Customer Reviews

Tony Casillo's Family Cookbook: A TREASURE TROVE OF RECIPES AND COOKING ADVICE FROM A DAD TO HIS DAUGHTERS - ANDTO ALL THOSE WHO WANT TO COK AND EAT WELL

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My father is a constant source of amazement.

Since I was a young girl, he has astounded me with tales of his very modest childhood in Italy. As a newly arrived, Italian-speaking US citizen aged 13, he excelled in school, eventually winning a scholarship to university. Throughout these times he cared and cooked for his younger siblings while his parents worked - quite a humbling thought for an American-born girl who always had plenty of clothes, toys and food. It seemed to me that my father achieved the 'American Dream'.

My own childhood memories are filled with family events and gatherings centred around my father's cooking and conversation and my mother's skill in presentation and entertaining. Every relative seemed to have a special recipe associated to them and I remember feeling daunted by the prospect that, one day, I would be hosting family gatherings of my own - what would I cook, how would I manage? Inevitably, the dreaded day came. How painful a process it was to cook a meal! It took me all day and I was constantly ringing home to ask my father's advice. Thanks to him, it was a success, and many more family meals followed, but I still called my dad every time to ask "how do you make this or that?" Eventually I think this prompted my father to write down all our family recipes gathered over the years.

The cookbook provides a wonderful, personal memento for me, but it's also a failsafe guide to preparing and enjoying some classic, delicious and uncomplicated recipes. Mealtime gatherings will always play a huge part in our family life but it's wonderful to reflect that our family life may now impact others' mealtimes!

In today's fast-paced world, the dinner choice for many is something from the nearest fast food restaurant. Fortunately for us, Tony Casillo wanted better for his daughters. Casillo wrote Tony Casillo's Family Cookbook: A Treasure Trove of Recipes and Cooking Advice From a Dad to His Daughters as a gift for his girls, to remind them how quick and easy it can be to prepare "decent, wholesome food."

Casillo's family emigrated to America from Italy when he was 12 years old, so the dishes are predominantly Italian. There are recipes for tasty, simple dishes like Bruschetta, Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil, Beef with Tomatoes, Gina's Salmon Parcels, Grandma Casillo's Zucchini, Brown Sugar Potatoes and Almond Biscotti. Osso Buco, Gina's Roast Pork with Mushrooms and Marsala, Lamb Ambruzzi Style, Elegant Livorno Fish Stew, Artichokes Roman Style and Neopolitan Ricotta Pie are some of the more elegant dishes which are perfectly suited for family celebrations. Of course, there are also recipes for great Italian classics such as Antipasto, Risotto, Lasagne, Flour Gnocchi and Zabaglione.

Part of the appeal of Tony Casillo's Family Cookbook is Casillo's relaxed attitude toward cooking. In the notes accompanying a recipe for Chicken Cacciatore, Casillo writes "if you don't like anchovies, leave them out...If you don't like olives, leave those out as well." There are variations listed for many of the recipes; eight variations are provided for Crushed Tomato Sauce alone. Casillo even includes a "basic formula for vegetable soup, so you can make your own creations." What truly makes this book a treasure, however, are the many old family photos and anecdotes sprinkled throughout the pages.

The recipes are easy to follow and Casillo's fatherly advice regarding ingredient selection and preparation is always helpful. With its emphasis on enjoying good meals as part of our everyday lives, Tony Casillo's Family Cookbook is an excellent cookbook for novices and advanced cooks alike.

It's so wonderful to have this delicious recipe collection at last. I grew up running in and out of the Casillo family household, snacking and dining regularly at their generous table. Whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner, each dish was always a treat. This is the kind of cookbook that you will reach for time and again, week after week. Tony, thank you for sharing!

Unless you are fortunate enough to be sitting at table with Tony sharing a meal he has cooked, it doesn't get better than this. Tony's visits to our house over the years have been increasingly punctuated with spectacular food that has always made me wonder where he learned to do what he does with just basic ingredients. During my sister's visits home over the period Tony was compiling his recipes, she would frequently cook something extraordinary and we'd beg to know how it was made. Without fail, she would tell us it was from Tony's book. Now that it's published and I have a copy at my fingertips, I am impressing my own guests by cooking many of these dishes from both sides of our families. The monologue that entwines the recipes with their origin as well as memories of meals past and relatives fondly remembered, places this cookbook apart from the ordinary fare and brings the reader into our family circle. After I finished reading Tony's cookbook I had no choice but to say arrivederci to the bottled lemon juice and jarred minced garlic that I have always kept on hand in my refrigerator. Again, Tony, great job!

Tony Casillo's Family Cookbook will be counted among my favorite consults for recipes that impress and yet are simple to make. As a professional chef working in the private sector I am always eager to find new meals to prepare. Mr. Casillo's straight forward approach scores a 5 rating as does his antidotes. Keep up the good work!

I am a collector of cookbooks and have found Tony Casillo's Family Cookbook a much welcome addition to my collection. The receipe's are simple to prepare and made with all fresh ingredients. Tony's tips are also very helpful. The family pictures are great and are part of the simplicity and warmth of the Italian tradition. I highly recommend this book to any collector and to those who love italian cuisine.

A delightfully refreshing cookbook of Italian fare. This coookbook is loaded with beautiful color photos. The recipes are simple to prepare and delicious to eat. I especially enjoyed the cooking tips and family anecdotes. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoyes Italian food.This book will greatly enhance your cookbook library.

I enjoyed the family history and photographs while leafing through the yummy recipes! Not your ordinary cookbook. Some great hints and tips (useful for a child of the microwave age) .... and the dishes we have tried so far have been wonderful! Thank you Tony!

Tony's cook book is a must for all kitchens and when you get to know this man through his writing and pictures you find out that Tony is a humble man that has a passion for food that goes deep within. Those of us who share the passion, know what that is like!! There are few things in life that are better gifts then that of food . Tony brings the greatest of cooking to all, a book that he intended for his daughters as a gift and what a gift it is.I tell you ;you will not be disapointed with this book! Thanks for a great simple book that all can relate too!! If you ever get to see him cook live don't miss it!

I have been collecting cookbooks for over 30 Years. At first, I joined a cookbook club in order to expand upon the cooking experience I had both at home and at school (back when Home Economics meant learning how to sew a button on a shirt and make a white sauce). From there I progressed to cookbooks that let me learn how to cook for two (I come from a BIG family ) to how to economically feed a family of four. My collection includes the requisite Fanny Farmer Cookbook as well as the Pillsbury, Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens series. The past few years, however, my criteria for choosing which cookbook to buy has changed. Not only must a cookbook contain reliable recipes made without exotic ingredients, but it must also read well as a BOOK. The text and the pictures are as important to me as the recipes. Having heard some time ago that Tony Casillo was writing a book for his daughters, I was eagerly awaiting this book. I was not disappointed. Above and beyond the recipes, which are presented as a way to bring the family into the kitchen, I found this book to be a charming reflection of growing up in a large Italian family. The recipes are straight-forward and easy to follow. But the family photos and remembered faily observations make this a special book for me. A self-taught cook, Tony Casillo presents recipes to be made in a loving family environment. Above and beyond the recipes (I look forward to making his Cassata cake recipe -- the one I make at work is slightly different) I enjoyed this book as a testament to growing up in a large famil, where putting food on the table was not just a necessity but a shared, loving experience.