Customer Reviews

The Cruising K.I.S.S. Cookbook II

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

 

 

The Cruising K.I.S.S. Cookbook by Corinne C. Kanter was the one of the best cookbook purchases I have done. I love cooking and I have collected more than a dozen cookbooks from various authors. Most of those cookbooks have colorful pictures of the finished dish, which for some reason entices me to try them in my kitchen. When I came across the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple system) cookbook, I was a little hesitant to buy it, because it has no pictures of the dishes, but when I opened it and browsed through the book, I know for sure that this is the COOKBOOK I want! It has all the information I need in order to fully understand the science of cooking. The first few pages enumerate temperature conversions, baking pans capacities, pan sizes and ingredient measurement conversions. The last pages have metric conversion tables and liquid measure conversions. These were the first things that convinced me to buy it! My other cookbooks do not have those and I have always found it annoying when I have to figure out how to convert ounces to grams when the recipe calls for ounces and the ingredient I bought has grams on the packaging! This book does everything for the busy and conversion-challenged cook like me. Another plus factor: this small, spiral-bound cookbook has sections for terms used in cookery and cooking methods. It makes it easier for anyone to understand what the words deglaze, blintz, and coddle mean! There's no more need to find a dictionary, everything is there for the starter cook or busy housewife learning to prepare a simple gourmet meal for her family.

This book was originally intended for people who cook while at sea in their small galleys. The ingredients are easy to find and store. I remember my scouting days when we were expected to keep everything simple and make do with whatever things or ingredients we had on hand. For the cheese lovers, there is a cheese chart with the names of different cheeses from all over the world, with their corresponding description. This is very helpful for someone like myself who gets intimidated when faced with a wide variety of cheeses in a store. Since I have a penchant for wine and cheese, this section comes really handy. There is an assortment of recipes from desserts, breads, cakes, soups, sandwiches, vegetables, grains, pasta, legumes, meats, fish, etc. The cooking procedures are so simple that my 11-year old daughter can actually follow them. Her favorites are the recipes for Cheese Biscuits and the Morning Rice Pudding.

I highly recommend this book for everyone who loves easy recipes to follow. This book is for the young college student, the new wife or the busy mom, the single guy who is tired of pizza and Chinese take-out! You do not need a sailboat or a yacht to enjoy the recipes in this cookbook. All you need is a hungry stomach!

This is the author's second cruising cookbook, and is very comprehensive and well organized. Corinne Kanter has spent years cruising aboard their boat, and so well knows what she's talking about when it comes to provisioning, stowing, and cooking aboard.

In addition to the standard sections on cooking, she has added sections on Microwave meals and Pressure Cooking. There is also a helpful section about 'Eating Light', which we can all use these days. And, the best, when you are getting ready to go to out of the way places, there is a section on creating your own mixes, like granola, pancake mix, etc.

When we left on our around the world cruise, I had to sort through our books and leave some behind. This book made the cut, and is on our (limited space) cooking bookshelf. I highly recommend it!