Rating: 
Summary: Very Dependable
Review: A NYC Chef, I took this book with me when going down south to cook for 2 older southern gentlemen because I was informed under no uncertain terms that I would have to cook old-fashioned American country food. This book turned out to be very dependable. I am intrigued by the less than satisfactory reviews of the book. He definitely backtracks on some of his recipes in the Cook's Bible (he tells you where) but he also talks about how he improved the recipe here. To be sure, I have modifications in mind for my own taste on several of the recipes, and find the "master recipe" concept for things like mashed potatoes amusing, but this book's results are very enjoyable home-style cooking. One major feature for me was that I've been used to the organic produce and variety one finds in NY, but there, that wasn't available. These recipes came through because they are written for what one can find in a grocery store anywhere in the country.
Rating: 
Summary: :The fourth squirrel is in the freezer. See you Saturday!"
Review: Although one of my Vermont neighbors once did serve me squirrel (the squirrel was good; it was the woodchuck that was a bit greasy), The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook is really about investigating the best methods of making classic country recipes such as apple pie and apple crisp, roast turkey, pot roast, baking powder biscuits, lemon meringue pie, chicken fricassee, mashed potatoes, potato salad, coleslaw, strawberry jam, chocolate chip cookies, and much more. If you ever wondered how to bake a pumpkin pie with a crisp crust, make an apple crisp with a truly crisp topping, make a tomato sauce in 10 minutes that tastes fresh and lively, cook up perfect rice every time, make pie pastry that is easy to roll out and doesn't shrink when baked, or make a roast that is fall-apart tender and juicy, this is the book for you. The Yellow Farmhouse is filled with over 300 carefully researched and tested recipes including a 40 minute whole wheat soda bread, country meatloaf, raspberry rectangles, hermit bars, stews, soups, preserves, breads, etc. I have also tested plenty of cookware for this book with actual ratings of specific brands including hand-held mixers, inexpensive chef's knives, cookie sheets, muffin tins, loaf pans, saucepans, graters, and instant read thermometers. (Hint: Cheap supermarket cookie sheets work better than more expensive brands.) In addition to the recipes, you'll also meet a cast of characters from Floyd Bentley who was painted by Norman Rockwell in Breaking Home Ties, to Rob Woodcock who was known to harvest Christmas trees with a shotgun, and my neighbor, Jean, who once invited my wife and I over for that dinner of woodchuck and squirrel. You'll be invited to atttend our annual Ox Roast potluck supper in August, march along with us in the July 4 parade, sing "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" at our Old Home Day celebration, and go swimming at the Baptist Hole just behind the Methodist Church. Come and take a seat at the table, back warmed by the old green Kalamazoo wood cookstove, and share the food and the stories. We'd be glad of your company.
Rating: 
Summary: Really good country cooking!
Review: Besides being a good read, with Kimball's charming reminiscences of growing up in a quaint Vermont country town, this cookbook is a treasure because of the multitude of absolutely reliable recipes for the best country cooking to be had! I just love this cookbook, and it is the first one I reach for when making meals everyday for my family. It is full of recipes for the type of good, hearty, down-home cooking that you grew up with and/or crave. These recipes are so thoroughly tested and well explained that they are, well, fool-proof. Kimball tells you why and how. All the recipes I have tried have been superb. The chicken pot pie is homey and satisfying. The buttermilk biscuits are so tender and fluffy and high, I threw away my old biscuit recipe and will not make biscuits any other way now. The buttermilk pancakes are the best and most tender I have ever had -- the secret is in the egg whites. Read why inexpensive cast-iron cookware is all you need for good cooking. Now I understand why my expensive Calphalon pans and non-stick coatings have long disappointed me. As soon as I had finished reading this book cover to cover, I bought a cast-iron Dutch oven and two skillets, and now I am cooking happy. If you want a cookbook to cook real meals by, this is the one!!!
Rating:
Summary: Cookbook as good book
Review: Chris Kimball supplements recipes with stories, past and present, of the Vermont town he calls home, and never is he maudlin or mawkish: it really is a simpler life, and if making these country recipes brings you closer to that life, so be it. Kimball is fastidious in his research for the master recipe; as editor of Cook's Illustrated magazine, he has a test kitchen and staff at his disposal to try, test, recook and retry. "Yellow Farmhouse" is approachable and engaging, as is its author. The prefatory material to the book gives guidelines for selecting and buying equipment for the Compleat Kitchen. If the Bomb dropped tomorrow, and civilization had to be rebuilt one kitchen at a time, Kimball is your guide. A marvelous must for any home, yellow or otherwise.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the Best!
Review: Entertaining stories, but most important, never-fail recipes. Have never found a recipe from the Cook's Illustrated folks to fail yet.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Novice Cooks
Review: I bought this book to read about Christopher Kimball's kitchen experiments. I love his writing style.I think this cookbook contains a lot of useful information for beginners. However, it contains nothing that good cooks don't already know. For that reason, I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5.
Rating:
Summary: The purest, most reliable recipe source is Chris Kimball!
Review: I have just baked my second Lemon Meringue Pie (p. 312), and thanks to the exhaustive research and excellent, easy to understand instruction, it is perfect. Never again will I have to tolerate gummy, stiff, overly sweet lemon pies with topped with weepy, puddled meringue. Master recipes for old standards with new variations make this book a must have for anyone who cooks. Mr. Kimball's narrative is just as entertaining outside of the kitchen as in it. We can't wait for his next installment!
Rating:
Summary: Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook
Review: I like this book very much. As usual Chris Kimball gifts us his knowledge and expertise, along with wonderful stories and thoughts. So then, with all his expertise and knowledge...why does Christopher Kimball mess up so horribly in the index? I spent 30 mintues trying to find a recipe for cinnamon rolls. Then I gave up and went to my old standard The Farm Journals Baking Book. The index is one powerful tool in any book like this...we need an index. If there is an order to it I have yet to figure it out. When I want or need a recipe I want to be able to find it right now, not waste a huge chunk of time searching for the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Up-to-date New England cooking
Review: I liked this cookbook very much, but it doesn't have quite the personality nor the scope of recipes of James Beard. However, it is more up-to-date, and the author explains procedures and ingredients clearly and with conviction. Its approach is definitely New England regional, which shouldn't be a deterrent to anyone interested in good cooking. There's one thing that bothers me, and that is the book is not printed on quality paper -- it looks more like the stuff used in cheap paperback editions, rather than a hardcover book. Shame on the publisher for not using something better.
Rating:
Summary: PRACTICAL AND WONDERFULLY WRITTEN
Review: I picked up THE YELLOW FARMHOUSE COOKBOOK while my wife was preparing a meal from one of Kimball's recipes. I literally could not put the book down after having read the acknowledgements and introduction. The volume is invaluable for anyone serious about what happens in the kitchen, and is a practical and indespensible reference tool for any home. More importantly, from my point of view, it is remarkably well-written. Mr. Kimball writes with an ingenuous warmth that not only makes the reader feel a closeness to this special Vermont community, but to the author, as well. All culinary concerns aside, this is a very good read.
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