/11/book-review-ado-net-3-5-cookbook.aspx]
After several days, I've finally finished reading this book. This is really a very complete book wit lots and lots (and lots!) of examples. It's fair to say that it covers most (if not all) ADO.NET related scenarios (I'm an SQL Server user but if you're into Oracle then it also has several examples that show how to use ADO.NET and Oracle).

I do have one complaint though: chapter 8. Currently, I'll personally "hurt" anyone that is working on the same project as me and that uses ADO.NET objects on window forms or ASP.NET front ents! Ok, I'm not violent, so I wouldn't really hurt anyone :) serioulsy, don't use ADO.NET objects on your UI.

Having said this, I still recommend it (specially if you're working with ADO.NET).

The 'ADO.NET 3.5 Cookbook' is a great resource for every .NET database developer out in the world. With 950+ pages of content you will not be reading thin, as this goodies book comes with 222 tidbits of information that will help you in your everyday work.

Subjects covered include:

- connecting to a variety of data sources
- working with disconnected data objects (datasets)
- querying data
- executing functions and stored procedures
- using LINQ
- searching and filtering data
- adding and updating data
- copying/transferring data
- database integrity
- binding data to web forms
- XML data
- optimizing .NET data access
- debugging stored procedures
- doing batch updates
- enumerating SQL servers
- SQL Server CLR integration

I feel that is an outstanding companion book for .NET database developers that are looking for a resource that specifically outlines tasks into a neat, organized manner. Instead of thumbing through a book to figure out a particular way to do something, these common tasks and questions are broken up for ease of use and efficiency. If you are a .NET DB developer you definitely owe it to yourself to add this great book to your collection of technical books immediately.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a review by a "technical expert". I really liked how the book was laid out with a problem-solution-reasoning approach (known as a recipe). Each one was generally useful for those unaware of how to do things in ADO.NET. The examples were short and too the point. The topics were quite varied so just about everyone will find something in this book. In particular the recipes on getting schema information programmatically will really benefit a lot of people because it is neither common nor easy.

I had only a few complaints about the book. The first complaint is with the title. It says ADO.NET v3.5 but in reality almost all the recipes cover any version of ADO.NET from v2 on. This might cause some people to shy away from the book. This book is really for anybody using ADO.NET.

This leads me to the second complaint. There really was no 3.5 content mentioned. LINQ and SQL 2008 were mentioned a few times but they aren't specific to ADO.NET v3.5. LINQ itself seemed out of place for the topic.

The final complaint I had was that the recipes are mostly designed to be copy and pasted into working code. The code samples don't really follow what I would consider an appropriate pattern for professional code. Therefore simply copy/paste will cause more problems than not. It really would have required no additional lines of code and would not have complicated things to have "done it right". Still this seems to be standard practice for most technical books so I can't harp too much.

Overall I recommend this book for anyone who works with (or will) ADO.NET of any version.

(Full Disclosure: I was a tech reviewer for this book and received a free copy)

I've been using the various incarnations of Microsoft data access technologies for quite some time and have been using ADO.NET for a few years, so I wondered whether I was going to learn anything new from this book. It covers all of the territory to get started (connection strings, basic usage of ADO.NET classes, etc.), but what I really appreciated was that it topics that advanced ADO.NET users would find useful and I certainly learned a few new tricks.

The topic on writing provider and database independent code (Section 10.22) which covers how to do it right if you are targeting .NET 1.1 (which we do) was particularly useful to me. Chapter 10 (Optimizing .NET Data Access) is just generally a good chapter no matter what your level and covers asynchronous SQL calls (executing and cancelling), ASP.NET data caching, paging queries, SQL Server stored procedure debugging and more.

Since my job was to actually run every code snippet, I can vouch for their quality. Most are built off the AdventureWorks sample database that comes with SQL Server Express, so they are ready to run. The rest come with full DDL to create what you need (databases, stored procedures, etc), and the code and SQL is available online so you don't have to type it in.

If you can only have one cookbook of African food in your collection, this is the one I recommend. I have had it for many years, after finding it in a library. I can't even count how many times I made the Jollof Rice recipe in this book - I've made it following the recipe explicitly, I've had chicken as the only meat, shrimp as the only meat, no meat - and it's been perfect. The recipes from Eastern Africa I know are authentic as I shared the book with a native Tanzanian while I studied Swahili, and she said that the recipes are very similar to hers. Same with a native Nigerian; in fact, she borrowed my book to make Egusi soup (Egusi is a gourd/melon whose seeds are used ground up as a thickener, which adds it's own flavor)when she misplaced her own recipe. I have made a lot of the recipes, but after the Jollof Rice, the Kuku na Nazi (koo-koo nah Nah-zee - which means Chicken in Coconut in Swahili) is my favorite recipe. I also make the Garum Masala recipe in the book. If you need a recipe for curry, there are several in the book including curry for fruit and curry for fish, and Berberé which is an Ethiopian Curry in liquid form.

The Africa News Cookbook is great. My child's school recently had a festival celebrating cultures around the world. My friend loaned me the cookbook and I shared the recipes with the other parents in the school. The recipes were fairly easy to make and the descriptions were easy to follow. We had a great time sampling food with an African influence and learned a lot in the process.
I am ordering my own copy!

If only for one recipe, Doro Wat (my spelling may be off, I loaned out my copy and have never seen it again!) Chicken Stew, it is AMAZING!!!! Don't be put off by the ingredients (lots of cayenne pepper!) And making the aromatic Berbere, and Ghee yourself is a bit time consuming, but worth the experience and effort. (You can use your old coffee grinder) I made Doro Wat chicken for a party, after having some at a food festival and prying the recipe source from the chef, and it was the most well received dish I EVER served,(to a room of critics!) and I'm a great cook! Plus there are loads of other authentic African recipes,(from various countries) a cusine that gets over-looked too often!

I've had this book for years and can truly testify that it's one of the best cook books in my collection which includes classics like the Joy of Cooking by the Rombauer mother and daughter, and Cookwise by Shirley Corriher.
"The AFrica News Cookbook" has delicious recipes, including curry chicken, fish stew, that come from all over the continent. The book illustrates the various cultural mixes that distinguish each region and country.
Plus, the recipes are easy to make.
More ingredients are available since the book was published in 1986. I can buy palm oil at my local grocery store and I live in Cleveland.
This book is worth the money, whether you're a novice (like I was when I bought it) or experienced with African cooking.

An inspiring book in every way! Get this book if you are interested in real Africa and African cooking. The recipes are great and the photo's give you real insight into the safari travel and the bush lifestyle.

As a South African and having spent time in the USA, I tried to think of ingredients etc that one would need if you were living outside of Africa, most seem easy to obtain. It's a beautiful book both in recipes and photos.Being a professional photographer it's a fun book to look at for the photos as well as different style of cooking. Most recipe books are static and don't motivate me into purchasing it, but this one caught me. It has a great African feel. Worth buying.

I really have enjoyed this book. It gives you an insight into African cooking and the beautiful scenery. I had the pleasure of meeting Josie Stow at Tswalu and sampled some of the recipes in the book. They are incredible. Most of the items are easy to prepare and the photos will make you want to go there!

The book is simply stunning, I was most impressed with the food and images. I reccomend the termite mound pizza, although with all the termites it isn't really a veggie dish, you can always pick them off....(he he ha ha)

Really enjoyed it. inpsired me to go to Africa