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lsparrow's review
4.0
i enjoyed this collection of family style recipes - I especially enjoyed the suggests for substitutions or alternates.
90sinmyheart's review
2.0
Some okay ideas though I wouldn't go out of my way to try these. A bit concerned about the authors note about the cabbage and parmigiano salad (with nothing else just dressing) being "filling, healthy and affordable" when it is probably only 1 of those things
moviebuffkt's review
5.0
Moving this to the “to buy” wish list. Made the Tuna Salad Sandwiches and the Ginger Lime beef. Both were great and so many more I want to try now that we have an oven again!
gemtastic's review
5.0
Every recipe I’ve made of Carla’s is better than the last. I love her advice on substations. It makes me more confident in the kitchen even when I’m not making something of hers. Love love this book.
bookmarklit's review
2.5
Seems like a harsh rating for a cookbook lol but out of all the cookbooks I own, it wouldn’t shock me if I never made a single recipe out of this one. I really appreciate the format with recipe swaps, what to buy at the market vs. what to keep in your pantry, and the thoughtful layout (how to prep ingredients while other things cook, and even the book itself featuring weeknight vs. weekend recipes). But unfortunately this is like Molly Baz’s cookbook but less “weird in a good way” and more “mehhhh why would I ever make this” haha.
macroscopicentric's review
medium-paced
3.0
There’s some cool stuff here but not a huge number of inspiring recipes. It’s obvious that Music’s default and main cuisine inspiration is Italian-American, and she doesn’t diverge far from that. As a result the recipes all feel like updated versions of recipes that could have come out of a 70s cookbook. It’s meat-heavy but not interesting meat (a lot of baked chicken and/or roasts), and a lot of modified pasta and greens recipes. Some of them were interesting but none felt new or like they pushed the envelope to me. Also, while I liked the idea of the “Spin It” notes, those were also super boring in practice, suggesting things like changing out the pasta shape or swapping shallots for garlic. I had been hoping for more interesting adaptations, like ones that would teach me to modify the basic palate of the whole dish.
Similarly, while I really liked the idea in theory of not requiring all ingredients to be pre-prepped and teaching her readers how to most efficiently prep as you go within each recipe, Music’s headnotes about what to prep when often felt micromanagey in how detailed they got and this didn’t feel hugely useful in practice.
This cookbook felt geared to a cook who is terrified of stepping out of their comfort zone and completely incapable of doing basic adaptation on their own. And yet it’s not a cookbook aimed at college students or other types of new cooks, for example, because these ingredients can be expensive and would be costly to mess up. I’m a good cook but definitely not a great one, but I felt bored by the basic level that Music teaches at here. So I’m not sure who the target audience is for this book. Music does what she does well though, and I especially appreciated that she made her versions of basically all dishes much more acid-heavy than the typical versions. Her grain- and greens-based dishes were often just as simple as the meats but with more engaging twists, and I look forward to trying some of those. And her cooking experience really shines through sometimes (although not often), as in the headnote about how to ensure crispy zucchini fritters through three steps of water removal, which is a skill I’ve often struggled with. I’d have loved to see more real cooking teaching like that throughout the rest of the book.
Similarly, while I really liked the idea in theory of not requiring all ingredients to be pre-prepped and teaching her readers how to most efficiently prep as you go within each recipe, Music’s headnotes about what to prep when often felt micromanagey in how detailed they got and this didn’t feel hugely useful in practice.
This cookbook felt geared to a cook who is terrified of stepping out of their comfort zone and completely incapable of doing basic adaptation on their own. And yet it’s not a cookbook aimed at college students or other types of new cooks, for example, because these ingredients can be expensive and would be costly to mess up. I’m a good cook but definitely not a great one, but I felt bored by the basic level that Music teaches at here. So I’m not sure who the target audience is for this book. Music does what she does well though, and I especially appreciated that she made her versions of basically all dishes much more acid-heavy than the typical versions. Her grain- and greens-based dishes were often just as simple as the meats but with more engaging twists, and I look forward to trying some of those. And her cooking experience really shines through sometimes (although not often), as in the headnote about how to ensure crispy zucchini fritters through three steps of water removal, which is a skill I’ve often struggled with. I’d have loved to see more real cooking teaching like that throughout the rest of the book.