Customer Reviews

Starting Out: The Essential Guide to Cooking on Your Own

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
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I love this cookbook. It is great for new cooks as well as those with experience. It has easy instructions and extra info that is helpful. I like to give this book as a gift for young people who are just leaving home and beginning to cook for themselves.

This is the perfect book for the beginning cook. It explains terms, tells you why to do certain things, or why not to. It also gives suggestions as to what to do with leftovers other than merely heat them up again; it also offers variations on the basic recipe. Best of all: the recipes themselves are scrumptious!

My mom bought me this book as a going away present (I moved to Toronto with my girlfriend for school). I didn't realise how little I knew about cooking until I started. I had no idea how to cook meat or rice or how long to fry or steam veggies.

The best part about the book are the index tabs to all the different foods with meals attached; and all the little tips from Mom (how to do laundry, get out stains, how to buy fresh produce or meat etc)

If for whatever reason I lose this book, I will buy it again.

Highly Recommend for people just "starting out."

I received Starting Out as a birthday present from my best friend, since she decided that it was about time I stopped being afraid of the kitchen (and my many failures) and start learning to feed myself. This book is, as the subtitle says, *Essential*.

The recipes are clearly written and unambiguous, so that the beginner doesn't get confused. What I find extremely useful, are the descriptions of all kinds of fruit and vegetables and meat, including instructions on how to buy them in a grocery store, how to select fresh products, the best way to eat them, how long they last, etc. In addition to all this information, the book includes a number of *laundry tips*! It teaches you how to read the labels on clothes, how to get stains out, and how to keep clothes from fading.

It's not only the "Essential Guide to Cooking on Your Own", it should be "The Essential Guide to Living on Your Own".

I've been cooking for years and am downright shocked at how much I've learned from this book! This is hands down the best all purpose cookbook I've ever seen. A must have for everyone...beginners or otherwise.

I got this book as a wedding shower gift, after I'd been cooking for myself for years. This book is my first reference, always. It gives the basics, and then tells you how to make them more elaborate, which is great.

None of my other cookbooks have meatloaf, Jerk chicken, or any muffins under the sun!

A great read for newbies and vets alike.

I've got two kids, I've been cooking for a while, and I have scores of cookbooks, so I'm not quite "starting out", but this is the book I use most often when I have a question about the basics. It really is an essential guide; whenever I think I need a specific everyday recipe, it's usually in there. The selection of recipes is a very well-chosen group of "must-haves". In the past week I have needed recipes for squash soup, frittata, and potato pancake, and they've all been there and been fantastic. I even roasted my Thanksgiving turkey using the directions from this book. There are loads of great desserts, side dishes, you name it. Every one of the dozens of recipes I've tried has come out perfectly, and the suggested variations on many of them are also excellent. It's all clearly written and easy to follow.

The only thing I think this book lacks is a basic vegetable cooking chart with times and methods. It does have a paragraph for each vegetable that offers preparation suggestions, but I need to know how long to boil that turnip, too. Even so, I recommend this book heartily for anyone who is starting out at cooking for themselves and others. My copy is already stained, greasy, and dog-eared. It's essential for me!

because we are a family of foodies and this cookbook was a funky resource for new cooks. Our family found ourselves returning to it again and again. It became our go-to cookbook - and we have many to choose from. When the boys moved out, I reluctantly gave them their copies...and have now ordered a new one, for me, the Mom, to replace theirs. I've given a few for grad presents too. Can't go wrong here. Be sure to check out Julie's other cookbook - Grazing - another family fav.

This is an outstanding cookbook for beginners (and other recipe dependent cooks like me!). I first bought it for my teenage daughter three years ago. She instantly became known as a superb cook. Now she's moved out, and I had to get my own copy. The recipes are delicious! I recommend it with confidence.