Customer Reviews

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I received my first copy of this book in a paper back format from my sister years ago. I wore it out I used it so much over the years! I was pleasantly surprised to see it offered in a hard cover on Amazon. I ordered my copy immediately and I still consult this book regulary. Why this book and not another you might ask? Because it has all the basics and then some. In fact if I had to choose only one cook book out of my collection, this would be it. I find it frustrating when I need a recipe for something basic and can't seem to find it in other books. Which is why this book is great. Coming home with whatever is on sale that week is never a problem. I always find recipes that could be made with the basic staples most people keep at hand. And when I have spare time, the entertainment itch, or just because...I can also use the fancier recipes to impress friends and family. I'll share a secret: it has the best lemon meringue pie recipe(my mother-in-law even asked for the recipe). How plain, yes I know...but how flavourful, delicious and extraordinary an experience when its made with freshly pressed lemons and topped with your own meringue topping. Taste does matter and will leave you with toughts like : Why did I ever buy ready made?

I find myself reaching for this cookbook, not for inspiration for an exotic meal, but for the recipes to cover the basics so I can improvise. It has never let me down and I've used something from nearly every section of the book.

No doubt there are some errors in the book; but, fortunately, I haven't run into them yet.

FF has very clearly written recipes; and, the discussions regarding various cooking techniques are easy to understand.

Don't use FF to plan that haut or nouvelle cuisine meal; instead use it to understand the fundamental elements of cooking, but..

when you wake up and can't recall the recipe for pancakes, or you forgot how to make a basic cheese sauce for the covered dish you have to bring to a party.. grab the FF.. you'll be fine.

This is the cookbook I pull from my crowded shelves the most often. With great how-to sections, great tasting recipes, and clear directions it's a hands-down winner. Highly recommended whether you're just starting out or are wanting to learn more.

Life would be so much easier if everyone had a Fannie Farmer in their kitchen. The recipes here are simple, yet with the correct presentation, they are elegant enough to serve to even the most discriminating dinner guest(s). Directions are clear, precise and easy to follow. There is even a section on microwaving; however, not everyone, including myself, believes a nutritious, home-cooked meal should be microwaved. Granted, microwaves are quick, convenient and excellent for heating up left over foods, melting butter, etc., but in my own opinion, when it comes to actually cooking a meal, much nutrition, texture and flavour is lost in the microwaving process. The recipes and section on balanced nutrition are the major highlights of the book. If you are a newcomer to the kitchen, this book will become your best friend, and there is actually something here for everyone, novice or expert.

The banana bread in this book is hard and chewy. I can't get a single cake to come out right. The frostings are too complicated or simply don't taste good, (I went back to using Wilton's recipes.) The swedish meatballs are dry and have no sauce. There are only three recipes I use from this book regularly Spaghetti and meatballs, baking powder biscuits, and griddle cakes. Even the cornbread was dry. (The book said cornbread was "supposed" to be dry. I don't think so! Luckily I could call my mom and get a good recipe.) There are some good recipes in this book and some can be modified if you know enough about cooking. Mine is covered with scribbled ingredient adjustments. I would much rather have something that tasted good the first time.

I gave it three stars because it does have a lot of interesting information like how to make your own pasta and fondant.

My wife had a very old edition of this so I thought I would get her a new one. She loves it!

I have about forty cookbooks. But, whenever I need to find THE recipe for something, I always end up with this book. Content-wise, I have seen none better. If you own only one cookbook, this should be it. The only thing that could make this outstanding cookbook any better is if it were reissued as a hardcover spiral so that it could lay flat on the kitchen counter!

This book is not going to provide you with fancy, tedious recipes. What this book will provide you with is straightforward, relatively simple and effective approaches to cooking just about anything you could ever imagine. The vegetable section is particularly great, as it's organized by ingredient with several ways of preparing each particular vegetable listed.

Stumbled on some interesting looking vegetable at the farmers' market but don't know how to prepare it? Look it up, and you'll be given several options, from the most very basic to a little more dressed up.

This book impressed me in that it is not just your normal recipe book; it is a cook book in the truest sense of the word. You'll see plenty of recipes, but they often read more like loose guidelines that are to be tinkered with, rather than the intricate and pretentious recipes that plague so many other cook books.

After returning to germany this cookbook(paperbackedition)has become a heap of torn pages in my collection of cookbooks,my alltime favorite.Wonderful recipies,good descriptions of staples and pictures of vegetables that were hard to find over here when I came back in 1985-it was so much help!
I'm looking forward to get more books on amazon.com! (sorry,didn't mean to advertise)

... As others here have said, the recipes are easily put together, easily understood and make me look and taste like a skilled cook. Fanny Farmer candy is the cream of the crop for sweets and this cookbook is really the cream of the crop for good eating when you aren't an expert chef.