Special Occasions Books

The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show

Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Sally Swift

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Just when you thought the last thing the world needed was another book on weeknight cooking, along comes an entirely fresh take on the subject. As they do on their weekly show, host Lynne Rossetto Kasper and producer Sally Swift approach their topic with attitude and originality, making The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper one of the most engaging cookbooks of this or any other year.

As loyal listeners know, Lynne and Sally share an unrelenting curiosity about everything to do with food. Their show, The Splendid Table, looks at the role food plays in our lives—inspiring us, making us laugh, nourishing us, and opening us up to the world around us. Now they have compiled all the most trenchant tips, never-fail recipes, and everyday culinary know-how from the program in How to Eat Supper, a kitchen companion unlike any other.

This is no mere cookbook. Like the show, this book goes far beyond the recipe, introducing the people and stories that are shaping America’s changing sense of food. We don’t eat, shop, or cook as we used to. Our relationship with food has intensified, become more controversial, richer, more pleasurable, and sometimes more puzzling. How to Eat Supper gives voice to rarely heard perspectives on food—from the quirky to the political, from the grassroots to the scholarly, from the highbrow to the humble—and shows the essential role breaking bread together plays in our world.

How to Eat Supper takes you through a plethora of inviting recipes simple enough to ensure success even if you’ve never cooked before. And if you are experienced in the kitchen, you’ll find challenging new concepts and dishes to spark your imagination.

The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition with 1,000 Recipes

Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine

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Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 194 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With The New Best Recipe, we invite you into America's Test Kitchen where you will stand by our side as we try to develop the best macaroni and cheese, the best meatloaf, the best roast chicken, the best brownie, and nearly 1,000 more best recipes for all your favorite home-cooked foods.

Behind this book is a deeply felt understanding of how frustrating it can be to spend time planning, shopping and cooking only to turn out dishes that are mediocre at best. With The New Best Recipe in hand, you will have access to a wealth of practical information that will not only make you a better cook but a more confident one as well. In fact, as long as you follow our instructions, we guarantee that these recipes will work the first and every time.

We have also included 800 illustrations showing you the best way to do almost everything from how to carve a turkey and beat egg whites properly to how to frost a layer cake and set up your grill. Also, get valuable information on how and when to splurge on that expensive knife or baking pan and when the basic model will do just fine. We also explain the science of cooking since understanding the science of food can help anyone become a better cook. Complete with recipes ranging from appetizers to desserts, The New Best Recipe

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ina Garten, Martha Stewart

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 237 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Lauren Bacall gets cranky when Barefoot Contessa, an East Hampton specialty food store/institution for more than 20 years, is sold out of Indonesian Ginger Chicken. She can now thank her lucky stars that exuberant owner Ina Garten has written The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and included this recipe. Ms. Bacall is sure to be pleased to discover how easy it is to achieve such fantastic flavor. Simplicity is something of a bottom line at Barefoot Contessa. "Food is not about impressing people," Ina Garten says. "It's about making them feel comfortable."

Aimed at the cook who intends to entertain, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook draws on Garten's experience as a caterer, as well as her knowledge of what customers really want to eat when they arrive at her shop. She has culled her favorite recipes and has included timesaving tips, always striving for ease and simplicity. Neither cooking nor entertaining should be a chore, according to Ina Garten, and her lovely cookbook is a case in point.

This is an intensely illustrated cookbook that shows the foods to best advantage (and makes it a lovely gift book). Presentation counts for a great deal, and Garten's food styling adds to any food platter. But just as relevant are photos that bring in the spirit of fresh, locally grown produce. There's the local poultry producer proudly holding a laying hen in case anyone should wonder where the eggs come from.

Starting with appetizers, Ina Garten isn't afraid to include such basics as hummus and guacamole: she knows from experience that her versions make a profound impact. There are French Onion Soup and Corn Cheddar Chowder, Baked Virginia Ham and Salmon with Fennel, Roasted Carrots and Caramelized Butternut Squash--and then one killer dessert after another. Included, too, are some breakfast specialties. Any upscale bed and breakfast could have this book in the kitchen and get rid of all others.

This isn't a cookbook about getting outrageous with food. The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook is about warming the hearts and souls of your guests with familiar food raised to a gourmet level. --Schuyler Ingle

Y'all Come Eat

Jamie Deen, Bobby Deen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A must have for cookbook enthusiasts 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I LOVE this cookbook! The photos are the best of any book I own. Usually I look through a cookbook and want to make 3 or 4 things, this is one that every recipe looks like something any family would enjoy. Easy to prepare, full of flavor comfort food. It's got everything from salads to desserts and everything between. So far I have made the Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Breasts with Chile Cheese Sauce,Hoecakes,Brooke's Meatloaf,English Pea Salad,Peaches and Cream Muffins and the Sausage-Potato Salad. Tonight I'm making the Ground Beef and Baked Beans Casserole. I have not been disappointed in any of them. If you participate in summer parties or potlucks this is a fantastic choice. There is a grilling section as well. I'm going to list some of the other recipes since you can't "look inside" this book. Creamy Artichoke and Spinach Dip, Deep Fried Pickles with honey mustard dipping sauce,mini cheeseburger puffs,spinach salad with warm bacon dressing,bitesize tomato and mozzarella tarts,blackberry coffee cake with streusel topping,double fudge bread pudding, garlic butter burgers,crab eggs benedict,butterscotch-black pepper baby carrots,chicken pot pie, five veggie four cheese lasagna,Jamie's breakfast casserole with ham and cheese, kicked up eggplant parmesan, Pineapple and peach casserole, minted lemon and limeade,peanut butter and banana stuffed french toast...and lots lots more. I sent my mom a copy for mothers day and also got a copy for my daughters teacher for teacher appreciation week.

Editorial Review:

Get ready for amazing recipes that will entice anyone to clear off the kitchen table and have a few people over. Bobby and Jamie Deen's newest one-of-a-kind cookbook is bursting with flavorful recipes for good eats around the dinner table with family, a pre-game cookout, or a potluck rich with food for half the neighborhood.

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook Revised Edition: Featuring More Than 1,200 Kitchen-tested Recipes, 1,500 Photographs And No-nonsense Equipment And Ingredient Ratings

America's Test Kitchen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 96 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Over time, twin enterprises Cook's Illustrated magazine and America's Test Kitchen have published many books dedicated to providing exhaustively tested recipes--"best" versions of traditional dishes plus definitive takes on kitchen equipment and ingredients. Some series readers have complained of endlessly recycled or rejiggered recipes; others take each book at face value, finding the formulas and cooking insights good and helpful. America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, which calls itself a cookbook, cooking school, and kitchen reference in one, offers over 1,200 approachable recipes for a very wide range of dishes--from "weekday" fare like Creamy Rice Casserole, Cheesy Nachos with Spicy Beef, and Skillet Lasagna, to dressier recipes, including Pan-Seared Lamb Chops with Red Wine Rosemary Sauce, Roasted Trout Stuffed with Bacon and Spinach, and Chocolate Marshmallow Mousse. There are "specialty" chapters devoted to sandwiches, drinks, and slow cooker and pressure cooker dishes; a grilling section is a tutorial in itself.

Unorthodox, "better-way" approaches abound. For example, a fried chicken formula instructs the cook to wet the bird's dry coating slightly before it's applied for an extra-crunchy crust. Predictably, side bars feature equipment and ingredient evaluations, on bottled salsa, for example; "good food/bad food" photographs show readers what to aim for when producing fare like holiday cookies; and there are tips, charts, and "Cooking 101" sidebars galore. Step-by-step photos offer more direction still.

Though the majority of recipes are sound and yield tempting results, readers poring through the book will note gaffes and curiosities. The recipe for poached eggs, for example, offers the option of extra cooking for "firm yolks" (hard-boiled poached eggs, anyone?) and hamburgers receive an indentation before cooking to avoid "puffy" domed burgers, a novel problem that could, in any case, be solved by proper shaping. The addition of sugar to some savory dishes--for example, a pan sauce for steak--is misguided. Readers should also know that the book, which comes in loose-leaf form, requires some assembly, and that the pages themselves are quite thin, making them vulnerable to spills and tearing in daily kitchen use.

These things said, the book delivers solid, family-friendly dishes with enough fully orchestrated "how- to" to make even novice cooks feel secure when tackling the basics or more ambitious fare.

What's New in the Revised Editon?
First out in 2005, America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook was praised for its recipe ease, inclusiveness, and wealth of helpful information, but was also criticized for its physical production. A loose-leaf book with its pages included separately, readers found it inconvenient to assemble and its paper impractically thin. The revised edition is printed on heavier stock, and arrives with its pages already on its rings (there are two more now, for sturdiness) with only chapter dividers to insert, a simple task.

In addition, new inside front and back covers provide information on emergency substitutions, roasting guidelines, equivalent measures, and more--and a "Light Recipes" chapter has been included. Without defining precisely what "light" means--fewer fats and carbs, or a combo?--the section offers attractive all-course recipes, such as turkey chili, veggie burgers, meat and cheese lasagna, and chocolate bundt cake. Some readers will welcome the "slimming" of familiar dishes while others will find some of the manipulations--using cornstarch to thicken the sauce in fettuccine alfredo or ricotta to add body to a reduced-fat pesto, for example--unappealing. The book, however, remains a valuable kitchen tool--and one with greater convenience and durability than before. --Arthur Boehm

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Exclusive Recipe Excerpts from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (Revised Edition)

Butternut Squash Soup

Light Chicken Parmesan

Classic Apple Pie

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More from America's Test Kitchen

The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2007

Cook's Illustrated

The Best 30-Minute Recipe

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Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family

Ina Garten

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 138 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Ina Garten, who shared her gift for casual entertaining in the bestselling Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and Barefoot Contessa Parties!, is back with her most enticing recipes yet—a collection of her favorite dishes for everyday cooking. In Barefoot Contessa Family Style, Ina explains that sharing our lives and tables with those we love is too essential to be saved just for special occasions—and it’s easy to do if you know how to cook irresistible meals with a minimum of fuss.

For Ina, the best way to make guests feel at home is to serve them food that’s as unpretentious as it is delicious. So in her new book, she’s collected the recipes that please her friends and family most—dishes like East Hampton Clam Chowder, Parmesan Roasted Asparagus, and Linguine with Shrimp Scampi. It’s the kind of fresh, accessible food that’s meant to be passed around the table in big bowls or platters and enjoyed with warm conversation and laughter.

In Ina’s hands tried-and-true dishes are even more delicious than you remember them: Her arugula salad is bright with the flavors of lemon and Parmesan, the Oven-Fried Chicken is crispy without excess fat, and her Deep-Dish Apple Pie has the perfect balance of fruit and spice. Barefoot Contessa Family Style also includes enticing recipes that are memorable and distinctive, like Lobster Cobb Salad, Tequila Lime Chicken, and Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash.

With vivid photographs of Ina cooking and serving food in her beautiful Hamptons home, as well as menu suggestions, practical wisdom on what to do when disaster strikes in the kitchen, and tips on creating an inviting ambience with music, Barefoot Contessa Family Style is the must-have guide to the joy of everyday entertaining.

I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence

Amy Sedaris

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Subjects -> Entertainment -> Humor -> Cooking

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 206 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I like this book. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Dear Amy -

I like your book. No, I love it. No, wait, I totally *heart* it, in fact. It is way awesome. Much like you. I bet you throw the craziest parties. Will you kindly invite me sometime? I know I'm one of those annoying vegans who will totally muck up your dinner menu, but I promise to make it up to you by bringing plenty of booze.

Anyway, back to your book. Why do I *heart* it so? Well, the pictures totally kick it; it takes a special lady to pull off the bottomless-but-for-pantyhose look. Your gourmet masterpieces look yummy despite the animal ingredients. And your diy décor is do-able even for the not-so-crafty among us. Googley eyes on peanuts! Who woulda thunkit? And you're so retro, too, Amy! Like a Fiona Apple video, or those `70s douche ads that all us hairy-legged feminist bloggers like to pass around on the internets. I LIKE YOU is, like, the perfect coffee table book for people who think people who have coffee table books are kinda sorta pretentious jerks. For reals.

But wait! There's more! Your book also has words! And they make me laugh, and laugh, and laugh. And then chortle and guffaw. And then some more lolz. Your sections on entertaining the elderly, babycakes (sorry, "children"), ladies' nights and "when you get to play nurse" (not as fun and/or dirt-ay as it sounds) are especially amusing. Even the book flap provides several minutes of enjoyment.

In sum, Amy, you give this misanthrope hope! Plus, you taught me how to locate my vagina with a hand mirror. I will always remember you for that. With much fondness and warmth. Make of that what you will.

hugs & kisses

- k

PS - Did you by chance ever go by the name of Charlene, maybe in the early `80s? Because you totally remind me of Dr. Stephen Colbert, DFA's ex-lover of the same name. No? Whatevs, nm.

PPS - I know it's you.

PPPS - I am eagerly awaiting my dinner party invite.

Editorial Review:

The charismatic and multi-talented Amy Sedaris is many things: actress, author, and yes, David Sedariss sister. Now, she takes on the world of entertaining in this blisteringly funny collection of bizarre tips, recipes and craft ideas (like mini pantyhose plant-hangers!) perfect for hosting an unforgettable fete. Your guests will rave.

O, The Oprah Magazine Cookbook

Editors Of O Magazine

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Who wouldn't love to put fantastic foods on the table--extraordinary pleasures for everyday eating; simply delicious treats that can be prepared in record time; comfort food that brings family and friends together; luxurious meals that cost barely more than fast food; divine dishes perfect for guests or just for quiet nights at home? Now you can have all that and more, any time you choose, with this first-ever collection of 175 of the best recipes from O, The Oprah Magazine.

Featuring more than 60 great chefs and food writers, alongside mouth-watering photographs, this cookbook presents an exquisite array of dishes from cocktails to appetizers, main dishes to desserts, soups to sandwiches, and everything in between.

O, The Oprah Magazine Cookbook offers something for everyone--and for all types of occasions, whether you're preparing a feast or looking for a simple dish to satisfy a craving.

• APPETIZERS range from an easy to make Crostini with Wild Mushrooms and Mozzarella to Crushed Potato with Smoked Salmon, Caviar, and Chives; from elegant Grilled Sea Scallops with Tomato-Black Olive Vinaigrette to delectable Fried Green Tomato Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing.
  
  
• INSPIRATION comes from all across the country and around the globe, and you can now enjoy at home dishes such as a tantalizingly bright bowl of Callaloo soup, Moroccan Cinnamon-Rubbed Leg of Lamb, the best Tiramisu ever, an addictive Cuban Grilled Corn on the Cob with Queso Blanco and Lime, and a crazy-delicious New Orleans Creole Gumbo.
  
  
• DESSERTS include decadent Black Currant-Tea Chocolate Truffles, amazingly simple Chocolate Pots de Crème, Heavenly Fresh Mint Ice Cream, and silky smooth Banana Pudding. For drinks? Here is a Pomegranate Daiquiri and a Strawberry Mint Iced Tea, both perfect for a summer party, and a frothy Mexican hot chocolate, the ideal thing for a cold winter night.
  
  
• ALONG WITH THE RECIPES, professional chefs and celebrated gourmands provide informative, entertaining, and vibrant lessons and advice about food and cooking--and life. Maya Angelou talks about food as a way to soothe discord, but even more important, as a joyful part of life; Gayle King describes how a true food lover can take equal pleasure from fine dining in a fancy restaurant and a casual burger joint; Marcus Samuelsson explains how travel can expand your palate; Nina Simonds brings home vital lessons from Asia about family dining; Art Smith gives inimitable advice on how to make eating outdoors easy, delicious, and fun. Other wonderful contributions come from Govind Armstrong, Leah Chase, Colin Cowie, Rozanne Gold, Michel Nischan, Susan Spungen, and Rori Trovato.
  
  
• ALSO INCLUDED are advice on brilliant pairings of wine with food and a special index that leads you right to holiday foods, snacks, vegetarian recipes, party favorites, and kid-friendly dishes.

Sixteen million readers a month turn to the recipe pages in O, The Oprah Magazine to see the featured chefs and their fabulous food as well as the gorgeous photography. Their recipes embody the spirit of O, The Oprah Magazine and will inspire you to create irresistible meals for your family and friends, both every day and on special occasions. More than a collection of recipes, this book is a guide to enjoying food, elevating every dining experience, and appreciating the special role that cooking and eating can, together, play in our lives.

The Best 30-minute Recipe: A Best Recipe Classic (Best Recipe Series)

Cook's Illustrated Magazine

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

300 Fast and Flavorful Recipes from America's Most Trusted Test Kitchen

Tired of quick recipes that aren't really quick or don't taste very good? While some cookbooks promise 30-minute meals, America's Test Kitchen delivers. The Best 30-Minute Recipe is packed with more than 300 great-tasting recipes, along with time-saving techniques that will help you become more efficient in the kitchen. You'll also find honest evaluations of ingredients important to quick cooking, such as chicken broth, preshredded cheese, instant rice, and more. And because the type of equipment you use is important to the success of any recipe—made in 30 minutes or not—we tell you which brands are worth buying.

The Best 30-Minute Recipe features a surprisingly wide range of recipes. You get not only the very best versions of naturally quick dishes like salads and stir-fries, but also quick and easy recipes for typically long-cooking dishes that you'd never even think of making on a weeknight—including meatloaf, lasagna, beef pot pie, and a pad thai so easy that you may never call for takeout again. With efficiency and good taste, The Best 30-Minute Recipe is the time-pressed cook's guide to getting dinner on the table, night after night.

Passover by Design: Picture-perfect Kosher by Design recipes for the holiday (Kosher by Design) (Kosher By Design)

Susie Fishbein

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Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Judaism -> Kosher Foods

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Pretty disappointed 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

All though there are some very interesting recipes in Passover by Design, many use mixes or preseasoned foods. The most disappointing to me were the matzo balls, which used matzo ball mix, and the gefilte fish, which uses that abomination, jarred gefilte fish. I understand that in a cookbook that is not presenting itself as a gourmet cookbook, but this is supposed to be high end.
I'm planning on returning this book.

Editorial Review:

In this fifth cookbook in the celebrated Kosher by Design series, Susie Fishbein makes Passover preparations elegantly simple. Featuring a blend of Passover-adjusted Kosher by Design favorites, with over thirty brand-new recipes and full-color photos, this is one cookbook you'll love to use throughout the holiday.
Passover by Design features:
**Over 30 brand-new recipes, many developed with kosher catering star, Moshe David
**Over 130 Kosher by Design favorites reformulated and retested for Passover
**Over 140 full-color images throughout, with over 40 brand-new photos
**Quick and easy table decor and entertaining ideas
**Useful, year-round healthy cooking techniques
**Comprehensive index for easy cross-referencing
**Also includes over 130 gluten-free recipes which makes this the perfect year-round cookbook for those on a gluten-free diet.