Customer Reviews

Celebrating the Midwestern Table: Real Food For Real Times

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

 

 

YOU JUST CAN'T BEAT THIS GREAT COOKBOOK. I AM COOKING COLONIAL AND "COUNTRY" MEALS IN A SMALL COUNTRY CAFE IN OUR VERY OLD (1863) FARMHOUSE, AND MANDEL'S BOOK HAS REALLY BEEN A BLESSING. EVERYTHING IS SO WELL DONE, EVEN THE LINE DRAWINGS, SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS, AND THE WONDERFUL SOURCES. A BOOK VERY WELL DONE, AND MUCH APPRECIATED, ALREADY GETTING FOOD SMUDGES ON IT FROM OVERUSE...THE SIGN OF A GOOD COOKBOOK!

This is an unbelievable book!! The recipes are so easy and always turn out perfectly. They are also so interesting - taking something simple and making them incredible! The brisket and tenderloin are big favorites in my house. I have been a big fan of Abby Mandel's for years. Nothing in this book is difficult - it makes cooking so much fun!!!

Abby Mandel has always been a favorite of mine, I'd cut her recipes every week from the Chicago Tribune and try them out a few days later. This book does not disappoint, Abby has given us many great recipes anyone can be proud of preparing and serving. She is easy to follow, concise, and ingredients are readily available. A great book for anyone's collection from a truly enjoyable cook and author.

This is my favorite cookbook (and I have hundreds) and one I have often given as a gift. All the recipients agree, that the book is loaded with terrific recipes that work every time. Her previous book, "More Taste Than Time" (Simon and Shuster, 1988) is also a winner, but unfortunately out of print. If you can find it-buy it. You won't be disappointed.

I ordered this book along with "Food from the Heartland" and "Cooking from Quilt Country". What I was after was traditional, homey foods from the Midwest. The other two books hit the mark, this one didn't at all. I suppose I should have read closer the editorial reviews on Amazon; reading it now I see that they definitely give me the sense that this is a book of recipes perhaps INSPIRED by traditional Midwestern cooking, not traditional Midwestern cooking in actuality, especially rural or farm folk. The author may be a native Midwesterner but she's definitely written a cookbook for the north shore ladies of Chicago, not for those who are looking for traditional, down-home Midwestern food. Check out the other two books I mentioned. They're great!

As a Midwesterner from 9 months of age, (and I've been around more than the author's 35 years living in the Chicago area) I was really excited when I saw this title. Then I started reading the Introduction. It's obvious this author is not a native Midwesterner. She states in this introduction "Consider this midday winter meal of 125 years ago, a time of demanding physical labor: raw oysters, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, stewed sweet potatoes, macaroni, turnips, squash or pumpkin pie, eggless plum pudding, plum preserves, assorted fruit, and coffee." Hmmm, I don't know any Midwest farmer who would have had access to raw oysters for a midday meal. A special meal maybe, but NOT a typical midday meal. And - isn't Cod a salt water fish? It just sort of spoiled my faith in the recipies. Plus she had recipies for lamb. Yikes, the only reason I grew up having lamb was my parents were from the New York City area. None of my friends had it. It was very rare that my mother could find it in the stores. (And even then it was more likely to be mutton, which is why most Midwesterners don't like lamb.)