Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?: American Women and the Kitchen in the Twentieth Century Review

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(More customer reviews)What a great book! Mcfeely's writing is so effortless and chatty you may not realize how much there is too learn.
She takes you, historically speaking, from the time when women HAD to bake the family bread (and had to remember the correct, locally produced flour that would actually work) to where we are blase about our optional and hands-off bread machines.
She gives mini-bios on people important in cooking history, and also her opinions on them--she cheerfully skewers Irma Rombauer (Joy of Cooking) for being opinionated yet admires Rombauer's personality just the same.
She is strangely taciturn on Martha Stewart--arguably the best known cook today. A criticism here and there on how Martha's _techniques_ are difficult, but nothing like her pleasant gossip on Julia Child and on Rombauer. Is Mcfeely, too, afraid of Martha's wrath?
This is a history book and a social criticism that is also a lot of fun to read.

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Month of Meals : One Day to a Freezerful of Entrees Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is very well orgainzed, a good beginner's manual if you are new to once-a-month-cooking, she explains what can be frozen and what can't, for how long, etc, very well. I liked most of the recipes, but I would like to see more chicken and more ground beef recipes, since those are the less expensive cuts of meat and those of us on budgets use a lot.

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A cookbook of make-ahead entrees and detailed instructions onhow to prepare and freeze 30 meals in one day. Month of Mealsaddresses the cooking process from start to finish, including whatfoods don't freeze well, what types of freezer containers to use, andhow long foods can be safely kept in the freezer. It includes masterforms of shopping lists, freezer labels, and dinner forms that can bephotocopied. 80 chicken, fish, beef, and meatless recipes thatemphasize fresh ingredients and ease of preparation are featured in aeasy to read style. You can save up to 25 hours a month using thisone-day-a-month cooking system. Eliminate the nightly 'what's fordinner' quandary and cut your evening meal preparation time to lessthan 15 minutes. If you need more time in the evening, and want toserve your family healthful alternatives to pre-packaged and fast fooddinners, this is the book for you!

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Saving Dinner the Low-Carb Way: Healthy Menus, Recipes, and the Shopping Lists That Will Keep the Whole Family at the Dinner Table Review

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(More customer reviews)Making the adjustment to low carb has meant learning a whole new way to cook. Before I discovered this book, other recipes I've tried have been bland or required too much prep time.
Not this one. From the very first page, I was able to hit the ground running, since the book comes compete with WEEKLY shopping lists and recipes that take a short time to throw together but taste like they've taken all day to cook. We enjoyed Cube steaks with onion gravy, Thai Shrimp, Skillet Chicken Mediterranean and more.
Don't be scared by the "exotic" sounds of some of the recipes. This is family cooking, NOT something that you could only eat if you had the most refined of palates. If your kids aren't fish lovers, you might want to keep some simple alternatives on hand but on most nights, they should be able to eat the same menu as the "Low carbers".
ONE caveat - Some of the recipes are designed for a crockpot. I don't have one and I found it simple to adjust the cooking times. It was no big deal. But do keep in mind that at least one recipe a week is designed for a crockpot. Again, this wasn't a big deal to me, even without one.
In every other way, the book is perfect for our needs and we've branched out into newer, better recipes than before. Thanks, Leanne!

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Leanne Ely doesn’t actually cook dinner for your family. It just feels that way.Certified nutritionist Leanne Ely loves delicious food and is dedicated to enticing today’s busy families back to the dinner table with home cooking that cannot be beat. In Saving Dinner the Low-Carb Way, she integrates low-carb requirements into her mélange of dining pleasures for every season–providing easy-to-follow menus and highlighting per-serving measurements of calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, cholesterol, and sodium for each dish.Itemizing ingredients by product in convenient lists, Ely makes your grocery shopping quick and effortless. She also gives you a helping hand in the kitchen with shortcuts that take the stress out of cooking, and suggests menu variations for children and family members who choose not to go the low-carb route.The result? These dinners are not only balanced and healthy but truly varied and delectably good to eat. Main dishes like Low-Carb Beef Stroganoff, Crustless Quiche Lorraine, Crock-Pot Pork Jambalaya, Skillet Salmon with Horseradish Cream, and nearly 150 other entrees (plus recommendations for great side dishes) make dinnertime special in more ways than one.

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Jamie's Kitchen Review

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(More customer reviews)When I got the cookbook as a Christmas present I was a little skeptical. Okay maybe alot skeptical. The recipes looked a little too vague; not enough precise measurements; "add a glass of wine" (big glass? small glass? 'what's up with that?')Quite frankly, it made me nervous. Cookbooks aren't supposed to be like that.
But I gave the recipes a whirl and lo and behold, they turned out! The recipes were different yet familar. A nice twist on things (sorry, no pun intended). Jamie creates recipes with layers of flavor and texture; recipes with color and style. And what is more, they were relatively simple to make. I've received rave reviews from friends and family.
But the real surprise and joy was that Jamie's approximate portions and measurements allowed me to become more of my own chef, so to speak. I guess I always felt compelled to stick to the rigidity of a receipe. What I discovered is that I was more or less forced to I play with the amounts and I did not feel that I was somehow making a mistake when doing so. It was okay to toy with this ingredient or that. This gave me confidence to explore variations. In short, it made cooking even more fun.
This is how I think the great chefs really cook: they have a game plan but they have intuition, gut instinct. When you watch the great chefs on TV rarely do you see them haul out a measuring spoon or a cup. They go by eye, by experience and by gut. And I think this is what Jamie Oliver's book has done for the reader.
Buy it, experiment with it, have fun with it.

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amie's Kitchen-the television show-began as an experiment and turned into a phenomenon. It started when Jamie took in 15 unemployed, enthusiastic kids, trained them to be chefs, and helped them open a restaurant, Fifteen, that has become the hottest dining spot in London. When England's Channel 4 launched a tie-in series, more than four million people tuned in. The show premiers this fall in the U.S. Jamie's Kitchen-the book-is laid out as a cooking course and will inspire readers of all levels. Some of the cooking techniques included are making salads, cooking without heat, poaching and boiling, steaming, stewing and braising, roasting, grilling, and baking. In the process, Jamie shares one-of-a-kind, delicious recipes, such as prosciutto and pecorino, citrus-seared tuna with crispy noodles, herbs, and chili; smoked haddock risotto; and baked chocolate pudding. Jamie includes tips on how to take recipes in new directions and how to be an inspired grocery shopper-spotting what's good, what's in season, and what's a good value. Most important, Jamie encourages budding cooks to have confidence and a sense of independence, and to be master of the kitchen!

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