The Great American Slow Cooker Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

The Great American Slow Cooker Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

I was very excited about getting this book, but while it was good and have many recipes it kind of fell short. There were plenty of recipes and they're written wonderfully and look easy to follow. I think my biggest problem with this cookbook is that there were not enough pictures of the food. The book is 512 pages long and there are only 16 pages of pictures of the food. Most cookbooks generally have at least one picture for every recipe so that the reader can see what the dish is supposed to look like. I think that the writers may have overextended themselves when it came to the amount of recipes.
The recipes themselves are beautifully written and sound delicious. I went through the book and I found so many that I want to try. The Spicy Garlic Shrimp (p. 368) and the Fudgy Brownie Cake (p. 461) are two recipes that really stood out to me and that I can't wait to try. I'm not a big soup person, but the soup section made me reconsider my stance on soups. I only really eat tomato soup and there was a great recipe in the soup section for Creamy Tomato Soup (p. 57) that I wan to try very soon.
The book is set up well and the set up of the sections makes sense. Starting with Breakfast all the way through Dessert. The cover of the book is enticing ut not busy and you can clearly see what the book is about. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book is you learn easier by reading. However, if you're more of a visual learner it might not be for you.





I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

The Chopped Cookbook published by Clarkson Potter

The Chopped Cookbook published by Clarkson Porter

    After reading through this cookbook, I've gotten a new respect for authors of recipes. You never really consider how difficult it can be to put recipes together, especially when you put together one that only includes ingredients that would be in the average person's refrigerator. That's what all of the authors of the recipes in this book did and it turned out phenomenal.
    While I was reading through this cookbook and checking out the recipes I was mentally going through what I had in my kitchen and I realized that right then and there I could have made several of the recipes in the book. I absolutely love to cook, but one of the biggest problems is that sometimes I can't think of something to make with the items I already have. That's where the The Chopped Cookbook comes into play. There were so many recipes that I just can't wait to try.
    The first recipe that I'm dying to try is the Spinach and Artichoke Dip Mac and Cheese (p. 21). I adore spinach and artichoke dip and the thought of making mac and cheese out of it absolutely blows my mind. It sounds like an amazing idea and something that I would definitely love (especially on a day when I'm in need of comfort food). Another that I can't wait to try is the Warm Salted Caramel Banana Pudding (p. 225). I'm not very big into bananas but this just seems so delicious. I think that when you pair them with caramel and pudding that you can't lose. Also, I think that this would be a great recipe to learn how to make pudding (which is something I've wanted to figure out for a while).
    All in all, I think that this is a great cookbook. It's especially great for those of us who get a cooking block, where we've got ingredients but can't figure out what to do with them. Make sure to check it out.

 

"I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review."