Help! My Apartment Has a Dining Room: How to Have People Over for Dinner Without stressing Out [Paperback]

Kevin Mills (Author), Nancy Mills (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

The dynamic mother-son team who wrote Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen Cookbook now offers humorous advice and easy recipes for gen-Xers and other novice cooks who want to invite friends for dinner. When we last met Kevin Mills in the runaway, surprise bestseller Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen Cookbook, he was a recent college graduate who took a cooking-by-phone class from his mom in order to survive in the kitchen, eventually winning over his vegetarian girlfriend with his culinary skills. Now he's married to her, she's a doctor, and he still does all the cooking in their tiny kitchen. And now they entertain. With the same combination of witty writing and clever illustrations that earned the authors' first book accolades in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and Seventeen, Help! My Apartment Has a Dining Room dispenses straight advice and 150 easy recipes from a kitchen veteran, Mom, road-tested and written by her twentysomething son, who has taken out "all the fancy cookbook talk." With "Mom Tips" and "Mom Warnings," this book gives novices the benefit of Mom's experience without having her in the kitchen.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The point of entertaining is simply to feed people and be relaxed. In Help, My Apartment Has a Dining Room, Kevin and Nancy Mills, the son-and-mother team who wrote Help, My Apartment Has a Kitchen, apply their wit and wisdom to just that. Targeted to students and newly independent twentysomethings, this user-friendly cookbook offers tips and menus to help the novice host weather nerves and wobbly cooking. First, cook ahead as much as possible. And make several dishes--the variety helps please everyone, avoid disaster from inevitable kitchen failures, and cope with vegetarians and individual allergies. Beginners can follow recommended menus (for example, Creamy Mushroom Soup, Chicken Kiev, Gingery Carrots, and Chocolate Fondue) or compose their own from recipes rated Very Easy (Thousand Island Dressing: three ingredients, five minutes) to Not So Easy (Beef Bourguignon). The authors explain everything, even how to hold a knife to chop nuts. The Mom Tips and Mom Warnings that follow recipes add more reassurance, like what stew meat and wine to buy for the Bourguignon.

Helpful to the last detail, the Millses explain how to make coffee and tea, and how to set the table, suggesting you use one rather than assembling around the sofa. A perfect shower gift, this book can save parents a fortune on phone bills and help your friends (or you) survive entertaining without emotional meltdown. --Dana Jacobi

About the Author

KEVIN MILLS and NANCY MILLS are the coauthors of Chocolate on the Brain and the forthcoming Faster! I'm Starving! The father of three young boys, Kevin is a regular contributor to Parents magazine. Nancy is a regular contributor to the entertainment sections of the New York Daily News and USA Weekend magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395892554
• ISBN-13: 978-0395892558
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,212,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm an amateur chef and loved this book!, January 21, 2000

By 

Nicole Dueffert (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Help! My Apartment Has a Dining Room: How to Have People Over for Dinner Without stressing Out (Paperback)

My cooking experience includes making boxed macaroni and cheese and toast. I received this book as a gift last year but just recently put it to use. Over the last month, I have worn it out! I am a vegetarian but also wanted to cook for friends who are meat-eaters. The book includes many receipes for everyone. The receipes are easy to understand and fun to read. Kevin and Nancy Mills have a fabulous sense of humor. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to start cooking but is intimidated and doesn't know where to begin.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have For Your Cookbook Collection, December 29, 1999

By 

Leslie A. Butler (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Help! My Apartment Has a Dining Room: How to Have People Over for Dinner Without stressing Out (Paperback)

I received Help! My Apartment Has a Dining Room Cookbook for Christmas this year. I am what they call a "Cookbook Junkie", but this is by far one of my favorites. I have only had this book for a couple of days, and I have not been able to put it down! I really enjoy the little anecdotes preceding several of the recipes. Also, the mom tips and warnings are tremendously helpful and great time-savers. The prologue to this cookbook is quite comical, and the tips for throwing a stress-free dinner party will definitely come in handy. My mom has already gone online and purchased Help! My Apartment Has A Kitchen Cookbook for me. I can't wait until it arrives!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for guests . . ., November 23, 1999

By 

Colleen in California - See all my reviews

This review is from: Help! My Apartment Has a Dining Room: How to Have People Over for Dinner Without stressing Out (Paperback)

This is a wonderful cookbook, even if you are not having people over for dinner! More than once I have simply halved a recipe to make a quick and tasty meal for two. The recipes use common ingredients and are simple and well-explained in an entertaining fashion.