Customer Reviews

The Madison County Cookbook: Homespun Recipes, Family Traditions, & Recollections from Winterset, Iowa-The Heart of Madison County

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This cookbook was a Christmas gift from my best friend. She had bought it and knew that I would love it, too. These recipes are so simple to make with ingredients that you have in your pantry or refrigerator now. Lots of dishes you have always wanted to be able to prepare for your family and friends. Plus lovely Holiday memories.

I found this cookbook to be a wonderful addition to my cookbook library. With its downhome recipes that include ingredients that you usually have on hand, it is a joy to use. The illustrations that are included give the book a folksy feeling. The short stories give us an insight into true family life. This cookbook is a must for anyone who likes to cook for the family. They are sure to enjoy the results!

My daughter gave me this book & I in turn am buying it for 2 sister in laws...It is that good. The homespun stories in it are just as good as the recipes it has. I have done numerous recipes from this book & they have all been great!! My only problem with this book is I get sidetracked reading the stories...

This cookbook has some great recipes along with some cute stories, family traditions and rare recipes. I had this cook book a long time ago and had lost it when we moved. I needed a recipe from it for our traditional Christmas Breakfast. The seller (Pattie) went out of her way to overnight the book to me to make sure I had it before Christmas so I could make our families favorite Crepe's.

Thanks Pattie!! You made our Christmas complete this year!!!!

I love this cookbook. All the recipes sound really great and I loved all the stories in it. I am a cradle Catholic, so I really appreciated a book written with stories about my faith.

My Father in Law got this for me several years ago. I love the recipes and the stories. Whenever I'm craving something that "mom used to make" I can usually thumb through this book and find it, along with a couple of other things I'd like to try. Lots of old-fashioned, home cookin' recipes. Most ingredients are things that are kept on hand or easy to find.

This cookbook is pretty much exactly the same as any other charity cookbook you can get in any rural area. It's a collection of mostly country style recipes that were submitted by residents of Madison County, Iowa. Of course, the fascination with the bestselling novel "Bridges of Madison County" explains why this particular local cookbook was released nationally. As such, the cookbook is fine, and there are a number of stories included that some people might find interesting (again submitted by local residents).

The main fault of the cookbook is the lack of standardization across recipes, leading to recipes that are sometimes vague. For example, one recipe may call for "1 can of tomato juice," but not specify what size can to use. Many of the casserole recipes are especially vague; for example, indicating that one should "cook one chicken," but not explaining how the chicken should be cooked. This cookbook would probably make a nice gift for persons who like country style food and who already know quite a bit about how to cook in this manner. Others beware.