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Summary: Amazing for the new cook
Review: This is the greatest cookbook on the market, especially for new cooks! It has everything you need to know about anything in the kitchen!
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Summary: The book that launched an obsession for me
Review: This was my first cookbook (the 1986 edition). It was my prize for winning my 12th grade home-ec cooking contest. This is such a good, basic cookbook. Nearly every recipe I've tried from it has been successful and delicious. Even now, some 13 years later, I still turn to this cookbook regularly. It sparked an interest in cookbooks in me which grows each year. I read cookbooks like novels, and my collection is constantly expanding. Thanks in large to Mrs. Bucher and her gift of the Betty Crocker Cookbook.
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Summary: Betty Crocker enters the 21st Century
Review: Vegetarian recipes, Tandori chicken, Chai, tofu even!! Most of the recipes are from scratch using fresh ingredients, yes this is not your grandmother's Betty Crocker Cookbook. It will be hard to find a recipe that calls for a can of cram of mushroom soup! Heck, one can even try his or her hand at making a variety of pastas from scratch! That said, fear not all the favorites are here too, meatloaf, muffins, breads, mac and cheese, tuna casserole... all in the straight forward comfort food versions we cherish and love. That is what I love about Betty Crocker, all the food is good, but not a hint of being pretentious, scaring the cook with hard to find ingredients.
My family always seemed to have a Betty Crocker cookbook given to them as a rite of passage into adulthood, I bestowed the honor upon my sister this year for Christmas. I am quite impressed with the latest edition. There is a new section on grilling and also for vegetarians.
The recipe layout is very easy to read, pictures showing how scarmbled eggs, rice, etc should look as well as what they shouldn't look like (with an explanation of what the cook did wrong) The pages are very colorful with plenty of hints and inspiring photos. The writing "voice" is very patient, and understands the fact that the reader may not know how to even boil water. It's OK here, the novice cook will not be spoken down to. For the more experienced cook who may be bored to tears, the layout is such that he or she çan bypass those sections.
It shouldn't be a surprise that these books stay with the owner forever and even as one gets better at cooking, this is the book that one turns to over and over. I have owned mine for more than 10 years and still use it on a regular basis. Many great culinary memories await within the pages of this "Rite of Passage" book!
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Summary: Not As Good As I Remembered.....
Review: When I married, 21 years ago, I was given a copy of The Betty Crocker Cookbook as a wedding gift. It was my cooking bible in those early years of marriage. It was a wonderful cookbook and I still love it and use it. I was anxious to see if the newest printing was a great as my "old faithful". Sadly, I was not impressed with it. I prefer the spiral binding as it lays flat when in use. I thought the cover boards and binding were rather cheap. I agree with one other reviewer, it should be printed in the USA and not in China. In my opinion, it will not hold up as well as the older versions did. I was not particularly crazy about the size either, I thought it on the smallish side.The latest printing of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook is a far superior choice for a good "basic" cookbook. If you can only afford one cookbook, do not buy The Betty Crocker Cookbook.
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Summary: You will be pleasantly surprised
Review: You will be pleasantly surprised by this book. This book has a lot of information that goes along with the recipes. You will be amazed at all of the supplimental information that goes into this book. The way to buy fresh vegetables, how to look for good cuts of meat, ways to stretch meat, and a host of ideas with each recipe. The book is clearly written, and it makes it very easy to read. There are pictures for many recipes as well, this pictures aren't of just the finished product either. I think you will find this book covers the basics, and goes well beyond that. If you know someone that is just starting out, or perhaps learning to cook this would be a great choice for them.
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