Cooking Cookbooks

"Almost From Scratch" has 600 recipes that show you how to use convenience products to whip up great dishes no one will ever think were quick.

Schloss helps you figure out how to stock your kitchen and pantry with the convenience products that can be used in a variety of ways. He leads us through a myraid of ethnic foods and gives ideas on how they can spice up our everyday cooking.

Homemade has never been easier with this on your shelves.

review posted 4 August 2004

"Semi-Homemade Cooking" author Sandra Lee doesn't mince words - she gets right down to the business of turning something out of the kitchen. With a constant nod to today's busy world, Lee uses a mix of convenience foods and ingenuity for her creations.

Thankfully, Lee is specific about brands she uses so you don't have to wonder what magic was used to produce the food you see in the photographs, which are plentiful. Instructions are easy to follow, making this an excellent book for novice cooks.

Your name will be added to those of Wolfgang Puck and Dick Clark, who have good things to say about "Semi-Homemade Cooking." You'll be glad to have it on your shelves.

review posted 15 December 2002

Southern style extends to every aspect of life there, including the food that graces tables. "In Good Company" is subtitled "Hospitality from the Homes and Hills of Virginia." If you've been lucky enough to travel the roads of Virginia you know those hills are gorgeous and those homes gracious.

This book is the second published by The Junior League of Lynchburg, Virginia. It has more than 225 recipes from members, community members and 19 local restaurants.

The recipes are wonderfully varied, and enhanced with terrific photography, beautiful design and interesting information about the people and history of the area.

If you're the least bit unsure how to work those southern favorites like grits in with other recipes from the book, the Junior League has provided some menus you can use.

All in all, this is a delightful book that accomplishes something I love - it puts food in the context of the people who prepare and enjoy it. You can order a copy from The Junior League, PO Box 3304, Lynchburg, VA 24503. It's $21.95, plus $3 shipping and handling.

review posted 29 October 2002

"A Guy's Guide to Great Eating" is from Don Mauer, the author of "Lean and Lovin' It." Mauer has taken the traditional advice to writers to heart - he has written what he knows. Mauer lost more than 100 pounds after reworking some of his favorite recipes to make them more healthy. He generously shares his experience in these books.

The 175 recipes in "A Guy's Guide to Great Eating" all get 25% or less of their calories from fat. And Mauer does not achieve this by making smaller portions, but finding ways to actually reduce the fat. These recipes have portions that can satisfy a hungry man - even one with taste preferences that lean toward meat and potatoes.

Don't expect to find only recipes for watercress salad and steamed carrots in this book. Look instead for barbecue and fried chicken, cole slaw and brownies. Mauer's book is a gem. If you need to lower your cholesterol or just want to eat healthier, this book is a necessity.

review posted 15 June 2000

by Sarah Phillips
$17.95
Doubleday
ISBN 0-385-49281-2
Published in March 1999
http://www.healthyoven.com
healthyoven@aol.com

Review Posted 13 June 1999

by Janet Majure
published in 1997
ISBN 0-9656695-0-5
$14.95
Breadbasket Publishing Company
PO Box 1161
Lawrence, KS 66044-0161

Majure has gathered some of the best recipes shared with her in the last five years into this book. The great thing about these is not only are they recipes that people actually make, but they are recipes they consider their best - the ones they wanted to share with newspaper readers.

Recipes include a potato salad served to Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev during a visit they made to the area and a Rock Cornish Hen recipe that sealed a romance. Vinegar Pie and gumbo also make appearances. It's an eclectic collection but an outstanding one.

by Michele Urvater

Workman Publishing Company, 1991

$14.95 hardcover

by Marion Cunningham

Published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1990

Prentice Hall Press - published 1990 $17.95 retail

A great book with lots of recipes you'll really make. All the things mom used to make will be right at your fingertips. The 250 recipes are classics that are updated to incorporate the microwave and other modern conveniences. I've had the book since it was first published and everything I've made has been great. Eighty full-color photographs make this a nice book to curl up with even when you don't feel like cooking.

by Alison Boteler

Barron's -- ISBN 0-8120-6522-0

$12.95 retail, published in 1995

by Margaret Agnew

Southerners are hosts by their very nature. I love to return to the area of my childhood home in the south. In those communities, the flow of daily life is ruled by grace and hospitality.

A Southern host knows it’s a privilege to freely offer the finest he or she has to give to guests. Southern hospitality is alive and well.

“Southern Traditions” is a seasonal cookbook by Margaret Agnew, a home economist with more than 15 years experience as a food editor and writer. The more than 200 recipes feature time-honored recipes you'd expect but also some new taste treats. The photography is marvelous and Agnew's love of her region shines through on every page.

National Council of Negro Women, Inc.

The Wimmer Companies, Inc. 1-800-727-1034 -- $15.95

Filled with recipes that capture the feel of a warm kitchen filled with love, this book has not only recipes, but also sage advice from the mothers of numerous members of the council. Most of those included are people just like you and me but a number of “women of distinction” have contributed. Included on this most impressive list are actress Marla Gibbs; Senator Carol Moseley-Braun and Susan L. Taylor, editor-in-chief of Essence magazine.

The recipes are alive with the history of the African-American experience and the words of wisdom apply to people of any heritage. This book is a gem. Not only would this be a marvelous addition to your own kitchen, but it would also be a great gift.

published in February of 1991