I bought this book so that I could see what recipes would freeze well from the ATK/Cook's Illustrated/Cook's Country collection. Because the book is all about "making ahead" it offers more recipes than just those that you pop in the freezer. Don't get me wrong, there are a bunch of them, marked with "Freeze It" above every recipe that they deem freeze worthy. But there are also a bunch of other types of make ahead recipes. Like, overnight, make a day before, set it and forget it in the crockpot, etc... At first, I was irked like a lot of people who have commented about the freezing thing, but then it dawned on me that:
1. It says Make Ahead in the title, not Freeze
2. This could actually teach me something here :)
If you're like me, Monday through Friday is exhausting. When I get home from work, I am too drained to even think about what to eat, let alone cook it! I love to cook though and always enjoy it like a hobby on weekends. SO, what this book made me think was that there are some recipes that I can freeze for later in the coming week, or even way ahead of that, and some I can prep and whip together quickly Monday and Tuesday. It takes the guess work out of weekday suppers and makes it easier than starting from scratch.
The other big thing about this book (if you have never made or heard of America's Test Kitchen recipes before) is you can rely on these folks. These recipes are not hit and miss and this book is not going to collect dust. Make enough of them, and you start noticing techniques repeat into a habit, like blooming spices and garlic in oil, and you feel more confident as a cook. At least that has been the case with me. I really trust them.
I do have one gripe and that is just how it is organized. It is appetizer, casserole, sauces... I wish those were sub-categories and the big categories were Freezer Recipes: appetizer, casserole, sauces...; 1-2 Days Ahead Recipes, etc. Just because I feel the need to mark with highlighters or post-its all the freezer recipes to make navigation for them easier, and I don't like marking books like this.
But again, I found there to be so much good information and SO many recipes (It's over 400 pages with often more than 2 or 3 recipes on the page and even variation ideas) that I can't help forgiving them for that. :)
One last thing a lot of folks may find useful and not be expecting it: There's a whole section on double duty recipes which are ones that help you do something with leftovers besides just eat them as is again.
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Reviews with images
First Impression, not amazing
Just recieved today and there is this gray sticky film-like stuff all over the cover, under the cover the book is already banged up. I ordered the hard back so it would last for years. Wasn't expecting to have to wash the book before I could even flip through it. My first impression isn't great.
Top reviews from other countries
Prairy Earth
Good book for the make-ahead cook
Reviewed in Canada on September 30, 2016