Customer Reviews

Desperation Dinners

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I admit that I was skeptical when I purchased this book. I was expecting yet another book full of "canned" recipes -- you know the type: a can of this, a can of that, few fresh ingredients. Boy, was *I* surprised!

While the book does take advantage of convenience foods -- pre-chopped veggies, frozen chopped onions, etc. -- it uses mostly fresh vegetables, meats, and readily available herbs, spices, and condiments. I've made several recipes from this book and haven't had a problem yet. My first was the cream of wild mushroom soup -- a heavenly silky concoction made with several varieties of mushrooms that reminded me a soup I'd eaten in an excellent Swedish restaurant some years ago. Outstanding!

And the authors are true to their word -- if you follow the directions, you'll complete each dish in 20 minutes or less. You'll keep busy for those 20 minutes, but you WILL finish. Each recipe is marked to let you know if you need to pre-heat the oven, boil water, etc. -- which aren't usually included in the 20 minutes.

As a cookbook collector, I purchased Desperation Dinners as another example of "quick and easy" cuisine. It's now on my "most used" shelf!

August 2007: It's now six years later since I wrote that review above, and this is STILL my most-used cookbook. I have over 2500 books in my cookbook collection, but this is the one I reach for first. I've made probably 30-40% of the recipes in the book, but I still have my favorites (that cream of mushroom soup, for instance). If you're looking for down-to-earth recipes that use everyday ingredients, but use them in creative ways, this is the book for you. Seriously. It's worth the investment.

I bought this book about a year ago and it is so well-worn I think I might need to buy a new one soon!

While I kinda like to think of myself as a "gourmet" cook, many nights I just don't have the energy, motivation, ingredients, etc. to even THINK about dinner, much less make it. That's where this book is indispensible. In 20 minutes or less -- no lie-- I can make a very tasty, filling meal, using pretty much what I've got in the cupboards (maybe with a short trip to the grocery to pick up a couple of fresh ingredients).

Now, I agree with one of the reviewers who said that these recipes are kinda bland. Many of them are. Mills and Ross certainly don't impress us with their cultured palate, and in some instances (for example, their Fiery Chinese Beef, or should I say, Fiery Chinese "Blech!") their use of spices is just plain wrong. But fortunately, they don't go astray too often and if you have a rudimentary grasp of salt, pepper & semi-exotic seasonings like curry powder, dijon mustard, "fresh" (bottled) ginger, etc. you can easily flavor these dishes to your taste w/ wonderful success.

Many of the recipes keep you moving, but some of them are so amazingly simple I wonder why the heck I didn't think of them on my own (the Shrimp Dijon and Honey Mustard Porkchops come to mind here: just slather & cook; served over rice these dishes are delicious). There are great recipes for gazpacho, shepherd's pie, chicken fingers parmesan, spaghetti w/ clam sauce, golden fried fish fillets and an interesting bunch of recipes for the grill, too. Along with the meals, Mills & Ross provide lots of simple recipes for delicious sauces, salsas, vinaigrettes, you name it. I've used these to spruce up old favorites from other cookbooks, as well.

Side dishes are kinda limited, but there are a lot of ideas for dressing up muffin mixes & refrigerated "tube" biscuits to make savory accompanyments. And I find myself whipping up homemade salad dressing all the time now, rather than use the preservative-laden bottled kinds. Oh yeah, and the ladies have a whole section on breakfast foods that I've turned to many lazy weekend mornings when my husband & I are in the mood for a big breakfast w/ minimum time in the kitchen. These hearty breakfast meals make satisfying dinners, on occasion, too.

So, if you frequently find yourself standing in your kitchen, staring blanking into the refrigerator, wondering what in god's name you can make for dinner... Do as this book instructs and start frying an onion. The smell will motivate you to start flipping thru your cookbooks and before long, dinner will be on the way. Do yourself a favor, though, and add this book to your cookbook collection, cause I bet my favorite non-stick frying pan that --nine times outta ten-- this'll be the book you turn to in such instances.

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend that runs a cooking store. Wow! I'm always short on time and ideas, running for fast food when my brain goes numb - it always happens near 6 p.m. - well, this book stopped ALL that! Not to mention side effects I hadn't anticipated! The recipes are simple, full of flavor and healthy. I'm not saying this book is solely responsible, but my husband's cholesteral level dropped significantly and I lost 15 pounds. I normally have 5-7 people at the table each night - 3 generations - and this book has something for everyone. I'm giving it as my Christmas present to all my friends, making sure my daughter has a copy to take to college with her, and moving all my other cookbooks off the kitchen shelf. I even packed this book for our 2 week vacation at the beach. This is the one cookbook no cook (busy or otherwise) should be without!

I agree with the other readers' sentiments in saying that this cookbook fast becomes an "old standby."

Using readily available ingredients, these recepies take only 20 minutes. (If you're using a mandoline slicer or food processor, you can assemble many of the recipes in a mere 15.)

While I do love to cook, I am often left with tons of leftovers, as I am a single twentysomething. The recipes in _Desperation Dinners_ are not only quick-cooking, but incredibly easy to scale. Therefore, I can enjoy good, fast home cooking without leaving tons of leftovers. Also, the side dishes make excellent one-person meals.

Additionally, this cookbook is great to have handy if you (like me) frequently have friends and family stop by unexpectedly. I just grab my copy of _Desperation Dinners_, go to one of my Post-It-Note-marked pages, and make something great. Guests always comment on my Martha Stewart-like way of whipping up something delightful whenever they knock on the door. (Little do they know that _Desperation Dinners_ is my secret weapon.)

Despite my words of praise, I have a few words of caution: 1.) Don't buy this book if you only like using fresh ingredients, as many of the recipies rely on bottled sauces and condiments. 2.) This is not the best cookbook choice if you're on a low-carb diet, as the meat and veggie-only options are minimal.

Regardless, this is a great cookbook! I highly recommend it.

Because of this cookbook, I attempted my very first meatloaf. Previously, the reputation of my mother-in-law's meatloaf intimidated me. My husband loved the Desperation Dinner meatloaves and he couldn't believe that I did it in such a short time. The chicken caesar salad was so good that my husband had two servings - virtually a miracle for someone who disdains vegetables. My daughter enjoys helping me cook the real-life lasagna (which I call "crazy lasagna") - she breaks the noodles - and she doesn't mind eating it two days in a row, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I actually look forward to cooking, just to try out the new recipes from this book. The book is packed with hundreds of quick, easy, and nutritious meals, is well-organised, and gives so much information even for a non-beginner like me. There is a lot of variety; I appreciate the Asian-inspired dishes so much. I definitely recommend this book - in fact I've given one as a gift and will soon be giving another.

I must admit that a year ago I was ready to throw this book away. A friend had recommended it to me and I am always eager to find quick and easy recipes. I made a few of the dishes and thought they were awful. I did't want to give up, though, so I looked at the other reviews on Amazon.com Several reviewers listed recipes that they liked so I tried those. Turns out, I found some really good ones and I'm keeping the book. I have only made about 20 of the recipes so far, so I'm looking forward to trying the rest.

My favorites:
White Bean and Chicken Chili
Mindless Mu-Shu
Tempting Thai Chicken
Balsam Mountain Inn's Fancy Fettuccine
Dinner Huevos in a Hurry
Sweet & Sour Broccoli Slaw
Garlicky Green Beans (these are worth the price of the book; they taste like they are from a fancy asian restaurant; we eat them like candy)

I would avoid these:
Garlicky Potatoes and Sausage
Tuxedo Chicken
Southwestern Chicken on the Spot
French Peasant Supper (this was awful- nobody wanted to touch it; it's pictured on the front cover!)
Primo Chicken-Vegetable Pasta
Pepperonata with Penne and Sausage

I would consider this a book with some fabulous recipes and some horrible ones. It's true that you can have dinner in 20 minutes. Yes, it is worth the money, but just know that you will have to weed through the bad ones (and/or read all of the Amazon.com reviews and follow customer opinion about what to cook from this book).

I've had this book for about 5 years now, and while I only rarely use it now- it literally saved my sanity 5 years ago.

I bought this book after seeing one of the authors on a Discovery channel daytime program. She was cute, perky and promised to have the answer to my prayers- how to cook dinner every night. At the time I had just moved 2,000 miles away from everyone I knew, had a 7 yr. old, an 18 mos. old, and was pregnant with child number 3. My husband had just taken a new job where, for the first time in over two years, he was not traveling. That meant he suddenly expected to come home every night to dinner! Sheesh! I was in no shape to suddenly start cooking, and the two kids had no desire to eat anything "weird". This book provided simple, kid friendly, easily made recipes that really hit the spot.

The recipes in the book are easily done in a half hour- 20 mins. if you follow their directions and devote the entire time to cooking. I usually am in the middle of checking homework, making phone calls and finishing laundry so it adds a few extra mins. Still, easily finished in 30.

There is a pretty good variety of recipes, especially if your family is open to eating shrimp, fish, and salads. It is broken down by groups, such as skillet meals, pasta, and breakfast for dinner (always a hit in our house). The recipes do rely on "convience" foods such as frozen, chopped onions, ready to eat mashed potatoes, and bottled ginger. I balked at the expense of many of these items, but their use is what makes it possible to get the meal on the table in 20 mins, and even with their high price the resulting meal is still cheaper than fast food.

I used this book steadily for the first two years, and then found out one of my children was Diabetic, and another one has food allergies. In the third year I took the recipes that I could adapt to the food allergies, plugged them into my Diabetes software to calculate nutrition information, and thus haven't touched the book in a while. I still make my new versions of many of their recipes, and continue to use many of their ideas for how to get a meal on the table in a short amount of time.

I also took their ideas and combined them with the "once a month" philosophy and have had good results. I buy hamburger and cook it with onion and garlic and then freeze in one pound portions. Then when the recipe calls for ground beef I just pull out my cooked meat and go from there. I also buy onions and freeze them, chopped, so when the recipe calls for "frozen, chopped onion" I pull out my baggies. Ditto the frozen peppers. This has allowed me to save money by not relying on their convience foods, but still make fresh meals in under 20 mins. That's important because I don't have the freezer space to do full "once a month cooking".

I do understand some of the complaints about the recipes lacking flavor, but when you're feeding picky kids the lack of spice is a bonus. My kids really enjoyed the "Sloppy Janes", "Schnitzel", and most of the pasta dishes. My husband has found much to enjoy, and with precooking/chopping the ingredients I find the clean up to be pretty easy. All in all, it's a winner for us. It's also one of my favorite baby gifts- along with a casserole dish filled with one of the recipes. I've had more than one new mom tell me it was a blessing.

I've made 12 recipes from this book: 2 of them are keepers with a few slight additions but the rest I'll only make again after reworking the ingredients significantly. I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY with the reviewer who said these are too bland - there's not a recipe I've made that hasn't needed extra herbs/spice and they're still too blah (I'm feeding kids, ages 13,16,17,18 and 42 <grin> and they agreed). Also, there's a heavy reliance on Instant Rice and bottled garlic and ginger. If you don't like these you'll have to do the prepare-ahead thing to make these recipes quickly or just add in the extra time (which slows a lot of 'em down).

My other gripe: food professionals or not, based on the recipes I suspect the authors need a better acquaintance with (or fondness for?) Southwestern/Mexican & Asian cuisines. Their versions of these dishes lack some of the basic supermarket ethnic ingredients that would give them some life. This was surprising given the number of really excellent cookbooks addressing these foods and the increasing availability of interesting ingredients in supermarkets.

I'd only recommend this book to experienced cooks who can modify recipes with some confidence, and then it's probably redundant to their own skills at getting flavorful meals on the table quickly.

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2010, trying this book again:
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At this writing I'm the grumpiest reviewer for the book. 10 years later I found it in a basement box and checked to see if I was just frazzled by work and 4 kids in 2000 and took that out on the book. Cookbooks are NOT a genre for the faint of talent, or of heart. If you & family love DD then good on you, no offense meant - but DD lovers are probably not reading this.

It takes enormous dedication to produce a worthy cookbook and this remains no worthy cookbook. Honestly I don't think the authors gave or perhaps had much time to work these recipes - this has all the feel of a book pushed too quickly to take advantage of a current market trend.

DD remains a big NO. If you are a frazzled cook, young, or not thrilled by the art then you are better served looking elsewhere - avoid this book, it's a waste of your precious cash and time.

But COOK and BLESS YOU for making your own meals: kids do grow up and stop complaining about cilantro/onions/garlic/mushrooms/sitting next to their brothers at mealtime. And if they join the military they'll seriously appreciate your efforts, and seriously ask you to send that weird marshmallow fluff + chocolate chip 'fudge' they loved so much, when you didn't have time to cook but they didn't quite know it.

Semper Fi.

This Book is my kitchen "bible". I love this cookbook over any other book in my kitchen, and believe me, I have a ton. Beverly and Alicia take the simplest things in your kitchen and turn them into masterpieces. I live in the midwest so our tastes are not caviar and pate. My family likes a good homecooked sit-down meal. This book can give a simple cook like myself a sense of confidence in the kitchen I've never felt before. A "whatever" attitude. I've had this book for a year now and feel like I am a better cook now than I was two years ago. I am not new to the kitchen. I'm a 37 year old wife and mother of two boys. Until I owned this book I felt like there was a right and a wrong way. Now I know different. I can't tell you how wonderful this book is. It gives you ideas and shortcuts in areas you would never dream of. And when they say dinner will be on the table in 20 minutes flat; they're not kidding. I've made some fabulous dinners I'm almost ashamed of. Dinner tastes like you've been in the kitchen all afternoon. But it's 5:30 and you didn't even start dinner until 5:00. This Cookbook teaches a person how to use what is on the shelf. How to use convenience foods and make a meal taste wonderful. If I could, I would give this book an eleven star review. I've never found a cookbook I read as often as I do this one. Like I said, it's my "Kitchen Bible".

I've tried many cookbooks that promise meals in 20 or 30 minutes. Most of them don't include the time it takes to chop ingredients, so it ends up taking 40 minutes when you include the prep time. This book delivers on its promise. Symbols alert the cook to start boiling water, defrosting meat, or preheating the oven as soon as he walks in the door. From there, instructions are complete and simple. They make an effort to reduce the number of pans needed, and many efficiency tips are built right into the instructions.

As with anything "fast," there are drawbacks. Some recipes lack a homemade flavor since they rely on many convenience items, like instant rice, bottled chopped garlic, and canned sauces. And some are a little bland, but I've remedied that by adding my own herbs and spices. I have made a few recipes that were remarkably flavorful and have become some of my "old standbys."

This is a lifestyle-changing book for people who work hard, care about their health, and think there's more to life than cooking.