Kelly's Kitchen Sync: Insider kitchen design and remodeling tips from an award-winning kitchen expert Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am an interior designer who works with a contractor in a design/build partnership. We plan to give this book to every potential client. This book decodes the language and process behind a kitchen remodel. It's timely and even overdue in this era of extreme customization. And that it is well organized and even humorous makes it a delight to read. There are so many books that inspire beautiful kitchen design, but lack the nuts and bolts. This book doesn't do what the others do. You won't find amazing dream kitchen photos in this book. Consider it a field guide, a don't-leave-home-without-it book. I will no doubt refer to it on every job. Thank you Kelly for your contribution towards making good kitchen design happen!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Kelly's Kitchen Sync: Insider kitchen design and remodeling tips from an award-winning kitchen expert

"80% OF CONSUMERS WANT TO REDO THEIR KITCHENS." - Kitchen and Bath Design News
And most of them will want to pull their hair out at some point in the process! Appliances or cabinets don't fit or open right . . . the sink is so tight that the faucet gets a wedgie . . . the floor or walls aren't straight or plumb . . . the range hood is a head-banger . . .your contractor forgot to ask you about . . . everything!
From DIY go-getters to reluctant remodelers to smart consumers who just want to stay on top of their projects, everyone who dabbles in kitchen design and remodeling needs some "I wish I'd thought of that" help and support.
Packed with truly insider kitchen design secrets and remodeling tips shared in a humorous, realistic way, Kelly's Kitchen Sync has answers to questions you didn't know you should ask. Don't let your project get bogged down by your own horror story! Let Kelly help you get it done right, on time and on budget.
You'll learn how to:
'Separate expectations from the reality of what will work for you and your kitchen
'Figure out where to go, who does what, when to get outside help
'Ensure your design matches the space, appliances, and how you use your kitchen
'Choose materials that will work best, and when and where to splurge
'Keep costs down by making good choices and avoiding costly mistakes
Kelly Morisseau has kitchen design in her blood. Her blog, Kitchen Sync, is a top-ten kitchen design blog on the internet. A second-generation designer, both her parents were kitchen designers long before anyone understood the term. Kelly's award-winning experience includes more than 25 years as a professional kitchen designer, both on her own and for leading design/build firms. She is a Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer (CMKBD) and a Certified Interior Designer (CID) in California.

Click here for more information about Kelly's Kitchen Sync: Insider kitchen design and remodeling tips from an award-winning kitchen expert

Read More...

The Texas Cowboy Kitchen Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I received this cookbook as a gift for this past Christmas, and have loved trying the different recipes. Most seem to have ingredients common to our home, and they aren't difficult if you can follow instructions. The stories are very interesting, and the photos make you want to cook the recipe that day. I hadn't heard of it prior to receiving it, and within 2 weeks have cooked 5 recipes, and planning on more. Main dishes, desserts, baked goods, all with a TexMex flare. My recommendation, is go ahead and buy it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Texas Cowboy Kitchen

Grady's probably the only guy I know who could dress up a Frito pie and make it look pretty, and the only cook who'd think of marinating skirt steak in Dr. Pepper. . . . [He is equally] at ease in a worn pair of leather chaps as he is wielding a saute pan." --Nolan Ryan, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher and lifelong cowboy* As at home on the coffee table as it is on the kitchen counter, this definitive cowboy cookbook features historical essays and photographs depicting life on the Chisholm Trail alongside recipes that reinvent cowboy cuisine.Cowboy-turned-chef Grady Spears reinvents chuckwagon dishes from Barbecued Quail Tamales to Pork Tenderloin with Watermelon Salsa to Butterscotch Pie by elevating them to haute cowboy cuisine.* Equal parts cookbook, history lesson, and photographic essay, The Texas Cowboy Kitchen blends Spears's distinctive culinary recipes with June Naylor's narrative of life on the Chisholm Trail and Erwin E. Smith's award-winning black-and-white cowboy photography and four-color culinary shots.* Divided into 10 chapters ranging from "Campfire Cocktails" to "Things You Don't Rope" to "Chuckwagon Secrets," The Texas Cowboy Kitchen contains 100 original recipes perfected at Spears's renowned former restaurants, the Chisholm Club in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Nutt House Restaurant in Granbury, Texas-both of which satisfied wagonloads of hungry customers.

Click here for more information about The Texas Cowboy Kitchen

Read More...

In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book is a must in any kitchen. It covers many of the basic recipies and even some of wonderful deserts that compliment any meal, such as Baking Powder Biscuits, Fried Chicken, Peach Tart, Buttermilk Fudge Cake, and so on. The lists of ingredients are the kind that you should be able to find just about anywhere. And yes, it does have recipies included that are more complex, and elaborate as well as variations for many of he recipes. She has included several sorbet, custards, herbed butters, to name a few.
She has very descriptive and precise with her directions to accomplish even the more complicated dishes that are included in this book.
It keeps with Julia's normal format of telling you exactly what equipment is needed to complete the dish, to wonderful photo's of almost each dish, without going overboard on the number of pictures.
I have found the tips that are included on so many of the subjects/recipes, quite helpful and informative.
The book also does not get overly wordy when she tells you about each of the cooks that are included in this book.
I have found this book a great asset to my kitchen, and it has taught me quite a bit.

Click Here to see more reviews about: In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs

Click here for more information about In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs

Read More...

Everything and the Kitchen Sink: Remodel Your Kitchen without Losing Your Mind Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been waiting since February 1981 to do something about my kitchen. That's the month we moved into our house. Everything and the Kitchen Sink has come into my life -not a moment too soon! - to move me from mere contemplation to actual accomplishment. It is a thorough guide to redoing this most important room in the house. (I mean, think about it. Without food in your life, there'd be no need for any other rooms.) But wait! There's more! It's Readable. In fact, downright amusing.
A few highlights for me:
The Introduction. How many times do you even read the introduction to a book, let alone enjoy it, let further alone find a personal message to you in it? The Introduction reminds me of the centrality of the kitchen in my family life and most emphatically assures me that I should not have to wait decades to make my kitchen functional and aesthetically pleasing.
The quizzes. Little quizzes and questionnaires throughout the book helped me articulate not only our personal style (Busy Slobs, or words to that effect...) but also what's been keeping us from getting a start on this kitchen. We've been of two minds (my husband's and mine) about how long we're likely to stay in this house. We know when we sell a developer will probably just knock it down and start over. That argues for not bothering, or at least for not putting much money into what we do bother with. But something clearly has to be done. For one thing, the original designer of our house obviously thought that a woman's place was not only in the kitchen, but alone down a hallway. Yes, the sink is in an "L" away from everything else that matters. The passageway is so narrow that cooperating in cooking or washing dishes becomes a clown routine in blocking, waiting, bumping, squeezing by. Then there's the fact that two-thirds of the cupboards assume the person using them is pushing six feet tall. (I'm short.) Add to that two dogs of various shepherd (i.e., stick CLOSE to the herd) persuasions - a factor no other book or magazine I've ever read on this subject has even acknowledged - and you've got a recipe for daily frustration. Not good.
Here's where Everything and the Kitchen Sink comes to the rescue. There are marvelous pictures. And useful budget charts. And constant encouragement to figure out how we really use our kitchen, and plan from that base. And other helpful hints sprinkled throughout the book. I can feast my eyes on the fancy stoves and state of the art refrigerators and duplicate dishwashers, but I can acknowledge that I am destined to be a "rustic" gal. Paint will be my friend. Shiny stainless steel is out (expensive and not good for slobs anyway), "distressed," folky, and mobile is in. I'm having great fun figuring it out. Carts and drawer units on wheels will replace the built-in cabinets. (We'll take the old ones to the basement and "improve" our laundry area - following another suggestion in the book about how to recycle and minimize waste. And if/when we move, we'll take the new ones with us.) It's more important to us to share the kitchen and the tasks in it than to have an immense sink, so the double-deep behemoth that fills the hallway will come out and a sink sized for mobile homes will replace it. This will enable us to get by each other without having to take time for a minuet. Heck, maybe even stand side by side to wash the dishes.
I've taken samples of the ancient earthquake-cracked plaster and dog-water-warped floor tiles to the lab (one of the book's very helpful suggestions). They'll tell me if there's asbestos in either so I can proceed safely. I've calculated the costs (with the help of worksheets in the book) and strategized the financing. I've measured it all out and drawn my plans to scale. I've pondered the traffic flow, factored in the canines.
After twenty-four years, I'm ready to start. Thanks to Everything and the Kitchen Sink.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Everything and the Kitchen Sink: Remodel Your Kitchen without Losing Your Mind

Click here for more information about Everything and the Kitchen Sink: Remodel Your Kitchen without Losing Your Mind

Read More...

The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking from Asian American Kitchens Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Patricia did a really good job in creating this cookbook with not just beautiful images but also the recipes are taste-proof (meaning that the dishes in this book has been cooked and for sure been worth the word - yummy!!! to be placed in the book!) This is indeed a great find as there is a lot of recipes and I know some of you out there prefer images, however this book is going to cook your way into your stomach. Do not be afraid to get one as this is on my top favorite cookbooks to choose from when cooking for friends!
Most of the dishes in here has been a long-time favorite, and I am licking my lips just typing about the it... heehee
A book not only has history of flavor, but also a mixed of wonderful imagination of taste!
Hope you will enjoy the book as much as I do and not be afraid to try try try!
Cheers :))

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking from Asian American Kitchens

Asian grandmothers - whether of Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, or Indian descent - are the keepers of the cultural, and culinary, flame. Their mastery of delicious home-cooked dishes and comfort food makes them the ideal source for this cookbook. Author Pat Tanumihardja has assembled 130 tantalizing dishes from real Chinese fried rice to the classic Filipino Chicken Adobo to the ultimate Japanese comfort dish Oyako donburi. This is hearty food, brightly flavored, equally good to look at and eat. Flavors range from soy and ginger to hot chiles, fragrant curries, and tart vinegars. The author has translated all of the recipes to work in modern home kitchens. Many of them have been handed down from mother to daughter for generations without written recipes, and some appear in tested and written form for the first time. An exhaustive Asian Pantry glossary explains the ingredients, from the many kinds of rice and curries to unfamiliar but flavorful vegetables.

Click here for more information about The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking from Asian American Kitchens

Read More...

Pascual and the Kitchen Angels Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Few can match author/artist Tomie DePaola's gift for combining mirth and a moral to create an enchanting story for young readers. He has focused on the lives of saints in the past and he does so once more in this imagined tale of Pascual, the patron saint of cooks and the kitchen.
Beginning with Pascual's birth when angels sang his mother and father regarded their son with both pride and awe. At first, his father thought the boy might grow up to be a shepherd because of the tender care he took of sheep. But when he reached young manhood Pascual announced that he wanted "to be a friar and help feed people who are hungry."
So, his parents sent him to the monastery of Saint Francis. Imagine Pascual's surprise when the friars asked him to prepare dinner. Why, he didn't even know how to boil water! One thing Pascual did know how to do was pray. Amazing things began to happen when Pascual closed his eyes and knelt on the kitchen floor.
Young readers will relate to Pascual and to the cheery art panels that bring the tale to life.
- Gail Cooke

Click Here to see more reviews about: Pascual and the Kitchen Angels

Click here for more information about Pascual and the Kitchen Angels

Read More...

Kitchen Princess 5 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I love this series!! x3 I hate it that the 6 and 7th aren't out yetttt kyaaa~ A must read series!!! Great artwork and fetching story! A 'grab you by the tail and make you read it in one sitting' book!!!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Kitchen Princess 5

SOMETHING'S COOKINGNajika went to Seika Academy with a dream: to find the boy who saved her life and made her smile when everything else had gone wrong. That boy is Sora, the son of the director of the Academy. Now that Najika has found her prince, she's very happy. But there's one major problem: Sora's brother, Daichi, has fallen for Najika!

Click here for more information about Kitchen Princess 5

Read More...

Sacred Feasts: From a Monastery Kitchen Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have several books by the same author so I was keen to add this one to my library. This book differs from its predecessors by including some comments/musings/reminiscences which I enjoyed reading. I liked the idea of a recipe collection built around feast days so that when you want to make something special you can go to this book as a good resource. I also noticed that the author has cut down on the amount of fat in his recipes! I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to people who like cooking and eating good fresh food and want to eat well on special occasions as well as everyday.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sacred Feasts: From a Monastery Kitchen

This book of seasonal cooking provides a backdrop of celebrating sacred feasts of the year from a monastery kitchen to your kitchen--using recipes from Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette.Brother Victor-Antoine is the best-selling author of several cookbooks from his monastery kitchen. Sacred Feasts focuses on using seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables to create inexpensive, delicious, healthy, and beautiful vegetarian dishes to delight your family and friends. Recipes include simple and savory desserts, main dishes, and of course, entire meals to help celebrate feast days, family get-togethers, and to make even the most ordinary day special.This is the perfect recipe book for everyone who loves to cook and to use affordable, fresh, wholesome in-season fruits and vegetables that will please everyone!

Click here for more information about Sacred Feasts: From a Monastery Kitchen

Read More...

A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)...both modern and historic, and from nearly every region in the world. The various recipes included in the book are, with a few exceptions, rare and creative. So far, most of the recipes I've tried have been great successes, with the rest becoming very palatable with the addition of simple ingredients like salt, pepper and/or lemon juice. The best part was that most recipes were easy to follow, though heavy on spices both rare and common, even for a beginner like myself. I recommend the Rosemary Sorbet, the simple apple pie and "Marian's Stuffed Salmon."
Since I'm not a culinary historian, I cannot comment on the authenticity of some of the "historic" recipes (including the aforementioned sorbet allegedly from 16th century England). Nonetheless, they all taste wonderful and makie interesting additions to the common repertoire.
The only problem I found was that the author seemed undecided whether her audience were experienced cooks or green beginners and was inconsistent on the specificity of her directions in her recipes (e.g. cooking times, salt & pepper spicing, etc.)

Click Here to see more reviews about: A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook

This cauldron of culinary magic forever banishes the ordinary in eating. A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook by Patricia Telesco combines over 300 carefully selected recipes with bewitching information that will change your approach to cooking, whether you are the chef for yourself, your family, or a roomful of friends. A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook combines delicious and easy-to-make recipes that span the globe and the centuries. You can use these wonderful dishes for any occasion. You can use a different recipe almost every day of the year and not repeat. More than a listing of recipes, A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook enables you to use the foods you make to nurture your own magical goals or one provided in the book. Each ingredient's essential magical nature has been carefully considered and combined for a purpose. Here you will discover that apples are good to encourage peace, love, health, and earth magic, while apricots are ideal for romance. Brussels sprouts help in matters of endurance, tenacity, and stability, while horseradish can be used for protection or fiery energy. Over 110 foods are described, from alfalfa sprouts to yogurt. Every chapter includes some of the tastiest foods you've ever experienced, including: * Amuletic Appetizers * Blessed Breadstuffs * Charmed Cheese * Enchanted Eggs * Divine Desserts * Mystical Meats * Spellbound Salads * Visionary Vegies Mystical and magical lore peppered throughout this book includes how your kitchen utensils are magical tools. A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook is about making every aspect of your life magical. If you follow a spiritual way of life, or if you just like good food, get this book. PUBLISHER'S COMMENT: Mercy Bread from Arabia. Oat apricot muffins for forgiveness rituals. Mustard Sauce of Valor for fire festivals. Apricot Fricassee for initiation rituals. These are just a few of the 300 recipes you'll find in A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook by Patricia Telesco. More than a collection of recipes, A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook weds modern ingredients and utensils with potent traditional preparations for a truly magical resource. Whether in the sacred space of the hearthstone, or anywhere cooking takes you, your meal preparation experience can be both creative and consuming as you sample the helpful hints, superb resources, and fascinating lore in A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook. From food preparation to mealtime presentation, the goal of this book is to make your world more magical. You'll learn measurement conversions, alternative ingredients, magical correspondences with foods, and appropriate dishes for a wide variety of rituals, celebrations, and festivals. * Gain insight into how creative personal magic can be ? not only at festivals, but in daily life * Use these recipes for everyday cooking * Attain a refreshing historical perspective on the diversity and "flavor" of magic * Create new approaches to magic at little expense A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook provides step-by-step instruction for transforming meals into manifestations of your magical life. Get your copy today.

Click here for more information about A Kitchen Witch's Cookbook

Read More...

Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I don't go to restaurants. I don't watch FOOD Channel. I don't even order take-out. I'm just a pizza and burger guy with an occasional side trip to Taco Bell for my veggies. So why was I reading this book?
My lunch partner was reading this weirdly yellow hardback and slowly choking on his burrito as he chuckled through Page 230 where the author had become a walking grease fire. Now, I can understand the humor behind being lit up like a Christmas tree in my kitchen (I'd done that after turning on the burners without removing my Hungryman TV dinner carton on top of it.) But a whole book of such mishaps?
Ah, my friend urged this book on me and predicted I'd be converted! He would be able to persuade me to go to an eatery that didn't have paper boats of onion rings or plastic packets of mayo. I would want to eat ramps (huh?) and autumn squash! I would want to eat fennel pollen!!
And he was right! I was plastered to this book for the next week and a half. Buford started his quest to understand what goes on behind the professional kitchen, in Mario Batali's restaurant, Babbo. He offers himself as an unpaid servant. He promptly cuts himself while deboning ducks and hunting for their "oysters."
And his whole world is never the same again. After months of culinary bondage, he flies to Italy to roll pasta with Betta (why you make pasta like an old woman, eh?) and butcher tall cows with warbling Dario and carve thighs with the Maestro (of the Monster Hands) in Tuscany.
I suffered with him as Molto Mario roots in trash cans, retrieving celery leaves and lamb kidneys that shouldn't have been tossed in the garbage. I puzzled over the importance of broccoli floret heads to customers. I winced as he burned himself --- dropping ribs in popping olive oil--- by hand. (There's some tremendously good, bloody vivid descriptions of Buford's kitchen's injuries.) Its almost like reading a Clive Barker book with lard and chickpeas!
I laughed as he hauls a whole pig (not a mere piglet) to his home in Manhattan so he can butcher it. I cackled as he drops munchkin pasta on the floor-- trying to roll it to impossible thinness. I marveled at how Buford "touched" meat for "doneness" and the resemblance of tortellini pasta to "innie" belly buttons. I snickered at the almost pornographic way . . . sausages were made. I groaned at creepy Riccardo and the ever-swelling polenta.
This book is pullulating with such jewels. And I haven't even spoken of the bizarre personalities behind that reduction of liver in butter sauce. There's Mario Batali, bigger than life and much engaged with pig fat. Marco Pierre White and his restaurant empire and his tasty thoughts on the aging of game birds. Yuck! Then there's the sous chefs, the prep chefs, the grill guys and the pasta guys. All fascinating and as unforgetttable, in their way, as Batali and White's tantrums! Andy and Frankie, Memo, Tony Liu and Alex with their dreams of owning their own restaurants. The clan of Latin cooks and servers who inexplicably all come from the same town . . .
Read this book. Even if you're not a foodie. Even if your idea of fine dining is a tin of sardines on instant rice! You'll love every minute of it. 5 Stars Plus Plus Plus!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage)

Click here for more information about Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage)

Read More...

The Asian Vegan Kitchen: Authentic and Appetizing Dishes from a Continent of Rich Flavors Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book has a lot of great recipes in it and I found it quite inspiring. There a limited photos which are all contained in the middle of the book. My only issue with the book was that despite the fact that I have a very diverse collection of spices and herbs, she seemed to come up with things I did not have. So it is up to you to decide if it is worth the effort to track down some odd ingredient if you want to follow the recipes exact.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Asian Vegan Kitchen: Authentic and Appetizing Dishes from a Continent of Rich Flavors

Click here for more information about The Asian Vegan Kitchen: Authentic and Appetizing Dishes from a Continent of Rich Flavors

Read More...

Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It: And Other Kitchen Projects Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is just a lovely primer on making things from scratch that are normally convenience or grocery store purchases. Because they are made from scratch, they combine unexpected flavors for gourmet goodies that would make wonderful gifts.
The photography of the colorful food is gorgeously photographed. The recipes and techniques are well explained. It's separated into clear chapters by type of food and well indexed at the back as well the table of contents in the beginning.
I was going to do a chapter by chapter breakdown, but there are a lot of chapters with a few recipes in each one. This book covers a lot of cook-ahead things for stocking your fridge, freezer and pantry.
Highlights for me include instructions for making your own masa harina and your own hot dogs with more information on how to turn those two things into corn dogs completely made from scratch. A wonderful curry powder recipe, corned beef and how to smoke your homemade corned beef to make pastrami, how to roast coffee beans in a heavy skillet, homemade chocolate/hazelnut spread, and how to make different kinds of non-dairy milk including a recipe for horchata. With some homemade sodas and icy sweet treats this book is just great. The sodas are yeast carbonated which is one of my favorite ways to make soda pop.
It's easy and inspiring. My daughter has pages marked for recipes she wants to try. A wonderful cookbook for people who are really getting into making things themselves and the DIY lifestyle.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It: And Other Kitchen Projects

Click here for more information about Can It, Bottle It, Smoke It: And Other Kitchen Projects

Read More...

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a collection of short stories centered on the idea of eating alone - or feeding oneself when unaccompanied. It is a great foodie read and would make an excellent gift for a foodie you know. Funny, happy, sad, poignant...all the emotions we have experienced when eating alone are represented. Many of the authors are heavy hitters in the food world. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it without reservations.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone

In this delightful and much buzzed-about collection of essays, 26 writers and foodies invite readers into their kitchens to reflect on the secret meals they relish when no one else is looking. Part solace, part celebration, part handbook, Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant offers a wealth of company, inspiration, and humor—and finally, recipes that require no division or subtraction.Featuring essays by: Steve Almond, Jonathan Ames, Jami Attenberg, Laura Calder, Mary Cantwell, Dan Chaon, Laurie Colwin, Laura Dave, Courtney Eldridge, Nora Ephron, Erin Ergenbright, M. F. K. Fisher, Colin Harrison, Marcella Hazan, Amanda Hesser, Holly Hughes, Jeremy Jackson, Rosa Jurjevics, Ben Karlin, Rattawut Lapcharoensap, Beverly Lowry, Haruki Murakami, Phoebe Nobles, Ann Patchett, Anneli Rufus and Paula Wolfert.

Click here for more information about Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone

Read More...

Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'd first read that Mr. McGrady was writing this book a couple of years ago, then when I finally read about it being out (in my local newspaper, I read an interview)I decided to get myself a copy.
The book is pretty well written, giving some background on McGrady and Royal life. You'll find six chapters concerning specific Royal locations, each of these will give some information on McGrady and whatever section you're reading. No scandal, no Burrell bashing- just what should be in a book of this sort.
The recipes are written, in this edition anyway, for American cooks- no metric conversions for us- and will sometimes include some little bit about a particular member of the Royal family that liked the item. Most of the identified items concern the Queen or Princess Diana but some of the other family members too. I'm no cook but I think I could manage most of them myself. The photographs of the food items appear to be professionally done while most others McGrady probably took himself with his own camera.
It's a pleasant and informative book to read, not too braggy, worth buying as a gift if not for yourself. The recipes will appeal to many possible readers who would not otherwise care a bit about Diana (one recipe includes a lowfat version for her and a regular version for guests)or the Royals. I may never get much use out of it but I don't regret buying it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen


Darren McGrady began working for the Royal Family as a pastry chef and quickly moved up the ranks to serve as Diana's personal chef until her death in 1997. Here he presents many of the recipes he served the Royals, and Diana in particular. Filled with artifacts, personal notes, photographs and never-before-seen memorabilia, this is much more than a cookbook. It is an opportunity to see how the Royals really live and to eat the exact recipes that graced the tables of Windsor, Balmoral, Kensington, and Buckingham Palaces.

Recipes Include:

Her Majesty's Birthday Chocolate Cake
Framboises St. George
Poached Eggs Suzettes
Chicken and Leek Pie
Steak Diane
Cottage Pie
Croques Monsieur, and much, much more.

Click here for more information about Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen

Read More...

Giant Book of Kitchen Counter Cures: 117 Foods That Fight Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Arthritis, Osteoporosis, Memory Loss, Bad Digestion and ... Problems (Jerry Baker Good Health series) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Five HEALTHFUL Stars!! In this great compendium Jerry Baker's expert nutrition team, Karen Cicero and Colleen Pierre, shows that many foods can not only taste good and be the source of healthful nutrients, but have healing powers that many of us may not be aware of and can apply in specific cases of need. In an age when we hear so many individual news stories on the benefits of a particular food, it's hard to remember them over time. Now we have one place to look for many common foods available to us all that pack a nutritional punch and HEAL. Not exhaustive to be sure, but a great reference book nonetheless that outlines common foods that it claims can fight cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, osteoperosis, memory loss, etc. And the benefit cited in most of the listed foods is the #1 killer in the US: heart disease.
This book is practically a summary of the healing powers and cures of a wide variety of specifically targeted foods. In addition, there is a "Shop and Serve Solutions" area for each food with tips on selecting, storing, and preparing them. And there are 111 easy-to-prepare healthful healing recipes. It also has great tables comparing the benefits of the varioius types of berries, another table on the benefits of various types of beans, and yet another on the various types of oils.
I know that a well-known health newsletter held a "Healthiest Vegetable" contest and their tests revealed the "Sweet Potato" (no skin) is the king of veggies, so I checked for it first and it's here, along with a great 'sweet potato fries' recipe. Incidentially, "Raw Carrots" and "Cooked Carrots" (yes, listed separately) come in second & third respectively among veggies and they are likewise listed with a really simple "Sugar Baby Carrots" recipe. The rest of the health magazine top five are: "Spinach", and "Collard Greens" (a great fighter against cataracts and macular degeneration). And they are all listed in this book with extensive data on their benefits. So this book is on target in the comparison with the health newsletter's extensive research results.
Laid out in alphabetical order, literally from A to Y, with a 'bullet list' of what each food "Battles", what it "Bolsters", and a table of it's nutritional value (calories, fat, saturated fat, sodium, cholesterol, etc..). Naturally, the first food is "Apples", which "Battles" cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and stroke. Apples "Bolsters" (bowel) regularity. And so on, all the way through 117 foods to "Yogurt" on p 485. On p. 490, there is a "Super-charged Menus" list of breakfasts, lunches and dinners for 7 days using recipes contained in the book. Very practical! it's a very readable book that may have you looking at some rather common foods differently and stocking up on them because of their benefits. It did so for me! This book could vastly improve your health or unknowingly save your life!! Five HUGE NUTRITIONAL Stars!!
(Hardcover, 510 Illustrated pages with large type fonts.)

Click Here to see more reviews about: Giant Book of Kitchen Counter Cures: 117 Foods That Fight Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Arthritis, Osteoporosis, Memory Loss, Bad Digestion and ... Problems (Jerry Baker Good Health series)

The healing powers of favorite foods are leveraged in the recipes and cooking tips in this guide to using food to alleviate serious diseases and common ailments. Fighting colon cancer with cheese, preventing heart disease with green beans and chocolate, and curing urinary tract infections with blueberries are examples of the preventative measures and homemade cures that will help readers slash medical expenses and minimize doctor visits. Shopping advice and menu recommendations are provided that offer healthy, nutritional meals designed for sufferers of specific diseases.

Click here for more information about Giant Book of Kitchen Counter Cures: 117 Foods That Fight Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Arthritis, Osteoporosis, Memory Loss, Bad Digestion and ... Problems (Jerry Baker Good Health series)

Read More...

Transforming Your Kitchen with Stock Cabinetry: Design, Select, and Install for a Custom Look at the Right Price Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a great combination of both kitchen design and how to build it. It has a lot of very practical design guidance and creative ideas--many things we would not have thought of. Then it tells you how to go about selecting the cabinets that you need and the do-it-yourself to put them in. Very readable and invaluable.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Transforming Your Kitchen with Stock Cabinetry: Design, Select, and Install for a Custom Look at the Right Price


Creating a dream kitchen no longer has to involve the budget-busting price tag of custom-made cabinets. Author and cabinetmaker Jonathan Benson shows how to transform a kitchen using money-saving stock cabinetry and a well-thought-out plan. This book will arm the do-it-yourselfer with everything they need to know about cabinet shopping and installation, the pros and cons of various countertop materials, and how to live within a construction zone. The author's wife, Sherry Benson, a former executive chef, adds a unique touch to the book with tips for creating an organzied and efficient kitchen that any cook would be proud of.

Click here for more information about Transforming Your Kitchen with Stock Cabinetry: Design, Select, and Install for a Custom Look at the Right Price

Read More...

In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen: Ready-for-Chapters (Cobble Street Cousins) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have received a little flack from fellow library employees for liking these books, however, I must support Ms. Rylant. I find these books to be refreshingly sweet. In the childrens' book world today, there seem to be so many stories that present such harsh realities. While I certainly understand that it is helpful for kids to read about someone who may be going through similar circumstances as themselves, difficult as those may be, I also believe it doesn't hurt for kids to read about other kids who are actually happy, are getting along with others, making friends, and loving their families and neighbors. I know this isn't a perfect world, but is't nice to read about "a little good news"! Thank you, Ms. Rylant. I love your books, and I know the kids with whom I work do as well! Can't wait to hear more from you . . .

Click Here to see more reviews about: In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen: Ready-for-Chapters (Cobble Street Cousins)

Click here for more information about In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen: Ready-for-Chapters (Cobble Street Cousins)

Read More...