No Need to Knead: Handmade Italian Breads in 90 Minutes Review

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No Need to Knead: Handmade Italian Breads in 90 Minutes ReviewDuring my two month stay last summer in the LA area, I grew positively addicted to the fragrant, chewy Italian breads produced by a wonderful bakery named Buona Forchetta. Carried by only the finest restaurants and grocery stores, these fresh, crusty breads surpassed anything I had tasted in Italy. As my wife poutingly puts it, I fell in love--with a bakery!
Upon my return to Florida, the dismal selection of supermarket Italian breads left me pining for a loaf of BF's kalamata olive filoncino, or a rosemary encrusted foccacia, or a pane rustico or...and then I would arouse from my wistful daydream to face another day-- without Buona Forchetta!
My depression ended when I discovered Suzanne Dunaway's great new book, No Need to Knead. Suzanne, founder and owner (along with husband, Don) of Buona Forchetta, has written (and illustrated!) a wonderfully lively bread manual in which she shares her wealth of hard learned breadmaking secrets.
I ordered the book from Amazon immediately and quickly found myself mixing up the first foccacia dough of my life. Me, a baker! [See wife skeptically smiling].
But would it work, and could it be this easy? No kneading! Ready to eat in 90 minutes! And most important of all--would the crust and crumb taste like the great Buona Forchetta breads that I had grown to love? The answers are, Yes, Yes and Yes! Plus, it's one heck of a lot of fun. Thank you, Suzanne!
At the time of this writing I have successfully made the foccacia, both the rosemary and kalamata olive filoncinos, crusty dinner rolls, and the whimsical fougasse.
Every one has been a gustatory home run--and my neighbors now love to see me come loafing around on my bread route. If I can do it, you can too! So far I have just scratched the surface of this enticing book. Still to come are traditional breads, pizzas, sweet loaves, bread sticks, specialty breads, and...this is a great idea...bread as leftovers! As in yummy bruschette, soups, mouth-watering croutons, and desserts.
Reflecting on her own upbringing in happy kitchens, Ms. Dunaway has thoughtfully included a chapter on making bread WITH children. Reminds me of the cinnamon sugar pie crust tailings I would bake with my mom.
Obviously I am quite taken with this book. Suzanne Dunaway has distilled a lifetime of cooking and living experience, much of it acquired on the ground in Italy and France, into a first rate bread book. The best part is that her words translate into delectable products that will amaze beginning bakers and please discriminating bread connoisseurs.
Now, all of us can easily replicate the wonderful aromas and chewy bread textures of an Italian bakery right in our own kitchens.No Need to Knead: Handmade Italian Breads in 90 Minutes Overview

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Starting with Ingredients: Baking: Quintessential Recipes for the Way We Really Bake Review

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Starting with Ingredients: Baking: Quintessential Recipes for the Way We Really Bake ReviewThere are things I like and things I don't about this cookbook. However, to sum up - I am glad I purchased this book and do turn to it occasionally. It contains a great many recipes for entertaining and impressing your guests and the tips and suggestions are detailed, informative, and not patronizing. She does some price checking and won't recommend that you buy an extremely expensive pan simply to make a single recipe and has some tips that help stretch the budget. She's also got some authentic Greek, Italian, and Jewish dishes that she includes with a brief history of their origin. The random bits of facts and trivia are also mostly interesting.
Likes:
Most of the basic ingredients in these recipes are commonly found and you'll already have most - if not all of them - in your kitchen. She doesn't often call for ingredients that you have to special order or pay out the nose to obtain. When she does use those ingredients she often includes a preface in the recipe that describes the uncommon ingredient and recommends substitutions.
If you're not familiar with her other book, you'll find that each chapter is organized by "main" ingredient. This isn't necessarily the item used in the greatest quantity - this is the item that the menu is based around. For example, there is a section for Cherries that contains a variety of recipes - most sweet, some savory - that contain cherries. Same goes for nuts, greens, quince, etc.
The author does NOT call for canned, preserved ingredients. This is a plus - I don't enjoy consuming a ton of sodium simply because the author wants to throw in a can of cream of mushroom soup because they underestimate the average person's ability to make a bechemel (white) sauce and add a handful of mushrooms.
She does not call for lard in her recipes. Not even her pie dough recipes. This is fantastic! I do not use lard, will not buy lard, and do not trust lard. Her recipes call for butter and - even better - specify whether she means SALTED or UNSALTED.
Dislikes
Unfortunately, the author is based in the East Coast. Many of the chapters are based around food items that are very difficult to find in California.
Her recipes are entirely do-it-yourself-from-scratch. Most of the time this is fantastic and I prefer to bake this way. However, many of her recipes, when made as she suggests, will become an all-day affair.
This is not a low-fat cookbook. Be prepared to either eat lettuce and water the rest of the day or spend a few hours on the treadmill. Many of her recipes contain a fair amount of butter and cream. In her defense, she also uses a lot of olive oil and never claims to be a low fat cookbook.
This is not one of those cookbooks that will become the only thing you use. This is a cookbook you turn to when you have a room full of zucchini and you want to find 8 different unusual ways to use them. This, of course, is also a "like." This cookbook will not help you find a recipe for basic white cake, basic frosting, bread dough, or mashed potatoes.
Finally, I'm willing to bet that the average person will not have such a wide range of tastes that they will make or like every recipe in here.Starting with Ingredients: Baking: Quintessential Recipes for the Way We Really Bake Overview

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Okashi Treats: Sweet Treats Made With Love Review

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Okashi Treats: Sweet Treats Made With Love ReviewSupper happy when I found this little treasure book!! Can't believe that I missed it before!!! The "plain" cover is like a disguise. Inside, there are tons of beautiful recipe, each have a whole page of EACH final product, step-by-step pictures with recipe + lots of useful tips. I'm in love with Japanese pastry & bakery - their cake are normally very light & fluffy (compare to the overly sweet + thick American version). Plus, their cream & custard is subtle & fresh... Yum yum yum!!! I never worry about gaining weight from making & consume Japanese sweet!
This book mostly cover cake section - from basic, favorite to advantage. The book also include lots of tart, tiramisu, muffin, Swiss Rolls..etc. There are lots of sponge cake recipe & the author will tell you how are they difference from other, and which recipe you would use it!! Huge section of Japanese chiffon cake!!! Yum!! I tried the Green tea Chiffon, and it was fantastic! Gone within few hours!! (even though I still need to adjust my oven temperature, which varies for each person).
Btw, it's best to "weight" the ingredients properly - go and invest in a digital scale (cost less than $30). Japanese eggs are much "smaller" than American Jumbo eggs... 5 eggs in Japan would weigh about 180 gram, while 3 American egg would weight over 220 gram already. So figure it out yourself, of what to adjust and what not!
Japanese cook books, although are very beautiful & simple & lots of graphic pictures (more than French bakery books), they are rarely translate to English - so if you ever spot one, GET THEM ASAP! I also recommend "Soy-milk Desserts" - a Japanese cook book. I've made most of the recipes in the book, and they all WORKS!! *eye rolling* (Normally, I'm lucky if 3-5 recipes work per book), but heck, most recipe in that book work perfectly!!! Another reason for me to trust Japanese book, over any French & American books (which I have hundreds of them *sigh*).
Another very good Japanese book is "Chilled Dessert," which is supper yummy & delicious as well!!Okashi Treats: Sweet Treats Made With Love Overview

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The Brooklyn Cookbook (Knopf Cooks American) Review

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The Brooklyn Cookbook (Knopf Cooks American) ReviewIn addition to the fact that the recipes work and are delicious, the best thing about this book was that it traced the ethnic roots of the many diverse cultures that made Brooklyn a true melting pot. I grew up in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill and that book brought me back home for a little while longer. Reading the stories that accompanied each of the recipes, I was again transported to the experiences and landmarks of my childhood and that of my parents - football weddings, the Botanical Garden, Junior's, Jahn's Ice Cream Parlor,Ebinger's Bakery, Bamonte's Restaurant, the Garden Room at Abraham and Straus, weekend picnics at Crestwood Lake. I could almost hear Aunt Jennie and my mother arguing over whose cooking most closely resembled their mother's (it was my mother,although Aunt Jennie wielded a mean fusilli rod!!) More importantly, I found myself immersed again in the sense of family and community that are my home borough - a sense that transcends every ethnic background. It was fun, poignant and tasty! I have given this book to friends as gifts over the past few years and everyone loved it. Only one criticism. In the section on Cammereri's Bakery, with the references to the movie Moonstruck, Gilberto Godoy (the real life bakery owner), did not play Ronnie Cammereri. Nicolas Cage played Ronnie, one of the starring roles. Given the popularity of the movie,that was probably the one item that should have been absolutely correct.The Brooklyn Cookbook (Knopf Cooks American) Overview

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Professional Baking, Fourth Edition Review

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Professional Baking, Fourth Edition ReviewThis is a very thorough and well-written book, which is sponsored by one of the most respected cooking schools in the world: Le Cordon Bleu. Please note that this book is not for the occasional home baker/cook, but rather for the professional or serious amateur.
First off, one of the most important aspects of this book that may surprise people is that most of the recipes measure ingredients by weight (e.g., grams, ounces, pounds, etc.), NOT volume (e.g., cup, teaspoon, tablespoon, etc.). But don't let this turn you off--at least not yet. There is a very good reason for this. In order to make a consistently good product, you need to know that you're putting in the correct amount of an ingredient every time; and measuring by volume is NOT as accurate as measuring by weight. For example, I'm sure that most of us have made chocolate chip cookies at least once in our lifetime and have noticed that the recipe calls for lightly packed brown sugar. But how much do you pack it? I might pack some brown sugar into a measuring cup and think that it is "lightly packed", but another person's definition of "lightly packed" may be different and he/she might pack more brown sugar into the measuring cup. But if we both measured 8 oz. of brown sugar, no matter how we packed it, it would still be 8 oz.--no more, no less. Therefore, potential buyers of this book need to realize that purchasing a scale is almost a necessity in order to get professional results.
If baking is an occasional pastime or if measuring ingredients by weight is just not your cup of tea, then there are PLENTY of great cookbooks out there for the occasional baker that measure ingredients by volume. However, if you have the personality that wants and loves to try to make that absolutely perfect cake or pastry, then this book will help you do that.
Previous reviewers have complained that this book is "smoke and mirrors" and not for the home cook, or that the recipes were faulty and tasteless. To be fair, you have to take the book for what it is. The title is called "PROFESSIONAL Baking", not amateur, not home. It is very clear from the title that this book is not for everyone, especially with the weight/volume issue that I mentioned. As for the "faulty"/"tasteless" claim, my instructor has studied and worked in Hong Kong, France, and Austria. And in each class, she demonstrates each recipe and the results have always been spot on (which is more than I can say for myself and my classmates). Personally, I think that it is too easy to blame someone or something else; rather, I always look to myself first and then elsewhere. But enough of my two-bit philosophy.
One last thing that often confuses people and is probably the cause of many of their mishaps are the instructions regarding what baking pans and times to use. For instance, let's say that a typical recipe will make 5 lb. of dough, batter, whatever. The recipe will give you instructions and baking times for multiple baking pans (because professional bakers will use many different shapes and sizes depending on the job, right?). Therefore, the instructions will say that a 8-inch cake round needs 1 lb. of batter, that a 9x13x2 rectangular pan needs 2 lb. of batter, etc. But didn't the recipe yield 5 lb. of batter??? What the !@#$%??? This is confusing. How much do we make? What pan are we supposed to use? Let me explain: Since professional bakers use many different pans for the same recipe (e.g., a baker may make a chocolate cake in a 9-inch round or a full sheet, right?), they will adjust the recipe to get the exact amount of batter that they need for that particular job. So, if the recipe makes 5 lb. of batter and you only need 1 lb., then just divide all the ingredients by 5 and you'll get a yield of 1 lb. Or, just make the regular-size recipe and just weigh out 1 lb. of batter and make five of them. After you understand this, you'll begin to realize that it all is actually pretty simple and straightforward. I think that most people just don't like to weigh things or do a little math. They're just used to measuring by volume and having recipes designed to produce a single product, rather than multiple. And like I said before, that is perfectly fine and there are tons of great books out there that will suit that purpose.Professional Baking, Fourth Edition Overview

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Recipes from the Raleigh Tavern Bake Shop Review

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Recipes from the Raleigh Tavern Bake Shop ReviewIf you like historical recipes, this is the book for you. If you prefer recipes that work in modern kitchens, this is the book for you. The author has taken recipes from the 18th century and adapted them to 21st-century kitchens. You get to choose which one to follow! (Personally, I recommend the modern version...)
The most requested recipe in this collection is the one for those wonderful gingerbread cookies everyone remembers from the Raleigh Tavern, but there are many others for tasty baked goods (pies, cookies, breads, etc.) that have been served for decades at Colonial Williamsburg. A wealth of good eating!Recipes from the Raleigh Tavern Bake Shop Overview

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The Complete Book of Baking Review

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The Complete Book of Baking ReviewLike the other reviewers, I bought this book when it came out in 1993. Back then, I needed some different recipes for my Christmas cookie party. The Complete Book of Baking offers everything from the classic recipes such as Peanut Blossoms to the newer Cranberry and Orange Pinwheels. I've baked many different kinds of cookies as well as breads, using this cookbook, and all of them are easy to follow. It's a shame that this book is now out of stock because my husband has used it so much that the pages are starting to come loose. His favorite recipe is the praline pecan cheesecake, which he makes every year. Our families have bragged about his cheesecakes to every one of their friends. Yet not one of them has asked where he got the recipe.The Complete Book of Baking Overview

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The Taste of Home Baking Book Review

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The Taste of Home Baking Book ReviewI have a ton of cookbooks, literally, and I liked this book. Taste of Home's books are always fun and nice to have, because they are written by people just like you me, who like to cook and bake. There aren't generally a lot of fancy schmancy masterpieces in these books, just good edible food from tried and true recipes. It reflects what people are eating, and there are some nice recipes. I found a couple that I'll be making over the Xmas holidays. I tend to buy the books from Amazon because the price is always about a third lower than buying directly from Reiman. Reiman is sleazy with their fake promos and misleading offers, so don't think you'll get anything worthwhile from those. I've subscribed to the magazines for some time, so I am on to them. That said, the books are a nice additon to the home library of people who like spending time in the kitchen. If you're an experienced baker, you can use it as an idea book. If you're new to baking, you can learn a lot from the recipes. The directions are generally straight forward and easy to follow.The Taste of Home Baking Book Overview

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The Village Baker: Classic Regional Breads from Europe and America Review

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The Village Baker: Classic Regional Breads from Europe and America ReviewJoe Ortiz's book changed my life. I had been baking straight yeasted breads for several years. These were good, decent breads, but plain. I longed for a more complex loaf - one with the irregular holes in the crumb, one that had a chewier texture, and longer shelf life. Joe Ortiz's book showed me how to achieve all those goals. His book also explains why certain methods produce different results. Another of the helpful features of his book is that he distinguishes his recipes by fermentation method(i.e. sourdough, sponge, old dough, or straight yeast), which makes it a book a beginning baker can use, and grow with as the baker's skill develops (the straight yeasted doughs are the easist). I think this is a must-have book for any serious, or semi-serious homebaker. This is THE book for the homebaker who wants to take their baking up to the next level.The Village Baker: Classic Regional Breads from Europe and America Overview

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Scratch and Sniff: Food Review

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Scratch and Sniff: Food ReviewSturdy hardcover book; scratchpads are holding up well under frequent use. My two yr old loves this book!Scratch and Sniff: Food Overview

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The Simple Art of Perfect Baking Review

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The Simple Art of Perfect Baking ReviewFlo Braker's `The Simple Art of Perfect Baking' is being reissued after serving as a manual to millions of home bakers for almost 20 years as well as a model to emulate by important baking authors such as Gayle and Joe Ortiz of Gayle's Bakery and authors of `The Village Baker's Wife'.
It is important to note that while in English, `baking' suggests pastry, cakes, and breads, this book is truly only about what the French call patisserie. It is even more accurately described as primarily a book about cake baking, with approximately a quarter of the book dedicated to pastry. Everything said about the book must be understood to be referring to only torts and tarts.
On average, I think books on baking seem to reach a generally higher level of quality than comparable books on savory cooking. One reason is probably that you can't fake it in baking. A small misstep in measurement, equipment, or procedure can lead to something entirely different from what you intended.
Of course, Braker makes the humorous, but very sound suggestion to never throw away your mistakes. You never can tell when you may have happened onto the recipe for something very worthwhile to eat. Above all, don't tell your guests that their dessert is the result of a mistake.
The baking enthusiast's book buying is also simplified by the presence of a few very highly respected names such as Maida Heatter, Nick Malgieri, Lindsey Shere, and Flo Braker. To this distinguished list, I must add Sherry Yard, author of the great `The Secrets of Baking'. I do not have the pleasure of having read or reviewed books by Maida Heatter or Lindsey Shere, but I am quite familiar with cake and pastry books by Nick Malgieri, Gayle Ortiz, Sherry Yard, and several others. In this company, Flo Braker deserves all the acclamation she has received.
Any foodie worth their salt knows that the big distinction between baking and savory cooking is measurement, but few probably know why this is true or are fully aware of the consequences of ignoring precision. Not the least of Braker's accomplishments is to teach you how to be precise, teach you how avoid mistakes in measuring, and impress on you the importance of weighing instead of measuring by volume.
The most valuable aspect of this book is it's `modular' approach to recipes. While there are hundreds of different cake recipes, all of these hundreds are presented as distinct variations on two basic types, butter cakes and foam cakes, with sponge cakes further divided into genoise cakes, sponge cakes, angel food cakes, chiffon cake, meringues, and dacquoise. To make this highly effective approach even more agreeable to the amateur, the author does not burden us with a single master recipe for, for example, genoise, followed by a dozen paragraph long variations whose expansion into a full recipe is left to the reader. Every single one of the twenty-three (23) genoise cake recipes are spelled out, including notes on why a brown sugar genoise has different ingredients and is made with a different method than a classic genoise. The `baker's notes' at the end of each recipe are simply not to be overlooked.
The modular approach extends beyond the cake baking to the final construction of the cake from layers, fillings, frostings, and decorations. A full third of the book is devoted to each of these subjects individually, in such a way that one can easily mix and match cake, filling, and frosting to create something customized entirely to your personal taste of that of your family or guests. This middle section also contains two important chapters devoted to working with chocolate and sugar. The section on chocolate cannot replace books dedicated to the subject and I think Sherry Yard's discussion of caramel is more illuminating, but these sections are invaluable in supporting the other topics in the book.
The chapter on pastry covers all the usual bases: unsweetened short pastry, sweetened short pastry, puff pastry, and cream puff pastry. While this section and the book as a whole does not have a lot of pictures depicting methods, I am really happy to see diagrams illustrating the fraisage technique for pressing butter into pastry dough. I have read many descriptions of the technique and few manage to make sense without an accompanying picture. The details for measuring continue in pastry making, as when the author stresses the importance of a 1/8 inch thickness for a rolled pie crust. The only technique I know which seems to get a less than thorough treatment is blind baking. The technique is used, but little explanation is given for why it is done and under what circumstances it is important to use it, and when it is not necessary. I will point out that the author's preference for fat in basic piecrusts is vegetable shortening. If, like me, you happen to be a butter person, I recommend you consult Sherry Yard's Master Recipe for 3-2-1 pie dough.
It seems almost heretical to say this, but it is possible that this book and other teaching books such as those from Rose Levy Beranbaum may simply not be your cup of tea. If you are already a successful, accomplished baker, you may be happier with a book that simply gives lots of different recipes. I make this warning because people have occasionally objected to excellent books because the recipes were too involved or too talky. But, I think a baker who aspires to great pies and cakes should have at least one book like this and all the homey books on regional recipes you can find. Where else are you to find a great recipe for Shoofly pie!
Highly recommended cornerstone volume to your pie and cake-baking library.The Simple Art of Perfect Baking Overview

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Baking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America Review

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Baking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America ReviewThis was one of those books that actually angered me. In the introduction, they go out of their way to explain to you why mass measurements are superior to volume measurements, but then go ahead and supply volume only measurements for all of their recipes. This is unacceptable. It's one thing to find "American" style measurements in a casual chocolate chip cookie book, but for a large expensive baking book supposedly written by professionals, it behooves them to include mass measurements for serious home bakers.
But the real reason I disliked this book was that the recipes I tried simply did not work as advertised. The challah recipe was not a standard recipe; it seemed extremely large for a single loaf, the mixing technique was not like what I had encountered in amateur and professional books before, but I perservered and followed the directions fastidiously. The loaf was edible, but otherwise a failure. The fact that there is no explanation for this, and no anticipation of the problems I encountered is unacceptable. I have made dozens of challah recipes and I never had a problem before. Usually, when something goes wrong, I blame myself. I can tell when I have made a mistake and I take responsibility for my failures. This was one of those times where I blamed the recipe. This was just an odd ball recipe.
Similarly, the mudslide cookies did not work as the recipe stated they would. How hard is it to make a simple cookie recipe function properly? In the end, I managed to salvage these cookies through ingenuity and improvisation, but that's no excuse; careful faithfulness to the recipe should yield perfect results. Again, no explanation or attempt to anticipate such problems.
That was the last time I wasted my time with this book. Do yourself a favor and instead of buying this expensive paper weight, get yourself one of Pierre Herme's books, or Bo Friberg's Professional Pastry chef.Baking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America Overview

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Practical Baking Review

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Practical Baking ReviewThe "practical" in the title refers to the professional bakery, not the home kitchen. The author is a representative of the wheat industry, so the emphasis here is on bread products and the various varieties of wheat that are available. The most interesting feature are the sections diagnosing various production problems and their causes and solutions.
The dust jacket says that the book is good for both small and large baking operations, but the ingredient chapter is more relevant to a large operation rather than the neighborhood bakery. The production chapter is more suited to large scale applications and under-developed countries. The emphasis is on low per-unit cost and high through-put processes. As such, it is more apropos to the wholesale bakery operation rather than the neighborhood bake shop. The author often emphasizes quantity and convenience over quality and taste. As such, it is more suitable to wholesale bakery operations rather than the local bake shop or the bakery student, statements in the appendix not withstanding.
I do not have the necessary experience to judge the value of the recipes for either production dor learning purposes. However, the book seems to be meant as an all-purpose reference to sit on the shelf of a large, wholesale bakery rather than a study manual or a source to develope new baking procedures and recipes. For example, there is little distinction in the recipes for French, Italian, and Viennese loaf breads; they seem to assume an on-going baking procedure that needs assistance. It is more of a supplementary text to aid on-going production rather than a collection of basic techniques and procedures. As such, I am not sure of its value as learning tool for the student, statements in the Appendices not withstanding. As a learning tool, it is inadequate. As a reference book, it is, I guess, acceptable.
It is a 5th edition, but I found an unusually large number of editorial mistakes. There is "poor" rather than pour (p.445), p. 524 has "sufficient" instead of "insufficient", "fold" rather than hold, and the cakes chapter page headers are incorrect (has "common problems with fruit cakes" on top of brownie and cheescake sections). The author mistakenly states that increased acidity in the dough increases or strengthens the pH. In fact, it is the opposite: increasing acidity decreases the pH. Alkali, like baking soda, has a very high pH. In the international version of the recipes, the % of flour sometimes is and sometimes is not listed as 100%. He also states that there are "hard" cheddar cheeses versus the softer, grated "American-type", which seems to be a meaningless distinction.
The coverage of pastry and cakes is perfunctory at best. It is aimed at the professional baker, and is certainly not recommendable for the home baker. The book seems to have been designed as a textbook. As such, it is more useful as a resource rather than a tutorial, which is perfectly acceptable if this book is used along with a production manual as part of a professional course in baking. Its primary audience is experience bakers who need a reference book.Practical Baking Overview

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A Cook's Guide to Chicago Review

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A Cook's Guide to Chicago ReviewAs a resident of Chicago, I am grateful to the author for writing this book. Now, I know where to have my knives sharpened, buy fresh ginger, and find the best teas.A Cook's Guide to Chicago Overview

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Bread on Arrival (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) Review

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Bread on Arrival (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) ReviewAnother great example of the writing by Lou Jane Temple. Heaven Lee is cooking again -- this time she is making bread, not bbq. The Kansas City restaurant owner is involved with the ARTOS (bread) convention come to town. Little did she know that death would be served up along with the breadsticks.
Another great Heaven Lee mystery. Wonderful recipies are also included in the book. Temple's previous book introduced you to the main characters contained in this recent release, however, the book is written well enough to stand on its own without reading the previous 4 works from this author.
In the style of Diane Mott Davidson and Tamara Meyers -- a great culinary read.
Mary AnnBread on Arrival (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) Overview

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Culinary Schools & Programs: Hundred of Programs in the U.S and Abroad (Peterson's Culinary Schools) Review

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Culinary Schools & Programs: Hundred of Programs in the U.S and Abroad (Peterson's Culinary Schools) ReviewOne would think that a consumer guide to anything would give you the ability to compare apples to apples. In other words, you would be given the same information, in the same format throughout. Ideally, you pay a guide to do the work for you so that you don't have to waste time going from website to website in order to gather information. For example, I would, at a minimum, expect this guide to give the tuition for each and every school at the time of publication. However, the guide provides this information here and there. It's as if the editor just didn't feel like working that hard and if they actually had to contact the school, they didn't bother. Don't waste your money since you'll have to do most of your research online anyway.Culinary Schools & Programs: Hundred of Programs in the U.S and Abroad (Peterson's Culinary Schools) Overview

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Earthly Delights: Corinna Chapman Mystery (Corinna Chapman Mysteries (Poisoned Pen Press)) Review

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Earthly Delights: Corinna Chapman Mystery (Corinna Chapman Mysteries (Poisoned Pen Press)) ReviewIn Flinders Lane in Melbourne Australia, there is an architecturally, interesting building based on the roman design named Insular. It is home to Corinna Chapman, a Junoesque woman who owns a bakery Earthly Delights on the ground level. Each apartment has a roman name and their inhabitants are an eclectic quirky bunch that includes techno geeks, a dominatrix and a female witch. It is a peaceful place until the flyers start coming to the tenants claiming it is home to a temptress, whore or witch. The person goes from sending flyers to painting graffiti to attempted arson.
While Corinna is very concerned about this, she is dealing with other troubles. She saved the life of a heroin addict who almost died near her door. She meets Daniel, a man of mystery, who is concerned that people are dying from heroin because they are given it in its purest form. She meets Jason, a recovering addict who attaches herself to her, helps her with her baking and is the key to finding the clue that will let them discover who is behind the junkie's deaths. Corinna also is thrilled to realize that the handsome Daniel is in love with her even though she is not a size five.
The Corinna Chapman mysteries are nothing like the Phryne Fisher tales because the women are different as the latter is comfortable in all settings while the former struggles when somewhat outside her norm. The heroine of EARTHLY DELIGHTS is a determined woman who chooses her own path and takes risks on people that most individuals will avoid. Although there is very little action, this tale is a pleasurable interesting reading experience with mysteries great and small.
Harriet KlausnerEarthly Delights: Corinna Chapman Mystery (Corinna Chapman Mysteries (Poisoned Pen Press)) Overview

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The Swiss Cookbook (Hippocrene International Cookbooks) Review

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The Swiss Cookbook (Hippocrene International Cookbooks) ReviewI really enjoyed this cookbook because it features a lot of authentic Swiss food. I worked in the area when I was in college and this book contains recipes for many of the dishes I enjoyed. This cookbook was originally published about 30 years ago, so some of the preparation styles are a bit dated. The food is delicious, but the fat content can be high.The Swiss Cookbook (Hippocrene International Cookbooks) Overview

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Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful Review

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Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful ReviewWe have always enjoyed the dessert recipes in Bon Appetit magazine so a purchase and review of the cookbook was not a question of if, but when. The Desserts cookbook is big, with quality printing and good color photos. The layout is easy to follow and we thought the use of whisks instead of stars to indicate the complexity of the recipe was creative.
The books begins with pantry and equipment suggestions and then techniques which might be helpful to many. The techniques sections uses illustrations where I believe pictures would have been better. For example, showing dough textures on page 37 is meaningless to the reader. We would suggest that the editor change this in the next version. From here we move to the recipes that starts with cakes.
There does not seem to be any order to how the recipes are organized in each section. There are subsections (example 5 in cakes), but if this was targeted for a large audience then perhaps sections should have started with the one whisk recipes and then moved to the four whisk recipes in each section. The pictures are well done but limited in scope. We have all seen magazines begin to have a light table grid of recipe pictures that could have played well here. At the beginning of each section they could have a 9 photo grid of each recipe and then cut back on the full page pictures. I enjoy pictures and cookbooks can always be lacking in too few of them. Pictures make me want to make the recipe.
The tips and layout of the recipes are good. The recipes selections would keep one entertained in desserts for quite a while with many visits to the treadmill. Our first recipe was a Cranberry Lime tart that did not disappoint. The holiday season will bring some other trials. Lime Snowball cookies looks interesting but it does require lime oil. We actually expected to find more recipes with uncommon ingredients but were pleased that they minimized their inclusion.
Overall we are pleased with the cookbook. You can find some of the recipes already on the Bon Appetit website and if you want a picture that may be the place to look. Amazon and Costco have very good pricing in the U.S.Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful Overview

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The Il Fornaio Baking Book: Sweet and Savory Recipes from the Italian Kitchen Review

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The Il Fornaio Baking Book: Sweet and Savory Recipes from the Italian Kitchen ReviewI have long felt that Il Fornaio's restaurants are the closest thing to eating in Italy in this country (USA). In my many trips to the San Francisco Bay area, I have always made it standard procedure to go to Il Fornaio for at least an evening, and usually breakfast as well, to be reminded of my all-too-short time in Italy. I have never been disappointed. Quite the contrary, I'm frequently stunned and delighted at the quality of food and service they provide. Naturally, when I ran across this book, I was so excited, I could hardly wait to get home and begin baking some of the wondrous items they so capably turn out every day.
I would add to the previous review that Italian cooking in general (and particularly recipes from the Emilia-Romagna region a la The Splendid Table) is at once sublimely simple and intimidatingly complex, requiring many subtle layers of preparation and execution. For all the spectacular effort some of these recipes require in all but the best-stocked of kitchens, however, the results will astound you with their beauty, their unfailing goodness, and the pure spirit of the Italians' passion for life, family, and truly great food.
This is not to say beginners should avoid this book. Rather, beginners should seek out this book to learn that with which Franco Galli has successfully imbued this gorgeous (and extremely tactile) book... the tried and true methods of Old World baking. It is filled to the brim with useful information on ingredients, techniques, stories, history, and peppered with the occasional bit of good humor that makes me long for a childhood spent in Italy, learning traditions passed on through untold generations.
My hat is off to Franco Galli in grateful acknowledgement for his tremendous restaurants, this excellent book (thank you thank you thank you), and the chance to live a tiny piece of Italy through his life experience as a baker. As a footnote, I have so far not experienced any of the measurement inaccuracies mentioned in the previous review.The Il Fornaio Baking Book: Sweet and Savory Recipes from the Italian Kitchen Overview

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