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The Martha Stewart Cookbook : Collected Recipes for Every Day

The Martha Stewart Cookbook : Collected Recipes for Every Day

List Price: $35.00
Your Price: $22.05
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A cookbook I never use
Review: "Recipies for everyday" is a very misleading title. At least I don't make caviar on toast for 100 people every day.

The only recipie I have actually made from the book was chocolate chip cookies. A pound of butter later, I had the worst cookies I have ever made.

I wanted to make flatbread the other day and couldn't find a recipie anywhere. Finally I looked in the index of this book. There was a flatbread with some kind of relish recipie... the first ingredient was 1 flatbread. Great, thanks Martha.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A Complete Waste
Review: Did anyone bother to check any of the recipes in this book? I think not. Not only are some of the ingredients difficult to get a hold of, the end product is a disaster. How difficult is it to compile recipes that have actually been made? Not very. But apparently it's much easier to just make them up. Like many have posted here, it is not the occasional recipe but a substantial proportion of them. I think Martha owes us all a hefty refund, if not for the time, money and effort wasted, as least for the book! For now, this one goes in the fire kindling pile.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Tasteless and boring
Review: Disappointing, in line with her other mediocre cookbooks. No imagination with flavors. She does earn one star for consistently good presentation, otherwise I would give her a zero.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: An inspirational read but recipe results frustrating...
Review: Even experienced cooks don't get good results with this cookbook. Recipes are inspiring to read but must be tinkered with to succeed. Usually cooking time and temperature are the culprits but occasionally even ingredient quantities are off. But this has been our experience with most Martha Stewart recipes (they don't seem carefully tested before publication). Try all recipes before planning your dinner party and take notes. Analyze what happens and note how to fix method for next attempt. You will learn from this process but will probably throw your first results down the disposal. Poll your cooking friends, mine all report the same experiences with Martha Stewart recipes.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: better than you might imagine
Review: Even if you can't stand Martha Stewart, you may find this a useful, repetoire-expanding cookbook. While it contains a staggering number of recipes, they are well organized, and the index is actually useful (unlike, for instance, the Moosewood Cookbook's). Imaginative but not too far-out or trendy for the average taste, recipes are easy to follow. I have never encountered a typo, a real pitfall for some of these huge, rushed compendium cookbooks. I especially like the chocolate cookies that have a little cayenne (really, it's good!), and the chicken breast saltimbocca. Martha clones can happily imagine themselves sitting down to the table and eating the same food she does (gosh, maybe even at the same time!), and anti-Martha cooks can just whisk off the offensive book jacket and add the big blue book to their cookbook collection without shame

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love this book!
Review: I absolutely loved this book! It's a great book for everyone of all ages! I recommend it to everyone. Great for my home-ec class at school!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Caveat Emptor
Review: I am an amateur pastry chef and enjoy making all sorts of desserts from cookies to my Croatian grandmother's strudel--the dough stretches the length of my table! I bought this book through a remainder house (which sells off overstocks) because it contained some recipes that I hadn't come across before. I've given it two stars because it's beautifully designed and somewhat inspiring--though the pantry recommendations are crazy for anyone with a reasonable budget. Let's face it, vanilla beans are too expensive.

I was sadly disappointed in the creme fraiche recipe. My husband is British and I was looking forward to pleasing him with this condiment that is unavailable in American stores. But it never thickened as Martha promises. (It was disgusting, actually!)

I thought this was just a one-off faulty recipe, but then I made her Chocolate Architecture Pie for a party. I should have known better than to try an untested Martha Stewart recipe before a party. Superficially her description is seductive (as are most of her descriptions, and even herself), but the recipe is insane. The laws of physics dictate that you cannot fold 7 beaten egg whites into 24 ounces of melted chocolate mixed with 5 egg yolks. It's like trying to fold satin into brick. I had to leaven the filling with 8 oz. of whipped cream. It tasted good in the end (in fact, some of my male guests called it "orgasmic"), but it was a modified version, and it was not "architectural."

Simply, it was not what Martha promised--which, I gather from press I've read about her, is characteristic of Martha. She promises a lot but delivers only superficially, and then blames you for getting it wrong. If you're a reader of fine cookery books, you will comprehend that she's not devoted to cooking, she's devoted to her own image. Really retrograde for women, in my opinion. If you want to bake good pastries, for example, try an author who's truly dedicated to good food, provides dependable recipes, and gives liberal credit to those who have inspired him and given him recipes, such as Bernard Clayton's The Complete Book of Pastry.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Staple for Every Kitchen
Review: I cook many times a week, sometimes everyday. Whenever I need a solid, tested and correct recipe, I definitely turn to this cookbook. I am also a collector of cookbooks and believe me this is one you need on your shelf. I have tried basic and complicated items and all have been wonderful. If you need pictures this is not the cookbook for you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cookbook bible.
Review: I cook quite frequently and have found this to be the most useful cookbook I own. Outside of single issues of Food and Wine Magazine, it has become my only source for consistently terrific recipes.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Her Stuff Never Works Out...
Review: I have tried Martha's receipes time and time again. I can probably count on ONE hand, the amount of times a receipe has worked. I don't know what the problem is. Maybe she leaves something out, or the time/temp. is off. I'm not sure. But, anyhow, they just don't work.

However, there is a bright side to her books (hence, the extra star) they are very entertaining to read. You can certainly gain some inspiration and creativity from her books, but just look for a receipe elsewhere.

Her books are NOT for the everyday cook.


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