Customer Reviews

Martha Stewart Living Annual Recipes 2002

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I subscribe to the magazine, but I thought it would be nice to have all the receipes for the year in one place and bound so that I wouldn't have to worry about losing any. So I thought it was a great idea to have a book like this one. I was really excited when I got it; I love Martha's receipes and the photos are always great. Unfortunately, the book is arranged by months, so it is impossible to browse for say, dessert receipes--they are scattered all over the book! I thought that if they were going to put all the receipes together they would at least organize them somehow, other than by month. What a disappointment!

Yes, I'm reviewing a Martha Stewart cookbook. Martha Stewart as a person, has received a ton of criticism, some founded and some not. Though not a diehard fan, I can appreciate her do-it-yourself approach to good living. I now have two Martha Stewart cookbooks.

This particular cookbook is the recipe compendium of all Martha Stewart Living issues for 2001, plus a few recipes from her special topic issues (weddings, baby, kids). If you have every issue of the magazine, you'll not need this cookbook. For the rest of you, read on.

Chapters represent each month's issue, and along with the featured recipes for the month, include recipes from the regular columns: Dessert of the Month, Good Things, What To Have For Dinner, and Fit to Eat.

Browsing through this cookbook is like walking through a buffet. You'll find a varied assortment of dishes that will please just about everyone; from the basics like "Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce 101" to more elaborate meals like "Beef Rendang with Broccoli". Regardless of the recipe, I found each recipe clearly written and easy to follow.

My first experience with this cookbook was not something simple and safe. Oh no, I had to pick something that required time, patience, and steady nerves. I selected to make "Alma Etheridge Wilson's Roanoke Sixteen-Layer Chocolate Fudge Cake". If you ever see this cookbook, a slice of this particular cake appears on the cover.

Making this cake also required breaking in my new KitchenAid stand mixer. The sweat broke out on my forehead with the thought. What had I gotten myself into?

The only secret to this fun (yes, I said fun) cake is to follow the directions. No matter how much you want to, do not over bake it. Each layer is so thin that it will dry out or burn before you know it. The only thing missing from this recipe is an estimated time of completion. I made the mistake of starting the cake after dinner and didn't finish until sometime after midnight. The results were worth it. A delicious and gorgeous cake that had everyone wondering how I did it.

Another recipe that was a knockout was for "French Onion Soup". I've never had it, never wanted to try it, and turned my nose up at it if offered. I'm not a major fan of onions. I selected this particular recipe because my fiance said he liked it and I wanted to add another "new food/dish I've tried" to my growing list. For anyone who has never had French Onion Soup, unless you are allergic to onions or cheese, you must try this recipe! For those who love French Onion Soup but were afraid to make it thinking it might be too difficult, try this recipe.

The hardest thing about this recipe is having patience to not stir the onions too often while waiting for them to caramelize. I made this over the weekend and after my first taste, wanted the whole pot for myself. This is one of those recipes that are so simple, whether you make your own beef broth or use canned, you'll want to make it often.

I have to say that I went into this cookbook ready to find all sorts of faults with it and I couldn't. Well, I did run into a few silly editing mistakes. Small things like in the index, Pork is shown as a sub-category for Poppy-Seed. It was frustrating initially looking for a recipe using pork until I noticed the mistake.

As for who would enjoy this cookbook? Just about anybody looking for recipes they can be successful using, for anyone looking for a variety of recipes to suite family and friends, for those who enjoy good cooking. The few mistakes I found were easy to overlook but still tarnish the shine of this cookbook. Not bad Martha, not bad.

Love her or hate her, the woman has some GREAT recipes!! Everything from basic to show-stopper!! You will be so amazed at the results. Altho some pictures of the recipes look like you need to be a professional baker or trained at the Culinary Institute, they are actually easy. I have yet to make a recipe here that people do not ask for the recipe. A great addition to a cookbook collection. Many of Martha's highly requested recipes included.

I bought this book because the cover looked like the ultimate challenge.


My mother is one of those effortless bakers who cheerfully delivers gourmet sweets that look like they are straight out of the case at a pastry counter. I was visiting home when I bought this book and proudly told her, "I'm going to make THAT tomorrow NIGHT for my dinner party," jabbing my finger at the 16-layer cake on the cover.


She balked immediately and urged me to reconsider, recommending a three or four layer cake to start. She recounted my many cake failures (gently, of course) and told me not to overextend myself. More determined than ever, I trusted Martha and my own direction-following skills, and made that cake.


Martha's process is simple, thorough (above all, I hate cooks that assume you'll fill in the blanks), and graceful. The cake cook time to make, true, but did not require too much money (short ingredient list) or baking skills (my repertoire is as limited as my pantry). Every other recipe I have made from this book (try the Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti) has turned out beautifully.


Martha made a chef out of me and can make one out of you.

This is a wonderful cookbook. I have several others that I use to make dishes, but I can always count on Martha's recipes to be the best. I have yet to make an average or bad dish using one of her recipes. They always come out great. The book has good pictures and a wide skill range for the recipes- from easy to difficult. It's packed with lots of recipes and side hints to help with anything from picking ingredients to preparations. The deserts are particularly wonderful. I love to bake and all of the deserts come out great- apple sauce cake, lemon bluberrry pound cake, coconut patties to name a few. Highly recommended.

Only Martha Stewart could be this organized. What a great idea to take an entire years' worth of recipes from her magazines and compiled them into a book. There's no need to keep all those magazines around waiting for a few spare moments to clip out the recipes. The book is organized,the recipes are concise and very easy to follow. I've made enough of them to know that the measurements are precise and the results will be delicious. I would recommend this cookbook to the beginning cook as well as the experienced cook. It is one of those cookbooks that you will reach for again and again.

The editors of Martha Stewart had a brillant idea in putting this book together. It combines all of 2001's magazines recipes into one collabration. It is beautifully designed and has that special touch only Martha Stewart could give it. I recieved the book yesterday and have already made several of the recipes shown. Great place to start for people who are just begining to be involved with Martha's books. Excellent!

The editors of Martha Stewart had a brillant idea in putting this book together. It combines all of 2001's magazines recipes into one collabration. It is beautifully designed and has that special touch only Martha Stewart could give it. I recieved the book yesterday and have already made several of the recipes shown. Great place to start for people who are just begining to be involved with Martha's books. Excellent!

What can we say? This is a very good cookbook, but not for the average cook on an "everyday" budget. But then, of course, Martha's tv shows are not for us either. Anyways, there are many good recipes, and I like Martha's shows and have her other books. But, in my opinion, her Comfort Foods Cookbook was her finest hour.

I had very high expectations for this cookbook. I was extremely disappointed to find the cookbook organized by months, rather then by recipe type. ie. desserts, main courses, etc....

Who sits down to plan a meal and thinks...hmnnn...it's Spring Time...I'll look for all the Spring recipes? Not me (a trained French Chef).

I found using the index to search for recipes difficult. I finally ended up paging thru the entire book (it's lengthy) to find the exact recipe that I was looking for.

I tried a couple of the recipes and they turned out good (but not excellent).

I would skip buying this book. Take it for a test drive from the local library first. Only buy it if you can deal with the organization of the recipes.