I love Michael Smith and I was really excited for this new book, hoping for a stellar follow-up to his last Chef at Home book. I was disappointed to find that many of the recipes were reprints or slight variations of recipes from that book (i.e. orange ginger beef, chocolate chip cookies) and I laughed out loud when I saw the recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich. However, the pasta section is expanded and interesting, the recipes do use easy to find (often staple) ingredients and the variations and tips offered make everything very accessible. In short, if you only buy one Michael Smith book, you'll probably be really happy with this one. If you already owned his last Chef at Home compilation, you might find it's a bit of a let-down.