The Beach House Cookbook Review

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(More customer reviews)I love the Beach House Cookbook. It's filled with summer classics with a twist like the BLT salad with buttermilk blue cheese dressing which was a great hit. This is a real staple cookbook for me this summer. I've given it as a host gift a couple of times. My hosts loved the delicious photography and were inspired to cook from its easy recipes.

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A great day at the beach calls for great foodespecially delicious, quick dishes that leave time for fun in the sun. Barbara Scott-Goodman serves up more than 75 recipes for sensational meals for those spending a weekend at the coast or for whom the seaside is home. Recipes for appetizers, soups, sandwiches, main courses, salads, desserts, and cocktails feature farmstand fruits and vegetables, fresh fish and shellfish, and meats for the grill that celebrate summer's bounty. Steamed Mussels in Tomato-Fennel Broth and Chicken & Soba Noodle Salad with Spicy Asian Peanut Sauce make for delightful post-beach fare. Fire up the barbecue for Grilled Swordfish with Mango Salsa andvoil!instant backyard beach party. For dessert, Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie or Brownie Sundaes with Raspberry Sauce are guaranteed to please. With photos that capture the beauty of both the coast and the cuisine, The Beach House Cookbook offers all the right ingredients for fabulous diningwith an ocean view.

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The Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook Review

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(More customer reviews)A useful cooking manual and a feel-good read!
I ran across this cookbook one rainy Saturday, and newlywed nostalgia and the beautiful format drew me in. After buying the book and reading it in two sittings, I've begun to cook my way through it. The recipes are considered and fresh, not complex or pretentious. I like the emphasis on seasonal ingredients, especially since this book provides a table of when various fruits and veggies can be expected to be at their peak.
Rather than overwhelming you with recipes, the book offers a small, balanced selection to take you from appetizers to dessert. The culinary authors were caterers and their recipes seem likely to appeal to a wide range of palates. The overall message is that cooking isn't mysterious: with a little preparation it can be done well. For example, you're encouraged to caramelize a large batch of onions and then keep them on hand in the fridge--an easy but pleasingly sophisticated addition to weeknight dishes.
Another thing I found to like about this book came unexpectedly. Less tangible than all the cooking help but equally gratifying is the revelation of the amazing bond between the book's twin sister authors, who have apparently been cooking together since they were kids. Their views on how food helps shape and define our relationships (fortunately, nothing preachy or pseudo-psychoanalytic) are a simple acknowldegement that food can be a chance to do something nice for other people.
The book's modernity is really refreshing. There are sections on cooking with your mate and how to stock a pantry so that you can still eat in when you don't really feel like cooking. There's an overall sense of realism; the bride isn't cast as a Good Housekeeping-style kitchen slave, but the book is subtly geared toward the one partner with a greater interest in cooking, with hints about involving and empowering the less interested partner so that he or she can help with preparations or stocking the fridge and pantry.
Other sections have been useful in surprising ways. Ironically, the tutorial on necessary kitchenware for the new kitchen gave me some insight on simplifying my existing, overstocked one.
Most of the recipes can be described as new American classics and all have been good so far. I look forward to trying more recipes and am frighteningly addicted to the slightly decadent, easy-to-make herbed popcorn. I would recommend this book as a great gift for couples or singles, or for anyone willing to make a moderate time commitment for simple, stylish food.

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Weber's Big Book of Grilling Review

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(More customer reviews)The first time I tasted grilled food, many years before Weber existed, I remember wondering why all meat was not cooked over charcoal. As I got older, I started grilling a bit but the recipes were the staples: burgers, steaks and chicken.

Then I purchased a Weber charcoal kettle, which came with some neat, out of the ordinary recipes. I started experimenting, and branched out into growing fresh herbs to season the food. There are now four Weber grills on my deck, including the little "Smokey Joe", for little projects and The Summit gas grille for the big ones.

As a result of a couple of major cooking projects I did for the neighborhood, I was given this book. I didn't know whether it was a thank you, or a subtle way of saying that my cooking needed improvement. What a horizon expanding book it is! If there is anything outside its covers that is needed to teach the novice or improve the good cook, I don't know what it is.

Recipes? Yep, and not a single loser out of 350. Grilling advice? Yep, everything from buying to using to maintaining your grill. There's a section on the uses of fresh herbs, including reduction formulas for the use of store bought seasoning. There are explanations as to why fresh ground black pepper and Kosher salt are preferred.

I have used this book exhaustively since I got it, and have given it as gifts to many, many friends, all of whom are as enthusiastic about it as I am. Simply put, if grilling means burning meat to you, save your money. But if you enjoy the looks of friends and family when you place a truly outstanding meal on the table, get this book.

Cooking seems to intimidate some guys. I don't know why. But Weber's book takes the fear out of cooking, and after a couple of successes, generates a bit of enthusiasm for the next time, both for the cook and the eaters.

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