I love to cook and own quite a few cookbooks. I recieved this book by accident, and thought it would be filled with gross recipes for food that required numerous cans of "cream of" soups. I was wrong, this has the best, easiest, tastiest recipes I have ever come across. Try the fish curry and the apple pork chops!

I've always been weary of cookbooks that promise speedy preparation and little effort. But this book delivers it all--everything you need in your cupboards, the best equipment for lazy cooking, great tips and short cuts, and, of course, delicious recipes--I've tried quite a few and one is better than the next!

and I have, bar none, the smallest kitchen in America. The writers tell you how to stock up your pantry with the right stuff so you can always throw something (good!) together after a long day at work; give you permission to not be so hard on yourself if everything isn't "from scratch"; and tell you how to set up your kitchen to make it more efficient. This book kicks ***.

What a fun little cookbook! What I used to dread, I now enjoy from following these easy and fun recipes! The graphics are very funny!

After seeing this cook book, I was totally ready to jump into my apron and get into the kitchen!! The recipes are wonderful and are sure to tickle your taste buds and yummy your tummy!! I may not be Betty Crocker, but I feel like that cookin' queen when using this book!! Thanks for such a great book:)

This cookbook is perfect for the "on-the-go" cook. It's recipes are fast, fun, and simple, and DELICIOUS!!!! The illustrations are very funny and creative!!!!!

A very thorough and dependable guide to foods and spices, complete with preparation how-to's and recipes. A great system of cross referencing saves time and beautifully detailed photos make this a must-have book.

This book is a complete compilation of ingredients and food we eat. I borrowed this book from the library with the intention of knowing names of food I usually purchased but do not want what it's called. The pictures in this book allow you to acknowledge them. It is a good resource to help me in using recipes that I read from magazines & cookbooks. This book does not delve into the nutritional aspect of the food but focus on how each food is usually prepared. The glossary on every page brings you to related pages of the food. The book is well organized and the pictures are clear and sharp. I bought this book eventually after returning the library's copy.

My Girlfriend gave this book to me as a gift and i can't thank her enough. I'm doing a Chef Course here in Venezuela and it's a great help in classes because it talks about everything you need to know on picking any kind of food and how to cook it. This type of books are really hard to findSimply Great!

It's a "Keeper" and you should just leave it in your kitchen so you won't have to go to and from the book shelf. The "Teachers Tips are amazing! It's like she is in the kitchen with you and can read your mind. Try the Mussel Soup aith Aioli and Saffron. Wonderful!

"Feastivals Cooks at Home" is packed with great recipes offered with a simple directness that is a real blessing for those of us who are technically challenged in the kitchen. The book offers an admirable range of formal and informal (try the orange chicken wings!), complicated and simple. And every dish that I've tried has turned out great. Good design, and very good writing make this cookbook a "must have" for any kitchen.

LOVE Chef June Jacobs' new cookbook! The recipes are delicious, the Teachers' Tips are invaluable, and the Wine Tips are exactly what I have wished for. The book is a compact 7 x 9 inches, spiral-bound, perfect for propping up on the kitchen counter while in use, and perfect for wrapping and mailing. The range of recipes in 192 pages is outstanding, everything you could possibly want to prepare--appetizers, soups, main dishes, desserts (GLORIOUS desserts), THE WORKS. And this book has CHARM. One of its most delightful features is the anecdotal material that Chef June shares about family and friends who inspired these recipes. This is a cookbook you can curl up with OUTSIDE the kitchen and read for FUN. I felt as if I were meeting the best of Charles Dickens' characters in this wonderful cookbook. In sum, the recipes are to SWOON over, Chef June's enthusiasm for the art of cooking and for these great recipes is contagious, I am thoroughly enjoying trying these recipes and sharing them with my friends and family. And I know you will, too!

Every recipe in this book is very good. Most (almost all) recipes are very easy to make and looks like you worked a long time on them. The Pesto Mold on page 20 is easy to make and everyone will ask for the recipe. The sausage snacks on page 30 are a nice change to meatballs. Pesto tortilla snacks are very easy and great tasting also. The pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and fruity muffins make great gifts around the holidays. The Parmesan Caesar salad is a salad a I make all the time. All the potato dishes are great tasting; the squash casserole is the best I have every had. The sweet potatoes are great (even if you don't like sweet potatoes. I could go on. This cookbook has a nice feature with the children's section. I have used this book so much and bought so many as gifts.

This is a wonderful book. It is full of great recipes that are not only good, but easy to prepare. I highly recommend it!

I have tried many of the recipes in this book and like 99% of them, so do my family and my friends. My favorites include; Frogmore Pickled Shrimp, Swamp Chili, Okra and Tomatoes, Pasta with Shrimp, Lemon and tomoatoes and many more than I should probably list. The book is well laid out (easy to follow), ingredients are easy to find and the serving suggestion are on target. Try this book. You'll like it.

I'm an avid cook and, while I no longer subscribe to "Cooks Illustrated" magazine, I respect editor Christopher Kimball and his expert "Cook's Illustrated" kitchen crew and have had good luck, more or less, with their recipes which, if followed exactly, are virtually foolproof. I also never fail to learn something from their informative kitchen commentary. All in all, Kimball's recipes and advice are beneficial to both novice and experienced cooks.

That having been I have to point out that taste is, of course, subjective. For instance, I've found, from trying a number of Kimball's recipes, that he is a salt-a-holic. I prefer to cook with little or no salt, as I find the taste harsh and unpleasant, and if I followed Kimbell's recipes exactly I'd be drowning in the stuff. I prefer pepper and tend to double or triple the often meager amounts Kimbell calls for in his recipes (usually he calls for four or fives times more salt than pepper, and I almost reverse that ratio). But, if your taste is the same as Kimball's when it comes to a particular food, his well-researched and thoroughly-tested recipes will be amazing!

I must also warn cooks that Kimball's cookbooks are books not necessarily made for cooking (odd, isn't it?). They are standard-bound hardcover editions that rarely lie flat (the latest, "The Best Recipe," is a little better than the others) and the index is dreadful--a fairly major gripe when you consider how important an index is to a cookbook when, say, you quickly want to find a recipe for "Chicken Soup" and you can't even decipher where the "Cs" start! There may be six or seven pages under the tiny heading "entrees," five of which may start with "chicken," leading you to believe you're in the "Cs" when you're actually in the "Es." It's very confusing. Many other people have recommended putting dictionary like letter headers (for example "CHI-CLA") at the top of each index page and, after trying it, I have to say I highly recommend this method.

All of Kimball's "Cook's Illustrated" cookbooks follow the same basic format: a long-winded, but often interesting, discourse on how Kimball views the "perfect" version of whatever it is he's showing you how to cook, including a lengthy explanation of variations he has tried, followed by his "Master Recipe" for the food, including common variations. In "The Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles," Kimball covers everything from homemade pasta (surprisingly, he doesn't stress it's necessity, saying dried pasta is almost as good and a whole lot easier) to every type of sauce and other topping--Italian, Chinese, Mediterranean, etc.--imaginable.

Usually my biggest problem with Kimball cookbooks is this: If you have one, you have them all. He lifts whole passages and recipes and uses them in multiple books. "The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook," and the "Cook's Bible," for instance, have at least 50 identical recipes, not to mention verbatim introductions to each section and cookware recommendations repeated word-for-word. "The Best Recipe" features ALL of the recipes (as far as I can tell) from the "Cook's Bible," with the same commentary, which is, in turn, lifted in whole chunks from past issues of "Cooks Illustrated." I'm sure this saves Mr. Kimball a great deal of time when compiling his cookbooks but it leaves little reason to own more than one edition of his work. The "Pasta and Noodle" cookbook though, is an exception to this rule. While it does contain exact repeats from other books, it also adds a wealth of new recipes and information, making it more than worth your while for anyone who cooks pasta regularly. There is literally a lifetime worth of pasta recipes in this small book!

Comprised of more than 400 diverse and easy-to-follow recipes, techniques and kitchen tips, The Complete Book Of Pasta And Noodles offers clear, concise, step-by-step instructions that make even the most exotic recipes easily accessible to the most novice kitchen cook. Beginning with "A Guide to Pasta and Noodles", The Complete Book Of Pasta And Noodles covers every conceivable aspect of pasta and noodle dish preparation. From sauces to lasagne, from ravioli to couscous, from spatzle to soba, The Complete Book Of Pasta And Noodles is a definitive and highly recommended culinary cookbook and guide that will enhance any aspiring chef's abilities to serve delicious, nutritious, noodle and pasta based cuisines.

This has simple but really good recipies for sauces that can be made while the water is boiling along with instructions and how-tos for sophisticated recipies and techniques. I liked the approach of explaining why particular methods work or are preferred by the author rather than just being told to do it. If I could have only two cookbooks, it would be this and Joy of Cooking. I received this book as a gift along with a pasta machine, but people compliment me on even the simplest sauces with bought pasta. They really go crazy over the homemade stuff!

This book has many innovative recipes. The recipes vary from very simple, to somewhat more sophisticated, which is good since sometimes you just want to throw something together for yourself, but other times you may want to cook something more complex or impressive (for entertaining). The only draw back that I wanted to point out is that while this cookbook is vegan, it DOES NOT pay any attention to fats. So, some of the recipes may contain as many as 29 grams of fat per serving! Granted, this is the high end of the spectrum for the entire cookbook, but most of the recipes hover between 10-17 grams of fat per serving. The fat is mainly from canola oil, although some of it is from nuts and seeds. I try to modify the recipes myself so that they contain less fat. It is very healthy to eat a meal with no animal products, but equally unhealthy if it is SOAKED in oil! I definitely prefer a lighter style of cooking--so if you are willing to modify the recipes to contain less fat (or if you are not concerned about fat intake), then this book is worth your while.

I signed on to review this book because I am so excited about it, but had to respond to the last reviewer, who says the recipes in it are too high in fat. In fact, MOST of the recipes are very LOW in fat. And you have to take into account the percentage of calories that are derived from fat, not just the total fat grams. There is plenty of wonderful food here for people who are watching fat intake. Also, the last reviewer mentions canola oil as the major fat in the book, but the most prominent oil used in The Complete Vegan Cookbook is heart-healthy olive oil. It is important to remember that an extremely low-fat diet can be hazardous to your health, unless you already have heart disease. You need a sufficient quantity of essential fatty acids in your diet, especially the monounsaturated kind--like olive oil and avocado. I definitely recommend this inspiring and informative cookbook. I especially recommend the great selection of pilafs and the Chinese-inspired soups.

I just starting eating vegan this year, and this cookbook makes it very easy and tasty. This is a very diverse cookbook, yet the ingredients are not so exotic that you cannot find them. I especially love the Soba with Fresh Soybeans and Spicy Tahini Sauce and the Orrechiette with Tomato Sauce, Basil, and Toasted Pine Nuts. I made a few recipes out of this book for my non-vegan parents and in-laws for Easter dinner, and they loved them. This book has definitely made the transition from omnivore to vegan a great experience.

50 categories of recipes. And 50 recipes in each category. That's 2500 recipes. How do you fit 2500 recipes into 477 pages? You write real small. Which means that each recipe is very short (a small paragraph the size of a want ad generally). This is not bad. In fact it's very good. How complicated can a recipe that short end up being? And simple recipes are best.

None of the recipes have very many ingredients. Most of the ingredients are common. Although I admit my favorite recipe (to read, I haven't made it) is the authentic Russian Dressing recipe, which contains a spoon of caviar (what's more Russian than that?) Most of the recipes are more basic. Greens. Fantastic salads (salads have gotten a bum rap, especially when this author is done choosing ingredients for them). How to make a perfect French Fry. How to cook a steak. And thousands more recipes.

Fast and simple recipes for any and all occasions.

Extremely easy, fast, and excellent tasting recipes. The sauces and marinades alone are well worth the cost of the book. Some recipes are quite mundane, while others offer new and unexpected (but yummy) combinations of things.

I love this cookbook because the recipes are easy, original, taste good and are flexible. When I have assorted odds and ends in my refrigerator, I can always find a recipe in this book which will make use of them. The writing style is entertaining and I have learned more about cooking from this book. I have a lot of cookbooks, but this is the first one I reach for when I am doing general cooking.

I love this book, and I would never have stumbled upon it except for Amazon's "recommendations" program.
My grandmother was Finnish and used to bake bread on a regular basis. I was only 7 years old the last time I saw her, but as I knead the Finnish rye bread dough, I can see her in her kitchen making bread.
I want to make everything in the book. Everything in it seems "right" to me. I see myself in it.

My husband had a copy of this cookbook when we married, and once I discovered and began using it... wow, what a treasure! It doesn't have photos or illustrations, but then, if you think about it, our ancestors didn't have the benefit of such, either. I think the book stands strong on its own, without them. There are a lot of great recipes within - even if I have no idea how to pronounce them. :) I've found a few really good ones which are really helpful for lowcarb eating, as well.

I love this book!

I first visited Finland over 10 years ago and while I was there, I sampled a lot of the unique Finnish cuisine. Unfortunately, when I returned home, I couldn't find any recipes in any books for dishes such as the Karelian Rice Piirakkaa, spinach pancakes or a vegetable filled meat ring I had tasted while I was there. It wasn't until a few years ago that I found this book and it contained all of the recipes that I had been looking for and so many more:) Beatrice Ojakangas is the queen of recipe books in my opinion. Her personal anecdotes and background information is invaluable to anyone who wants to know more about Finland and Finnish cooking. I very highly recommend this book:)

A superb novel that mixes the quest for 'the perfect meal' with the quest for 'the perfect life.' You can try for both but the journey not the end is it's own reward. Thought provoking and entertaining. Must read.

I am an avid readier and I was enthralled with this book. I was unable to put it down once I started reading it. "Hunger" completely captured my attention from the start. Anna Rossi, the title character was so interesting, so human. She came alive through the pages of this book. I felt that she was a friend that I wanted to talk to and offer support. I could relate to her conflict and her struggles. I envied the fact that she could pour herself into her cooking and that it was theraputic for her and such a gift to others.

I became emotionally involved in the story. I became Anna's cheerleader and wanted to see her succeed. I was angry with Michael and I could not grasp his way of dealing with everything.

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone that enjoys a great story that wraps itself around you from the start to the finish. Bottom-line this novel feeds your body and your soul.

Besides being simply entertaining, Hunger will make you experience every emotion. You can FEEL the characters' sadness, their anger, their desire and passion. You will at times feel sympathy for Anna and then at other times want to wring her neck!! leaving you starving for the ending and her final decision about Michael and James.....