I was given the first Bisquick cookbook as a gift a few years ago and at the time, I thought using 'that stuff' was for novices and/or fast food types. It took a few successful recipes from that book to knock the food snobbery out of me!

When Bisquick II was released, I wasn't sure that I needed an additional cookbook for the product, but I looked at it in a bookstore and then ordered it online. And the good news is: it's as good as the first one! The first recipe I tried was Vegetable-Cheese Strata. I modified it by using the Reduced-Fat Bisquick, Egg Beaters and 2% fat Cheddar cheese. It was wonderful!! I can only imagine what the 'high test' version must be like!

Next up was Glazed Raisin-Cinnamon Biscuits. This recipe couldn't be any easier to make and each biscuit is only 3 Weight Watchers' points. It takes about 15 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to bake, so it is a good choice for people who don't have a lot of time in the morning but are a little tired of cold cereal.

Impossibly Easy Vegetable Pie is definitely a keeper. I suppose if they called it quiche, which is what it is, it might cause some to turn up their noses. Again, I used the Reduced-Fat Bisquick, Egg Beaters and lower fat Cheddar cheese and the results were scrumptious.

Aside from the recipes, I like the many illustrations that appear throughout the book. I, like most people, enjoy seeing what the finished dish looks like and Bisquick II doesn't disappoint. Included with each recipe are suggested variations called 'Betty's TIP'. Very importantly, each recipe includes nutritional information for persons following a Weight Watchers' type diet, diabetics and Low-Carb dieters. Since most of the recipes use the Original Bisquick mix, you may be able to improve your dietary profile by adjusting the ingredients similar to what I did with the above recipes.

In short, this is a good cookbook! It is a godsend for people who have little time to spend in the kitchen but don't want to indulge in fast food. It will pay for itself in no time and your family will love the results. You may even be able to get the kids interested in trying their hand at cooking with these simple recipes!

This book appeals to me on several levels: I teach elementary school students (computers), I like to collect cookbooks, and I love Mac & Cheese. It's hard to classify this book so I will just use one word: Fun! The initial section of the book called the Easy Recipe Finder is one of the clearest and most extensive that I have ever seen, but the kids will understand it too as it is done with graphics. Also of interest on pages 6 and 7 is a comparison of the eleven ways to cook Mac & Cheese in which level of difficulty, time, taste, texture, calories and tasting notes are listed. There are two additional 'Comparison' sections that discuss a wide variety of cheeses and how to use them, and a section labeled, 'What Goes On Top'.
The recipes? Creative, versatile and wonderfully illustrated. I mentioned the recipe for Mac & Cheese pizza on a usergroup and a nice lady from Virginia emailed me asking for the recipe since she couldn't afford the book, but thought that her two grandchildren would like it. I sent it to her and she replied that she was sure that it was going to be a hit!
My favorites? Too early to decide, but the Stuffed Baked Potatoes (did I say that I love potatoes too?) and the Baked Rigatoni are definitely 'keepers'. I haven't tried the pizza yet, but I think I'll wait to serve that to guests.
This is however, a children's book! It is replete with illustrations that will appeal to the kids. It also includes a picture of every recipe. This is a wonderful opportunity to involve children in making decisions and menu planning. Cooking is a tremendously powerful teaching/learning experience for young children and this book is a treasure trove of culinary delights. I showed it to our school librarian and she is going to purchase it for the cooking section. She is also buying a copy for her mother and for herself, as her kids like Mac & Cheese too!
If this review hasn't convinced you, you can get more information at maccheese.com. You can order shirts and hats etc. The authors and the publisher seem assured that this book is a hit...I wholeheartedly agree!

Having purchased and thoroughly enjoyed Cooking Under Pressure and The Pressured Cook, it was a no-brainer to purchase Lorna Sass's latest offering for the pressure cooker. For persons new to pressure cooking and even for us 'old hands', this may be her best work yet.
The first twenty-two pages are a primer for pressure cooking. Ms. Sass demystifies this cooking genre and guides the reader through what she calls, 'The Language of Pressure Cooking'. She reassures the novice of the safety of today's pressure cookers and generally provides all the information that the reader will need to be successful.
What I really liked about this book (besides the recipes) are the 'extras': Variations, Transformations and Pressure Points. The variations suggest alternate ingredients, the transformations explain how to modify the recipe to create other dishes and the pressure points provide information, techniques and suggestions specific to different sized cookers. This is particularly useful as electric pressure cookers are now becoming popular and recipes don't always work the same as for stovetop models.
But, you buy a cookbook in order to make great food! Pressure Perfect won't disappoint. I admit to being a poultry lover and the pressure cooker can turn out mixed results. The Chicken Cacciatore recipe was my first choice and it was a keeper! Subsequent recipes, all highly recommended were Spanish Rice with Chicken and Sausage, Beef, Mushroom and Barley Soup and Chicken Noodle 'Casserole' with Mushroom Sauce. I'm still experimenting and at least for now, every recipe has been outstanding.
If your pressure cooker has been in storage, drag it out and dust it off. Buy this book, read through the first two chapters and get ready for a wonderful culinary experience. You will be very pleased with your results...I know that I am!

I love pressure cooking and I have six cookers: an electric, 2 stovetops, a pressure fryer, a microwave cooker and a 21-quart pressure canner. You can't beat the cooking time and the results are both delicious and nutritious.
Express Cooking addresses the cooking questions of people buying the new electric models (although only 4 and 6 quart models are considered)as well as those of us who still like our stovetop cookers. The authors discuss the different models and types, operating instructions and safety considerations. They do attempt to allay the fears of those who have heard those 'horror stories' about exploding pressure cookers. Modern models have several safety features that preclude those types of disasters. I would note however, that there is a popular recipe being circulated for cooking chicken a la KFC by bringing oil up to 400 degrees in the pressure cooker, placing chicken pieces in the oil and bringing the cooker up to pressure and cooking for several minutes. THIS SHOULD NEVER BE ATTEMPTED IN A PRESSURE COOKER!!! Specially designed pressure fryers can do this safely, but trying this in a home unit is very dangerous.
That warning aside, Express Cooking will help you to produce some delightful meals. I never considered cooking turkey in a pressure cooker until I read the recipe for Roast Turkey with Gravy. Now you can have a 5-6lb. turkey breast cooked in less than an hour with a gravy that will please everyone. Being a lover of poultry, I also count the recipes for Chicken Cacciatore and Chicken Paprikash as 'keepers'. Other sections include making delicious stock(s), meat, seafood, veggies(with a complete time guide for specific vegetables), Grains, Beans, Sauces and of course, desserts. There is a recipe here for Eggnog Cheesecake and that alone is worth the price of the book.
Also included is a listing of the major manufacturers and how to contact them. It can be very frustrating to purchase a pressure cooker and not be able to find a replacement gasket when the time arises.
Pressure cooking has undergone a renewed interest because it is quick and easy. It is also nutritious and safe! This book is a well-written reference and the food is great too!!

Having loved the original King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook, I anxiously awaited my copy of the new Baker's Companion. And a wonderful 'companion' it is! Novice and expert bakers will enjoy the many tips, descriptions, discussions and suggestions for producing baked goods. At 640 pages, there are a LOT of them too! As a New Englander, I loved the chapter on Buckles, Cobblers and Crisps. I can attest that a warm piece of Blueberry Buckle is just the perfect start to the day.
I was pleased to see that nutritional information is provided for each recipe. Surprisingly, there are lots of recipes that don't fall in the category of 'diet buster'. To be sure, there are plenty that do, but a little hedonism once in awhile makes weight watching a little less stressful.
The recipes are simple and straightforward. These are creations that many of us grew up with or have sampled. The ingredients are easy to find and the directions are so straightforward that you may want to get the kids to help. Each chapter begins with some background on the topic and may include special tools or techniques and how to use them. This is a great gift idea for newlyweds or for the kids who have left the nest. It answers most, if not all of the questions that arise when you venture into the kitchen to prepare what many people consider the best part of the meal: dessert. But it is not merely a dessert book. Breakfast fare, yeast and quick breads, flatbreads and crackers are thoroughly discussed as well as the requisite chapters on cookies, cakes, pies and pastries.
I really appreciate cookbooks that not only provide recipes but instruct, explain and in general, broaden your knowledge of the subject. The Baker's Companion succeeds on all fronts...it is a great reference. I like it a lot...you will too!

I have owned this book for several months now but not until recently have I taken it out and actually used some of the recipes. Well actually, I have taken up Weight Watchers again and I was looking for some recipes that wouldn't remind me that I was dieting. I just finished a Garden-Fresh Tuna Salad Sandwich (4 points) that was just packed with flavor with just a scant 3 grams of fat. The photograph of the sandwich is what caught my eye and that is one of the big selling points of this and other Pillsbury cookbooks.

The book begins with a comprehensive discussion called, 'A Guide to Healthier Eating'. Here you will find information about the soon to be amended Food Pyramid and just what is meant by a 'serving'. The authors then give the reader the 'Seven Steps to a Healthy Diet' which include suggestions for improving your food intake. Additionally, there is a glossary of health and food-related terms, some suggestions for using the nutritional information included in the book and some suggested menus combining some of the recipes.

Like many cookbooks, Fast and Healthy covers the culinary experience from Appetizers to Desserts. Aside from the many beautiful photos, the book is replete with many sidebars. These give the user tips that will enhance not only the recipe, but the expertise of the cook as well. Nutritional information for each recipe is provided and dietary exchanges for diabetics are also included. Weight Watchers clients like myself can easily calculate the Winning Points from the information provided and most of the recipes will fall into weight loss plans. For the chocolate lover, who can resist Cocoa Mocha Brownies or Double Chocolate Chip Cookies....two and one point respectively???

As you can tell, I like this book. I am a big fan of Pillsbury's cookbooks and this one is going to be a good friend over the next three months...and well beyond!

This is my tenth cookbook from Weight Watchers. To be truthful, I bought my first when I joined the organization. But now I purchase them because I can't believe how they can build such delicious meals for so few calories and points(the way WW calculates the diet plan). This latest offering contains 10 chapters beginning with 'Starters' and concluding with 'The Year in Chocolate'. There is a chocolate jelly roll dessert that only has 129 calories and 3 points for an almost 1" thick slice. The Chocolate Crispy bars...you know those gooey bars with marshmallow cream and crispy rice cereal....ONE POINT!!!

Desserts aside, I grilled the Southwest Chicken with Pineapple Salsa (5 points) and this almost paid for the book. Pot au Feu, Chicken Cacciatore and Seafood Gumbo, 3, 4, and 5 points respectively, were just scrumptious. There is a chapter in the book entitled '5-Point Wonders' and the recipes that I have tried certainly live up to the billing.

For those of you who like to spice up your food, there is a chapter dedicated to doing just that. Spices add few if any calories, but the flavors explode in your mouth. I tried the Pork Barbeque (9 points) and this was definitely in keeping with the North Carolina version of bbq'd pork.

In short, this is a comprehensive guide to meal planning. Even entertaining ideas are provided. The allure of Weight Watchers is that you don't have to give up entire food groups to control your weight. If you stay within the guidelines or daily point values for your given weight, you can choose to eat anything and still lose weight. This book is a wonderful testament to that strategy and the food will not disappoint you. You won't have tell anyone that it is 'diet food' although I'm sure that Weight Watchers would be pleased if you did.

Allrecipes.com has provided millions of people with a vast treasury of recipes for almost any occasion. This is my third cookbook in the allrecipes series and I know it will be my favorite as I am a big fan of the slow cooker and who doesn't like a delicious casserole?

The book is a collection of the top 200 slow cooker and casserole recipes as determined by the allrecipes staff. The recipes were submitted by people like you and me who actually prepare casseroles and slow cooker meals. They are tested by the staff and modified only if it is deemed necessary. There are chapters dedicated to main dish meals: beef, pork, poultry, seafood and meatless. Chapters on sides, desserts and brunch are also included. At the beginning of each chapter is a complete listing of the recipes complete with page numbers. Of particular help is that each listing breaks down the recipes into categories. For example, the Main Dish-Beef chapter listing is divided into slow cooker roasts, more slow cooker recipes, soups,stews and chiles, and casseroles. In this way, you know how the recipe will have to be prepared.

For cooks new to slow cooking or for novice cooks, the book begins with a section entitled, Cooking Basics. This is a short but complete discussion of casserole preparation and tips, as well as a primer for slow cooking.

Why only four stars? There is no nutritional information provided so you have to make some decisions regarding calories and fat content. You also won't see any pictures of the recipes and a five star cookbook should proudly display some of its creations (IMHO). I did however try the dish pictured on the cover: Aunt Millie's Broccoli Casserole. Kudos to Aunt Millie!! The slow cooker Chicken Cacciatore couldn't have been easier although I did brown the chicken beforehand in a little olive oil.

I have read through the book and marked the recipes that look 'interesting'. From the number of tabs, it looks like this one is going to be used a lot.

One year before I moved to Maine, I was visiting a friend in Yarmouth and we went for seafood at Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster. I was hooked! The meal consisted of 2 lobsters, fries and fresh native corn. The place was also packed, itself a tribute to the popularity of the food served there. The fried clams are dipped in batter which the people 'from away' aka tourists, seem to prefer. You can also purchase fresh shellfish for the home clambake or lobster boil.

I am a SCUBA diver and the cove near Two Lights Lobster Shack is a great place at high tide. And no dive could be complete without a lobster roll from the Lobster Shack. In fact, the opening and closing dates for this establishment are announced in the local paper...sure signs of the arrival of spring or fall.

Clam shacks are 'real' seafood restaurants. They aren't fancy but the food is outstanding. Brooke Dojny has captured the essence of this New England cuisine and provides a wonderful insight to this uniquely Yankee culinary tradition. Lest you think that this book is only about seafood, there are chapters about chicken, sides and desserts. After all, what's a seafood dinner without a good cole slaw?

Ms. Dojny also covers in detail the differences and preferences of various regions within New England. For instance, Maine folks prefer chowder made with soft-shell clams and milk(with a little cream for a thicker base) while in Massachusetts, hard-shell clams called quahogs are used along with milk and flour for thickening. Southern New England features clear or red chowders with hard-shell clams and tomatoes. Mainers consider it heresy to serve 'that red stuff' and you won't find it unless you make it yourself.

Chowders aside, the book is easy to read and a wealth of information about New England. Did I say that the recipes are great too? There is even a recipe for Whoopie Pies!! No cook in this region is without a recipe for them and if you haven't tried one, buy the book or stop by Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster for a scrumptious treat!

In short, buy the book! That way you won't have to wait until spring to enjoy this delicious fare.

Although my experience with Rival crock pots hasn't been all that great, I really like this accessory. It is very well constructed and is durable. I use it with my other slow cookers and it is perfect for the NESCO 6 quart roaster oven as well. But because it is well insulated, you can use it as a tote for your potato salad or potatoes au gratin. It also serves as a tote for whatever items you need to transport. The snap-together handles are a particular asset.

For the price, you can't go wrong. You will like this item.