Customer Reviews

Homemade: Delicious Foods to Make and Give

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

 

 

All of us have memories of lazy days spent in the kitchen with a grandmom. mom, aunt, etc. This book brings all those memories back alive and healthier and tastier than ever. Judy Choate is a gem! Her love of food is surpassed only by her love of family and friends, both come through clearly in this book. Heartily recommended.

Tired of making jars of layered cookie mix for gift giving? Buy this book. An outstanding collection of unusual gifts that you can make in your own kitchen. Most are fairly simple and require ordinary kitchen gear, no fancy tools or techniques will be needed to turn out impressive goodies. Hit the dollar store for creative packaging ideas and go to town with this entertaining guide. Recipients will be grateful for the unusual gifts you give. Beats a candle hands down.

As a collector of cookbooks (and someone who loves to give homemade presents) this book is one that I return to over and over again. The recipes are a wonderful mix of traditional (chocolate cookies) and international fusion (chutneys, black bean hummus, ras-al-hanout). Instructions and techniques are clearly laid out and so far everything I have made has gotten rave reviews. Definitely a winner (and a keeper) :D

I agreed with the author's opening sentiments that everyone appreciates homemade gifts, and there really is no substitute for something you made yourself with love. Unfortunately, I didn't find the rest of the book as agreeable.

The pictures were a regular source of annoyance - there weren't a ton of them and, when there were, they were usually of the packaged finished product - not the item itself! I understand that packaging is important, but I'd like to see what the end result is supposed to look like, especially on things I haven't made before. Equally annoying is that her focus on found or up-cycled packaging means you can't even buy and recreate the lovely packaging the photography focuses on, making it rather pointless except as general inspiration.

Most of the recipes are standard fare - jams, flavored vinegars or cookies that you will likely have seen in other places as well. More importantly, they are a huge source of irony. The author adjusted many of the recipes to use fat substitutes, but did nothing to mitigate the copious amounts of sugar involved! A handful of recipes called for unique or unusual ingredients as well.

This isn't a bad book to flip through for general ideas, but I was disappointed with the overall result and cannot recommend it.

I have to say, I was really disappointed in this book. I was looking for something different. A book that would talk about how she gave the food as gifts. How she decorated them. What she packaged them in. Maybe some stories about who she gave each item to and why.

But except for a small section at the front, it didn't do that. It was just another recipe book. I have plenty of recipes that I already use and like. I was looking for creative ideas on how to get them. Not another cookie recipe. This just wasn't what I was expecting at all.