Customer Reviews

The RV Cookbook: Over 100 Quick, Easy, and Delicious Recipes to Enjoy on the Road

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

 

 

I found this book totally impractical and a waste of money for cooking in a small RV. It might be okay for the person with a 40 foot motorhome with a complete kitchen and all the comforts of home. Many of the recipes contain ingredients that I don't even keep at home. Access to perishables and fresh produce is assumed although the authors mention cooking in the middle of the Mohave Desert in the Introduction. Who takes cloth napkins on a camping trip (and where do you wash them)? A much more useful book is "Easy RV Recipes: Easy Recipes for the Traveling Cook" by Ferne Holmes.

As an experienced cook and new RV owner, I was excited to see this book advertised and quickly bought a copy. However, I was quickly disappointed.

The authors began well, by giving tips for stocking your RV's pantry. But how many of us would take such things as molasses, seeds, balsamic vinegar, and tarami? The picture of the authors show them in a small VW Eurovan camper. There just isn't room in a small RV for such space-wasters. I would suggest starting with salt, pepper, and sugar, and expanding from there. Also, many of the recipes require an oven. Small RVs (like mine) don't have an oven.

To at least give the book a fair try, I picked out what I thought were the five best recipes to try on my family. With the exception of one, they voted thumbs-down on all of them, and asked me not to make them again!

In fairness, all of us have our own favorites, and this cookbook might appeal to those who frequent health food stores and have a lot of time on their hands to experiment. But this cookbook really seems to be about two people who just wanted to publish a cookbook of their favorite snacks and dishes, and saw the "RV" title as a good way to market it.

In my opinion, you will be much better off to examine your own recipe files for family favorites, considering how to pull them off in a carefully-planned RV, with minimal fuss. I've tried this method since we purchased our RV, and have received rave reviews from the family. If you can, skim through this book first at a local bookstore to see if the recipes might fit your taste.

Of course I knew the recipes would be great- tasty and easy to prepare but I was so pleasantly surprised with the "Secrets to Shopping","The Tips for a Weekend Trip" and the section on the Extraordinary Equipment. I found the Glossary to be very helpful, also.There are many innovations in this cookbook and I especially like the "road sign" tips that appear with many of the recipes.

As an experienced cook who is new to RVing, I thought this would be the perfect book for my roadside adventures.

The book got off to a great start (so I thought) with the lists of equipment. As I read through the lists, I discovered just how impractical they were. If you're concerned with the amount of weight you are hauling in your RV, you don't even want to consider taking a pressure cooker, toaster oven, hibachi, food processor, blender and several other items that they list.

They recommend stocking the pantry and refrigerator with an equally wide variety of less than practical items like red curry paste, sesame oil among others. Other "great" suggestions include taking cloth napkins as not to waste paper. We've used nothing but cloth napkins for years at home for this very reason, but on a 3 week RV excursion with limited access to laundry, how practical is that?

As for the recipes - none of them are anything that can't be found in the average cookbook collection at home. Many of them are too involved to do in a smaller RV. Very few of them are recipes that I would want to cook after a day of hiking or kayaking. On the other hand, some of them are so simple that you don't need a recipe for them. Who needs a recipe for a roast beef on rye sandwich?

Remove the few pages of introductory information and the book is really no different from the hundreds of mediocre cookbooks found in the bargain bins of many book stores. Your best bet is to do a Google search and you will find an abundance of cooking information and advice from seasoned RVers. Then, sift through your favorite recipes and cookbooks and with a little adaptation you can take them on the road.

My husband and I recieved this book as a gift right before embarking on a cross-country family trip in out RV, and it ended up becoming our most important belonging! The recipies are creative and easy, and best of all; tasty! For once, our kids loved helping out with the cooking and didnt complain about the menu. (Naturally we've continued to use a lot of these recipies at home!!) I highly recommend the RV cookbook to everyone who loves to travel on the road. The selections work well in small and large RVs, and even at home! It makes a great (and useful!) gift for anyone who loves to travel.

I have planned a few trip menus with this book, and I love it. The recipes are mostly simple, many use a crock pot or campfire. My husband and I have enjoyed the food. I recommend this book.

I got this as a gift for my mom and dad, who own an RV. My mom looked through the recipes and commented on how they looked very easy and contained few ingredients -- perfect for on the road cooking.

This is a great cookbook. I even use it cooking on my boat. Recipes taste very good, plus they seem quite healthy.