47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best slower cooker cookbook I own, December 11, 2007
This review is from: Slow Cooker Magic: A Seasonal Selection of Family Favorite Recipes (Paperback)
I have more slow cooker cookbooks and recipe booklets than I can count. This one is by far the best. I found it at the library, had to buy my own copy, and now I've given it as gifts to everyone I know. The recipes don't use processed foods, there are suggestions for variations, many recipes can be made without meat, and they are just plain delicious! Quite a few of the recipes have quickly become family favorites.
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48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book!, January 19, 2007
This review is from: Slow Cooker Magic: A Seasonal Selection of Family Favorite Recipes (Paperback)
I recently bought a slow cooker and needed a good slow cooker book. I looked at lots of books out there. There's one for just about everything, but this book was exactly what I was looking for. I wanted minimal prep work on the food before it goes into the cooker, and recipes that were NOT made with boxes and cans of highly-processed foods. This book achieves both, with a very nice variety of recipes including desserts. Many of the recipes give tips on how they can be made light or vegetarian. It has all the recipes you've heard about over the years and includes some very interesting new ones. I truly appreciate the German recipes they've adapted for the crockpot like Gulaschsuppe and Currywurst which are family favorites. Every recipe I've tried, I've liked. I guess the only possible drawbacks are the way it's set up, and the lack of calorie information. I think it's nice that the recipes are categorized by season, but I don't use the book that way since I think it makes things hard to find. I use the index to find what I need and then dog ear the pages so I can find them again. The Cauliflower soup is fantastic by the way.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good recipes and information, February 25, 2009
This review is from: Slow Cooker Magic: A Seasonal Selection of Family Favorite Recipes (Paperback)
I borrowed this book from the library after reading all the good reviews. After going through it myself, I agree with the reviewers.
Here's what I like:
In the beginning, they have a section of Helpful Hints which give you the low-down on slow cooker usage, e.g. what ingredients work well in slow cookers and what don't, browning meats is recommended for flavor and appearance but it's not necessary, each time you lift the lid to peek it add 15 minutes cooking time, how to adapt your own recipes, etc.
Overall, the recipes use fresh, easy to find ingredients. Some recipes do call for processed foods such as cans of condensed soup and cake mixes, but those are few and far between.
As far as prep work goes, some recipes require more than others - some are chop, dump, start, while others require additional steps.
In the margins of each recipe are Serving Suggestions, Variations, and Tips which are actually informative and helpful.
The recipes are written for 4 quart cookers, but they tell you how to adjust them for 6 quart cookers.
Here's what I don't like:
The recipes are arranged by season. In theory, it's a great concept -it makes sense to have "chili" and "beef stew" filed under "Winter" and recipes calling for fresh vegetables filed under "Summer." However, I noticed that several recipes didn't seem season-specific to me and could easily be made and enjoyed in a season other than the one it was listed under. The Recipe Index in the back is only helpful if you know the specific name of the recipe you want. It would have been more helpful if they would have had an index where the recipes were listed under sections, i.e. "Meats", "Vegetables", "Soups", etc.
Despite the flaw with the organization & lack of helpful index, I still plan to buy a copy of this for myself. Yeah, the recipes look that good.
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