Customer Reviews

Joy of Gardening Cookbook

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

 

 

This cook book has been a great help in turning my piles of produce from my new garden into new foods and meals for my family. I can strongly recommend both its ease of use and the quality of the recipes it contains. A favorite is the beets "Shocking Pink Soup" which turned a supsicious looking vegetable into a now favorite family dish. I am ordering copies for my grown childrens families.

Excellent book with great recipes & instructions on vegetables. Try the Mustard Lemon Potatoes it's a family favorite. Also a great gift idea for families w/ gardens

Garden Way's Joy of Gardening Cookbook by Janet Ballantyne is a classic that deserves space in any cookbook collection. I actually keep one at work too so I can grab and read up on a particular fruit, vegetable, or technique when the mood hits me! I, too, have collected cookbooks for 40+ years, and can't understand how anyone could NOT profit from this one! The color photos (there are hundreds) help understand equipment, technique, step by step instructions, and what the finished dish should look like. The information on prep and use hasn't changed. With more people planting gardens or buying from markets close to home, this is an invaluable guide to using produce. Some of my favorite recipes include: Pickled Beets & Purple Eggs (my grandpa used to fix these), Cabbage au Gratin, Strawberry Cheese Strudels, all of the herb recipes, such as Boursin Cheese, Cottage Cheese Herb Spread, Sour Cream Dill Dip, Herb Cheese Soup, Pesto, Italian Seasoning Mix; Thai Chicken in Lettuce Leaves, Garlic Cream Sauce for Pasta, Onion Spiral Bread, Hay & Straw (noodles, julienned ham, fresh peas, fresh parmesan, butter, and a bit of heavy cream), Fried Rice, Chiles Rellenos, Roasted/Marinated Peppers, the 6 potato salad variations, Smoked Pork Chops on a Potato Apple Bed, Sweet Potatoes in Ginger Honey Sauce, Pumpkin Orange Cheesecake, Creamed Spinach with Garlic, Zucchini Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Squash Apple Nut Bread, and the techniques for tomatoes-I make my own pizza sauce from my homegrown tomatoes, and use it to make a gigantic pizza that's fantastic. There's even a chapter on "Oddball" vegetables, and a shopping list chapter for ingredients you may want to keep on hand. While this book is light on fruits, it's heavy on ideas. Janet tells you what to do with the early harvests, the older (tougher, woodier) vegetables, and the best way to preserve each for storing. I really can't imagine any one not getting their money's worth from this book. In fact, I'm getting ready to order one for a gift now. Check this out, you'll be so glad you did. Janet also did a book on tomatoes, and Garden Way did a book called "Zucchini Cookbook and Other Squash" if you're interested. While out of print, they're worth tracking down. Enjoy!

This is a terrific cookbook for gardeners and non-gardeners alike. Although it was published some time ago, the author's information is timeless. As a home economist, she has created some great vegetable recipes. I believe that even if someone doesn't like vegetables, by using this book, he or she should find appetizing ways to fix them. A unique feature of the book is the emphasis on using fresh veggies right out of the garden. Of course, if someone doesn't have a garden, fresh vegetables are also available from many sources. The author does comment that since her first edition was published, higher-fat ingredients have fallen out of favor. A cook should find it easy to substitute lower-fat ingredients in that case.

Glad I stumbled across this book, it is excellent for turning vegetables into wholesome food that allows you to taste the essence of the vegetable. The recipes are reliable and not to complicated, if you want gourmet recipes, this ain't it. Then again there are some inventive and tasty little gems here.

I have been collecting cook books for two decades, and this is a great book for anybody with a farm share, a big garden, or a yen to learn to make vegetables more palatable. You won't win Iron Chef with this book, but you will make veggies more interesting at the next potluck. Also, the recipes are adaptable so a green bean pate recipe can be changed to make a combination of flavors with blanched green beans & onion with a zesty sauce. If you have some skills, you can adapt the flavors of one combination and present the taste in a new form. Remember, the quality of the vegetables is key, thus garbage in, garbage out, fresh wholesome veggies in, fresh zesty flavor sensation out.

Finally, the recipes are mostly easy to execute. Janet Ballantyne is an educator, and knows how to present recipes in a fool proof fashion. Go ahead and get this book so you can enjoy your garden fresh veggies more.

I have had a copy of this cook book for years, and it shows its age. I use this cook book ALOT. I can only think of one recipe that I didn't like.

Janet Ballantyne knew just how to put together a comprehensive information book about vegetables. As a person who grows my own vegetables, I found Ms. Ballantyne's tips about how to grow them, what to do if you are plagued by pests that are common, and the best way to cook them to get the most out of them to be the most valuable book on my cookbook shelf. Her do's and don't and why were enlightening. I have spent days reading the book from cover to cover. When I work in either my garden or my kitchen, I have a new confidence in enjoying the labors of my work thanks to this book. If you are an avid gardener who likes to get the best of out of what you plant, you should own this book.

Although out of print for many years, this book still contains many great recipes from Janet Ballantyne. It was first printed in 1984 and an anniversary edition was printed in 1994. Several of my favorite recipes, including vegetarian, are in this cookbook and I just bought a used one for my daughter.

Excellent book with great recipes & instructions on vegetables. Try the Mustard Lemon Potatoes it's a family favorite. Also a great gift idea for families w/ gardens. Hey! Janet do another Cookbook about vegetables !

I have been looking for this cookbook for 7 years after losing it in a move. It is one of the BEST cookbooks on vegetables I've ever seen, written in alphabetical format with multiple recipes for each vegetable. My mother gave it to me over 10 years ago, in an effort to help me eat more veggies, and it helped me learn how to cook the most wonderful, simple and delicious recipes, that my taste buds have been craving ever since. So happy that I found this on amazon. Can't wait to get in the kitchen and cook up another batch of potato leek and beet swirl soup. YUM.