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Summary: Comfort food and so much more!
Review: Cookbooks like computers have a bias toward the exotic. We need starter set computers and we need back to basics cookbooks. The former is a pipe dream. The latter is here. It's American Home Cooking. Have you forgotten how to make a New England Boiled dinner [I had]? This cookbook will show you how your mother used to do it. And venison? Macaroni and cheese? The really good stuff you used to get at home [even jalapeno recipes if your home was in the southwest] is all here. The directions are lucid, the results are predictable. Home at last.
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Summary: Almost all of my favorite American dishes are here!
Review: I bought this book so that I can recreate my favorite American food anywhere, and it has never disappointed me. Great mac & cheese, corn bread, cioppino! I like the selection of vegetable dishes, which are sometimes humble but always delicious. I cooked lima beans and my husband liked it, even though he said he hated lima beans! Squash casserole is very pretty and delicious. Try stewed cabbage once and you may be surprised how good a cabbage can taste. Don't miss the rice griddlecakes for your next breakfast/brunch, it is airy and just divine!
Some words of advice: the recipes tend to be on the richer side. If you find some of your favorites are missing, try looking in American Century Cookbook by Jean Anderson.
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Summary: A great cookbook and a great gift!
Review: I have been a fan of the Jamison's cookbooks over the years, and this latest addition is the best one yet! There are many old favorites (check out the macaroni and cheese... ) and some tasty regional specialties. The recipes are written clearly enough for a novice cook to follow, and there are interesting ideas for the experienced chef. As in their other books, the Jamisons include some historical background for the foods, which rounds out the book nicely. And did I mention the lucious color photos?
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Summary: A very good cookbook that will become page worn with use
Review: It has been said "if you can read you can cook," but whoever said this did not know my x-wife. However, in the spirit of letting bygones be bygones, I am mailing her this wonderful cookbook. The Johnsons have excelled in giving us more than 300 uniquely American recipes that are simple, straightforward and quite tasty.When I first got hold of this 470-page cookbook, I tried three recipes: Georgia Bits & Grits Waffles, Lancaster Country Chicken-Corn Soup and Banana Pudding. All turned out great (and since I don't cook when I have to bachelor it, that's saying something!). Though most people do not buy a cookbook to read, I was impressed by the Johnsons' inclusions of cultural and historical backgrounds found on most recipes pages...they were wonderful additions and diversions. What, then, makes an excellent cookbook? First, great recipes. Recipes that are: a) begging to be tried, b) well laid out with a readable size print, c) simple and mixable with the normal ingredients and equipment and d)prepared in a short period of time. Second, when done your results are praiseworthy and your guests ask for second helpings. Third, a good sprinkling of color photos. American Home Cooking has given us all but the last. The 16 photos are both disappointing and far too few. However, the strength of the great tasty recipes and the layout of the book cover this weak point. This is a very good cookbook that will become page worn with use in most kitchens.
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Summary: Did California secede from the union?
Review: This is an interesting cookbook, but I knew I was in trouble when I looked for avocado in the index and found no listing! Oh, there are a couple of token "California" recipes, but there was little food in this book that resembled anything that my mother used to cook. Where are the delicious salads and the inventive homemade tacos and tostadas? We had a huge salad for dinner at least once a week in my family's house, and there is no representation of that tradition here. But anyway, if you're not among the 1 in 9 Americans that lives in California, this book will take you back...
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Summary: What a boring cookbook!
Review: This was a book with great promise that turned out to be highly disapointing! There is nothing outstanding in this mundane collection of recipes that can't be found in an ordinary cookbook (Anything from Joy of Cooking to a Pillsbury anthology is just as useful). The recipe for German Chocolate cake is available in countless other volumes and every grocery store. I found the directions vague. The interesting historical facts are fun to browse through, but the lack of photographs make this a difficult cookbook to enjoy.
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Summary: Good Down Home Cooking!
Review: We loved the cookbook.We tried the Iowa Skinnies a pork tenderloin sandwich from the I states. We grew up in central Illinois and remember these sandwiches from childhood. The recipes are easy to follow. The Jamesons also include ingredient tips which are helpful in choosing the correct ingredients in our area. This would be a great Christmas gift. Our daughter just got married and loves to cook a copy is going to her. Can't wait for the next book. Thanks to the Jamesons!
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