Things have been crazy around here! The weather is terrible every other day, which means lot of missed school and work. My oldest son just turned 16 and got his license, which is very exciting, but also very stressful. And I just haven’t had the time to try out new recipes.
But if you are a chocolate lover, you might like Martha Stewart’s Salted-Caramel Chocolate Cake. My son asks for it for his birthday every year. It’s a pretty serious cake, but I make it a little easier, by just making it a three-layer cake instead of the six layers that are in the recipe.
Now back to the cookbooks, I was finally able to peruse Ina Garten’s lastest cookbook Cook Like a Pro. Like most cooks on the planet, I love the Barefoot Contessa. I already reviewed The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook last year. The premise of her latest cookbook is that she is sharing some tips of the pros with home cooks. So what did I think?
To Read: Yes. She does share a lot of tips in this cookbook. Since I read so many cookbooks there was not a lot that was new, but there were a few tips I picked up. Here’s one: If the recipe lists 1 cup chopped pecans, it means the nuts are measured after they’re chopped. If it’s listed as 1 cup pecans, chopped, then the pecans are measured before they’re chopped. Who knew?
To Look At: Yes. As always this cookbook has gorgeous photos of food and some great photos of Ina Garten’s kitchens. A girl can dream!
To Cook From: Of course. The Barefoot Contessa has not published ten cookbooks, had several food TV shows, and become a household name without knowing how to put together a recipe. I think if you are a collector of her cookbooks, then you will want to add this one to your collection. Based on the Amazon reviews it looks like this is not her most popular, so if you are only going to buy one of her books this is probably not the one.
I will be back later this week with a recipe or two to share. Let me know if you’ve tried out any of the recipes from Cook Like a Pro.
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