I’ve always liked Barefoot Contessa recipes and this cookbook was one that missed my radar.   After looking through the recipes, reading some of the articles and recipes, I’m glad that I picked it up from the library.  It was interesting to read how Ina got into cooking and to know that this is her 10^th cookbook.  I don’t think I have read all of them yet so I’ll need to check into that next.  I liked her comment, “It doesn’t really matter what the occasion is – big or small – but it’s the connections that we have with people we love that nourish our souls.  Entertaining isn’t just about making dinner parties.  It’s about celebrating those connections and I think that’s what makes life worth living.” 

In essence, I feel this cookbook is not for me.  It recipes felt too fancy and/or the ingredients just didn’t hit my tastes.  I found only a few recipes that I would actually make.  The rest seemed to elaborate or had ingredients that I don’t care for.  Dishes like Vanilla Rum Panna Cotta, Vanilla Cream Cheese Pound Cake, Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables, Perfect Poached Lobster & Corn or Kasha Varnishkes with Wild Mushrooms are just a few of the recipes that were included in this book, that I realize I would never make.  I will say though, that the pictures in the book look very appetizing.  If I didn’t see and read the recipes, that are located on the opposite page of these pictures, I might be tempted just to try a sample of that dish.

This cookbook consists of 6 different categories: cocktails, soups, salads & lunch, dinner, vegetables & sides, bread & cheese, and finally dessert.  The book begins with a thank you and an intro and wraps up with two different indexes, a list of Jeffrey’s all time favorite dinners (which could come from outside sources) and a resource page.  All of her recipes have a picture attached to them and how many the recipe will serve.   There is a short paragraph about the recipe before the ingredient list and the instructions are listed out in paragraph form.  Ida does include some little suggestions and ideas on the margins of the recipes.  There is no nutritional information provided.

I liked the layout of this book and the text fonts that were used.  The book image inside and out is crisp and sharp and it doesn’t look cluttered.  I wished there would have been more recipes that I liked though.  4 stars  

by Rachel Patterson

As the title would suggest, this is a cookery book, but it focuses on working with practicality; getting the most out of your food supplies to minimise waste and working with the fruits and vegetables in season rather than shipping stuff all over the planet. It's written in a fairly engaging style with just a touch of woo and the recipes are clear and would be easy to follow.

The author states her love of baking in the introduction and that is shown in some very original baked goods. While a lot of these are too 'busy' for my personal taste (adding fruits, nuts, etc) there are some I will certainly give a try. She gives equal space to meat, vegetarian and vegan recipes and they are set out by the month for what is in season or suitable for the climate. For example, hot, filling foods in winter and lighter foods for summer.

My only issue is that I'm the world's fussiest eater and suggesting I would ever touch things like parsnips or chickpeas is optimistic and dependent on a serious famine, but I won't hold that against the author as I suspect I'm not her ideal target audience. For someone with broader taste and a desire to eat healthy, it's a great resource.

There is definite originality in the recipes and thinking outside the box. For example, Bubble and Squeak put in a soup. For the non-English, Bubble and Squeak is basically mashed potato mixed with leftover vegetables, usually cabbage, and fried as a pancake. The idea of putting it in a soup sounds soggy to me, but it might just work.

I enjoyed the segments at the beginning of each month, talking about the seasons. The majority of the recipes are too healthy for my blood, but I enjoyed reading the book and would definitely recommend it to those who want healthy recipes to fit the seasons.

I always like it when people take something they like, in this case food, and look in a lot of different places how other people are dealing with it. In the geeky chef cookbook, accompanying the blog, there is a collection of foods, both savory and sweet that has links with many fandoms.

The recipes often look great, but what I particularly liked about this cookbook, except for the research that went into designing foods that have something very meagre descriptions in the works they originate from, was the sheer number of different fandoms that the book touches upon. I think it is simply impossible, if you even slightly identify as geeky, to not find at least some of your favorites here.

I haven’t made any of the recipes myself, although I really want to make those lemon cakes from ASOIAF, the cake from Portal, and the cauldron cakes from HP. Apparently, I’m more of a sweet tooth than I give myself credit from.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

by Julie Schoen

I don't normally read much of the introduction to cookbooks but go straight for the recipes. This one was an exception as the author's story about her mother and grandmother's talents for baking was actually very interesting. I also found myself actually reading through the recipes rather than picking and choosing a few of especial interest as I usually do.

I found myself saying "I'm going to have to try that," on many of the first recipes, though the bulk of them were pretty standard and there were an inordinate number using coconut, which I do like but not in everything! I started reading too close to Christmas this year to do some trials for my holiday baking, but I'll be trying out some of these recipes through the year and I expect some, like candy apple cookies, will make it into next year's holiday baking plans.

A lot of the recipes use ingredients only available in the U.S., and one was even made from a German Chocolate cake mix only available in the U.S., so they aren't all the treasured family recipes that the introduction would lead me to believe. Still, a few of them look really good.

by Colman Andrews

Traditional British cookbooks can be difficult to find in England. Seriously, ethnic cookbooks are everywhere but apart from BeRo and Mrs Beeton, the more modern cookbooks tend to pass over the Brits.

This one is full of beautiful, full color pictures and information the author has picked up while traveling in the UK. Some of the observations made are interesting to read from an American self-professed Anglophile's point of view.

The recipes start out with good, basic recipes for oatcakes, porridge, bacon rolls, etc., then it gets fancy with Omelette Arnold Bennett, which I've never heard of. It struck me as the sort of thing you would find in a good restaurant.

Some of the soups were a bit fancy, also more like restaurant fare than home cooking. The chapters cover Breakfast, Soups, Fish and Shellfish, Poultry and Rabbit, Beef, Pork and Lamb, Wild Game and Offal and Savory Pies and Puddings. These are followed by Vegetables, Desserts and Confections, and then even cover sauces and condiments, Teatime and drinks.

They deviated from English food on Gnocchi, which is Italian. But this was followed by some traditional Scottish recipes and soon came back to English with fish and chips. It seemed to me there was a lot of fish and seafood, but we do have a history of that on this island nation. Some Indian recipes were included, which is a popular cuisine here since colonial times, and the poultry section even included grouse, which you won't see in the usual cookbooks.

I maintain that my Yorkshire Pudding recipe is better, but there were several recognizable traditional recipes. I didn't know what to make of the vegetable recipes. It seemed directed at vegetarians, and someone ought to tell the author that builder's tea means milk and one sugar!

I think this might make a good first cookbook for Anglophiles who have an interest in the history of British cuisine. I don't know anyone who makes their own mayonnaise in modern times, but the overall balance gives a nice taste of the history of food in Britain.