Your Shirt Is Not an Oven Mitt!: A Kitchen Survival Manual with 150+ Foolproof Recipes [Paperback]

Debbie Puente (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

Fast, cheap, and in control

This uncomplicated and enormously informative manual is all the culinary novice or klutz will need to cruise the kitchen like a pro, shop efficiently, cook delicious meals for one, or whip up impressive gourmet spreads for a party of friends using accessible, cost-friendly ingredients.
Featuring over 150 savory and sweet recipes that include incredible party dips and hors d'oeuvres, enticing entrees, and decadent desserts, alongside shopping tips, safety dos and don'ts, a glossary of cooking terms, and so much more, Your Shirt Is Not and Oven Mitt! is the indispensable kitchen tool (next to that oven mitt!) that provides the most painless approach to cooking.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Puente all but explains how to boil water in this cookbook for the culinarily challenged. Aimed squarely at recent graduates, newlyweds and "kitchen novice single bachelors," the book provides hints, lists and recipes for cooks willing to branch out beyond corn flakes and milk. Puente (Elegantly Easy Crème Brûlée) assumes her audience knows nothing (witness such lines as "Never put... your hand inside a working blender or mixer" and "The shell protects the egg and if it is cracked or damaged, the contents will deteriorate rapidly"). Her recipes rely on such pre-made items as unbaked piecrusts, cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup and boxed cake mix, and encourage the use of microwave ovens and slow cookers. However, her book will be a godsend for brand-new chefs. Generally healthy and economical, the recipes vary from simple (Fluffy, Soft Scrambled Eggs) to inspiring (Asian-Style Mini-Drumsticks) and classic (Beef Stroganoff with Buttered Noodles) to frightening (Italian Ramen).
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About the Author

Debbie Puente is the author of Elegantly Easy Crème Brulee, Elegantly Easy Liqueur Desserts, and Deceptively Simple. A recipe consultant and food writer, she has been featured on Food TV's Food Finds, and makes regular appearances on HGTV's Smart Solutions. She lives with her husband and three sons in Southern California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031233124X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312331245
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,557,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading for every new cook, September 8, 2004

By 

Lynnette Spratley "lynnsprat" (Savannah, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Your Shirt Is Not an Oven Mitt!: A Kitchen Survival Manual with 150+ Foolproof Recipes (Paperback)

I ordered this book as a birthday gift for my son for two reasons: one, he's a disaster in the kitchen, and two, if not for Ramen noodles, the child would starve.

The book includes more than 150 recipes, only 14 of which are for Ramen. Chapters include recipes for drinks, sandwiches, and surprisingly sophisticated--but still simple to prepare--entrees, salads and desserts. These recipes will work as well for cooks-in-a-hurry as for culinary novices. Microwave and crock pot dishes will not only be life-savers, but may very well become the favorite dishes novice chefs feed their own kids someday.

Author Deb Puente (Elegantly Easy Creme Brulee) includes such vital basics as how long different foods can be stored, cooking terms, and lists of basic kitchen equipment and suggested items for stocking pantry and fridge. She even offers safety tips such as how to avoid food poisoning and how to check pots of boiling things without scalding the skin off your face.

This is a great book for fledglings fresh from the nest, newlyweds, and people whose children think the smoke alarm is a dinner bell.

But my darling son will have to get his own copy. I'm keeping this one!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Starter, May 27, 2006

By 

Mel (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Shirt Is Not an Oven Mitt!: A Kitchen Survival Manual with 150+ Foolproof Recipes (Paperback)

I recieved this book as a gift when I moved into my first apartment. So far it has been a great help with tons of usful information and recipes that are easy to use and understand. My favorite part is the Food Storage Index in the back. I am constantly looking at the best way to store foods. I highly recommend this book for anyone getting their first kitchen and just starting to learn how to cook.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Puente saves my nephew from starvation, August 27, 2004

By 

Jerilyn C. Dufresne "Writer/editor" (Milwaukee WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Your Shirt Is Not an Oven Mitt!: A Kitchen Survival Manual with 150+ Foolproof Recipes (Paperback)

I wish this book had been around many years ago when I learned to cook. I would have been spared the pain of burning myself, the expense of the doctor bills and the embarrassment of my family laughing at me. Puente, known for her to-die-for desserts, attends to the needs of novices, addressing such subjects as using oven mitts, having appropriate utensils, and easy, tasty recipes for every occasion. I'll give this book to my college-aged nieces and nephews--and heck, maybe even to my own grown children. Couldn't hurt. Thanks a million, Debbie, for writing this book.