Snacking Dinners by Georgia Freedman
The subtitle of this cookbook "50+ recipes for low-lift, high-reward dinners that delight" didn't come through for me. I could easily have a few snacks for dinner but it felt like the majority of the snack recipes in here were either just a few random things tossed together on a plate or just as much work as making a quick grilled cheese or sauteed chicken. Overall, I wasn't impressed with this one and didn't find any recipes I wanted to try.
Cooking Out by Michael Symon
I think the purpose of this cookbook is to show that you can cook almost anything outside on a grill. And I agree with that, but I felt like a lot of the recipes in here would have just been easier to do inside. Can you bake a cake on a grill? Yes. Is that the easiest way to do it? Probably not. I guess depending on where you live if you just want to be outside doing all the cooking then this cookbook might be helpful. My husband and I grill year round but it's often me making sides inside while he grills the main course outside. There were also a few inconsistencies like for a recipe about grilled corn the picture shows corn with the husk pulled back (almost like a handle) but the recipe talks about marinating the corn - how are you marinating it with the husk still on? That kind of stuff was frustrating to me. Overall, the photos of the food are beautiful and I do think you might be inspired to try more outdoor cooking, but I didn't love it.
Cupcakes for Any Occasion by Rachel Lindsay
This is a really cute cupcake cookbook. I like that the author takes the first 2 chapters for basics - basic baking and decorating tools and basic recipes. My only (minor) complaint is that the recipes are all by weight or ounces. I understand baking is better when you weigh the ingredients but I don't know how much 500g or 17.5 oz of powered sugar is without doing some math work. Other than that the recipes and decorating ideas seem great. Most of the decorating doesn't seem too far out of reach for the average home baker. The decorating ideas are organized by type - like holidays, seasonal, animals, etc. Overall, it's a really cute book with a lot of creative ideas.
The Italian Summer Kitchen by Cathy Whims
Cathy Whims is a restaurant chef who first worked in an Italian restaurant in Portland, Oregon in the early 1980s. Even though she had been cooking Italian food at the restaurant, when she was able to visit Italy it changed her way of cooking. Instead of focusing on fancy, fussy recipes, she started focusing on more simple, ingredient-driven recipes. This cookbook shares what she's learned about Italian cooking during her career - both in restaurants and studying in Italy. The recipes are organized like a typical cookbook - starters, soups/salads, pasta/bread/pizza, entrees, desserts, and basics. Overall, the recipes look good and there were several I'd like to try.
The Garlic Companion by Kristin Graves
This is a great all around book about garlic. The author covers the history of garlic, recipes for using garlic, garlic crafts, how to grow your own garlic, and how to preserve garlic. As a huge fan of garlic I thought this book was great. I am personally not into garlic crafts but I will say the author really includes EVERYTHING to do with garlic. There were a few recipes I want to try and as an avid vegetable gardener I will say it is VERY easy to grow garlic and deer and rabbits leave it alone too. Once you start growing your own, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
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