December 2020 Cookbook Reviews

 

I Heart Soul Food by Rosie Mayes

Most people associate soul food with Southern food, but interestingly enough Rosie Mayes is from Seattle. Her parents and grandparents are from Louisiana so she grew up eating both Southern soul food and creole/Cajun inspired food. Working in a stressful job she was trying to find a way to do something fun in her downtime and started a food vlog. Soon it took off and she was able to quit her day job and just focus on her food videos and now this cookbook. Looking at the recipes you would never think Mayes grew up outside of the South. There were several recipes I wanted to try and I really liked that with each recipe she included a few sentences about what inspired that dish or a memory from her childhood related to that dish. At the end she also gives some sample menus created with recipes in this book. Rosie Mayes is someone to watch out for in the food world - just looking at the photos in the book will make you hungry!

Cook With Me by Alex Guarnaschelli

I love Alex Guarnaschelli and was excited to check out her new cookbook. In this one she focuses more on meals that remind her of her family (who were also very into cooking and food) and cooking for her own family now. It's organized like most cookbooks with categories like snacks, one-pan dinners, salads, soups, etc. But I would say there are more categories than just the basics she includes sections like baking for breakfast, cookies, fruit crisps, cocktails & mocktails, etc. Overall, a good solid cookbook with lots of variety and nothing that seems to hard or crazy to cook. I didn't find that many recipes I wanted to try, but I did like it.

7 Ways by Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver says that he is always asked when will he write another cookbook like 5 Ingredients. In 7 Ways he does a new spin on a similar concept by taking 18 staple ingredients and showing 7 different recipes that highlight that ingredient. The 18 ingredients include obvious ones like chicken breast or eggs, but also some vegetables like cauliflower, avocado, and mushrooms. Each ingredient section lists the 7 recipes, then each recipe has a picture of the finished dish on one side and the recipe and ingredients on the other side. I love that each recipe shows a picture of each ingredient - so you can see what to get, but I think also to highlight that each recipe doesn't have dozens of ingredients. I really like the way the book is laid out and that each recipe has a photo to go with it. In the Introduction he also lists the recipes by categories like - one pan wonders, simple pastas, etc. I really like Jamie Oliver and I like how visually pleasing this cookbook is, but I personally didn't see that many recipes I wanted to try.

Rustic Farmhouse Slow Cooker by Alli Kelley

This collection of slow cooker recipes focuses on quality ingredients to create quick and flavorful meals. There are chapters based on proteins - beef, poultry, pork, and lamb. Then a chapter on soups and one on pasta and sauces. I love a good crockpot or dutch oven meal because it's so easy yet tastes great and you have plenty of leftovers. I love cooking, but I don't want to cook a new meal from scratch every day - that's where these kind of recipes some in. There were several recipes I want to try. I think this would be a great cookbook for a busy home cook or to give as a wedding/newlywed gift.