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.

Modern Pioneering -- book review

Whether you are an avid DIYer, want to try your hand at a little gardening, want to cook food from whole ingredients, or consider yourself to be a modern pioneer, this book is a fun and helpful read. Now, Modern Pioneering by GeorgiaPellegrini isn’t a normal book. Modern Pioneering is more like a guide and cook book all in one. It is composed of various sections that cover the different areas. All the while, with lovely photographs throughout the whole book.

The first section is on The Garden. I found this part of the book to be full of lots of helpful tips and information. Thank goodness for that information on mulching, it has saved me a top of work in the garden already this summer. There was plenty of information that I will probably refer back to for years to come.

Next is the section on The Home. This section is mostly comprised of recipes. All of the recipes have clear instructions that are easy to follow. Now there are several recipes I plan to try. There are also several recipes that I’m pretty sure I would never try. Not they are bad recipes, just not something that I would eat. All the recipes use fresh ingredients that you would gather from your garden, get from a farmers market, or from your local store. There aren’t any processed foods in these recipes.

The following section is The Wild. This contains information on vegetation that you can eat from the wild. There are also recipes for using those foods. This section also contains useful information on such things like how to use a compass, survive in the wild, and such.

Lastly is The Rest. There are some recipes in here. There are some DIY projects. There is some random stuff. Honestly, most of the stuff in this section could have been left out and the book wouldn’t be lacking. The home DIY crafty stuff seemed a bit out of place with the rest of the book.

Overall, it was a fun read that gave me some good information and good ideas of stuff to try. I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.