Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Real food, for real people packed w/ info extras., September 21, 2006
I have long been a fan of the Taste of Home magazine & would collect their annual "Yearbooks" of recipes. Naturally I had to add this to my collection and was pleasantly surpised by the addition of a conversion and substitution chart on the inside cover. The lay out of the book itself is orderly and in each section includes a wealth of information on everything from different cheeses, meat preparation, utensils, what goes well with what etc.
Taste of Home recipes have always been a plus in that they were always good food made from readily availble ingredients, yet the addition of easy to read charts and photos provide crucial how-to information that makes this an excellent book for a novice cook while the variety in recipes will offer plenty of new options to try out for an advanced cook.
I also liked that the book is sturdy and very well made, it is designed for endurance and extensive use.
As usual Taste of Home does not disapoint & this book is Highly recomended!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
With this Book, Who Needs Betty?, March 25, 2007
I grew up with "Taste of Home" magazine, and some of the best recipes I've found came from one of the Country Cooking series, either in magazines or their spiral-bound cookbooks. I've had many a 4-H Food Show blue ribbons courtesy of the Country Cooking series. When I saw this cookbook at BJs, I bought 1 copy for me, 1 for my sister, and one for my mother, without even flipping through it first. I was confident that anything these guys had to offer was fantastic.
Well, it's been several months now, and this book exceeds my expectations on all counts. It has replaced my old, worn Betty Crocker "Red Bible" as the new "go to" cookbook, because everything that Betty delivers, this book delivers, and better.
This book is a Betty-style, hard cover, 5-ring binder book, with the thin, magazine-style pages, and divided up with 25 tabs. I love that, instead of the general, catch-all "meat" section that most cookbooks have, this one actually divides out "Beef and Veal," "Pork," "Lamb," and "Poultry" into it's own, very complete, sections. Instead of the ubiquitous "desserts" section, this has the "Cookies and Bars," "Cakes," "Pies and Tarts," "Candies," and the "Desserts" section (filled with ice cream, sorbet, and cobblers... The things that just don't fit anywhere else). Some might find this to be organized to the point of tediousness, but I think it's phenomenal to have that kind of hyper-categorization. Being somebody who cooks with a "I kind of know what I want, but not really" attitude, it's nice to be able to flip to the specific section that caters to my culinary whim.
Then there are the "bells and whistles" that this cookbook has that knocks it up that one notch further. The "food equivalents" measuring chart, the "ingredient substitutions" chart, the helpful hints, cooking tips, carving tips, temperature guidelines, and other little gems you find in each section are so complete, I don't need to do the "cookbook multi-task" with the recipe I want on one counter and the cooking/roasting tips in the Betty book on another. The index section is equally informative, with 3 indexes, one for the "food category," one for the "major ingredient," and the last for "references and tips." There's also a chart for recommended food storage times (freezer and fridge), the herbs and spices guide, and a cuts of meat guide (awesome). With all of this stuff, I am willing to forgive that this cookbook is pretty big and bulky... It requires lots of space, but lays flat, which is good enough for me.
The recipes are complete, easy-to-read and easy-to-use, and while all of the recipes tend to be "beginner" recipes, suited for people of all skills, there are quite a few that are more complicated, and required a little bit more skill. Pretty much all of them, though, are recipes that anybody can use, without fancy or expensive ingredients, making it the perfect dinnertime cookbook. As an added bonus, each recipe has nutrition information, so when I'm doing Weight Watchers, I can still stay in my diet and use this cookbook (for us who have love affairs with food that's gone straight to our thighs, the "Light and Tasty" section is a Godsend).
Really, I think this is the only cookbook you need. Perfect for newlyweds, people who like to or are learning to cook, or just anybody who wants a simple, down-home recipe book with recipes submitted by people who know what they're talking about. My only hope is, when this book expands into the newest additions (as I know it will), the folks at Taste of Home will be smart enough to sell the expansion packs (packages that only have the newly-included recipes/pages so people with the older editions can simply add the new pages and stay up-to-date) like Betty Used to, so I won't have to buy new cookbooks every other year.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great for novice cooks, March 25, 2007
If you're looking for a great gift for a first time cook, this is it. The recipes are reliable, making the chances for success much higher--thus, the cooking experience more satisfying for a novice. While accomplished cooks may find the illustrated, step-by-step basics a little tedious, for people just starting out in the kitchen these sections provide a fantastic approach to lessen fears and boost confidence. The photos help reinforce the plain language text descriptions, providing workable approaches for people who are visual or verbal learners.
Yes, the binder is cumbersome (one reason I was put off from purchasing a copy sooner) and the paper stock is thin, but this design facilitates easy access to recipes by allowing the book to lay open flat and the pages (in what would otherwise be a very thick and heavy bound book) to be removed for use and then be replaced without having to wrestle with the entire volume. Hint: To keep the pages clean, simply slip them into a clear poly photo page during use.
I particularly like the binder dividers which categorize recipes in typical groupings--poultry, pork, seafood--but also provide an index for each section so search time for a recipe is reduced. For purists, indeed, a good share of recipes in this binder appear in other Taste of Home publications but from my perspective, the editors have chosen well, selecting some of the most reliable recipes I've found across nearly a dozen of their annual and special issue cookbooks.
I like having the nutritional information included for each recipe. For experienced cooks, the nutritional information helps in figuring out ways to reduce fat and sodium content. For a new cook, the nutrition facts will help raise awareness of preparing balanced meals. Information detailing a variety of vegetables, safe cooking, serving, and storage methods is another great feature the book offers. This book also includes the basics on how to set a table and information about entertaining including, among other things, what variety of and how many appetizers to plan for each guest and how much food to plan on preparing per person for a dinner party.
The Taste of Home Cookbook is very well thought out and executed and the editors are to be congratulated. It certainly holds its own against the Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks and, as far as I'm concerned, deserves a place next to The Joy of Cooking as an approachable, user-friendly, instructional cookbook with a low learning curve.
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