Organic Cooking : The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler

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I bought this book along with Baby Blender Food, and I really like this one the best. It has practical information RE: safe food handling, the meaning behind nutritional and organic terms on product packaging, suggestions for stocking your pantry, and ideas about how to incorporate meals for the family from the recipes for the baby. It's not rocket science, but sometimes I get caught up in the baby food process and don't think about how to modify some of the ingredients for my own meal. She also has a helpful key that lists vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free recipe options. The recipes are pretty simple, and I've found that it's easy and fun to make food for my son. It also feels really good to know exactly what's going into his food. I like the layout of the book, and I appreciate the information in it. Another review mentioned that she doesn't outline food hazards like nitrates in the body of the recipes, but if you read the book from the beginning, she has pretty comprehensive explanations of what is safe to prepare and when it's safe to prepare it.

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Natural Foods : Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

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I was seeing references to this book in other books that I found helpful: The Metabolic Typing Diet and Life Without Bread. (I also like Natural Hormonal Enhancement which was not available on Amazon when I purchased it.) But I delayed more than a year before buying Nourishing Traditions. I figured if I knew what to eat, I didn't need a cookbook too.

I was wrong. This is a textbook as much as a cookbook. I liken it to Joy of Cooking. You can learn a lot from it about food and nutrition even if you never use its recipes. I have used recipes from both, though, and can attest to their deliciousness. But I must admit, for me the best thing about reading Nourishing Traditions is learning about nutrition, not learning new recipes.

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Meals : Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

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I have many bread baking books and was skeptical that this one would be any better or different. I expected either a catch in the "5 minutes", poor quality bread, or both. I made my first batch last week and was very impressed with both the ease and taste. You can really make the dough in just a few minutes and keep it in your fridge for use over the next 2 weeks. It was wonderful to be able to pull a chunk of the dough out of the container and have delicious bread (the last was more like a big roll) in just over an hour. I could make a loaf when I got home from work and serve it for dinner. There are many recipes included, but it also gave me a much more relaxed attitude toward the bread and I found myself making up my own additions by the time I was forming my second batch. I showed the book to a friend and rather than copy a few of the recipes, she decided to order the book herself because she said that everything looked good and it looked like stuff she would really make. Not many cookbooks earn that comment. Astore more

General AAS : Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One (1) (Vol 1)

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My mom was insistent that we kids learn to cook, and when Julia Child came on public television in the 60's, the whole family was glued to the set. We watched with fascination as she did things with food we Americans didn't know you could do. Mom bought this cookbook then, and I still have it, cover hanging by threads and covered in all kinds of saucy stains. It's still going strong, getting more stains every time I give a dinner party.

We learned how to make omelets, roasts, soups like Vichysoisse (surprisingly simple potato and leek soup), and how to cook the bumper crop of garden green beans in a new and very delectable manner.

I still think that this may be one of the best cookbooks for vegetables that I have on my shelf. I prize it for the meat section, especially a veal ragout that is possibly one of the most luxurious company dishes for a dinner party. It can be made ahead, and in fact, improves if you do. There are a lot of delicious desserts, some complicated (like Creme Bavaroise) and some cakes such as Reine de Saba (Queen of Sheba), a darkly moist and modest looking little chocolate cake. This is easy to make, but so rich and delicious it should be banned by the AMA. What's not in here is French Bread. That's in Volume II.

We made French-style green beans and the Reine de Saba cake one memorable Thanksgiving when we were very young, and even the kids (seven cousins, five of which were BOYS) sat politely glued to the table for the ENTIRE meal instead of getting up and running around halfway through the feast. The food was THAT good.

While I don't make French food every day because I watch my weight, I do use this book for the princples of good food preparation, even if omitting cream or substituting lower fat choices.