Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cooking--for Guys

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

 

 

I'm far from unexperienced in the kitchen, but the majority of my specality was limited to either breakfast type foods or what I could mix together in a crock pot.

The recipies are laid out very easy to follow directions, usually with a story or anecdote to go with each.

What really has me turning to this book again and again is the part of cooking that I hate, the clean up. The majority of the recipies can be cooked up with a very minimum of clean up after the meal is done.

A definte buy for the guy who hates washing dishes, is tired of eating off paper plates, is sick of tv dinners and can't find the can opener.

I bought this book for my husband for his continuing interest in learning to cook with me in the kitchen. It's a nice collection that are what we call "manly man" recipe's; full of meat, high in fat, and hearty portions. In that aspect it's exactly what i wanted.
Now, the reason it only got a three star. I hoped this book would help teach my husband how to cook without me in the kitchen for the nights that i had to work late. And while the recipe's are simple, they don't help teach an idiot how to cook. I assumed they would spell things out, help explain and understand the terms and techniques used in the kitchen; unfortunately i end up cooking most of the recipe because it lacks information to help my husband do it himself.
Overall, it's a nice cookbook for men who know how to cook, but it's no learners' guide and not the starter book i was looking for.

I have two recipes for making waffles, my own and Tod Dimmick's recipe. Guess which my husband prefers? Yes, he says he likes the texture of the waffles in this cookbook. I like my waffles very crispy and I found that you can make the waffles that way by cooking them a bit longer or by putting them in the toaster.

Tod Dimmick used to avoid the kitchen, but he is currently turning out cookbooks so fast I can hardly keep up with trying all his delicious recipes. He went on the road and collected recipes from carpenters, fireman and men who are passionate about cooking.

I fondly remember the first time my husband helped me make a pumpkin pie. He makes chili and pizza, but I have dreams of his talents expanding to Romantic Food 101. There is an entire chapter on aphrodisiac foods for date night. The Chicken with Cream Sauce only has 5 ingredients and Pears in Wine Sauce is a spicy recipe any lady could love. Strawberries and Chocolate Sauce is an easy way to add some romance to a movie night.

This book will be appreciated by any man who is tired of TV dinners or who wants to expand his cooking repertoire. Dads will enjoy the ideas for making easy meals for the kids. There are recipes for Monster Meat Loaf and Mac & Cheese with a Secret.

Tod Dimmick enhances the chocolate brownies with chocolate chips and also suggests adding crumbled toffee.

The "Least You Need to Know," "End Run," and "Menu Manual" sections are entertaining, informative and helpful.

I'm not the first woman on the planet to get a little overheated thinking about a man cooking for me and this book gives tons of ideas on how to take over the kitchen and become the master chef of your woman's dreams. If you are cooking for the guys, there are recipes to make for game days and nights.

Additional Recipes to Dream About Include:

Hawaiian Steak Strips
Fast Pass Fiesta Dip
Ultimate Steak Fries
Chocolate Cheesecake
Beer Can Chicken
Beerbecue Sauce
Steak with Red Wine Sauce

~The Rebecca Review

I received Cooking for Guys as a gift. Because I already know how to do more than boil water, I figured it would be another one of those books that never comes off the bookshelf. Before it went away, I sat down and glanced through, and realized I was wrong about that. I picked up at least a dozen new ideas just through the creative "End Run" and "Food Fumble" comments that are scattered throughout the book. So, I decided to try a couple of the recipes and every one I have made has been a big hit with the family. The recipes are easy to follow, and for the most part are quick enough to use for weekday meals. Definately try the Skillet Chicken and Apples - it's become a family staple at our house.

This is a decent product, but I wish it had more detailed step-by-step explanations. It would really only be helpful for someone who has a basic working knowledge of cooking. But, the person who has no idea how to boil water would not be helped much by this book.

If you're a typical guy, like me, you would be totally lost in a ketchen. Oh, sure, you can put frozen waffles in the toaster or get the settings right to microwave a TV dinner, but that's about it. Along comes this book.

It presents everything in an "Idiot" fashion, which means it is informative, yet easy to read. There is a good amount of how to get started, but I would still have liked more help (hint, hint). There are plenty of recipes, but not too many, from a wide variety of styles, foods, and situations.

There is even a decent guide to selecting wines, which I do know something about. While the list of vineries is good, the list of specific vintage wines should have been excluded (it dates the book before it is published and many of the wines, even "popular" ones, are hard to find for most people).

Overall, a good idea for a gift -- especially for birthdays of Father's Day!

This appears to be an excellent cook for guys finally living on their own who like to eat and who have the time to cook. Actually, I think there are more guys out there who like to cook than women. I don't think 20-year-olds who move out on their own are ready for this. But, for the guy who is a bit older and out on his own, and not stressed out with learning to do his own laundry or grocery shop for the first time, this is an excellent cookbook. There is a lot of helpful info here that is food-related and the tips are spot on. This is a great gift for mom to give her son as she celebrates getting her own house back, hopefully for good.
50 Ways to Leave Your Mother

I made the Tex-Mex Bean Dip recipe in this book and was NOT happy. Nowhere in the recipe does it say you are making dip for 50 people, but that was the result.

Also, there are no instructions on how to prepare rice.

Furthermore, when I tried to find the bean dip recipe to show my wife, I discovered that the recipe isn't in the index under "dip". The author forgot to put it in. Geez.

Rating: One star.

Ok, I don't know anything about cooking and want to learn, so I picked up this book. It's well written and I appreciate the reminders to wash my hands, but really opening cans and mixing things together isn't exactly anything new. Guess this is for bigger idiot's than me.

There's no way the recipes in this book were tried before publishing!

I gave this to my husband for his birthday. He has a little experience in the kitchen and is new enough to it that he follows a recipe to the letter. He makes excellent cookies and his lasagna is the best ever. So, yesterday, decided to broaden his list of accomplishments and surprise the family with a new dish. He purchased all ingredients fresh from the store and made the chicken casserole on page 261. The dish was awful!
No, it was worse than awful! No one could eat it!

I wanted to encourage him to treat it as a learning experience so together, we went over the recipe to determine what went wrong: The slices of bread made the dish soggy without adding a thing to the dish; canned chicken is not the best choice but we have used it successfully in other casseroles. As long as there is some texture added, it can work okay; 2 TB of minced dried onion was WAY TOO MUCH and it completely overpowered the dish; Italian seasoning just didn't fit the combination and it was also too strong; dash of hot pepper helped but couldn't bailout the flavor; beans and mushroom soup usually work well together in other recipes but were overpowered by the onion and spices; This was a dish even cheese topping couldn't help. So, into the garbage disposal it went and we went to McDonald's.
Too bad the author didn't take the time to try his recipes before publishing them. This book should designed to help promote one's interest in cooking rather than discouraging the effort.

THE ONLY THING RIGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK IS THAT IT TAKES AN IDIOT TO BUY IT! BIG FAT THUMBS DOWN FOR PUBLISHING A BOOK LIKE THIS!