Customer Reviews

Best Recipes from American Country Inns and Bed and Breakfasts

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had several problems with this book. As a travel guide to inns and B&Bs across the country, it is well organized and informative. But as a book that purports to deliver the "best" in country inn cooking, it leaves a bit to be desired.

Instead of gathering recipes and actually publishing the best ones they found (which would have resulted in a richly varied selection of dishes of consistently good quality), the authors seem to have selected the inns first, then published a handful of each inn's best offerings. This results in a jumble of recipes that veer wildly from haute cuisine challenging to "open-a-can" basic, throwing together in a very unsatisfying manner recipes based mostly on convenience foods with recipes designed to creatively showcase fresh local ingredients. And since the book is organized by STATE, instead of by grouping the recipes together logically by type, if you want to see, for example, all of the redundant muffin recipes (LOTS of duplication here), you must look in the index in the back of the book and seek them out, state by state, one page at a time.

I also find the cover design of this book to be a tad misleading. While the gorgeously constructed dish that is pictured on the front cover may well be found somewhere in this book, it shares space with recipes that offer no more deliberation than "open a few cans, stir everything together, serve it in a casserole dish". If you are attracted to this volume because it appears to offer elegance and innovation as the cover is certainly attempting to suggest, you will be disappointed.

In summary, I didn't like this book because it is difficult to browse, offers recipes of inconsistent quality, and has a habit of mentioning ingredients and techniques that may be unfamiliar to many home cooks, without offering further explanation. In short, it is not a well-organized and informative cooking book.

HOWEVER, as a random collection of recipes, it might turn out to be just dandy. With a purported 1500 to choose from, each of us are bound to find a handful of treasures that are well-suited to the way we like to cook and eat, regardless of experience or skill level. Just be prepared to have to sieve through pages and pages of things you think are uninteresting before you can find those gems.

This book was a huge disappointment, and I returned my copy. As the recipes are divided by Inn, main dishes, side dishes, breakfasts, breads, desserts are totally mixed together. The print is small and pale. Worse, it does not include any comments to indicate that the recipes are tried-and-true, or what makes them special -- and they don't appear to have even been tested by the authors. There are a number of outstanding cookbooks featuring the best recipes from B&Bs, and the others are sorted by subject (so all cakes will be together, etc.), include the innkeepers' comments about why they're so special, were tested by the authors, and include the authors observations. Amazon carries most (if not all) of them. Don't waste your money on this garbage!

I had the extreme misfortune to purchase both of the Maynards Books. The recipes are riddled with errors from Page 1 recipe 1 - example first recipe on Page 1 - 1 plus 2 Tablespoons of WHAT.AS IT IS EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE TO RETURN BOOKS FROM SOUTH AFRICSA I AM DISGUSTED THAT PUBLISHERS AND AUTHORS ARE ALLOWED TO PUBLISH WITHOUT CHECKING THE CONTENTS OF THESE BOOKS.OUR EXCHANGE RATE IS PROHIBITIVE SO IS THE POSTAGE. BOTH OF THE BOOKS PURCHASED ARE A DISGRACE TO THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY. WE DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE THE TIME TO PERUSE QUICKLY AND I CAN IDENTIFY AT LEAST 7 ERROS FROM PAGES 1 - 40 ON ONE OF THE BOOKS ONLY.

I first found this book on a bookshelf at a B&B in Dubuque, Iowa. I spent half of my stay with my nose in this book and ordered it for myself from Amazon as soon as I returned home. It has become my favorite cookbook and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves to cook....mostly breakfast/brunch recipes, but also lots of other surprises.

I had purchased a book of the same title printed years earlier, with which our family was most pleased. However, my sister purchased the newer edition, which contained all of the recipes in the earlier printing....and MANY, MANY more!! The later edition is hard covered, only cost me $11.50 and is like new. The recipes contained therein are wonderful, easy to make, do not contain dozens of spices that are not found in existing spice racks or other exotic ingredients. This is the BEST cookbook we've ever had....and the vendor's description of the book was exactly as described...LIKE NEW!! Purchased at Amazon.

GREAT PURCHASE ALL AROUND. THANKS!

Cookbooks often get the best of me. I buy them and it takes me a while to put them to use. Only time will tell me how much I like this book. John

This is a very good,detailed book. It is arranged by state, so if you are looking for just breakfast items it might take a little while longer.

This book bubbles over with hundreds of new recipe choices. You won't need another cookbook! B&B people cook every day. . .they certinly know the kitchen. These recipes are beyond breakfast, though. There are some real jewels here.

A reviewer, "Charles Holcomb", has reviewed all the books written by Douglas Hensley and Pattie Hensley. He has also reviewed several competing books -- such as this one -- and used those reviews as an opportunity to mention the "superior quality" of the book written by Douglas Hensley or Pattie Hensley. The Hensley titles are as follows:

- "Lost Stories From Hell" by Douglas Hensley

- "Magic Voodoo Spells" by Douglas Hensley

- "Hell's Gate: Terror at Bobby Mackey's Music World" by Douglas Hensley

- "Automobile Sales Training and Tips From The Pros" by Douglas Hensley

- "Book of Dreams & Dream Interpretations" by Douglas Hensley

- "Bloody Bones" by Douglas Hensley

- "Grandma's Cook Book and Recipes" by Pattie Hensley

- "Grandma's Country Recipes" by Pattie Hensley

- "Copycat Restaurant and Bakery Recipes" by Pattie Hensley

My wife said to rate this one a 3 for her