Media Recipes Books

Cooking with My Sisters: One Hundred Years of Family Recipes, from Bari to Big Stone Gap

If you like her books, you'll especially love this cookbook. Lots of great Italian recipes but with stories about family traditions and how the author and her sisters are continuing those traditions.

I really enjoyed this book. I like Adriana's style of writing and there are so many recipes in the book I want to try. Right now I'm trying to lose weight, but as soon as a few more pounds come off, I'm going to get the book back out and try lots of the recipes.

I ordered 4 books as Christmas presents for my sisters and my niece. I always like to give something personal, that they can rmeber me by in the future. This was the oerfect gift, we reminisced about my grandmother and watching her cook when we were children..

Before I even tried the recipes I read the narrative part of the book and enjoyed all of the family pictures. I felt I got to know the author's whole family. I noted similarities in some of my mom's recipes (Sicilian) and some of my Grandmother's (Abruzza) recipes. I marked the recipes that I want to try. My daughters and I share cooking together as part of our close family relationship so I related well to this book. Not only is it a good recipe book but it is also a good read.

I come from a close knit Italian family. I am third generation but all of my Grandparents and their friends are immigrants. It was soooooo much fun reading this book because it reminded me of my family and the food and the love and the fun. As I was browsing through it again last night I went to sleep with the thought that I had been truly blessed to have been raised this way as I am sure Adrianna feels as well. I would love to meet them all. Oh and by the way the recipes are SUBERB as well.

I received the book in plenty of time for Christmas and it was in top notch condition. I have no complaints.

Thank you for your prompt delivery of my order. I'm eager to start cooking vegetarian meals for my family, and this book is just what I need.

Though included in this book were recipies for many, many differeny vegetables, none were very creative or inspiring. Just basic stuff.

As recent arrivals in the vegetarian world, we are very pleased with this informative and well-written book.
We look forward to many healthy meals, without the gnawing feeling that some animal was killed to feed our carnivore tastes.
Well done, and thanks.

i just started my vegetarian venture so this is a cookbook i picked up. the book gives really good side tips about food that are not common knowledge. i have tried a few of the recipes and they turned out fabulous. so no damage there. the only down side is there are absolutely no pictures of any of the recipes. so if your ok with cooking blindly then this is one for you.

I bought this book so I could learn how to make some of the stuff that are in the resturants that Andy set up. FOr the most part they ended up tasting fairly similar to the stuff at the resturant. Some of the stuff is hard to make, but over all the book is filled with lots of delicious interesting unique recipies. Highly reccommended, not to mention the book is a very easy fun read

by the Meatloaf, Blueberry Bread Pudding and Fontina Tater recipes found within this book. My reputation for Sunday dinner in our family has been spotty at best. The instructions made everything so simple and while I was able to knock it out in no time at all, the results suggested I had been cooking all day.Also, I mixed a few of the rubs for later use-the bbq one is particulary versatile and I've used it on a dozen or so grilled produce/meat. Fantastic cookbook you will refer to often_and a portion of profits go to great cause-what's not to love.

I absolutely love this cookbook. I think Andy is a genius. Four recipes come to mind immediately as EXCEPTIONAL:
* Basil-encrusted pork with corn relish
* Fried-chicken with green onion gravy
* Kung Pao shrimp
* Margarita cake

OK, now I'm hugry. That said, I wouldn't recommend this for the more casual chefs. Andy has some unique flavor combinations which are much harder adjusting if you don't have everything you need, or if you want to fit them to your taste.

I am so glad to get a taste of New England here in my home state of Texas. The recipes are exciting and different, and the encouragement Joe and Andy offer provide the much needed push to get creative in the kitchen. From the fried pork chops with maple/red pepper sauce to the nectarine and lamb kabobs, I'm thrilled w/ the spice of life this book provides.

My husband and I love to cook, but we've had little spare time lately. When we have managed to cook, it's been mostly simple stuff. This year we took a four-day weekend to celebrate our anniversary, and we decided to cook up a true feast on Monday. This seemed the perfect opportunity to test out Andy Husbands and Joe Yonan's "The Fearless Chef: Innovative Recipes from the Edge of American Cuisine." Reading through the recipes, they looked like exactly our kind of food; we couldn't wait to try them out.

One of the recipes turned out absoluteley spectacularly--a soy glaze that we put over noodles. Other recipes were good but not great; a mango and cabbage salad and some beans both tasted a bit unbalanced in flavor. In particular, the beans tasted overwhelmingly of the beer that went into them (I'm sure some would see that as a plus!).

Dessert is where the excitement came in. We made a bananas Foster-like recipe that involved a full cup of rum (I had to triple-check the amount because I found it so hard to believe). When we opened the oven at the end of the baking time I heard a whooshing sound and the slam of the oven door. Then I smelled burnt hair. I whipped around, and when my husband turned to face me all I could say was, "umm, you should look in a mirror." His eyebrows and eyelashes, and the front row of his hair, had all been burned partially off. A gout of flame had apparently shot straight out of the oven when he opened it up.

Nothing like that has ever happened to us before.

Dessert was still edible, believe it or not, but once again, just like the beans, the taste of alcohol was so overwhelming that I almost couldn't taste anything else. And no matter how much I love that soy glaze, I can't quite get past that fireball.

I recommend this book to individuals thinking about starting a business or undertaking some other life-changing event. Ms. Hoskins learned and shared a lot of important lessons about business and human motivation.

This book is an excellent example of the trials and tribulations of a woman that is committed to success.Through Michele's setbacks she never gave up and as a result has become one of the most successful black women in America. She has inspired me to pursue my dreams of entrepreneurship and in the process, given me an "how to" manual to get started. Business plan, business plan, business plan! The read was slow, yet exciting because I held an interest in the next step. Only criticism that I have with the book was the ending. I really expected it to end with more of a bang! However, I do recommend it for reading for anyone that wants to learn how to start a business from scratch.

I just finished reading Michele Hoskins' book and I absolutely LOVED IT. It was informative, empowering, and spiritually uplifting. I feel it's a must-read for all women. I hated getting to the end of the book. This book is dripping with needed wisdom. Get it for your personal library...Thank you Michele Hoskins for proving that nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough.

marriage and motherhood before risking all of her earthly and emotional possessions as she answered a calling in her heart that continued to say, "There is more for you in life." Creating a legacy for her family, she brought her great-grandmother's (a slave) syrup recipe to life as Michele Foods. The syrup became a metaphor for the birth of the person Michelle became on her journey of building a business with few resources and little knowledge of the product or the food industry.

This book is the most inspirational book that I have read so far. She is brutally honest and gave invaluable information. She shares her trail and error endeavers. She talks about her mistakes candidly, and without reservation. There are no punches pulled in this book. There are many things that you are unaware of that Michele makes it clear that you need to know.

Michele has really paid her dues. From start to finish she lets you know what she had to do to make it work. She shows that if you don't give up, and are willing to do what it takes to make your dreams come true, you can make it. Many people don't want to do things the hard way, but Michele shows you what can happen when you roll up your sleeves and keep working until you see it through.

This is not a business guide, this is a book about how Michele made her dream a reality with enough common sense advice, and tips to see you through. She was just smart enough to share how she did it so that others want have such a hard road to go.

I recommend this book to anyone really wants to know what it's like to start from "scratch".

Having read many books on soapmaking and having made some soap, I find my returning to this book to check methods, and ideas. The book is well written easy to read, understand and full of good information for all types of soap making. A must have for the begining soapmaker.

This is an ultra-complete soap making book. It's my bible. It even touches upon the HP technique that other books leave out.

The BEST part is that the recipes come in batch sizes. And there are no shortages of recipes.

Color photos would have been preferred. 5 star book regardless.

Now in a newly updated and expanded second edition, "The Everything Soapmaking Book" offers the non-specialist general reader with a complete and easy-to-follow guide for making and creating all manner of soaps ranging from simple bath soaps to lovely and aromatic gift soaps. Thoroughly 'user friendly', "The Everything Soapmaking Book" takes the aspiring soap maker through every step of the process of making soap, including buying the right kind of soap making equipment, securing the proper ingredients, developing unique soap recipes, packaging soaps for holidays and special occasions, adding scents and colors, and the artistic techniques to make soaps in unique shapes and sizes. "The Everything Soapmaking Book" is enthusiastically recommended for anyone of any age wanting to try their hand at making soaps for themselves, their family, or their friends!

As someone who is a beginner at soapmaking I found this book provides a great overview of the subject. Really covers a lot of ground, pretty much any question you can think of is answered here. Lots of useful recipes as well so as you proceed there are many more advanced recipes you can try. Definitely very useful for anyone learning this craft.

I've been an artisian soaper for over seven years. I found this book wonderful! Very well written with up-to-date 21st century information. The essential oil section is especially useful for knowing which essential oils that "come through" in cold process or hot process soap. I had to learn most of this the hard way through trial and error, and spending alot of money on research.

There is so much information in this book that was very well researched and a great benefit to the soap maker at any level. There are several techniques that are simplified from other books and information on the internet such as liquid soapmaking in a slow cooker.

There are discussions of soap casting, making geodes, swirling, gemstones, hand milling, and so much more to make this a VERY complete discussion of soap making.

Once you have mastered soap making and want to start selling, Alicia has added a very well written section on selling. Where to sell how to sell and useful information on what to expect when selling.

The only drawback is that the publisher did not use color photographs and add more of them to the book. This really would have enhanced the overall quality of the book if they had used all of Alicia's photos and in color.

This book had some interesting techniques in it, but for the most part this isn't something that will get a lot of use. I'm not all that into uing paint on my clay and this book has several paint treatments. So for me, this book wasn't that great.

Great information, I would recomend it to anyone who likes Polymer Clay.

Some techniques in this book were new to me and some I have done for years. I like this book because it is a good collection of surface treatments all in one place.

I really like this book for the fact that although i do not use polyclay often, this books ideas on color, scheme, and technique can work for most media. i thoroughly enjoyed the eye candy but savor it mostly for the secret recipes on coloration. i would recommend this book for all involved in visual arts.

This book needed writing! Thank you, Ellen for sharing years of experimentation and innovation. as you created your art. The specific information contained within its covers could well save an artist much time and money.

Great information and a must have resource on surface treatments and polymer clay.

Donna Kato, author of The Art of Polymer Clay

I'm a Dad on a tight budget and I love going to the 99cent store. A friend of mine got me the book as a bit of a joke and it turned out to be a real gift. I love to cook and this gives me a chance to cook with my son. The recipes are unique, pretty simple and VERY tasty. While that's great it also gives me the chance to let him take the reigns without worrying about ruining expensive ingredients. Overall Ms. Jory's recipes are bold and creative and they inspire you to take risks without fear. Every time I try to make something from Martha or Barefoot or any other cookbook, I'm worried about wasting all the money I spent on fancy ingredients. This is a great way to make your own test kitchen of sorts.
I also love the helpful hints. It's little things like that that keep me going back to a cookbook as a resource. I'll be the first to say I never saw it coming but I LOVE THIS BOOK!

I read all 99 pages in 99 minutes over a period of 99 days..

Fascinating research into how to make the most of a store that stocks so many odd items that you are not always sure how to prepare them. Try the dip recipes!

I gave this book for a gift to my Mother-in-law for Mother's Day. She highly recommended the book. The recipes were easy to follow, there were great tips for preparation, general tips, etc. The ingredients could be substituted for others and not ruin the recipe; and the ingredients were also easily available.

I don't even live near a 99 Cent Only Store, but being a big fan of dollar stores I had to buy this book. There are SO many great ideas. I have been able to find most products (or a subsititute) at local dollar sotres or Big Lots. Not only are the ideas great, but they are easy to make!

This is an excellent book for the current economic times. It shows all of us how we can stretch the dollar or our 99¢!

I picked this up from the library thinking to use it as a starter cookbook before moving on to a better one. It turns out that I really like it. I was a bit intimidated by Chinese cooking but the organization and layout of this book made everything so very easy. I looked at a few other books but finally decided to buy this one.

This book is pretty good for beginners like me ..it's so informative on the cultures and what to do but ..there's no illustration of the food itself how it would look like when it's done...so basically having to guess what it looks like ,however it definately teaches me how to make the food from dim sum but and it's pretty simple and easy but the ingredients are sort of hard to get ...in all like i said it's a good book .

The thing about this book that distinguishes it from other Chinese cookbooks, is that is had ALL the recipes I was looking for (e.g., black bean sauce for noodles, Dan Dan, Singapore noodles, sweet and sour shrimp, etc). The only downside is that the author decided to make some of the dishes lighter (e.g., not having the shrimps dipped in batter and fried for the sweet & sour shrimp) - which I think should go into a different kind of book than a general Chinese recipe book as this. However, to me that is something that can easily be corrected without exercising too much imagination.

I've flipped through many Chinese cookbooks, and this is the only one that I've bought.

In The Everything Chinese Cookbook, Chinese cuisine expert Rhonda Lauret Parkinson has developed a truly "user friendly" specialty cookbook which is ideal for the novice kitchen cook wanting to prepare and serve traditional Chinese dishes as part of a family dining experience. With an informed and informative introductory chapter on getting started with respect to Chinese cooking, individual chapters are devoted to dipping sauces, appetizers, soups and salads, rice and noodles, beef dishes, pork entrees, chicken and other poultry, tofu and eggs, fish and other seafood, Chinese vegetables; desserts and snacks. An ideal introduction into the kitchen mechanics of preparing popular Chinese dishes, The Everything Chinese Cookbook is further enhanced with two appendices: "Putting It All Together" and "Glossary of Asian Ingredient". The Everything Chinese Cookbook will take even the most amateur kitchen cook and show how to deliver expertly prepared and palate pleasing Chinese fare for ordinary daily dining or those special celebratory dinners with a true Chinese flair and expertise.

I highly recommend this Chinese cookbook. I don't know if I just lucked out when selecting it, but I will tell you it was put together very well by Rhonda Lauret Parkinson. It is packed full of recipes we have all heard of and feasted on at the tastiest restaurants. For example, I became really excited to learn how to make Honey Walnut Prawns, a dish that my husband and I really enjoyed at our favorite chinese restaurant in an area we long since relocated from. We hadn't been able to find a restaurant that served them since then--not until very recently. And I have to say, hands down, the recipe in the book is far better than the dish we had in Seattle. Also, I love all the tips she gives because I find them extremely helpful.

This is the first recipe book I use for every special occasion. I have made desserts for parties from this book and used the recipes for the holidays. The best thing is that know one is aware that the dishes are low cal.

As soon as I read that Elaine Magee,"The Recipe Doctor", is opposed to fat free mayonnaise and cheese I knew I found a kindred spirit. Her recipes cut the fat without cutting the flavor! I began with an alltime favorite, 7-layer Mexican Bean Dip, and found the revised version just as tasty! The "No Boil" Traditional Lasagna" was a winner in my family,too. I have the Tricks of the Trade" taped to the inside of my kitchen cabinet for easy reference. I'd like to see an entire chapter devoted to "tricks". This handy book is definitely a household necessity for those concerned with nutrition and healthy eating.

This is the first recipe book I use for every special occasion. I have made desserts for parties from this book and used the recipes for the holidays. The best thing is that know one is aware that the dishes are low cal.

I am a big fan of The Recipe Doctor column and couldn't wait to get the Recipe Doctor cookbook. You see I clip out the column every week and now have a big folderof them, some of the recipes have stains on them now, some have been lost. This book puts all my favorite recipes in one, easy to find place. I have so many favorites from this book I wouldn't know where to begin. Every recipe I've tried is a sure thing. The Recipe Doctor knows how to make recipes easier and healthier and still delicious. A rare find!

For those of you unfamiliar with the Recipe Doctor column, people send in their favorite, fat-filled recipes for Elaine Magee to transform into more healthful versions that people will still want to eat. Along the way, Magee explains her substitutions, so that the reader understands the rationale behind the various adjustments. Her latest book follows this same format. We are presented with the original reader question, Magee's explanation, and the new recipe. With careful reading, you can pick up common substitutions Magee uses that will help you doctor your own recipes. For example, mentioned frequently is cutting down on the amount of butter by mixing a small portion with fat-free cream cheese. The one flaw of this book is that nearly half the recipes are for sweet items, whether desserts, coffeecakes, or muffins. The cake section alone contains 15 recipes. People who bake often might love this emphasis, but I would have preferred more entrees. That aside, this is a great book to have in your kitchen. Not only are the recipes tasty, but the book offers information you can apply to other cookbooks.

This book has received quite a bit of high praise (NY Times gave it a glowing review) and it's easy to understand why: the book itself is beautiful and the recipes are fresh, really delicious and not too complicated. It is readily apparent that Ms Spungen was once an employee of Martha Stewart, as aside from Martha penning the book's forward, you can see the "MS Esthetic" throughout the book. This unfortunately includes a typeface that is really too small and it makes the book a tough read. I assume that I'm like most people in that I read a recipe carefully (OK, sort of carefully) before cooking and then refer back to it a dozen times on the fly while in the kitchen. (And no, I'm not yet of an age where I need reading glasses!) But having to stop and fumble around until I can read detracts from all the book has to offer. That said, this is one of those cookbooks that makes a terrific wedding shower gift or housewarming gift to someone in their first apartment: the recipes will become workhorses in anyone's repertoire, but while you're at it buy them a magnifying glass too.

Susan Spungen has penned a wonderful and clever collection of recipes in her new solo book effort. Her inventive way of catagorizing the recipes along with the beautiful photography makes this a useful and very inspiring book.
Her professional pedigree is clearly excellent, but it is her creative and artistic eye, her user friendly directions and clear discriptions that make this one a keeper. I look forward to her next book!

I received this book as a gift and I enjoyed it. it's not a great book but it certainly strikes a chord. I found it well written and delicious.

I recommend this with reservations. If you're only buying one book of this type buy something else. but if you're a collector, this is recommended.

`RECIPES, a collection for the modern cook' by former `Martha Stewart Living' Editorial Director for food and entertaining, Susan Spungen is the answer to my question over what Miss Susan was doing with herself since her name disappeared from the `Martha Stewart Living' masthead. Miss Spungen was one of the very few `Martha Stewart' staffers who commonly appeared on `In Martha's Kitchen' when it ran on the Food Network before Ms. Martha went into the slammer. Since Ms. Spungen was obviously had talent in converting information about food into good magazine features, I expected her name to pop up somewheres. Well, here it is, as the author of a book with either the most unoriginal or the most clever of titles for a cookbook since Apicius.

Spungen was the very first person to hold the food / entertaining lead at `Martha Stewart Living', so it is reasonable to believe she had a lot to do in creating the style of the magazine article and book writing and design, especially as Ms. Spungen's first vocation was that of an artist and visual design student who was lured into the culinary world by part time jobs, leading to a pastry chef under Mark Strassman at Pino Luongo's `Coco Pazzo'.

Whenever I open a general `celebrity chef / author' cookbook with no more than about 120 recipes, I really expect something unique in order for me to distinguish it from the 100 or more other books I have reviewed with roughly the same description. What is it about these 120 recipes which make them better than all those other books' versions of many of the same dishes.

The tidbit I find here which sets it apart from many other books is the fact that many of the things I really respect about `Martha Stewart Living' cookbooks really come from Spungen's approach to culinary writing. Spungen says she likes to leave nothing to the imagination when it comes to describing a culinary technique in words and pictures. And, this approach is certainly one of the strongest aspects of the latest `Martha Stewart Handbook of Baking'. Every last little detail is conveyed in both words and pictures. But, does this little insight deserve laying out cash for this book?

Spungen's organizing concept for her `RECIPES' is much more than this simple title would let on. Her chapters are all organized around seven of the most basic kitchen techniques, which are `Prepare', `Chop', `Saute', `Grill', `Roast', `Bake' and `Simmer & Braise' plus a dessert chapter, `Indulge'. After this great notion, I think Ms. Spungen seems to loose her way a bit in saying these are recipes for the `modern cook'. For the `modern' cook, I would expect a heavy emphasis on either high nutrition and low weight gaining potential or quick recipes. But then, following one of these two strategies would lead her into competition with people who do this for a living. So, the modern concept is a rather weakly conceived `new comfort food' notion.

Looking at the recipes, one really gets the sense of Spungen's revisiting a lot of traditional and familiar recipes all done with a little twist, much the same way that a new artist may approach the `Lord of the Rings' characters in a new way on the yearly calendar inspired by Tolkien characters, which has been done regularly by many different artists over the last 40 or so years. We have, for example, a new take on string beans and tomatoes, which is a familiar recipe written up by Paula Wolfert, and which has been done over by everyone from Mark Bittman to Rachael Ray to Susan Spungen, and everyone in between. We also have a new version of the even more familiar Caprese salad of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, with the twist of making it with grilled tomatoes and warmed cheese.

Even the desserts all seem to have a familiar look about them. Peach Melba, cheesecake with lemon curd, and a rhubarb and strawberry crumble can be found in dozens of different books. In general, Ms. Spungen is not even overly fussy with her techniques. One great watershed in technique is whether or not you go for springform pans when you make cheesecake. My favorite culinary nerd, Alton Brown, and several very serious culinary writers warn against the springform pans, but many others use them with no excuses. Ms. Spungen uses the springform pan, but follows almost all the other cautions regarding cheesecake making, such as using a water bath and letting it rest in the fridge for several hours before attacking it with a knife.

While I found virtually all of Ms. Spungen's expositions on basics sound and fairly informative, they were mostly essays in the already known. The recipe for vinaigrette, for example, I think was done much better in a `Martha Stewart Living' Vinaigrettes 101 article, probably written by Ms. Spungen herself.

I rather like Susan's introduction on kitchen tools. There is nothing dramatic here, simply a fair amount of good advice on a nice, albeit not complete set of basics and gadgets. One of the book's strongest points is the fact that it is laid out very nicely.

This is the kind of book which is good for either people with very few cookbooks who need some good recipes by someone who explains things well, or people like me who happen to collect cookbooks and relish that one new idea or recipe which makes the whole book worthwhile.

This is a very good book. It has many nice twists, but they are mostly twists on familiar themes. I have already made several dishes from this book but I am most looking forward to the Provencal Layered Omelet on page 62!

Many flavorful and some simple to prepare meals for the new or bored cook who needs some fresh ideas. She includes excellent versions and variations on classics, The directions for food preparation are clear and complete.