The lovely folk over at Parragon Books were very kind in giving me a couple of recipe / cookbooks at a recent conference and here is my take on them :
Mama’s Family Cookbook – Family recipes from the Italian Kitchen
I really loved the style and ‘easy goingness’ (new word I know!) of this recipe book. I like the way the ingredients are easy to spot and you don’t have to trawl through the recipe to make sure you haven’t forgotten to add anything to your shopping list. Anyone who knows my cooking style will understand that KISS (keep it simple stupid) is my motto!
Every now and then they have thrown in a ‘Mama’s tip’ which are lovely snippets eg. A basic pizza dough recipe or reminding the cook not to scrimp on pizza toppings!
If you or your family are not really into Italian type food – then this book probably won’t be for you. That said – I reckon there is something for everyone’s palate in here. Gets a triple thumbs up from me!
Vegetarian – the perfect guide to meat free meals – Step by Step
Now if you thought I liked Mama’s Family Cookbbook a lot…well this veggie step by step guide completely blew me away. I have to be honest and confess that I don’t have ANY vegetarian specific recipe books in our house and I am so glad to say that now I do!
It does what it says on the cover and literally provides step by step illustrations/photo’s to reassure whoever is cooking that they are doing the right thing and well if they aren’t I spose.
It’s eye catching and provides great inspiration for days when you don’t feel like eating meat or alternatively (in my case) for providing a great base to add your chosen meat to. It’s also nice to see that the veggie option isn’t the ‘boring’ option.
