Food & Wine

I love to read cookbooks and when my eyes took in the thick layers of chocolate and graham in the S’Mores Bars (YUM!) on the cover of this collection, I envisioned how fun it would be to fulfill a request to “bring a dessert” with one of these decadent options. I forgot that I’ve subscribed to Food & Wine Magazine in the past and never pulled out many recipes to save. It was the same for me here.

The approx. 150 recipes tend to be for versatile bakers with well-stocked kitchens, to be show more refined (even complex) in flavors and special vs. everyday, and to be rich (I’m going by the ingredients lists; nutritional info is not provided). They’re arranged in groupings of Cakes & Pastries, Pies & Fruit Desserts, Cookies & Bars, Puddings & Custards, Frozen Desserts, and Candies & Sauces. An evocative full-page, full-color photo accompanies almost every entry, and I think most people (and foodies for sure) would see this collection as luscious. So I’m sad that the recipes didn’t hold my interest to read, much less prepare, much less eat even if at a restaurant.

I did mark a few smaller-scale, less-decadent entries to try right now for my husband and me:
. Caramel sauce (to pair with sliced apples for dipping)
. Sour cream coffee cake muffins (can freeze some for later)
. Apple cake with cranberries (assembled like a pineapple upside-down cake)
. Lemon-glazed citrus-yogurt pound cake (when baked as mini-muffins, they’re described as “a shot of fresh-squeezed juice,” YUM!)

(Review based on a copy of the book provided by the publisher.) show less

I'm not sure about these... all the ingredients makes them expensive and difficult to make. The photographs are very inviting and the crystalware is very lah-di-dah expensive....Martha Stewart make a statement type.

Table of Contents:
Top 100 American Bars
The Food Guide
Barware Guide (very helpful)
Vodka
Gin
Tequila (and Mezcal, which in no way is Tequila)
Rum
Whiskey (Scotch)
Brandy
Punches (the coffee & milk one sounded interesting)
Mixologist All-Stars
Chefs' Cocktails
Mocktalis (alcohol free)
Party show more Food (Freid goat cheese ball w/ honey & pistachios got my attention)
Recipe Index

I am a drinker... I love a good cocktail (bet you Never would have guessed that about me), preferably a kicking Margarita or a mixed coffee drink. But I stick to the basics and I know from waaaaaay back that a Martini IS Gin & Dry Vermouth w/ an olive or a pearl onion. A Martini is NOT Vodka.....

But this book of 2011 Cocktails is full of recipes for the new dilettantish drinking set. show less

The Quick From Scratch Italian Cookbook provides essentially everything I want from a cookbook: Simple recipes that don't require a lot of time and produce great-tasting dinners. The full-page color photos of each dish and the wine recommendations are added bonuses.

There are several wonderful pasta recipes in this cookbook, but I prmarily only use the fettuccine alfredo recipe. It is so simple, and it requires no cooking (other than the pasta itself). If you want restaurant quality alfredo sauce that is as easy as stirring a few ingredients together in a bowl, I highly recommend this book.