The Kitchn Cookbook -- book review

My latest cookbook to take a look through, and actually read thoroughly is The Kitchen Cookbook. This cookbook is by Sara KateGillingham and Faith Durand. These ladies run a popular website with the same name, The Kitchn. The Kitchn website is a sister site to the popular all things home site Apartment Therapy. You may be familiar with both of these sites from their ever popular pins on Pinterest.

The Kitchn Cookbook isn’t just a cookbook though. Actually only a little less than half of the book is comprised of recipes. The rest of the book is comprised of all things kitchen relates; how to organize, helpful food prep tips, guide on basic cooking terms and how to do them, tours of several real kitchens, and much more. So, if you are looking for a good, lot of recipes cookbook this may not be quite what you are looking for. Now, if you love cooking, the kitchen is a central part of your home, or you love all things kitchen related, then this book you would probably enjoy. This would also may a good gift book for someone just starting out on their own in their own place, just getting married, graduating college, or buying their first home.

For me personally, this isn’t a cookbook that I think I would turn to often to find a recipe or get some food inspiration. I might also mention that many of the recipes in the book can also be found on Pinterest. With that said though, The Kitchn is an interesting read with a lot of good information in it. Also a plus is that all the kitchen tours featured in the book are of real kitchens that people really use, not just staged kitchens that aren’t even used. Thus said, the pictures in the book look real, not staged. This is a nice touch that makes this book a little different from a lot of other cookbooks. One of the things that I also liked about the book was these little sections called Dana’s Meditation. Dana’s Meditations are little beautifully written bits about the kitchen or cooking. One last note, the recipes are simple and truly easy to follow. In fact all of the book is simply written and quiet readable.   

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

One Pot of Yumminess - book review

I seem to have a slowly growing collection of cookbooks. One Pot, the newest book from The Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living, is one that I am happy to add to that collection. This is a cookbook that I don’t want to simply review and then pass on cause I will never use it, this one will (actually already has been) be used.

One Pot is composed of over 120 different recipes that are divided into categories by what they are cooked in. You have crock-pots, dutch ovens, skillets, baking pans, and more. Here in lies one drawback of the book, they don’t include any suggestions of how to switch up the cooking method for any of the recipes. Let’s say you want to take a crock pot meal and cook it in the oven instead because you don’t have a crock pot, there are no tips or instructions for how to do this. For people who have some experience cooking this may not be a problem, but for a beginner it could be a frustration. Now, there are lots of other helpful tips throughout the cookbook. Some are things like cooking tips, ways to simplify the process, and a guide on the type of cooking vessel at the beginning of each section.  

Most of the recipes in One Pot are pretty simple and easy to follow. Also, there is a picture of every recipe in the book. I love this! We eat with our eyes first you know. I like to be able to see what the end product is suppose to look like and I am more likely to try a recipe that I can see a picture of. The pictures are all beautifully done. I also have to mention that there is a wide variety of recipes that are included. Included are traditional American recipes and lots of International cuisine. Another note about the recipes is that they are designed to use just one pot, thus the name. Some may require a mixing bowl too, but who doesn’t love foods that require less dishes and less clean-up. I am a big fan of yummy recipes that don’t require using several dishes.

So far I have tried two of the recipes in the cookbook, the Skillet Chocolate-Chip Cookie

 (mine) 

 (their's)

 and the Chicken and Dumplings.

Both were fantastic! In fact, I may need to make the Chocolate-Chip Cookie again very soon. I plan to try out another recipe today, the Mexican-Style Lasagna.

I’m sure I will keep using One Pot for a long time to come.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

Cookbook Giveaway!

Blogging for Books (which is who I receive free books to review from) and Read it Forward have partnered together to give away 5 copies of Sweet from the editors of Food Network Magazine. 

If you have every looked through a Food Network Magazine, you will know that it is full of delicious recipes. I'm sure this cookbook is no different. Not to mention it is fully devoted to sweet treats. Who doesn't love a little bit (or a lot) of sweetness in their life every now and then. To enter, follow the link here. Simple as that.