A review by amibunk
The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making: A Cookbook by Alana Chernila

5.0

Quite possibly my favorite cookbook of all time. It has already found itself on my Amazon wish-list. Not only did I love having several practical recipes of things I could make at home rather than buy at the store, but I found the author's overall tone to be refreshing. Not once did she get on a high horse about how store bought food is the harbinger of the apocalypse and the destruction of small intestines everywhere. Her matter of a fact attitude recognizes that sometimes, despite how delicious homemade food is, store bought food has to do. Additionally, she points out in the recipe when the store bought version is a cheaper alternative.
Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed were the little stories she told at the start of each recipe. They were just the right tone, not overly sentimental but nostalgic in feeling.
My only minor complaint is that I wish there were more gorgeous color photographs in the book.