Customer Reviews

Blue Moon Soup: A Family Cookbook

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just finished reading Blue Moon Soup and was impressed by both the artwork and recipies. Jane has done her usual great job with the illustrations. She found an equally impressive partner with Gary Goss. His creative hand, adds a unique touch to the often simplictisit subject of childrens' cookbooks. He makes the recipies challanging, fun, educational and above all great tasting. I will be using this cookbook with my children all year. I also plan on purchasing several copies as Channukah gifts.

If this were a picture book illustrating fairy tales or nursery rhymes, I could honestly give Blue Moon Soup five stars. Jane Dyer's illustrations have just that perfect, whimsical charm that makes such children's books unforgettable. Unfortunately, this is a cookbook that seemed to forget that its main objective is to provide a collection of soup recipes that the whole family will love.

The introduction hinted at such promising soups that were fun and simple to make that I really wanted to like BMS. In fact, the recipes did turned out to be simple; averaging about 11 ingredients each, including spices, and involving nothing more complicated than chopping vegetables, herbs etc. and throwing everything into a pot to simmer. Occasionally, you have to put something or another into a blender and puree. So far so good. The names and concepts of soup were even fun; Hot Diggity Dog soup (hot dogs), Polka Dot Soup (black beans), Abracadabra (Greek lemon-and-egg), Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater (obvious), and Believe It Or Not Soup (Ice Cream), to name a few examples. I will even go so far as to say that these soups generally are fresh, healthy alternatives to the canned varieties as they contain much less sodium and fat and are made from scratch. With all the chopping required I would limit kids' participation to just standing by and "helping" mom and dad by throwing ingredients into the pot, then stirring, but that could also be fun with a little imagination.

Where BMS lost me was in the flavor. Every recipe I tried needed heavy doctoring to attain a flavor discernable enough to justify going to the bother of making these soups from scratch. Possibly, too, I am used to commercial soups that are thick and hearty, leaving the BMS soups seeming runny and diluted by comparison. The chili recipe, claiming to be AbsolutelyThe Best, was even erroneous in its recommended cooking times by a few hours (dried kidney beans are NOT fit to eat after only being soaked overnight and cooked for a mere 30 minutes). The You Can't Elope soup was a simple mixture of pureed melons, half-and-half, juice, wine and vanilla that proved to be so bland that I found myself wishing I had simply eaten the sun-ripened melon in the first place. And do we really need a "recipe" for what every kid achieves instinctively anyway by mashing ice cream in the bowl until it's creamy and half-melted?

The lone standout recipe among the seven that I sampled in this book was the pumpkin soup, which was a welcome change of pace for pumpkin purees and nicely smooth, neither watery nor artificially thick. Even the spices were right on target.

I imagine that I will eventually try some others in this book, and so perhaps keep it on my shelf for awhile longer. IMHO, Blue Moon Soup is a nice choice for people avidly watching their salt intake who love homemade soups.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

I originally check this book out of a library only to find that I would like to make ALL of the recipes. The ingredients in the recipes are items you have on your shelf. They don't strive to reduce fat or salt but instead strive to be healthy tasty soups. We save money by having one soup meal a week and I am thrilled to add this book to my cookbook shelf.

I had the honor of seeing Jane Dyer's gorgeous pictures while they were still on her drawing board at her home. Now, I display my copy of this book near (though not in due to spills) my kitchen. This amazing book is worth buying for the pictures alone, but I am looking forward to cooking my first batch of soup--"Soup Of The Evening"-- as soon as the themometor dips below 95 degrees. A must have for cooks and Jane Dyer fans!

This book for being used was in excelent condition as was told. Beautifully illutrated. It was delivered on time.This book was everything I was told it would be. Love this book.

If you have kids and want to teach them how to cook, especially soups, this is a must buy. I have had so much fun with the recipes in this book and making a daddy/daughter day out of cooking.

I basically bought this book for the illustrations, which are nothing short of amazing. They are whimsical (a walking fish delivers a toureen of fish soup, for example), beautiful, and altogether unusual. I collect cookbooks and found none of the recipes to be an improvement upon those I already own, so I am in the process of framing the artwork for my kitchen. I couldn't be happier with the book, but perhaps not for the reason the author intended. (I prefer Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Soups and Stews for recipes, btw.)

This is a great family cookbook, matching the soups to the season. Illustrations are detailed; humorous. You definitely want to make sure they send the book jacket; otherwise, it's a lame gift. Mine arrived w/o jacket; it took awhile for me to get a response, but they did refund my money.

Gary Goss wrote a cute little book about blue moon soup. It'll compicate the process of learning about the moon in grade school in science class but everything else about the book is cute!

Looking for humor and beautiful pictures along with fun recipes? You have found it with this book.