General Books

A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes

David Tanis

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Not yet published By: Artisan

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Editorial Review:

Forget about getting back to the land, David Tanis just wants you to get back to the kitchen

For six months a year, David Tanis is the head chef at Chez Panisse, the Berkeley, California, restaurant where he has worked alongside Alice Waters since the 1980s in creating a revolution in sustainable American cuisine. The other six months, Tanis lives in Paris in a seventeenth-century apartment, where he hosts intimate dinners for friends and paying guests, and prepares the food in a small kitchen equipped with nothing more than an old stove, a little counter space, and a handful of wellused pots and pans.

This is the book for anyone who wants to gather and feed friends around a table and nurture their conversation. It’s not about showing off with complicated techniques and obscure ingredients. Worlds away from the showy Food Network personalities, Tanis believes that the most satisfying meals—for both the cook and the guest—are invariably the simplest.

Home cooks can easily re-create any of his 24 seasonal, market-driven menus, from spring’s Supper of the Lamb (Warm Asparagus Vinaigrette; Shoulder of Spring Lamb with Flageolet Beans and Olive Relish; Rum Baba with Cardamom) to winter’s North African Comfort Food (Carrot and Coriander Salad; Chicken Tagine with Pumpkin and Chickpeas). Best of all, Tanis is an engaging guide with a genuine gift for words, whose soulful approach to food will make any kitchen, big or small, a warm and compelling place to spend time.

I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence

Amy Sedaris

Amazon Price: $18.47 List Price: $27.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Grand Central Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 100 new & used starting at $12.33

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 209 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.

Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun

Ina Garten

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Ina Garten - Model: B377 Amazon Marketplace: 65 new & used starting at $10.00

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Features:

• Sold individually
• See Product Description below for a complete description of this item.

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 92 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Exceptionally good recipes 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This was my first introduction to Ina Garten and I loved this book so much, I ended up buying 2 more. Every single recipe in this book came out looking great and tasting even better. Her recipes are extremely easy to follow and are very detailed. This is great for any kind of cook, from beginner to advanced. Two thumbs up!

Barefoot Contessa Parties 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a quality product, the best cookbook I've read in years! Each recipe is clear, precise, and appetizing. Yes, I will buy others written by Ina Garten.

Awesome recipes! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My friend invited me to a dinner party where she served the filet of beef, the gorgonzola sauce/gracy, the spinach gratin and the garlic potatoes...it was delicious! So I had to order a copy of this book for myself and the recipes are just out of this world. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who loves food.

Editorial Review:

After more than twenty years of running Barefoot Contessa, the acclaimed specialty food store, Ina Garten published her first collection of recipes. The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook was an overnight sensation, but it's the kind of success that can only be g

The Best 30-Minute Recipe

Cook's Illustrated Magazine

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: America's Test Kitchen Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $17.76

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 36 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.

Y'all Come Eat

Jamie Deen, Bobby Deen

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Meredith Books Amazon Marketplace: 54 new & used starting at $9.44

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Another helpful cookbook by the Deen Brothers 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I enjoyed the Deen Brothers' first cookbook, but I must say that I've been enjoying their second cookbook (this one) even more---if that is possible!

This cookbook is much more personal than the Deen Brothers' first cookbook. In the first cookbook , the brothers (Jamie and Bobby) shared with us some of the recipes that they developed with the inspirations from their travels.

This second cookbook, however, deals mostly with recipes that the brothers developed, perfected, and revised throughout their lives. Of course, this does not mean that this book will give the reader ALL the recipes ever invented by the brothers, but this book will give a wonderful BASIS to the readers, and a terrific introduction to the Brothers Deen style of cooking.

To me, the "Brothers Deen Style" cooking is this:
1)Easy,
2)FUN to duplicate,
3)Inspirational,
4)Easy to procure the ingredients, and...
5)The recipes do not take too long to make

As was seen in the Deen Brothers` first cookbook, their photos are spectacular! Almost every single recipes in this 2nd book has a LARGE photo to go with it. The photos themselves are inspirational!

This book covers a "homey" style of cooking, with recipes that are easy to duplicate and also FUN to make and EAT! For example, I'll give y'all a taste of some of my favorite recipes from this cookbook:

~~Bacon wrapped chicken breasts w/chile cheese sauce.
~~Romaine,cucumber,& grape tomato salad w/Ranch dressing (the dressing recipe is included).
~~Mama's friend chicken (I have not tried this one yet, but I've seen this one made on their TV show, and is on my list of recipes to make soon).
~~Hoecakes (another recipes the Brothers made on their/and Paula's TV show,that I plan to duplicate soon, along w/ the fried chicken).
~~Three cheese potato gratin (the 3-cheese mix does the trick!).
~~Breakfast casserole w/ham and cheese (this is like a souffle`, but easier to make).
~~Egg white omelet w/ spinach and tomatoes (it's low in cholesterol).
~~Artichoke & Spinach Dip w/ Pita chips (this is the Brothers' version of the original spinach dip many of us have tried before @ parties).
~~Crab Egg Benedicts (if you love Eggs Benedict, then this version will surprise you).
~~Ham and Cream Cheese stuffed Chicken (this is a similar version to one of Paula's recipes that is very good).
~~Spinach Salad with WARM Bacon dressing (if you have never tried this recipe, please do because it has an unforgettable flavor.One of my family's favorites).

I will stop w/ recipes here because I am running out of room, but there are many more in this book....

Anyhow, all in all,(to me), this is a five star cookbook.

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.

Being Dead Is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide To Hosting the Perfect Funeral

Gayden Metcalfe

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Miramax Amazon Marketplace: 77 new & used starting at $4.45

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 82 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good reading, good laughs, great characters 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Mississippi Delta classic. If you have any friends there or live or have lived in the Delta this is "must reading".

Being Dead Is No Excuse 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I did not know what to expect but I laughed all through the book. The recipes look promising although I have not had the opportunity to try one. I have given this book as a gift and recommended it to several friends. You might find it more relevent if you are from the South and are Episcopalian.

Just the recipes alone ... 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

are enough to justify this purchase! They're outstanding, and so traditional down south that most folk don't even bother to write them down. But the writing - especially ias it relates to being Methodist or Episcopal, and whether your family falls on one side or the other of the politics in your hometown ... it's all good. Just hilarious! If you grew up in the South, you recognize these people described herein - and if you didn't grown up in the South, well, you'll wish that you had!

Buy it - it's all good!

Love,
granny nita

Wonderful 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Being from Alabama I know that what she says is absolutely true!

The Best Make-Ahead Recipe

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: America's Test Kitchen Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $18.50

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In its many publications and on TV, Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen offers exhaustively tested "best" recipes, tips, and product evaluations. Among its cookbooks, The Best Make-Ahead Recipe offers over 300 formulas that can be prepared in advance, held, and finished later. The recipes range widely from pre-prepared oven-ready dishes like Baked Fish Provençal; "double-duty" recipes, such as Mexican-Style Pork and Chorizo Stew, that use leftovers imaginatively; slow-cooker items like Tuscan white bean soup; and desserts, such as a chocolate soufflé that can go from freezer to oven successfully. In addition, the fully illustrated book offers helpful charts like How to Reheat, which provides advice according to portion size and heating method; special-occasion menus that can be started up to a month ahead; and discerning product and equipment advice.

As with other Cook's Illustrated projects, Make-Ahead includes recipes that have appeared previously in its other works, though a majority of these have been amended with make-ahead or scaling-up data. Almost all the recipes are prefaced with their trademark testing "diaries," exhaustively detailed accounts of the recipe-making process ("With the onion shells figured out, we focused next on the filling...," gives the flavor), which some readers will find enlightening, but others will think excessive. Of course, certain recipes, or recipe classes, like that for desserts, are necessarily made wholly or partially in advance--but the book's point is to provide formulas designed to yield superior results even when the uncompleted dishes are held, as most can be, in the refrigerator or freezer. Mission accomplished. Readers will find the book a consistently reliable resource for superior make-ahead dishes for everyday and special-occasion cooking. --Arthur Boehm

Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States: A Dinner Party Approach to International Relations

Chris Fair

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: The Lyons Press Amazon Marketplace: 37 new & used starting at $12.74

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Come for the shrill, leftist-corrective sensibility; stay for the fesanjan. 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Like some unholy hybrid of Rachel Ray and Fareed Zakaria, Ms. Fair uses her extensive knowledge of the world's hotspots and her love and talent for cooking to undertake the heretofore little-attempted mission of helping the reader actually learn something of use outside the kitchen whilst preparing to strap on the feedbag. The result subjects international relations, American foreign policy, and a sizable majority of the non-human animal kingdom to a healthy skewering.

Based on my own personal experiences with the author's cooking and rapier wit (she once helpfully explained to me the difference between "Northern Alliance" Afghan food and "Taliban" Afghan food), I believe you can safely assume that, in the end, you will be entertained, a little smarter for the effort, and in any event well fed.

A smart and evil grouse for dinner. 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Unique is an understatement. What other book full of carefully selected, international recipes includes a no-holds-barred "dossier of perfidy" for the 10 countries from where they originate and a bibliography richer than many doctoral theses? A cookbook with "Beer Butt Chicken" AND Zhen Qie Zi? Powerful and insightful critiques of Pakistani AND Israeli policies?

In her analyst-world, the author is well known for being direct and honest; someone once called her unvarnished, but that's far too simplistic. Read the book and you'll see she's also incredibly passionate about important things, creative in her approach to understanding and explaining them, sometimes pornographic, amazingly well-informed, often skeptical, and always brings along her 800lb vocabulary.

Everyone who reads this will learn something. Perhaps it will be about food and politics or just some new words for the NYT crossword or your GRE. Maybe you'll be inspired to know more about some of these places. I certainly am. Regardless, you won't read another book like this, I promise. Yes, I'm an "insider", but that doesn't make me wrong.
Hate the policies, like the people, love the food.

Small Bites, Big Nights: Seductive Little Plates for Intimate Occasions and Lavish Parties

Govind Armstrong

Amazon Price: $20.58 List Price: $30.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cookbook - Model: ARMSTRONG Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $18.42

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Delicious and Different 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 18 people found this review helpful.

Our gourmet group used this cookbook for last nights feast (and it was a feast!) We were four couples, each making two recipes. The flavors were outstanding. There was not a bad recipe in the bunch. However, for one person to make the meal that we did, would take a week of preparation. Though not dificult individually, the recipes were very time consuming. Non of us attempted the challanging recipes. The medium ones were quite difficult enough. You will not be disappointed in the results of these delicous recipes. But I highly recommend this book with the reservation that you share the responsibilities with a group of people who enjoy cooking and are adventurous.

Finally a cookbook with something different 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 16 people found this review helpful.

I think this cookbook warrants 5 stars. I think Govind Armstrong has a new take on cooking. He is a real chef as opposed to Martha Stewart (whose recipes are often terrible) and Rachel Ray - (everything tastes the same). The recipes are so flavorful--some of them take many steps, but they're not difficult. Any dish that tastes this good is worth doing. I highly recommend this cookbook to anyone who likes to cook.

Editorial Review:

Seduce the senses with a dazzling array of dainty dishes ? for intimate occasions and lavish parties alike. Govind Armstrong, executive chef & co-owner of Table 8 restaurant, presents his most romantic recipes, covering cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, grilled dishes, lounge food and more.

Fabulous Parties: Food and Flowers for Elegant Entertaining

Mark Held, Richard David, Peggy Dark

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Ryland Peters & Small Amazon Marketplace: 24 new & used starting at $19.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Packed with advice and inspiration from three of Los Angeles' most popular party providers. "Fabulous Parties" reveals their professional secrets and enables you to create your own sensational celebration for any occasion. Drawing on many years of hands-on-experience as floral designers and caterers to Los Angeles' A-listers, Mark Held and Richard David of Mark's Garden and Peggy Dark of the Kitchen has adapted the principles of putting together a large, lavish event to a more intimate scale and lower budget. The harmonious relationship between food and flowers is clearly shown in beautiful, specially commissioned photographs, which showcase twenty themed events inspired by those created for their celebrity clients. All of the events included have a theme, decor, and menu. Choose from a Rustic Italian Party, a colorful Caribbean Dinner, a lavish New Year's Eve Celebration, an elegant Wine Tasting, or a glamorous Pink Ladies' Luncheon, plus many more. Useful practical instruction on how to achieve professional results at home is given in a section on Floristy Tips and Techniques. *Celebrity clients who enjoy parties created by Mark's Garden and The Kitchen include Oprah Winfrey, Cher, Diane Keaton, George Clooney, Teri Hatcher, Tommy Hilfiger, Donatella Versace, and many more.