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The Muffin Tin Cookbook: Fun and Easy Meals Your Family Will Love (Plus a Fish Tacos Recipe)

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The Muffin Tin Cookbook

A while back, I was sent a wonderful cookbook to review, The Muffin Tin Cookbook: 200 Fast, Delicious Mini-Pies, Pasta Cups, Gourmet Pockets, Veggie Cakes, and More!

Love it, love it, love it.

Cooking is more than just one of my favorite hobbies and pastimes – it’s a passion that I love greatly.  Even now, I’m sitting at my desk in my home office – working in a frenzy of  keyboard tapping and brainstorming, breaking only for much needed sips of coffee.  Yet all I can think about is what I’m going to cook for supper, what my next dessert will be, and wondering when I can try out a new stuffed chicken recipe I saw yesterday.

Cooking, baking, cooking, baking, cooking, baking… a peek inside my brain.

Given the fact that it’s something I love so much, I want others to get the same kind joy from cooking as I do. I think that’s one of the reasons I get so excited about fresh, fun, and creative new cookbooks like The Muffin Tin Cookbook.  Not only are new cookbooks a complete joy ride for me in my amusement park of a kitchen, I know that other foodies will get a huge kick out of them as well.

I also like to see cookbooks filled with recipes that people will actually make! Recipes that don’t call for you to visit a foreign country and bring back an extract you can only find there – then stir it into a broth using the feather of a virgin peahen… Please. Every single recipe in  The Muffin Tin Cookbook is one you’ll make and make again.

Another thing I like to see in a cookbook is plenty of recipes that are quick and easy.  A lot of people have to work outside of the home AND come home and cook supper. People who have a limited amount of time to work with don’t need fussy recipes. They need recipes that can be thrown together quickly, cooked in a flash, and don’t require a lot of cleaning up afterward. The Muffin Tin Cookbook is a dream come true for someone looking for such recipes.

Since the recipes on Get Cooking are gluten-free (as are all of the recipes I personally make and eat – health reasons), I will point out that this is NOT a “gluten-free cookbook.”  Many of the recipes call for flour and a host of other foods off limits to those of us why have to eat gluten-free. HOWEVER, as with most cookbooks in my collection and recipes I find in the wild, I simply make the necessary substitutions.

Book Description

Muffin Tins—They’re Not Just for Muffins Anymore

There’s nothing you can’t make in a muffin tin—and we’re not talking merely muffins. All you need is a muffin tin, paper liners, and this ingenious, one-of-a-kind cookbook, and you can whip up delicious dishes that are as easy to prepare and serve as they are good to eat.

From quick-serve appetizers and sides to gourmet entrees and desserts, you’ll find an amazing variety of mouthwatering options for your dining pleasure, including:

  • Shrimp Cakes with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce
  • Egg Crescent Pockets
  • Deep-Dish Pizza Cups
  • Cornmeal-Crusted Mustard Chicken with Sweet Potato Coins
  • Duchess Potatoes
  • Zucchini, Corn, and Tomato Cups
  • Mini Ice-Cream Cakes

The best part (besides the tasty goodness): It’s fast, easy, mess-free, and provides built-in portion control. Kids will love to help you make them—like cupcakes, only better for your family!—and leftovers are as easy as popping the muffin-meal into the microwave.It just doesn’t get any better than The Muffin Tin Cookbook . . . your next memorable meal is just a muffin tin away! – From Amazon

Fish Tacos Recipe

3 pieces tilapia, about 3-4 ounces each, cut in half
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
Salt and Pepper
6 taco-size flour tortillas
Light sour cream, chopped green onion, chopped tomato, lettuce, and salsa for serving

  1. Place the tilapia, chili powder, cilantro, oil, lime juice, and salt and pepper in a bowl and allow to marinate 1/2 an hour, in the refrigerator.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and prepare 6 jumbo muffin cups by spraying with cooking spray.
  3. Push one taco tortilla down into each cup and press any sections that bubble out against the sides.
  4. Place 1 piece of marinated tilapia in each cup and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness of fish, until cooked through.
  5. Serve with toppings.

Taco tortillas are smaller tortillas and are just the right size to line jumbo muffin cups. Lemon juice can be substituted for the lime juice.

Muffin Tin Recipes

There’s an entire chapter in The Muffin Tin Cookbook devoted to Breakfast – a time of the day when few of us have unlimited time. Recipes in the Breakfast chapter include:

  • Egg Crescent Pockets
  • French Bread French Toast
  • Grits Casserole
  • Cheese Danish Cups
  • Bagel Sausage Sandwiches
  • And More!

Other chapters include:

  • Appetizers and Snacks (Asian Dumplings with Dipping Sauce, Spiced Pecan Cups, Hot Pretzel Bites…)
  • Beef and Pork (Mexican Meatloaf, Sloppy Joe Cupcakes, Taco Mini Pies…)
  • Chicken and Turkey (Teriyaki Turkey Cups, Chicken Tortilla Pies, Italian Chicken…)
  • Seafood (Salmon Cakes, Deviled Crab Tarts, Shrimp with Polenta…)
  • Potatoes, Rice, Pizza, and Pasta (Candied Yams, White Pizzas, Stuffed Gnocchi…)
  • Vegetables ( French Onion Pie, Edamame in Rice Paper Cups, Cherry Tomato Cups…)
  • Muffins and Breads (Corn Muffins, Monkey Bread, Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins…)
  • Desserts  (Hot Chocolate Muffins, Lemon Pound Cake, Apple Cupcakes..)

Each recipe indicates the size of muffin tin needed.  As the author says on page 8, “Keep in mind that you can make your dishes any size you like, but you will need to adjust cooking time up or down accordingly (if you make a bigger cup than the recipe suggests, baking time will be longer; if you make a smaller cup baking time will be shortened).”

Please see The Muffin Tin Cookbook  for more information.  When giving cookbook reviews, I like to suggest the sort of cook that the cookbook in question is “ideal” for.   Although this cookbook is PERFECT for busy cooks, it’s just as fun and enjoyable for those of us who are simply busy cooking!  It would make an excellent gift idea for someone who’s new to the world of cooking – maybe even in a bag with a brand-spanking new muffin tin.

150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Cookbook

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Is anyone even half as ready for autumn and winter as I am? Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of things about summer – baseball, fresh produce, songbirds at my bird feeders that aren’t there in cold weather, grilling out, and so on. Summer’s awesome in every way… but, having said that, autumn and winter are super special.

As a foodie, the cooler months make me think of soup, stew, chili, casseroles, chai tea lattes, and (of course) Halloween goodies, Thanksgiving dishes, and Christmas baking… how could a foodie NOT love this time of year???

I may be one of the biggest soup fanatics in the world, which is one of the reasons I’m excited about a new cookbook I was sent to review: 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

Naturally, grilled cheese sandwiches are perfect all year. We certainly eat them year-round in our house. In fact, we’ve been known to enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches at all times of the day and night.  Talk about a delicious comfort food.  Cheesy deliciousness that comes together pretty darn fast – sign me up.

150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches is a perfect guide to getting extra creative with this wonderful comfort food.  Although the modern version of the grilled cheese sandwich dates back to 1920 (when it became popular during the great depression, for obvious reasons), these delicious and inexpensive delicacies are currently a popular trend in cooking.  I think one of the reasons is the fact that they aren’t expensive to pull together.  I think the popularity of food trucks has also helped revive this wonderful sandwich.

Some people are even calling the grilled cheese sandwich the “new burger.”  The fact that so many people are eating less meat is another reason these sandwiches are so wildly popular.

From the Back Cover: A grilled cheese sandwich is classic comfort food and it’s enjoying an incredible resurgence in popularity. These fabulous recipes all begin with the grilled cheese we all know and love, and then from there, creative twists showcase just how incredibly versatile this sandwich can be.  The recipes reflect an almost endless and delicious variety of choices that include simple and timeless as well as gourmet and artisanal. From breakfast to dessert, there’s something for everyone in this book.

Another reason grilled cheese sandwiches are so popular is, let’s face it, they’re fast and easy to make.  You can have a warm, delicious, and comforting meal in a matter of minutes. This is one of the reasons they’re so popular with bachelors, college students, and beginner cooks.

Whether you enjoy your grilled cheese sandwiches with soup (one of my favorite meals), chips, or alone, nothing beats a great grilled cheese sandwich.

As I’ve probably mentioned on the food blog, when I had to totally give up wheat and gluten a number of years ago (health reasons), it threw my cooking persona into a tailspin. Imagine everything you are accustomed to cooking and baking for your family and yourself thrown out the door. Then finding yourself having to start over, pretty much, and discover a whole new way of both cooking and eating.

BUMMER!

It’s a hideous predicament for anyone but for an avid cook and food blogger who was extra keen on homemade breads, cornbread, cakes from scratch, pies, etc.. it knocked me on my backside for a bit. However, I (honestly) found out that many aspects of gluten-free food are actually as good as their gluten-y counterparts and some are even better in many ways.

For example, for whatever reasons, gluten-free fried catfish is actually better.  Don’t ask me why (please), but the combo of rice flour and yellow cornmeal makes the best fried catfish in the world. Trust me, this is a personal favorite and something I’ve been cooking since I was allowed to touch the stove.

Grilled cheese sandwiches have been another pleasant surprise (along with French Toast, for that matter). Gluten-Free bread, in my opinion, makes them even better. I think it’s because they’re denser and, sometimes, thicker, than regular bread. Then again, Texas Toast is a great way to go with grilled cheese sandwiches.

150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches includes so many creative, fun, and delicious recipes you won’t stop until you’ve made them all.  The cheese combinations, along with the additions of complimentary ingredients will boggle your mind.  I cook every single day (and have for years) and consider myself to be really creative in the kitchen, but even I found myself saying, “Ooooh, I would’ve never thought of that...”  One of the combinations that was wildly new to me was the one given in the recipe below.  I wouldn’t have ever invited Muenster Cheese to a grilled cheese party, but this recipe has me slapping myself for the oversight.

The recipe below is from the cookbook and is outstanding. I love it alongside tomato soup or chili and have been known to have it simply with a large dill pickle and Funyons.

I know how to live, after all.

Classic Grilled Two Cheese

Author: Alison Lewis
Serves 4

8 slices white or whole-grain bread (1/2 inch/1 cm thick slices)
2 TBS butter or margarine, softened
4 oz Muenster cheese, thinly sliced
4 oz Cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

Instructions

  1. Brush one side of each bread slice with butter.
  2. Place on a work surface, buttered side down.
  3. Top 4 bread slices equally with Muenster and Cheddar cheeses.
  4. Cover with remaining bread slices, buttered side up, and press gently.
  5. Place sandwiches on preheated panini grill or in a large skillet over medium heat and cook, turning once if using a skillet, for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and cheese is melted.
  6. Serve immediately.

When it comes to grilled cheese sandwiches, you have to really be careful with cheese combinations. Make the wrong move and the result will be thisclose to gross. You also have to be careful with what fillings you add and how you treat the bread. Again, the wrong move can leave your taste buds borderline depressed.  In this wonderful and fun cookbook, Alison Lewis has done all of the hard work for us and taken all of the guess work out of our hands.  We’re left with a ton of delicious recipes and combinations that’ll make us the Queen or King of Grilled Cheese.  Whether you use a Panini or Sandwich Press or a favorite skillet, you WILL use these recipes again and again and again.

Below are just some of the recipes included in 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches:

  • Roast Beef with Asiago and Watercress
  • Grilled Steak and Blue Cheese
  • Italian Tomato-Basil Bread
  • Hot Bacon Swiss Crostini
  • Havarti and Cucumber Sandwich
  • Grilled Spinach, Pepper Jack, and Bacon
  • Warm Peanut Butter Power Wrap
  • Italian Salami Panini
  • Sweet Pepper Relish
  • Hummus
  • The Pilgrim
  • And many, many, many more.

See 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches for more information and to order your copy today… just in time for soup season!


Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion

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Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion

Inevitably, after months of shopping and planning, my best-received gifts are the cookies and candies I’ve made for my loved ones. That’s why, in the days leading up to Christmas, you can only find me if you look in my kitchen. I’m the one covered in powdered sugar, chocolate, and corn syrup – dancing around to Christmas music.

Man, I love this time of year!

If you love giving gifts you’ve made in your own kitchen, too, here’s a cookbook you’ll want to add to your library right away.  Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion, by Annie Rigg, is an uncommonly beautiful book. As a cookbook collector, one of the first things I notice about a cookbook is how good it feels about itself –  the cover, artwork, and photographs let you know, right off the bat, if the cookbook feels really good about itself or if its heart is only half in it.

Gifts from the Kitchen feels amazingly good about itself – we’re talking “supermodel” confidence, here.

Naturally, for a book to be a great book – there has to be more than just great looks going for it. Thankfully, Gifts from the Kitchen comes through in the personality department, too  – it’s not just a pretty face.

{Continued Below…}

Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion
While I’m telling you about Gifts from the Kitchen a few weeks before Christmas (timing is everything, guys), this book is actually off the charts useful throughout the year. Why? Because people LOVE homemade gifts all year long!  The book covers all celebrations and all seasons. Not only can you use the beautiful delicacies for gift-giving, you can also use them to celebrate special occasions.

Special Occasion Recipes Include

  • Fortune Cookies (Chinese New Year)
  • Chocolate Valentine’s Cakes (Valentine’s Day or Anniversaries)
  • Love Heart Sugar Cubes (Valentine’s Day)
  • Double Dark Chocolate, Pecan and Ginger Cookies (Father’s Day)
  • Easter Nest Cupcakes (Easter)
  • Rugelach (Jewish Celebrations)
  • Baby Shower Cakes
  • Wedding Cake
  • Raspberry, Lemon, and Almond Friands (Mother’s Day)
  • Stained Glass Snowflake Cookies (Christmas)
  • And More…

Recipes for Gifts That Fit Any Occasion Include

  • Chocolate Truffles
  • Peanut or Madadamia Brittle
  • Creamy Vanilla Fudge with Chocolate and Nuts
  • Pickled Beets
  • Pickled Shallots
  • Spiced Cranberry Jelly
  • Florentines
  • Chocolate-Coated Candied Almonds
  • Mango Chutney with Chili Pepper and Ginger
  • English Muffins
  • Cherry Jam
  • Strawberry and Vanilla Preserves
  • Chocolate and Hazelnut Spread
  • Honeycomb (look especially perfect for Halloween)
  • Pesto
  • And Many more….

In addition to the clear and simple recipes, Gifts from the Kitchen provides beautiful examples of ways to present many of these food gifts to your lucky foodie.

This is not a “gluten free” cookbook, but many of the candies and other recipes are, in and of themselves, gluten free. I have not tested any of the other recipes with gluten free flours, so I can’t say how well they’d take to substitutions. It is, however, in my opinion, more than worth having in your collection. The candies, spreads, jellies, etc. outnumber the cakes and cupcakes… and even they provide inspiration and ideas for the gluten free cook.

I’m especially excited about a recipe for “Wholegrain Honey Mustard.” Wholegrain mustard is an obsession of mine – I add it to more recipes than you can imagine (potato salad, BBQ sauce, deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, salad dressings…). I can only imagine how amazing this homemade Wholegrain Honey Mustard will be!

See Gifts from the Kitchen for more information.

While you’re on Amazon, check out the other beautiful cookbooks by Annie Rigg.

Gifts from the Kitchen: 100 Irresistible Homemade Presents for Every Occasion


Cookbook Review: The Duluth Grill Cookbook II

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The Duluth Grill Cookbook II
I was recently sent a beautiful new cookbook to review: The Duluth Grill Cookbook II.  The Duluth Grill (in Duluth, Minnesota) has been on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri. If you’re a fan of Guy’s, you’re probably with them.

Needless to say, I was very excited to get my hands on this cookbook!

I love cookbooks of all shapes, colors, sizes, genres, and attitudes. As a collector, I’m not very picky. If it says Cookbook on the cover, I’m going to hear it out. However, I do prefer cookbooks with the following traits…

  • Beautiful Pictures – I’m a really visual person and I love colorful photographs.
  • Creative Recipes – Ones that you don’t see a million and one times online, on Pinterest alone!
  • Recipes I’ll Make – Ingredients I’ve heard of and can readily get and recipes that don’t take the patience of Job to make.
  • Easy to Make Substitutions for the gluten free diet I must adhere to.
  • It’s a “little thing” to most, but I love for recipes that are Gluten Free to tell me right off the bat. Sure, a quick scan and common sense lets me know, but when the cookbook provides the information on gluten (as well providing information for vegans), I know they care. That means a lot.

The Duluth Grill Cookbook II
The Duluth Grill Cookbook II nails each of the above preferences and brings something extra to the party… a personality that’s outta this world. This cookbook doesn’t read like a cookbook so much as it reads like a letter from a favorite family member – the one you love to see coming and hate to see leaving.

The spirit of the book is light-hearted and fun and were they to make 100 cookbooks, I’d want each and every one.

Looks and personality? That’s worth a WOW.

As for the recipes, they are even more impressive. They’re easy to make, yet are beautifully creative and imaginative.  They’ll add fun and spark – to say nothing of deliciousness – to your kitchen.

From the Back Cover:

The Duluth Grill is back for its second cookbook. It’s big. It’s bad. And after gaining fans from around the country, it’s better than ever.

Do you want to know why it’s taken so long to get that fish farm going?  That’s in here. Wondering about that time the catering van almost got set on fire? That’s in here too. From digging up the back parking lot for a new garden to (not) getting sued by Heinz to having a Real Housewife of Miami endorse their first book, the last three years have been a whirlwind.

But the food is really the star here. You’ll find raw vegan marinara, but also a bacon ice cream sundae; gluten free options, but also homemade flaky biscuits. From the cilantro lime vinaigrette to the North Shore paella, from the beet lemonade to the bison stuffed peppers, this is Minnesotan food like you’ve never seen at a potluck. Whether you’re making the carrot cake (good), the sriracha aioli (good), or the bacon-blue cheese coleslaw (real good), you’ll be glad you picked this up.

So treat yourself. Support a family-owned business. And most of all, enjoy the read. Because when a New York Times published food writer, an award winning photographer and designer, and a nationally famous restaurant get together, you’re not going to be disappointed.

How creative and awesome are the recipes? Check out a few of my favorites listed below…

The Duluth Grill Cookbook II
Recipes Include:

  • Pork Rub
  • Pickled Jalapeno
  • Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette
  • Kale & White Bean Soup
  • Italian Sausage
  • Carrot-Daikon Slaw
  • Cuban Black Beans
  • Salmon Salad
  • Swedish Meatballs
  • Lemon Chicken
  • Vanilla, Chocolate, and Peppermint Whipped Cream
  • Broccoli Cheese Soup
  • Hummus with Preserved Lemon
  • Marinated Kale
  • Bacon-Blue Cheese Coleslaw
  • Besan Chilla (Vegan Omelet)
  • Gluten Free Buckwheat Caraway Bread (pumpkin, chia seeds, carraway seeds, honey….)
  • Chorizo
  • Cold Press Coffee
  • Blueberry Lemonade, Mint Lemonade, Beet Lemonade
  • Raspberry Syrup
  • Cashew Sour Cream
  • And many more – 100 GREAT recipes in all.

Order a copy of  The Duluth Grill Cookbook II on The Duluth Grill’s website. They also have a “first cookbook” that I’m sure would be a great choice too. This one’s extra special.

The Duluth Grill Cookbook II
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Top 10 Reasons Printed Cookbooks Will NEVER Become Extinct

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The Southern Bite Cookbook

I love cookbooks.

There, you have now read the biggest understatement of the century. As I’ve often said on the food blog, I collect cookbooks and have since I was 16 years old.

Never you mind how long ago that was.

As you’d expect, given this lifelong passion, I write a lot of cookbook reviews on the Buttermilk Press food blog, “Get Cooking.” I only write about cookbooks I’m certain you’ll love as much as I do. While I buy a lot (A LOT) of cookbooks, being a food blogger has also given me a glorious perk – many cookbooks now come to me!  Unwrapping a new cookbook in the mail, for me, is like a kid unwrapping a present on Christmas morning.

I was recently looking through one of my new cookbooks and something occurred to me: Cookbooks aren’t going anywhere.  People stand on both sides of the eBook vs printed book debate. While I’m un-apologetic-ally old fashioned, I do have a great number of Agatha Christie books on my iPad. I prefer books I can hold, but having a Hercule Poirot mystery at my side every minute of the day carries some weight with me.

Cookbooks, however, are quite different and I’ll tell you why.  Cookbooks will never go out of print or out of style and they’ll never make anything but the most excellent gift idea for cooks and foodies. 

Physical cookbooks are here to stay and, in my opinion, they enrich the life of any cook and even make them a better cook.

{Discourse continued below….}

Cookbook Reviews

I’m sure you’ve heard the same logic I have, “You can find so many recipes online, why buy a cookbook?” As you’ve probably guessed, I have a few great reasons.

  1. It’s much easier to find a favorite Alton Brown recipe in an Alton Brown cookbook than it is to try and remember if you saw it on Pinterest, Food Network, Cooking Channel, or a recipe app. In the time it’d take someone to search through their “bookmarked” recipes, Pinterest boards, and saved e-mail, I can walk right over to my bookshelf, grab a cookbook and actually be cooking instead of looking.
  2. You can’t write in the margins of a recipe on the screen. I love to leave notes in my cookbook margins: which family members liked the dish the most, when I first made the recipe, ideas about ingredients to experiment with, and even the number of stars I give the recipe.  I cherish cookbooks my grandmother and mom wrote notes in and I get a huge kick out of the fact that we all loved to jot down our thoughts. They weren’t a fan of the star system, though, so I have that on them. Unfortunately, they didn’t write down the first time they made their favorite recipes either – something I really, really, really wish they had.
  3. Just as I cherish the cookbooks passed down in my family – one day my family will cherish all of the wild, loopy notations I leave in my cookbooks. I’m pretty sure they’ll laugh each time they see one of my smiley faces licking its lips.
  4. Cookbooks make excellent gift ideas. Not only do I love (make that LOVE) getting cookbooks for gifts, I love giving them. They do more than just look stylish sitting on counters or bookshelves (and they are quite stylish, you know) – they’re a lot of fun to read. The best food chefs and TV personalities write just like they talk, so reading one of their cookbooks is like being able to sit down and visit with them.
  5. Cookbook collecting is a lot of fun! Granted, I collect cookbooks in general, but I have collections within my collections. I collect Rachael Ray cookbooks, Michael Symon cookbooks, Emeril cookbooks, Alton Brown cookbooks, Gluten Free cookbooks, candy cookbooks, and Christmas cookbooks.  I never said I didn’t have a problem, you know. I’ve also just launched a Pioneer Woman cookbook collection and I really look forward to our visits.
  6. When you have a physical cookbook in your hands, you have more than “just” recipes. You have the author or that particular cookbook’s tips, expertise, tricks, and knowledge… right at your disposal!
  7. Granted, we can find a good number of recipes for our favorite celebrity chefs online, but you won’t find all of them. There are MANY special recipes you’ll only find in their cookbooks. Think about it… wouldn’t it behoove them to give the best to those who buy their cookbooks?!  And that they do. Recipes you will not find online along with tips they won’t even share on Twitter.
  8. Buying cookbooks will introduce you to wonderful cooks and chefs you’ve never even heard of. Their names aren’t household words and the first time you see their smiling face on the cover will probably be the first time you’ve ever laid eyes on them. Yet, it’s been my experience, that their cookbooks will be among your favorites. They have a passion for food and cooking and their cookbook is their outlet.
  9. Cookbooks introduce you to different cultures and different cuisines around the world – and I could, in no way, ever describe to you how cool this is.  “Mixing things up” with your recipes and meals is a great way to fall in love with cooking all over again.
  10. Last, but not least, when you buy cookbooks, you’re supporting the men, women, husbands, wives, mothers, and fathers involved in the publishing process. From the author to the illustrator and from the publisher to the distributor.  I want to see them all gainfully employed for years and years to come.

The wonderful thing about cookbooks is, I know they will be.

 

Cookbooks aren’t going anywhere and I think that calls for a piece of chocolate candy…. made from a recipe in a cookbook you’ll soon see reviewed on Get Cooking: Sally’s Candy Addiction!

I think I’ll actually have two pieces…

Spices and Seasons Cookbook by Rinku Bhattacharya
 

Cookbook Review: Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci

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Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci

I have to admit, one of the things that drew me to Inspiralized (new cookbook by Ali Maffucci) in the first place was my great love of my Spiral Vegetable Slicer. I was curious how anyone could come up with enough different recipes to fill a cookbook.

I further have to admit that I was a little skeptical! My skepticism thought, “Meh. She’ll probably fill the book with 75% pictures, 25% recipes.”

Wrong on all accounts!

Inspiralized is a beautiful, fresh, and downright inspiring cookbook that is, in fact, filled with exciting recipes.

{Review continued below….}

Recipe from Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci

From the inside cover:
On her wildly popular blog, Inspiralized, Ali Maffucci is revolutionizing healthy eating. Whether you’re low-carb, gluten-free, Paleo, or raw, you don’t have to give up the foods you love. Inspiralized shows you how to transform more than 20 vegetables and fruits into delicious meals that look and taste just like your favorite indulgent originals. Zucchini turns into pesto spaghetti; jicama becomes shoestring fries; sweet potatoes lay the foundation for fried rice; plantains transform into “tortillas” for huevos rancheros.

Ali’s recipes for breakfast, snacks, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, salads, casseroles, rices, pastas, and even desserts are easy to follow, hard to mess up, healthful, and completely fresh and flavorful. Best of all, she tells you how to customize them for whatever vegetables you have on hand and whatever your personal goal may be—losing weight, following a healthier lifestyle, or simply making easy meals at home.

Here, too, are tons of technical tips and tricks; nutritional information for each dish and every vegetable you can possibly spiralize; and advice for spiralizing whether you’re feeding just yourself, your family, or even a crowd. So bring on a hearty appetite and a sense of adventure—you’re ready to make the most of this secret weapon for healthy cooking.

{Review continued below…}

Recipe from Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci

If you love vegetables – and I mean love them to the point of getting as excited about veggies as the average person does chocolate or bacon – you will definitely want this cookbook.  Inspiralized: Turn Vegetables into Healthy, Creative, Satisfying Meals is a celebration of vegetables.  Tomatoes, zucchini, corn,  bell peppers, carrots, parsnips, kale, and their colorful friends are the star of the show. There are, however, lots of herbs, cheeses, fruit, seasonings, and even meat as well.

If you enjoy “mixing things up” and creating meals that are as visually impressive as they are delicious, you’ll want this cookbook.

The recipes create colorful, fresh, delicious, and beautiful dishes that will make you a legend in your own kitchen.

Some of the recipes include:

  • Daikon Ramen with Skirt Steak
  • Pickled Onion and Watermelon Salad with Ricotta Salata
  • Jalapeno Turkey Burgers with Cilantro-Lime Kohlrabi
  • Short Ribs with Sweet Potato Grits
  • Zucchini Linguine with Garlic Clam Sauce
  • Spicy Jicama Strings
  • Cucumber, Avocado, and Strawberry Salsa
  • “Everything Bagel” Breakfast Buns

The recipes are extremely creative and most unusual.  Suffice to say the average guest would never be able to guess what you were about to serve them.

Earlier in the review, I noted that this cookbook was “downright inspiring.” It honestly is, from front to cover – and that’s what, ultimately, you want from a cookbook – more than anything else. You want to be inspired to come up with your own creative recipes and ways of expressing yourself with your cooking.

Ali Maffucci reminds us that vegetables are incredibly versatile that can be.. and should be… used as beautiful and tasteful center attractions to build our meals around.

Find out more about Inspiralized: Turn Vegetables into Healthy, Creative, Satisfying Meals and order your own copy today – just in time to use on all the fresh produce this summer!

Note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. The opinions are entirely my own.

Four New Cookbooks Just in Time for Summer

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My love of cookbooks is legendary, so I won’t go into the number of cookbooks I own or the number of years I’ve been collecting them – I’ll just tell you that I’m awfully excited about four new cookbooks that, while perfect anytime, are especially ideal for this time of year.

Aroma Kitchen Cooking with Essential Oils

Aroma Kitchen: Cooking with Essential Oils: Most of us are familiar with essential oils only to the extent of making our homes or bodies smell glorious. This beautiful cookbook shows how we can bring these essential oils into the kitchen and integrate them into our meals for extra flavor and, I would imagine, Heavenly aroma.

Description: The human tongue and palate know only five tastes; our nose complements this rather limited sense. Much of what we think we taste is actually derived from our sense of smell! Because the nose and mouth are connected, taste and smell work hand-in-hand to complete our eating experiences; incorporating scent, in the form of essential oils, is a logical way to optimize our meals without adding additional chemicals and fillers to our food.

The recipes in this book focus on using fresh, local (if possible) ingredients and scented essential oils to nourish your loved ones in a healthy and varied way. Included are the basics of essential oils, including recipes for creating your own spiced oils, vinegars, butters, salts, syrups, honey, and sugars. Easy-to-follow recipes for warm and cold appetizers, soups, main and side dishes, desserts, and drinks and cocktails will have you cooking with essential oils in no time! A tips and tricks section helps to eliminate any guesswork on the part of the home cook, and the authors include menu examples by occasion. Eliane Zimmermann, leading lecturer for aromatherapy practice and graduate of the renowned Shirley Price International College of Aromatherapy, provides the introduction.

Grill Skills Cookbook

Grill Skills: Professional Tips for the Perfect Barbeque: Food, Drinks, Music, Table Settings, Flowers: Talk about timely! This book is just what you need to turn yourself into the best griller on the block… assuming that you aren’t already, of course!

Description: Would you like to be more confident in your grilling skills? Then this is the book for you. Do you consider yourself king or queen of the grill? If so, then this book for you, as well.

In Grill Skills, professionals generously offer their very best tips, advice, and recipes. Mia Gahne explains how to whip up the perfect barbeque sauce. Tove Nilsson shares slightly tweaked traditional barbeque dinners with all the proper sides. Liselotte Forslin creates glorious barbeque buffets for all ages and tastes. Mia Öhrn conjures up the magic of grilled desserts. Bengt-Göran Kronstam gives expert advice on wines to go with your grilled meals. Catharina Lindenberg-Bernhardsson creates ambiance by imaginatively decorating around the grill. All this is accompanied by music selected by Jan Gradvall. This is the book where Tex-Mex meets the islands, the Mediterranean meets Sweden, and the tropics meet urban balconies—an indispensable grill book for all tastes.

Serbian Cooking

Serbian Cooking: Popular Recipes from the Balkan Region: This beauty intrigues me as much as any cookbook EVER has. I’m not even remotely familiar with Serbian cooking, so I am beyond anxious to make a long-overdue introduction of Serbian food into my kitchen.

Description: Fifty-three recipes make up this Eastern European cookbook. Inside, find all types of traditional Serbian fare, including potato salad, lentil soup, and an assortment of pita dishes, as well as sauces and a multitude of delectable desserts, such as crème puffs, baklava, and crepes.

Most Serbian cooking traditions are intertwined with the cultures of its neighboring countries. So, don t be surprised if some of these dishes seem similar to some of your own family s traditional recipes. Also, be prepared for some differences. In Serbia, lunch is the biggest meal of the day, while dinner happens to be the lightest, typically focusing on merely cold cuts and bread. Throw in an afternoon snack of a baked pastry and coffee and consider yourself a convert! Many of the recipes are vegetarian, but feel free to add your choice of meat to any dish.

The Little Smoker Book

The Little Smoker Book: Getting Into the Top Level of Grilling:  What is it about smoked meat that makes it taste better than any meat has a right to?! It’s juicy, delectable, and has to temp even the most ardent vegetarians. Before jumping into the comments to bust my chops (forgive the pun), I’m joking. One of my daughters is a vegetarian and I know that not even smoked meat would tempt her.  Smokers can be pretty tricky to figure out, though, and that’s where this basic how-to guide and cookbook comes in.

What’s really cool is that there’s more to smoking than just meat – this book has the recipes to prove it!

Description: This introduction to home smoking provides beginner smokers with information and delicious recipes for grilling, barbecuing, and smoking. It will give people who have not worked with a smoker on their own the tools and know-how to embark on this popular cooking method. Learn the basics of various kinds of smokers – barrel, water or bullet, and ceramic – to determine the best one for you. Get tips for determining the right type of firing — with wood or charcoal, as well as for selecting your home smoking accessories. There is also guidelines for the maintenance of your smoker. With 44 color images and recipes for pastes and marinades, pulled pork, brisket, chicken wings, ribs, brined dragon drumsticks, and sumptuous peach and fruit cobbler, you will be enjoying the “low and slow” in no time at all.

The 4 Hour Chef by Timothy Ferris: A Cookbook Completely Unlike Any Other

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The 4 Hour Chef by Timothy Ferriss Review

About a month ago, my husband handed me a book he’d bought for me on Amazon, The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss. The first thing I noticed was the size of this behemoth. HUGE (the book, not Mr. Ferriss)!

The second thing I noticed was the beautiful shiny cover. You can actually see your reflection in both the book’s jacket and the actual cover of the book.  Beautiful.

Naturally, like the cookbook crazed fanatic that I am, I dropped everything I was doing and sat down to get better acquainted with the newest member of my cookbook collection. It didn’t take long to realize that this was a lot more than just a cookbook.  This is the very reason my review is so delayed.  I’ve tried several times to sit down and write out my thoughts about The 4-Hour Chef but I have trouble lining them up.

As any writer who has face thoughts that refuse to line up in an orderly fashion knows, sometimes bullet points are the only way to go – it forces the thoughts to fall in line whether they want to or not.

  • I don’t like comparing people to other people – in fact, I normally detest it. Each person is an individual and making comparisons isn’t fair to either person being compared.  It implies that they aren’t 100 percent originals, which is absurd because everyone IS an individual. This is why I almost never make comparisons.  However, in this instance – for the sake of making a point – I have to.  I just may be Alton Brown’s biggest fan in the world (I’ve seen each of the Good Eats so many times I can recite them in my sleep).  I thought you should know what a solid Alton Brown fan I am, so you can appreciate the fact that I’m breaking my “thou mustn’t compare” rule – and further appreciate the fact that I’m comparing someone to Mr. Brown.  Alton Brown has fun with life. I think that’s why I’m such a fan. He takes any routine task and makes a party out of it.  Beating eggs becomes a memorable adventure when Alton does it.  Halfway through The 4 Hour Chef, the validity of the comparison struck me.  Timothy Ferriss also approaches life as a fun long party that he wouldn’t mind being the life of.  In fact, like Alton, he’d insist on it. Can you imagine how fun this makes a book he’s written?
  • The 4 Hour Chef is just as IDEAL for the new cook as it is the one who’s been at it for years and years and years and years….
  • The beautiful pictures  are as enjoyable as the great content.
  • There are plenty of great recipes that you’ll love.  Kale Chips, Meat Loaf, Beef Short Ribs, Chinese Chicken with Bok Choy, and Sexy Time Steak are just a few.  An Arugula, Avocado, and Roma Salad is another recipe that’ll blow you away.
  • As great as the recipes are, they aren’t even the main attraction of The 4 Hour Chef.  The knowledge and fresh, fun approach to all things cooking make this a book I highly recommend to everyone.
  • There’s a great section on making the perfect cup of coffee. Tim Ferriss shares information he learned from a bit of an expert, a World Barista Champion. It’s actually where I first read about the Aerobie AeroPress.
  • You’ll meet a lot of fascinating people through the author – people you won’t soon forget.
  • Another one of my favorite sections is titled, “Around the World in 44 Flavor Combinations.” A colorful chart gives you a few of the flavors associated with various regions of the world.  It’s priceless information if you love experimenting with cuisine around the world.
  • You’ll learn how to put together the ultimate pantry. Always have the right foods on hand to whip up a memorable meal at a moment’s notice.
  • In addition to a great deal of culinary information, there’s a LOT of great advice on eating healthy, maintaining a healthy weight, and even losing weight.  Great stuff.
  • If you’re looking for a gift idea for a foodie or new cook – simply put, look no further.

About the Author

Tim Ferriss is author of the #1 New York Times best sellers The 4-Hour Workweek and The 4-Hour Body. He’s been called “The Superman of Silicon Valley” by Wired, one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and “the world’s best guinea pig” by Newsweek, which ranked him in its top 10 “most powerful” personalities on the 2012 Digital 100 Power Index. He is an adviser and faculty member at Singularity University, based at NASA Ames Research Center, which focuses on leveraging accelerating technologies to address global problems. Tim’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist, and The New Yorker, among many others.

From the Back Cover:

The 4-Hour Chef isn’t just a cookbook. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure guide to the world of rapid learning.

#1 New York Times bestselling author (and lifelong non-cook) Tim Ferriss takes you from Manhattan to Okinawa, and from Silicon Valley to Calcutta, unearthing the secrets of the world’s fastest learners and greatest chefs. Ferriss uses cooking to explain “meta-learning,” a step-by-step process that can be used to master anything, whether searing steak or shooting 3-pointers in basketball. That is the real “recipe” of The 4-Hour Chef.

You’ll train inside the kitchen for everything outside the kitchen. Featuring tips and tricks from chess prodigies, world-renowned chefs, pro athletes, master sommeliers, super models, and everyone in between, this “cookbook for people who don’t buy cookbooks” is a guide to mastering cooking and life.

To Begin, You’ll Learn To:

  • Compress 6 months of culinary school into 48 hours.
  • Emulate the geniuses behind restaurants like Alinea, ABC Kitchen, Saison, Hearth, Riverpark, and others.
  • Cook world-class sea bass in a bathroom sink for 20 minutes.
  • Use food for seduction, whether on first dates or 10th anniversaries.
  • Cook an epic clambake in a garbage can.
  • Cook without recipes for a lifetime.

Following the Same Blueprint, You’ll Also Learn How To:

  • Speak fluent Spanish in 8 weeks.
  • Become a world record holder in tango after 5 months.
  • Memorize a deck of cards in less than 60 seconds.
  • Lose 20-150 pounds using the Slow-Carb Diet.

And that’s just the beginning!

(Review continued below)

The 4 Hour Chef by Timothy Ferriss

Cookbook Meets Cooking Tutorial Video Captures Meets the Coolest Textbook You Ever Saw

You know how amazing it is to sit back and watch a cooking show on the Food Network or Cooking Channel, right? You get to SEE how the recipe or food prep all comes together. I think that’s why cooking tutorial videos are so popular, too. People love seeing a recipe as much as they love reading the recipe.

The 4 Hour Chef is packed with pictures, like the ones shown in the picture above.  It’s honestly like great cooking tutorial videos are being laid out in front of you – complete with explanations, tips, and information you’ll wonder how you ever lived without.

The amount of time and effort that went into writing this epic cooking book – combined with the amount of time and effort that went into the countless beautiful and fun photographs is mind numbing.

The 4 Hour Chef strikes me as the craziest, coolest textbook you ever saw in your life.  PACKED with great information, it’s a complete education in cooking.  After reading this one book, you’ll feel as though you just graduated from culinary school, and you’ll have the skill set to back it up.

This wonderful book also makes an excellent coffee table book for your family and guests to enjoy.  Any page you flip open to is insanely enjoyable and unapologetically addictive.

 

The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life is, believe it or not, available on Amazon for just a little more than $20.  For a hardcover book of this size and value – that’s unheard of.  I’m not exaggerating when I say that I would pay three times that for this book.  I hope you’ll click through the link to read more about The 4 Hour Chef. You’ll find more pictures, information, and even videos.

The 4 Hour Chef is also available on Kindle for around $10.

The 4 Hour Chef by Timothy Ferriss

A Gorgeous Cookbook I Know You’ll Love

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I was recently sent a big, beautiful cookbook to review: Energy Cuisine.  The authors are two chef friends, David Denis and Jani Lehtinen.  This isn’t just any ordinary cookbook, mind you. It’s as though a beautiful coffee table book and an exotic cookbook had a child.

The premise behind the book is as original as it is cool:

Theirs is one of the most satisfying culinary friendships since soup and sandwich, meat and potatoes, or shrimp and grits. CHEF DAVID DENIS comes of age in the South of France, only to discover that everything-including restaurant success-is bigger in Texas. CHEF JANI LEHTINEN grows up in Pori, Finland, only to discover the meaning of life, cooking in Italy. Drawing on the dazzling culinary riches of Le Mistral in Houston and Bucco in Pori, these chef-buddies take us “on the road,” through their quite different kitchens and far beyond: sharing with us the people, places and things that truly make dishes spectacular. Written with veteran author John DeMers and photographer Shannon O’Hara. Journalist, radio host, author and playwright John DeMers ate his way through 136 foreign countries before discovering he could get all the same food right here in Houston. Currently, John hosts the weekly Delicious Mischief food and wine radio show Saturdays on NewsRadio 740 KTRH and on Austin’s Talk 1370, as well as the weekly Sunday show Houston ArtsWeek, covering the Performing, visual and literary arts. He is the author of 40 published books, including Follow the Smoke: 14,783 Miles of Great Texas Barbecue, reflecting the total distance he drove to overeat in 119 different places and his first mystery novel, Marfa Shadows. In the course of working with Chef David and Chef Jani on Energy Cuisine, John traveled further abroad, to Finland, Provence, Shiner, Texas, and everywhere in between.

The photography in Energy Cuisine is too beautiful to even describe. The big, gorgeous pictures just keep coming. The food looks so scrumptious and real you can almost taste it. I swear I looked at the “Burbot Wallenberg with Mashed Potatoes and English Peas” so long I thought my eyes would cross.

Gorgeous!

Recipes in this beautiful book include:

  • Seared Scallops with Foie Gras and Crawfish Reduction
  • Traditional Crepes Suzette
  • Smoked Salmon-New Potato Salad in Fish Egg-Sour Cream Sauce (you should see this beauty!)
  • Vanilla Panna Cotta with Fresh Strawberries
  • Meme’s Ravioli (a recipe from David Denis’ grandmother)
  • La Bomba (beautiful layered sorbet and mousse dessert)
  • Fresh Raspberries with Raspberry Coulis and Rosemary Whipped Cream

There are tons of recipes in this gorgeous cookbook as well as the fascinating story behind each chef/author. I highly, highly recommend Energy Cuisine.

Below is one of the recipes and if you love raspberries and rosemary as much as I do, prepare to drool.  The recipe calls for fresh raspberries and rosemary. The Raspberry Coulis (Coulis is a thick French sauce made from fruit or vegetables) is complimented by a gorgeous rosemary whipped cream.

Fresh Raspberries with Raspberry Coulis and Rosemary Whipped Cream (Page 86)

COULIS:

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 sprig fresh rosemary
3 cups fresh raspberries

ROSEMARY WHIPPED CREAM:

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

36 fresh raspberries

When raspberries are in season, there’s really nothing better. This mix of fresh berries and a nice coulis is even more interesting when paired with the whipped cream scented with rosemary.

Prepare the coulis by putting water, sugar, and rosemary in a saucepan. Then add the raspberries. Let them cook for 10 minutes over low heat. Remove rosemary. Pour the raspberry mixture into a blender and blend until extremely fine. Pass the blended mixture through a sieve to remove the seeds.

Place the cream and ground rosemary in a saucepan and warm over low heat, being careful to not boil the cream. Remove from heat and let sit for 20 minutes. Place the cream in the refrigerator until completely chilled, at least 30 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla to cream and whisk until fluffy. Do not overbeat; it will turn into butter.

To serve, spoon coulis onto the bottom of a dish. Set 6 raspberries on each dish, topped with whipped cream.

* I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how crazy delicious the picture for this recipe looks!!

Read more about Energy Cuisine and order your copy today. I know it seems early, but this would make extraordinary Christmas gifts for the cooks on your list.

Southern Biscuits

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  This post was written before I had to give up wheat and gluten (health reasons). This book is exceptional for those who do not have to avoid wheat but, for those of us who do, this is not the book for us. It is such a gorgeous book and the recipes are so phenomenal, I only wish the authors WOULD write a gluten-free Southern Biscuits cookbook!

Okay, look out. You know how I get when I’m all worked up about one of my culinary obsession:

  • cookbooks
  • coffee
  • chocolate

Recently, I received a copy of a gorgeous new cookbook to review. It’s Southern Biscuits, by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart and it is just perfection.

This beautiful, hardback 211 page cookbook quickly became a favorite in this southern kitchen and it will become a favorite in your kitchen as well, whether it’s a southern, northern, eastern, or western kitchen. Great cookbooks are like that – they’re insanely popular all around the world because of one universal truth: We all love outstanding food. We love making it, we love serving it, and we love eating it.

The first recipe I tried was Chicken and Drop Dumplings (page 153). I was beyond thrilled with the delicious outcome. It tastes exactly like you’d expect chicken and dumplings to taste if they were served in a great southern cook’s kitchen. My mouth’s watering just thinking about them.

Other recipes in Southern Biscuits include:

  • Black Pepper Biscuits
  • Pimento Cheese Biscuits
  • “Fast Food Biscuits”
  • “Big Nasty Biscuits”
  • Pancakes
  • Waffles
  • Easy Refrigerator Strawberry Jam
  • Chocolate Gravy
  • Biscuit Fried Pies
  • Berry-Biscuit Summer Pudding
  • Breaded Tomatoes
  • Rainy-day Beef Stew and Thyme Dumplings
  • Peach Coffee Cake
  • And many, many more that’ll make you the talk of town!

In addition to beautiful photographs and outstanding recipes, you’ll find pages dedicated entirely to creating the perfect biscuit.  The authors explain what makes a “Southern Biscuit” extraordinary and give you a complete education in Biscuit Basics. Pages 12 through 31 are devoted to showing the reader, step by step how to make sure your biscuits are the most beautiful, fluffy, and delicious biscuits to ever hit a table.  You’ll learn about the different ingredients and how each one is vital to great biscuits. You’ll learn the mysteries surrounding perfect kneading, shaping, cutting, folding, and dropping.

No matter how long you’ve been baking, I guarantee that’ll learn something new.  And, in the kitchen as much as anywhere else, knowledge is sweet power!

Naturally, the stars of the show, however, are the many wonderful recipes in Southern Biscuits.

They’ll blow your mind.

One more thing, I started not to include this last paragraph – because it sounds kind of sales-y. As I “wrote” the words in my head, I thought, “You sound like you’re pitching something on television!” That’s not what I’m about – besides, I’d be horrible at selling anything. My skills lie in the buying aspect of any transaction… just ask my husband. However, if I were looking for a new cookbook to buy (something that I’m often doing, since I collect them!), this is information I’d want someone to give ME, so I’m giving it to YOU. I’m very, very, very familiar with cookbooks (to the tune of hundreds in my collection familiar) and I can tell you that this is a high quality cookbook. When I opened the package and looked through the cookbook, I turned to the inside cover to see the “retail” price. When I saw $21.99, I was honestly surprised. I’ve seen books half this impressive priced upwards of $30.00.

However, the look of surprise on my face THEN was nothing compared to what I saw when I went to Amazon to see what it would cost. (You see, when I’m reviewing products or telling you about things I love, I look for the best price for you – I’ve got your back!) Southern Biscuits, by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart is available on Amazon for $14.95!!! Believe me, that’s an unreal price for this beautiful cookbook.

The cookbook will be available on May 7, but you can order it now. Again, at the risk of sounding like a tv salesperson, if I were you I’d grab a copy right now. You’ll love it as much as I do.