Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes Review

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(More customer reviews)This book has been passed from me to my wife to the kids and back again. A few days ago, I found my nine-year-old writing down a shopping list to make the mummy nuggets which he later made, with some help. I made the gazpacho soup. My 14-year-old made the donuts with some of her friends.
As a stay-at-home dad of four kids, this was a pleasure to read. A brilliant book written with humor and poignancy -- and lots of great recipes to boot!

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"I love my mom and I'm a good cook, and still I can't help wishing that Emily Franklin would adopt me--or maybe send me a care package. But at least I've got her recipes now. And this book, which is the perfect mix of heartwarming and mouthwatering. Yum." --Catherine Newman, author of Waiting for Birdy
"Emily Franklin's Too Many Cooks is a boon for anyone trying to cook healthy simple meals for children. It is also great fun for those of us who love to peek at the domestic lives of others. Franklin has a warm, unpretentious voice and appealing recipes that are asking to be tried."--Jenni Ferrari-Adler, author of Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant
Hilarious and wise, Too Many Cooks celebrates a year in the family kitchen with one mom, four kids, and a picky pediatrician husband.
Emily Franklin's food memoir Too Many Cooks was born of two simple loves: food and children. A foodie and former chef, Franklin wants to pass on her love of food and cooking to her kids; she wants them not only to enjoy what they're eating but to know what they're eating. So, over the course of a year, she introduces her children to new dishes--some exotic, some thrown together with whatever she has in her cabinets--with varying degrees of success. Undaunted by failure ("This tastes like sand!"), Franklin pursues her culinary mission from the heartland of Indiana to the Umbrian countryside. Some meals conjure visions of pleasure while others are utter catastrophes. Along the way, she discovers how a delicious (or even disastrous) meal can bring families together and feed the soul.
As Franklin chronicles her family's year around the kitchen table, season by season, she shares original recipes. From comfort, kid-friendly food like Mummy Nuggets, to the more adventurous Saffron Fish Chowder, to food made on the fly like Orange-Oaty-I-Don't-Know Cookies, each recipe follows a charming or bittersweet or laugh-out-loud anecdote that captures the chaos of cooking for four young kids.
Franklin seasons her stories with how-I-did-it advice on cooking and parenting that makes this such a delightful and inspiring read. And with more than 100 simple, mouthwatering dishes, Too Many Cooks is a happy mix of recipes, memories, and good storytelling.

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A Year In My Kitchen Review

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(More customer reviews)This award winning (2007) cookbook has a bunch of recipes which can be labelled Modern English (no resemblence to tradition English food). It is similar to the Ottolenghi cookbook in a way. The photos are marvellous too. All recipes are restaurant quality so you will have to accept more ingredients and preparation time, but nothing outside the normal if you enjoy cooking. Excellent for entertainment because the author also pays quite a bit of attention to how the dishes look.
After using the book three times, the glue in the binding dissolved. This is really totally unacceptable. So try to find the hard cover edition. That is probably better. But the publisher totally incompetent publisher/printer ought to take heed.

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Award-winning chef Skye Gyngell passionately believes that cooking is an intuitive, imaginative practice, one that reflects the changing seasons and relies on the choicest fresh produce. A Year in My Kitchen is a charming culinary tribute to her favorite seasonal ingredients: tender herbs, vibrant fruits, and earthy root vegetables that are all the more exceptional when we enjoy them at their peak. The head chef at London's acclaimed Petersham Nurseries Café, Gyngell relies on a toolbox of simple recipes, techniques, and flavorings that she combines with an infinite variety of ingredients. A Year in My Kitchen begins by exploring the fundamentals of that toolbox by presenting recipes for infused oils, vinaigrettes, and roasted spice mix, all of which can be used to enhance the rest of the produce-driven recipes. These casual yet elegant dishes emphasize delicate preparations in the warmer months, such as Fava Beans with Mint, Ricotta, and Crisp Prosciutto; Spinach Soup with Nutmeg and Crème Fraîche; and Strawberry Granita, and comforting hearty recipes in the cooler months, such as Spicy Meatballs with Cilantro and Sour Cherries and Roasted Squash with Roasted Tomatoes, Feta, and Basil Oil. A Year in My Kitchen will inspire you to explore a diversity of beautiful ingredients and apply all of your senses to the cooking process. Featuring gorgeous photography and Gyngell's gentle kitchen wisdom, this is a delicious guide to truly tempting food made with care and attention.

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Mayumi's Kitchen: Macrobiotic Cooking for Body and Soul Review

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(More customer reviews)I am not an expert on macrobiotics, so let me place that disclaimer up front and center. I pre-ordered this book, and just got it yesterday. For the size of this book, there is much to love. The recipes are straightforward, and for the most part do not require ingredients too awfully obscure. There is a particular grain that I would probably have to mail order for (although she does offer substitutes), but the rest of the lists include things I usually have on hand as someone who has already started delving into this way of eating. (Ume plum vinegar, daikon, greens, sesame oils, etc.) I'm excited to try so many of the recipes - the spring rolls, "ja-ja" tofu, salmon soup, the noodle dishes, pressed salads, nori rolls ... I wish I had the book here with me; I could be more specific! You won't find in-depth macrobiotic theory here, for which I'm grateful. If you want to really learn the theory of macrobiotics, I'd recommend Macrobiotics for Dummies, or one of Simon Brown's books on the subject.
Here, you find a book that tells a bit about Mayumi and her story, which is nice, but mostly, it's packed with recipes. There are helpful color photos everywhere - of the finished dishes, dishes being prepared, step-by-step instructions, and a lot more. I love the way the sauces/dressings are organized and laid out. First, a double page with a small overhead shot of each sauce, and a description of it and the many ways you can use it. Next page, you'll find the recipes. She's got a nice detox plan in here, as well. I really like how she makes use of leftovers in these menus. No waste, and the food gets used quickly, for optimum nutrition. Some of the recipes are similar to those in other macrobiotics books I own (these are simply mainstays in macrobiotics, such as pressed salads or pickles) but most are different or are variations on the theme.
If I had to list one con, it would be that some of the menus may not be practical on a day-to-day basis (at least for working people), such as the multi-course breakfasts. I aim to figure out how to make this work, but without having to heat something up, I'm not sure. I'll get back to you on that. Once I try some of the recipes I'll try to come back and report. But by looks alone, I think Mayumi's Kitchen is a keeper.

(Just a note to the publisher: I did see a couple typos, which happens, occasionally, with a first printing. Pickle was misspelled once, and in the ingredients index some text was omitted.) I would not count this as a reason not to buy this book, though.

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The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking Review

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(More customer reviews)This is one of the three bread books to which I regularly refer (I'm on my second copy!). Grinding my own grains and baking has been a hobby for twenty-five years. I've never come across a book as well suited to a beginner. I wish it had been around when I started!
There are many whole-grain baking books out there. So many of them are too radical for the average person. I've had books that state that only sourdough can be used for leavening, that baking powder and yeast are 'dishonest'. I've had books that categorically state that the only way to produce whole grain flour is by stone mill or grinder (not true). I've had books that use esoteric ingredients for bread not available to the average home cook.
Laurel eschews dogmatic arguments about whole grain baking. She acknowledges that we all have busy daily schedules with families and work. Better than any whole grain book I've seen, she illustrates that whole grain baking can become an integrated part of a working person's life. Her recipes, particularly those for daily loaves, are reliable. As she states, in the 'old' days some of our loaves would work, some wouldn't. We've learned better, and she illustrates how.
In addition to her recipes, the writing style of the book reminds me of 'Laurel's Kitchen', her all-around vegetarian cookbook. For the beginner, there is a very useful guide to the different ingredients of bread, and the different utensils and appliances available.
Several years after its release, this cookbook remains the most practical and useful guide to whole-grain cooking. Highly recommended.

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The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book is the classic bestselling cookbook devoted to baking light, healthful, delicious bread entirely from whole grains. This specially updated edition includes an entirely new chapter on making excellent whole-grain loaves in a bread machine. Now even the busiest among us can bake the delectable loaves for which Laurel's Kitchen is famous.New research proves what we've known all along: Eating whole grains really is better for your health! Here, the switch from "white" is made fun and easy.Like a good friend, the "Loaf for Learning" tutorial guides you step-by-step through the baking process. You'll make perfect loaves every time, right from the start.Here you'll find recipes for everything—from chewy Flemish Desem Bread and mouthwatering Hot Cross Buns to tender Buttermilk Rolls, foolproof Pita Pockets, tangy Cheese Muffins, and luscious Banana Bread—all with clear explanations and helpful woodcut illustrations.The brand-new chapter on bread machines teaches you to make light "electric" loaves from whole-grain flour. No matter what your schedule, you can come home to the wonderful smell of baking bread, fresh, hot, and ready to enjoy.

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In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite: 150 Recipes and Stories About the Food You Love Review

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(More customer reviews)This cookbook is a lot of fun! Each section has a brief essay upfront. A lot of wit here--and a passion for cooking and devising tasty recipes. Each recipe has a story; here again, considerable wit. For instance, the section entitled "Waffling toward Dinner." Putative breakfast dishes. But the author notes that one can enjoy breakfast dishes at midnight. Do your dining thing!
A couple recipes in the first section: "Buttery polenta with Parmesan and olive oil fried eggs." Ingredients: polenta, water or chicken broth, salt, butter, pepper, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, eggs, and sea salt for garnish. The recipe isn't hard to make either! Another intriguing recipe: "Soft scrambled eggs with pesto and fresh ricotta." I really enjoy the juxtaposition of ingredients in many of the author's dishes. She is like a mad scientist, who experiments with and tweaks recipes. The second section is referred to as "The Farmer's Market and Me." It starts off with "Extra-sharp leeks vinaigrette." After a delightful essay (1 1/2 pages long) we get the recipe. I like leeks, and this is a new way for me to consider preparing them. Look forward to trying this one out!
"Learning to like fish" is another section. I have used capers with Chicken Piccata. Here, capers become important ingredients for "Shrimp for a small kitchen--with capers, lemon, and feta. An interesting combination of ingredients. The next section? "It tastes like chicken." One tasty recipe. . . . "Roasted chicken thighs with peaches, basil, and ginger." I have made chicken schnitzel quite a bit over time. I use a tomato based sauce as a topping. Clark's schnitzel is way different--and I look forward to trying her version out. It features anchovy, garlic, salt and pepper, lemon zest, olive oil, eggs, bread crumbs, flour, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, chicken cutlets, oil for frying, mixed baby greens, herbs, and scallions.
And so on. . . . A delightful cookbook. What I've tried, I've liked. And there are many more that I look forward to fixing for my family. . . .


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