Southern Living Christmas Cookbook: All-New Ultimate Holiday Entertaining Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this book and planned a week's worth of menus for Christmas company around these menus. Fortunately, for me and my guests -- they were detained because of snow, and my husband and I were the only ones to eat the food. I made eight recipes -- cookies, pie, bread, salads, salad dressing -- food one should not be able to mess up. Without exception, the cooking times were way off (not just oven variances), the ingredients did not blend well, and the cookies, pie, and bread were bland or the textures not pleasant. Did the authors actually test these recipes? I'm not sure. Buy another book; this one was pretty but totally unmemorable.

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Throwing a party—big or small, simple or extravagant—just got easier. Whether you're planning your first big holiday celebration or your twentieth, you'll find this memory-making treasury an invaluable hospitality guide for all occasions.Over350 recipes, 32 menus, and nearly 250 color photographs team up to make this the ultimate holiday entertaining guide. Take the guesswork out of meal planning with complete menus and time-saving game plans–one for every menu. Make entertaining a joy with casual-fare menus, for when you're entertaining family and close friends, and more dressed-up menus, for when you want to go all out.You'll love the make-ahead ease of the Harvest Fare menu that features Bourbon-Glazed Ham and Out-of-this-World Scalloped Potatoes. The Easygoing, Family Breakfast, with its Breakfast Pizza and Cheesy Baked Grits, will delight the entire family. Don't miss the Coffee and Chocolate Party that offers such indulgences as Mocha Fondue, in addition to tips on setting up a coffee bar. The Classic Christmas Dinner, with its entrée choice of Marinated Cornish Hens or Marinated Turkey Breast, will have you preparing this meal year-round rather than waiting for Christmas Day! You'll be ready for every Yuletide event with menus for brunches, buffets, and cocktail parties, as well as a New Year's Day feast.A full-to-overflowing "Holiday Cooking" section encompasses every food category from appetizers and beverages to main dishes and sides; there are breads, as well as cakes, pies, and candies. Treats for Early Risers gives you at-a-glance breakfast and brunch ideas, from Basic Buttery Biscuits to Bananas Foster French Toast and cute, little Mini Sausage-and-Egg Casseroles baked in coffee mugs. You'll refer again and again to Simple Supper Solutions as a year-round source for family-friendly dishes. Whether it's Fiesta Turkey Soup and Green Chili Biscuits or Spicy Coleslaw Reubens, you'll discover a treasure trove of easy weeknight meals. Convenient prep and cook times are listed with every recipe to help you plan ahead.A bonus gift section—"5 Ingredient 15 Minute Gifts From the Kitchen"—shares a dozen quick-and-easy gifts from the heart of the home. Each recipe either has just 5 ingredients or takes only 15 minutes to prepare—and some feature both. Colorful photos show simple packaging ideas, so whether it's Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix or Red-and-Green Pistachio Bark, you'll have delicious solutions to satisfy everyone on your gift list.Be sure to check out the "Holiday Entertaining Guide" for inspiring table-setting ideas, hostess tips, and a special selection of 12 year-round, all-occasion, mix-and-match menu ideas that will have you in good standing for party planning any season of the year.

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Best of Craig Claiborne: 1,000 Recipes from His New York Times Food Columns and Four of His Classic Cookbooks Review

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(More customer reviews)This book belongs to a special class of cookbooks where you get a whole lot of recipes for a low price per recipe. These books are not like `The Joy of Cooking' or `James Beard's American Cookery' where you get a lot of advice on cuts of meat, types of potatoes, and techniques for making an especially good pie crust. This type of book contains mostly bare bones recipes. They are one of the most common to find on the discount pile in the Borders foyer.
But, this book is a little different from most books of this class.
First, it is a collection of recipes from Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey, and that is something special. As Paul Prudhomme states in his introduction, Craig Claiborne is one of the three most influential figures in American culinary writing in the last fifty years, along with James Beard and Julia Child. I suspect Claiborne's influence worked as much or more behind the scenes and may be less durable than the works of Beard and Child. What was public was almost entirely done in daily newspaper columns and reviews. Much of his other work was in the support of charity events and in the support of the careers of up and coming journalists such as Jim Villas and chefs such as Jeremiah Tower.
Second, this collection gains cachet by being the best of newspaper columns in the New York Times. Some very discerning editors picked them over at least twice. First, they were selected to appear in the paper. Then, they were selected from the best of these to appear in this book.
Third, the variety of dishes in this book is outstanding. The range of dishes is far better than, for example, a collection of 1000 Chinese dishes or the best 800 Jewish recipes. These come from around the world, from some of the best chefs in the world. My favorite finds are recipes culled from Danny Kaye, who has the reputation of being quite literally one of the finest Chinese cooks in the world, in his time. The sad fact is that the only remains of that talent are in the occasional recipe in collections such as this.
Fourth, unlike earlier large `New York Times' cookbooks edited by Claiborne, these recipes contain headnotes citing the source of the recipe and tips on their execution. The book also gives an excellent index of recipes by contributor, which is the way in which I was able to locate the recipes from Mr. Kaye. I'm certain these headnotes came from the newspaper articles in which the recipes were embedded.
If you like to have access to a large variety of dishes but do not wish to have a large cookbook library, this is the book for you. The closest competitor to this book may be `The New New York Times Cookbook' that has even more recipes, but no headnotes. This was my first cookbook and I believe every recipe I made from it was sound.
Highly recommended for all, especially those with a budget.

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Best-Ever Breads - Fleischmann's Yeast Review

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(More customer reviews)This is one of my most-used cookbooks. It got so worn out I had to order a new one. The range of recipes is amazing, from regular breads to cinnamon rolls to holiday breads to pizzas and calzones. The pictures are extremely helpful, the recipes are well-explained, and they give wonderful hints as to if the dough can be frozen, etc. I had never made bread before I got this book and now we are hooked on having fresh bread. I especially appreciate the breads that rise overnight in the fridge--I can come home from work and still have fresh bread for dinner. They are also much healthier than many breads because they are low fat and you can make rye, whole wheat, and even herb bread. My friends now request that I bring the dinner rolls to every gathering and potluck! And the pizza and cinnamon rolls are a big hit with kids.

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Recipes using Fleischmann's Yeast to make bread.Paperback book 79 pages.

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The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book: Essential Recipes for Today's Home Baker Review

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(More customer reviews)I stumbled accross this cookbook at Borders this weekend and upon flipping through it decided I needed to have it. I already had the William Sonoma Dessert book, but this has SO MANY more recipes. And the beautiful thing about it is that I want to make most of them!!! I can't tell you how many cookbooks I have that waste space on my shelf for a recipe or 2. I've already made 3 recipes out of this in 3 days. I've never been disappointed in any of their recipes. I love that many of the ingredients are listed in both volume (cups) and weight (oz) measurements and there is a ton of reference material included as well. Definately worth the investment for a home baker and a beautiful book with great pictures too!

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Nothing evokes the comforts of home better than freshly baked treats straight from the oven. But too many home cooks believe they don't have the time to bake except for the occasional special dessert. If you are one of them, this comprehensive baking collection, with nearly 400 recipes for everything from homespun favorites and bake-shop sweets to popular restaurant-style desserts, is guaranteed to change your mind. In this inspired book, you will find recipes that both fit into your busy schedule and suit nearly every occasion, from quick dessert for weeknight suppers to fancy cakes for holiday tables. Whether you are dreaming of buttery shortbread for an afternoon snack, a luscious berry pie for a midsummer get-together, a buche de Noel for a Christmas Day buffet, or a batch of rolls for Sunday supper, you will discover how to make it in these pages. The recipes are organized into eight comprehensive chapters: Cookies and Bars; Muffins and Quick Breads; Coffee Cakes, Scones, and Biscuits; Cakes and Tortes; Pies and Tarts; Yeasted Breads; Fruit Desserts; and Custards and Egg Dishes. Each chapter provides an array of flavor options to match the seasons and to accommodate a variety of tastes. Every recipe includes a photograph of the finished dish, so you can see how it will look, as well as photographs illustrating key baking task, ingredients, and/or equipment. Classics enjoyed by adults and kids alike are here, such as lemon bars, chocolate-studded cookies, blueberry muffins with brown-sugar topping, buttermilk biscuits, birthday cake with fudge frosting, pumpkin pie, and country-style cinnamon rolls. Detailed directions for baking chocolate cupcakes, bagels, and madeleines make these typical bakery specialties easy to prepare at home. A large selection of recipes for special occasions, such as almond-flecked chocolate cake with caramel sauce, pear torte with fresh ginger, and cherry cheesecake with a biscotti crust, provides plenty of ideas for holiday and dinner-party tables. Rounding out the book are dozens of recipes for savory baked items, from Roquefort-laced popovers and goat cheese muffins to olive bread and mushroom quiche. An extensive reference section at the end of the book includes basic recipes, such as pie and tart doughs, dessert sauces and glazes, and cake frostings and fillings. Also included is a tips-and-techniques primer, with photographed step-by-step instructions on everything from rolling out pie dough, making decorative crusts, and frosting a cake to kneading bread dough in a stand mixer. Cooking and ingredient charts and a comprehensive glossary complete the section. With The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book on your kitchen shelf, you will find yourself baking more often, with results that are always both delicious and rewarding.

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