Customer Reviews

Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I think this book tops what i would consider other contenders for this type of all-in-one cookbook (joy of cooking and fannie farmer) I love that this book has pictures...missing from the other two books I mentioned. It's a nice LARGE general, basic cook book.

A perfect gift for a person setting up an apartment for the first time, learning how to cook, going off to college (altho sometimes cooking options in college are limited).

I love the extra help sections...how to do things... techniques... examples etc. All around books tend to be at a disadvantage when they try to be all things to all people. While I dont think there is any substitute for regional and specific food type/cooking method/ ethnic cuisine cook books, I also think there is an important place in everyones home for a general all purpose cook book. ( For times when you want to know the *basics*...how long to cook something, for example.)

I have been dissapointed with the fannie farmer cookbook and the joy of cooking... this book would be my number 1 choice for a favorite general cook book for everyones kitchen

I got this cookbook 34 years ago for a shower gift-I've used it so much it was falling apart. That's why I needed a new one. Still one of my favorites!

My 1970s edition of this cookbook was a surefire guide to simple, straightforward homecooking. The current edition has lost the charm -- and many of the best recipes -- of the original without gaining compensatory sophistication.

Take, for instance, biscuits: old editions had the best basic biscuit recipe. The new biscuits require a special trip to the market for ingredients. Yet the cookbook held onto horrors like chop suey!

The recipes over-emphasize canned and packaged ingredients and under-emphasize basic cooking techniques that might allow the aspiring cook to figure out how to substitute convenience ingredients for more complicated recipes. It's very much a cookbook for people who want to reproduce the food at the local supermarket deli, at twice the cost.

That said, there aren't many basic, put-food-on-the-table-every-night cookbooks out there. If you need to smack some chicken and rice on the dinner table every night of your life, you could do worse.

No kitchen should be without this book. Even my very experienced and experimental mother found some new ideas and approaches in this new addition. A must-have for every new household...I always give this along with any other housewarming gift.

My husband and I LOVE this cookbook. It's got absoulutely everything you need to know about cooking, baking, canning, storing food, and the recipies are easy to use and endless in number. I use it almost daily. I bought a copy for a friend who was a tree planting camp cook, she found it invaluable! Can't say enough good things about it!!!!

This is a good cookbook. My mother had an older edition of this book and I basically grew up on a lot of the recipes including delicious, scrumptious recipes for Pineapple Upside Down Cake, and Strawberry Shortcake. This edition is good and has some tasty recipes and the only drawback is that the book fell apart and is being held together by rubber bands but I love the recipes in this book and I would buy a new one to replace it but hopefully they have a hardcover version and maybe that will be sturdier then this softcover book.

A good basic cookbook. Not a lot of involved marth-esqe recipes but specializes in many good old fashioned delights. Need to have a page holder as the book doesn't work well open on a counter. Desserts are especially well done and represented.

This book has become my recipe staple! I cannot think of any recipe that turned out bad!
It has several "dictionaries" for those new to cooking, each recipe has an approx. time from start to finish, and lots and lots of recipes!

my only suggestion is to get a book holder; The size and binding of this book make it difficult to hold the page open.

Regarding the recipes, this is the one cookbook that contains recipes that many people ask me for. They are that good! The Chicken Marsala, Roasted Corn and Crab Soup and Coq au vin are restaurant quality and easy to make. Unlike other cookbooks where you hope to find a few dishes the family will like, *every* dish in BH&G is a hit. I have no hesitation trying new recipes now ~ I just jump right in! :o)

I learned the basics of cooking with this book, on a tight budget. Anybody can make these recipes and they'll consistantly turn out well, helping you build confidence to move on to more complicated things. I still use my (second copy!) hardbound Better Homes and Gardens red n white book to search out simple meals to make after work or when I want a nice dinner but don't really feel like being in the kitchen all day.

This book is not to be mistaken for anything gourmet, but for those of us raised on Kraft, Campbell's and Green Giant this book is a great place to find hassle free recipes without the obscure and expensive ingredients and wierd equipment those of us who don't lie in the lap of luxury don't have. I'd recommend a copy of this to anybody, especially for those just learning to cook, who lack confidence in the kitchen, or who just want to make something without taking it all so seriously. It has nice pictures to help you pick something out, and all the recipes are easy to understand. Hope you're all as impressed with it as I am!