Customer Reviews

Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2003

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

 

 

I own a lot of cookbooks... but I've never had one quite like this. This is the first cookbook where I look through the recipies, and think "Hey - I should make that some time" for most of the recipies. Other cookbooks seem to be literally filled with recipies that either don't look any good, or require exotic ingredients only availble to people in major metropolitan centers.

With this cookbook, however, I flip through the pages wishing i had time to make almost all of the 900 recipies. I've made about 20 things out of this book now, and have enjoyed almost all of them a lot.

Pros:
- Contains a good, detailed introduction for the novice cook, including information on herbs, cooking methods, etc.
- Contains almost 900 recipies that you can actually make and enjoy.
- Has recipies from almost every category - breads, meats, desserts, soups, etc.
- I totally disagree with the person who said the layout is lousy . I've never had trouble finding anything in this book.
- The recipies, while not being extremely low fat, *are* from cooking light, and hence are healthier in general than most other cookbooks. Plus, the recipies don't ever seem to sacrifice flavor for a *light* rating.

Cons:
- You'll spend longer in the kitchen trying to make more of these

Sorry - I don't really have a good con for this book :)

If you love too cook - you'll love this book!

This(and other Cooking Light books)definately need a better way to organize the recipes. The book doesn't even follow the order of the monthly magazines recipes. It is severely lacking in photographs. Most of the beautiful photos from the magazines are not used in the cookbook. The photos would be helpful in selecting recipes...especially because the book is not organized by food category. The recipes might be great, but who has 2 hours to search through a cookbook to find something to cook??

I've been a subscriber to Cooking Light magazine for a couple of years and I love it. I decided to get the 2003 book to save some space. The photographs in the book are beautiful and mouth-watering, but there are not enough (I like to see what the final product looks like when I am cooking). I do like that the nutritional information including calories, fat, protein, carb, fiber are listed for each recipe. I do find that many of the recipes have a long prep time and this a deterrent for me at this busy stage in my life. For the "true" chef, though, there will be no problem and the recipes will be wonderful to make. Generally, the ingredients are readily available, but for some of the recipes, there are ingredients that I have no idea where to buy them. The book is organzied by month--like the magazine. Really, overall, a beautiful book.

I like the recipes, but the organization is lousy. I like that you get full nutritional information including calories, fat, protein, carb, fiber so you can be in control of what you are eating. The ingredients are readily available, nothing I had to look up in the dictionary. I just don't like that it is organized by month. When I go to cook I'm usually thinking, what can I do with this chicken rather than what tastes good in February.

Do you hate spending the time searching for a new recipe, buying the ingredients, and then executing exactly as written only to get totally blah food? You won't have that problem with this book!

I'm not an experienced or talented cook, but I've always been able to follow the directions in this cookbook for excellent results.

My favorite features:
- Variety and flavor!
- Recommended menus, especially helpful for parties
- The book is fairly slim given how jam-packed the content is.
- Seasonal nature; If I'm looking for something new, I just go to the current month.
- Cooking tips are always helpful to an inexperienced cook, and this book often focuses on unusual foods and how to make them tasty
- Doesn't need pictures. You can tell from the ingredients that the dish will taste good, and I find that this food has much more flavor than a lot of the "picture per recipe" cookbooks I have

Agree with other negative comments:
- Sometimes hard to find a recipe even if I know it's in the book
- I've never noticed anything to be particularly "light"

I've been a subscriber of Cooking Light for several years now, and I always try to buy the annual cook book at the end of each year. These recipes produce dishes that are delicious, adventurous, and satisfying. I've not only learned alot about eating healthy foods by using these cookbooks, I've become a much better cook! Also, since the magazine has features on different ethnic cuisines, I've tried foods that I never would have made previously, with great success. Some of the recipes are more time-consuming than others, so make those on the weekend rather than during the week.

Unlike other reviewers, I enjoy the recipes organized by month, because it helps me eat seasonally. That way, I buy produce that's in season, so it tastes better, and it's usually cheaper than buying products out of season. However, if one is looking for a specific recipe, consulting the index at the back of the cookbook provides a solution.

While there is a whole years worth of recipes in one book it will probably take a year to find a particular recipe. The index is very confusing. Cooks will just end up frustrated.

Never received book. Ordered March 9, checked on status on March 19 and received reply that it had already shipped. Checked again on April 2 and was told it had not shipped due to a mix-up but would be shipped immediately. Received note April 11 stating I was receiving a credit because the book was damaged due to a roof problem.