Kitchen Survival Guide [Hardcover]

Lora Brody (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 1992

When Lora Brody, cookbook author, chocolate maven, and mother, sent her sons off into the world, she (and they) realized that they didn't have a clue as to how to feed themselves or their guests, if, heaven forbid, they should have any. The Kitchen Survival Guide is for anyone -- newly graduated, newly married, newly single -- who is venturing into the kitchen for the first time. With her on-target brand of humor, Lora Brody builds kitchen confidence with more than 130 basic recipes necessary to get through life, as well as hundreds of helpful hints Mom forgot to share:

On cleaning an oven -- "Manual cleaning oven, unfortunately, does not mean that a guy named Manuel will come and clean your oven."

What's the difference between dicing and chopping, zest and pith, or au gratin and au lait?

Survival recipes include tuna fish salad, homemade chicken soup, brownies, and many more.

Setting up a kitchen and keeping it clean and safe, how to buy and store food, a glossary of basic cooking terms, and what to do in the event of a culinary disaster are all covered in this handy, easy-to-use cookbook and kitchen compendium.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The thought of her grown son unarmed in an empty kitchen prompted Brody ( Cooking with Memories ) to write this wisecracking encyclopedia of first-kitchen recipes and advice. In part one, "Welcome to Your Kitchen," she leads neophytes through the basics of appliances, organization and equipment in sections that discuss how to defrost a refrigerator (with trays of hot water, not a hair dryer); when bulk shopping is not cost-effective; how to clean lettuce; and why the first great Rule of the Kitchenstet is "Everything has its place." Unfussy charts on meat temperatures, cooking terms and substitutions are useful, providing easy access to information that even practiced cooks forget. Part two, "135sic Recipes to Get You Through Life," spans a family's lifetime repertoire, from macaroni and cheese to brisket. More modern recipes include brown rice Creole shrimp and strawberries with raspberry sauce. This is a good supplement to the traditional first cookbook, which may daunt a new cook. The only drawback may be Brody's tone: her brassy one-liners and admonitions will seem either amusing and practical or talky and slightly condescending.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

"Kitchen illiteracy" is on the rise, and Brody's guide could serve as the perfect antidote. Designed for those with little or no cooking knowledge, her book describes appliances as basic as the refrigerator (how to defrost the freezer), discusses how to shop (buy the ice cream last), describes setting the table and washing dishes, and explains how to begin to cook (how to measure, read a recipe, and tell when "it's done"). The recipes are correspondingly uncomplicated, usually for those on a limited budget, and accompanied by checklists on preparation and making ahead, freezing, leftovers, and more. There are other basic cooking guides around, but this is a particularly engaging one.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks; 1 edition (June 16, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688105874
• ISBN-13: 978-0688105877
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,171,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely indispensable for a first kitchen, July 17, 2000

By 

R. Spaulding (Providence, RI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kitchen Survival Guide (Hardcover)

This book does what most cookbooks don't: it assumes that you really know absolutely NOTHING about cooking. For those of us for which that is true, this book is a life-saver. It has recipes for the most basic things (how to hard-boil an egg, for example); it gives you a suggested grocery list for your first shopping trip to stock your new kitchen; it give invaluable advice about choosing fresh food and how to store things. As a recent college grad in my first apartment, I consult this book almost daily (I didn't know that fish, if it's fresh, should have NO smell, or that eggs that have gone bad will float). A perfect graduation gift (or just a gift for someone you sense is really suffering in the kitchen).

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book for new commers to U.S. too., September 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Kitchen Survival Guide (Hardcover)

This book helped me a lot during my first business trip to U.S. I rent an apartment, then I found the kitchen appliances and equipments did not resemble at all to the ones I used to in my home country.... Why was "F" written on the oven instead of "C"?

No Asian food is sold in that small town, and I had no idea about anything the grocery store sold, which looked like some kind of food from outer planet. I threw away the first dish I cooked without eating, although I was not a bad cook in Japan. Then I found this book and studied it in detail. I learned how to use what the Americans call "stove", and how to shop in a grocery store.

I had seen many business people from Asia get thin and nervous because they couldn't eat. I was able to stay healthy in the new environment by this book and of course I suceeded the assignment!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for college students, December 21, 1999

By 

Kristal (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kitchen Survival Guide (Hardcover)

I'm all thumbs in the kitchen. When I do decide to get gutsy and whip up dinner, this book is by my side! It has great, simple recipies that are hard to mess up, lots of information about measurements and reheating things, and basically everything an inexperienced cook needs to know.