Cookbooks Books

"The Complete American Jewish Cookbook" includes a mix of traditional Ashkenazic dishes and mid-20th-century American comfort food. There are many cookbooks that will provide updated versions of traditional foods and kosher versions of contemporary favorites. But how many of them also serve as good, basic references, covering everything from applesauce (multiple versions) to zucchini? My personal favorites include banana bread and baked macaroni and cheese. The Passover section is invaluable, and the chicken soup is sheer perfection!

My friend's Mom gave me her book that she got in 1950. Even with the front cover missing I return to this book time and time again. I love the thousands of recipes to choose from. The best part is rarely is there a recipe that has more than 6-10 ingredients. Easy to read - simple to follow - great pictures. I've purchased a used hard cover version that I saving for my daughter. This cookbook brings the memory of my mother and grandmother back to life!

I have approximately 20 cookbooks on my shelf, but when push comes to shove, this is my best source for almost anything I am looking for. I have been using it for 40 years, and am now looking to buy a "new" one, having gone through 2 already...as I said, I really use this book!

I have had this book for about 48 years, in fact the original one has pages falling out. I had to buy another (with soft cover) about 15 years ago because the first one is very fragile. I bought this book for my daughter when she got married in 1980 and also for my youngest daughter when she married in 1983. Now my grandaughter, age 18, is starting college and wants the book, too. I understand it is out of print, and in that case, I will have to give her the soft cover one. This book is a basic cookbook which covers every situation, and it is especially good for new cooks because it explains very well. You don't even have to be kosher to use it, but it doesn't hurt. New jewish cookbooks come and go, but this is the one you really need and is a keeper!

This was my first drink-mixing book that I bought and I am happy I did! I love the layout of the book! You can search recipes by what alcohol you have laying around or you can search by type of drink. I love that it tells you the history of the liquors, terms, what glasses to use for what etc. It really is handy for a first-time drink maker! The only thing I wish it would have are drink illustrations/pictures, but that's just my taste! Thank you!

This was my first cocktail book I ever bought, and it's still my favorite. Anthony Dias Blue goes into detail about bar setup, the do's and don'ts of making drinks, and even the history of the different alcohols and liqueurs. My favorite sections are the signature drink sections, where famous bars have their well-known drinks described in detail. There is a large portion of non-alcoholic drinks to boot.

I recommend this book to everyone, and even may buy myself a new one, as my current copy is water-stained. :D

this book is unique among bartending/mixed drink books because it's organized by type of spirit. in other words, if you have tequila in the liquor cabinet and nothing else, you can go to the section marked "tequila" and see what mixed drinks are available to you. it also includes an informative and interesting introduction to each spirit explaining it's history, distillation, and other tidbits. this is my favorite guide i've come across.

As a bar tender, I found this book an excellent resource in my line of work. I do live in Australia and although some of the metric conversions might be difficult for the average home buyer of this book, most people who work in this industry know what an Oz is and can follow the measuring units easily. Great layout, with easy to follow steps and illustrations. Also a GREAT selection of non-alcoholic drinks (the most I've seen) to satisfy the non-drinkers out there. An excellent size, so it is handy if you do plan to use this in a bar to store under the counter. Good value book for the busy bar tenders out there, or for the home user who likes to impress friends.

This book was a lifesaver for me this Passover. Every year it's usually the same bland food, so hard to get creative - especially when I'm the one cooking, but not the one who's been Jewish my whole life! Keeping Kosher when you're not strict year round is challenging and frustrating, but there were so many fabulous, delicious, and flavorful recipes. And the charts and tables in the back for substitutions, measurements, and categorized alternatives for dishes was so helpful. My husband's family has many food sensitivities, and this book allowed me to make a feast that everyone could share in. I got compliments that they had never had a Passover like this before and I was never allowed to give it up as hostess. I even got a standing ovation (which was a little weird, but my husband and in-laws insisted it was well-deserved.)

I would recommend this book to any,any,anyone wanting to knock the socks off their Passover guests.

This book could be subtitled "The Joy of Passover Cooking" because it does for Passover what the "Joy of Cooking" did for food in general. An incredible variety of recipes, suitable for both gebrochts and non-gebrochts (in 10 years I haven't yet tried them all), with conversion tables and recommendations for substitutions if you live, as I do, in a place where the choice of kosher-for-passover ingredients is limited. My family tells me that each Passover gets more scrumptious than the last, and my husband, who always regarded Pesach as something of a trial because of the restrictions, now eagerly anticipates the Pesach rolls and other delicacies I whip up. No Passover-observing kitchen should be without this book!

This book is full of creative recipes that taste delicious. I used at least one recipe from each chapter this Passover. Especially helpful were the conversion and substitution charts in the back of the book. The Seder menus were helpful too. This book is a must if you have a lot of cooking to do for Passover.

Every year I spend Pesach/Passover at someone else's house. This year I made my very first Pesach/Passover. We had people coming for both Sederim and during the week as well. I was petrified. Then I bought and read this book. It was the best Pesach/Passover I have ever had and I received outstanding compliments on the food. All the meals all week were from this book. It was clear, concise, easy and most of all reassured me that I wasn't going to kill anyone with my cooking. Thank you, Frances Avrutick, where ever you are!

I was surprised to see that no one had written a review on this book. I have more than a dozen cookbooks devoted to soy products and this is one of the most impressive. The Author provides ample information about the benefits of soy, but in a very conversational manner. The directions are very simple and straightforward. Many cookbooks I've seen appear to be written by and for a culinary professional, but this one is aimed at home cooks with limited resources. There are some "exotic" ingredients, but most of them are common to your grocery store. Many recipes are low in fat. There are no pictures, but there are none needed. The recipes layouts are very easy to follow and the colors are pleasant to the eyes. Those who cannot see well may be deterred by the medium sized text. Most recipes are vegan. None contain any kind of meat, making this an excellent resourse for vegetarians. There are 170 recipes with many optional variations. Overall, I highly recommend this book. Some recipes are: fresh pea soup; creamy tomato soup; tempeh-fruit salad; Greek tofu salad;tofu curry; tofu-mushroom marsala; tempeh with black bean sauce;vegetable tartlets with herbed tomato sauce as well as lasagnes, puddings, pies, and several recipes calling for fresh, green soybeans (which grow easily at home if you're a gardener) Please look into this book.

I'm not one to write reviews. Usually I read other people's reviews and then decide whether to buy. Originally, I discovered this book at my local library and checked it out. Before it was due back, my husband and I made a couple of the recipes and really liked them. About six months later I was back in the cookbook section of the library and recognized this book from our previous encounter. I brought it home again. My husband made the Tofu-Mushroom Stroganoff and that was all it took! We bought this book and everything we have made is easy and delicious. I love to eat. Take it from a real foodie - this book is a great buy.

This book has such a nice variety of soy and tofu recipes. I am so glad I purchased it. If you're looking for a good variety of recipes... this book is one of the best!

I love this cookbook! This book has so many creative and interesting recipes that I think one would never get bored with it. I especially like that the nutritional information is provided for each recipe. For those of you who aren't thrilled about soy, this book has a lot of good ways to help integrate it into your diet. Try it out - I am sure that you will like it!

The receipes in this book are wonderful. I've made most of them and everyone of them was a hit in my family. Easy, uncomplicated, and delicious with just a few ingredients. Some of them I had when I was a child. Yes, this review is from a second generation Italian. My folks didn't write a receipe down ever !! Thank you Mrs. D'Amato for writing them all down.
With much apprecation.....Mrs. Janet Rubinetti Parslow

I found traditional recipesfor the novice to the mostexperienced cook...recipesfrom my childhood that I neversaw in a cookbook and thoughtmy family created them!The ingredients are few, readily available and the steps easy to follow. Withthis simple small but completeitalian cookbook you couldraise a family!

I found traditional recipesfor the novice to the mostexperienced cook...recipesfrom my childhood that I neversaw in a cookbook and thoughtmy family created them!The ingredients are few, readily available and the steps easy to follow. Withthis simple small but completeitalian cookbook you couldraise a family!

I greatly enjoyed these recipes and am wondering if this could be the same Mamma D'Amato at whose house I had the privilege of eating several wonderful Italian meals back in the middle 1950's. I was invited by her son, Moose D'Amato, who worked with me driving a Semke Bus on the Hempstead , Long Island , NY line? Is there anyway of finding out? I'd really love to know!

This is a GREAT book! It has many, many different and interesting recipes that are not the same-old, same-old holiday fare. The suggested menus and wine pairings make it simple and undaunting to throw together a small or large party. And I love that a lot of the recipes list make-ahead components. The recipes included in this book are ones you can enjoy all year round. Don't wait for a holiday to try them!

This book has many different takes on traditional holiday food plus many unique recipes that one might not usually consider when preparing their holiday feast. There is even a section that includes ideas for edible holiday gifts. I am a subscriber to Cooking Light magazine and own many of their other books, and the recipes never dissapoint. Everything I have made has been delicious. There are so many good recipes I had trouble narrowing down what recipes to make for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

One of my favorite recipes from this book is the Marbled-Chocolate Banana Bread. I plan on using this book year-round.

Excellent book. I've had it a few weeks and tried about ten recipes and they've all been delicious. This is definately a keeper.

Lushly photographed and filled with stunning winter holiday recipes from breakfast and cocktail parties to the Big Events themselves, this cookbook features lighter versions of many old favorites and some great ideas for reducing the fat in your own recipes. Ingredient substitutions, decorating tips, make ahead meals, and even wine and food pairings are included, as the editors make the holidays a joyful time, foodwise, even for those on special diets. Clearly printed nutritional information appears with each recipe so that those on special diets, such as cardiac patients, can choose among the many selections.

Many appetizer recipes feature veggie-based dips and salsas--Tomato Crostini, Tex-Mex Black Bean Dip, and Warm Mushroom Spread all feature less than 1 g. of saturated fat per serving. "Creamy" dips use lower fat cream cheese to keep these appetizers at about 1 g. of fat per serving. One appetizer made with phyllo dough, usually a no-no for those on diets, uses butter-flavored cooking spray between the layers, instead of butter, to save fat and calories. Vietnamese spring rolls and Chicken/Lemon Pot-Stickers, use rice paper and won ton wrappers, lighter than pastry.

"Light" does not mean "dull" here. Pistachio-Crusted Rack of Lamb, Individual Beef Wellingtons (using phyllo sprayed with cooking spray, instead of puff pastry), or Ultimate Roasted Turkey, with gravy, are all on the menu. A wide assortment of side dishes--soufflés, Caramelized Onions, Potato-Gorgonzola Gratin, Pumpkin-Sage Polenta, and even Leek, Potato, and Caraway Latkes with Spiced Sour Cream--perk up the plate and the palate. The Salad section is outstanding, with unusual combinations of ingredients--Pear, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette is a knockout. Fruit relishes, chutneys, salsas, and even candied cranberries are used as garnishes.

The editors have gone "all out" in the dessert section. The traditional pecan pie is here--regular pecan filling inside a lowfat, cookie-like crust--along with Vanilla or Pumpkin Cheesecake (made with 2 ½ pounds of reduced fat and non-fat cream cheese), gorgeous cakes made with less fat and fewer egg yolks, and pies with lowfat gingersnap, graham cracker, or vanilla wafer crusts. Over forty recipes are included for use as gifts--Apricot Amaretto Bread, Cranberry-Hazelnut Coffee Cake, Orange-Pistachio Baklava.

With over 500 tasty recipes offering a huge selection of elegant and even exotic recipes, this is a cookbook useful to everyone who is health-conscious, including vegetarians. Twenty pages of meatless main dishes and a vegetarian Hanukkah menu are included. A terrific compilation of healthier preparations for traditional holiday foods, this is a cookbook that has it all--and that will be used long past the holidays. n Mary Whipple

I love this book ! My family has eatin up everything I make. I am going to make Halftime Chili for Superbowl this year. Every recipe in this book has been so easy to follow and delicious. It has encouraged me to place more pots and pans that I would have never had the courage to use on my wish list. I am excited to make ALL the recipes in this book. My kids even look through it and ask "mommy will you make this"-I recommend this and will certainly buy Jamee's other books!!

Author Jamee Ruth's expertise in cookware pairs with lovely color photos by Leigh Beisch to cover the various shapes, sizes and uses for cookware and how they differ from each other in The Cookware Cookbook. From specialty pans like a fish poacher to recipes which teach readers how to choose between pots and pans, The Cookware Cookbook starts with the pan and produces a recipe to fit, demonstrating its use. The Cookware Cookbook is the perfect choice for the new cook just learning about cookware options and uses, and would be a welcome addition to any kitchen cookbook collection.

This is first book I have ever seen that has information on all kinds of pots and pans. I am so happy to be able to make things like Paella and how to use a fish poacher. I did not know I had so much to learn and the author makes it fun and interesting. Fantastic easy to follow recipes!!

I received a fish poacher as a wedding gift and had no idea how to use it. My search led me to this book. Little did I know that it would also teach me how to use a fondue pot, wok, griddle, grill pan, etc. A "braiser pan" ??? HAHAHA, you should taste my cooking thanks to this book! I can make crepes! OH (!) I almost forgot, the other books this author has published are just as good, what a teacher. Of course, as all brides do, I also received a kitchen aid mixer. Well my goodness the book she did for that teaches you how to use all the stuff you can get to do all sorts of cool stuff. FIVE STARS ALL AROUND!! And the photos are fantastic!

It's not often that I rave about a cookbook or insist that my Mom and sister buy one too but this is one of those books you gotta have in your collection. The kind of book that will end up with food stuck to the pages that will soon be a bit tattered and bent from fingers flying through them in search of the next easy meal. The recipes are down to earth simple, require few ingredients and small time investments. But the BEST part of the book is that you're made to feel as if you got a sneak peak into the recipe box of two great chefs. And you do. But you don't feel like a dummy trying to cook their food. Cuz these two prove, less is more & simple is best.

Gail and John are two of the best chefs around, and I know this from personally experiencing their recipies, not only at Zuni, but in their own kitchen as well. My aunt and uncle have always made amazing meals and made it look like the easiest thing in the world to do. Now thanks to their book, other people can do it also. I highly recomend their book and I just hope that someday I will inherit some of their amazing cooking skills.

Over five dozen recipes for eggs are presented in book packed with winning egg uses, from make-head tomato 'nests' holding eggs to steamed eggs with vinegar and herbs. Country Egg, City Egg is for the egg fan who needs no visual embellishment: recipes are very easy to reproduce without them and provide a wealth of egg dishes not to be found in every cookbook.

A collection of well thought out, quick and easy egg recipes from two of my long time favorite chefs. Outside of a couple of dishes calling for truffles or caviar almost all of the ingedients can be found at the local supermarket. There are some usefull cooking tips scattered about (one I liked was using a cheap plastic squeeze bottle to control olive oil while making mayonnaise) and even a fledgling cook shouldn't have any trouble following the directions. The recipes also lend themselves to substitution and improvisation if one desires. All and all, a well thought-out, concise, egg cookbook with enough content to keep egg lovers scrambling and poaching for a long time.

I bought this for my wife for fun and she thought it was such a fun book, we got 3 more for Christmas presents.

This is a wonderfully crafted slice of our culture. The pictures and stories weave the scent of something fantastic cooking...you'll want to follow that scent....and try what's cooking. Then share it with your family and friends! I bought it for all my family and a few friends.

Good books are good because they have a rhythm, a flow, that connects parts. That is no easy chore in a recipe book, but Ms. Stanford's side bars and personal comments create that flow. I cannot cook, but I have read the book with pleasure, and it made me hungry. I am going ask my grandchildren to fix me stuff. The photos and Western connection certainly added to pleasure of reading.

The Cowgirl's Cookbook: Recipes for Your Home on the Range - It's the cutest little cowgirl book ever.

This book has the most authentic recipes a cowgirl (or cowboy, in my case) could ever want. The photos inside are fantastic as well.

It's only ten bucks or so, so buy one for you and one for your mom. You won't be sorry, I promise.

When I worked outside Harvard Square, Cambridge, one of the highlights of the day was walking down the street to Cremaldi's. Catherine is an amazing cook, and although it's been many years I still cook her red sauces and tonight, in fact, I'm planning to make the stuffed peppers. Also contains a recipe for Bagna Calda (sp?), a recipe my family used to make but which I've never seen on the menu of any Italian restaurant.
This is the real essence of Italian cooking, IMO: rich flavors from simple ingredients. Buy it!

I am a born & bred Italian American from New York. My wife is Taiwanese, and with this book she is able to make the best Chicken Parmesean I have ever eaten (sorry mamma...) Other cookbooks might have high gloss photos, exotic "variations" of the traditional staples, but Credmadi's book covers the core of Italian cooking. It covers the basics: pasta, bread & pizza dough, and sauces, and supplements that with some specific classics, like stuffed peppers with pinola nuts and raisins (also close to the best, although my wife is want to burn them in the oven...) This book should be mandatory stock in every book store's Italian section.

My wife and I were given this cookbook as a wedding present 15 years ago. A number of the recipies, like the chicken Parmigiana and the vegtable lasagna, have become much loved and standard family meals. Our copy now battered and stained. Not a bad recipie from this book yet.

Always searching for new and exciting recipes, I came across this gem last summer, this book has enhanced my holiday repitoire with a fabulous artichoke hors d'ourve that will have have your relatives over every Sunday. The recipe for Trio's sauce is a virtual corn o' copia for the taste senses! I cannot recommend this book enough! A must for the holidays. Thank you Cathy Cremaldi for this culinary expose on deliciousness!