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Summary: Hardbound versus Spiral bound?
Review: Without going into any long saga, let me just say that if the spiral bound addition had been given to me 23 years ago as a wedding shower gift, it would not be with me here today. The binder does not allow for easy opening of the book, or turning of the pages, and the paper is of inferior quality. It is too thin, too flimsy on the fingers. I do not believe it will last. I just purchased this version for my 19 year old collage student, and want to return it for the hard bound edition. There will always be those who don't approve of change. If some things have been omitted and replaced with others, there are always reasons for such changes even it we don't agree with them. My copy(hardbound) is 23 years old and still going strong. All of my kid's pick it up when they cook, without my influence at all. It is the most important cooking manual on my shelf, and I own hundred's of cookbooks. If the general layout and feeling remain the same, I would only recommend the spiral addition with the proper changes.
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Summary: Joy of Cooking (spiral bound)
Review: No problem with the content. The very thin paper and minute print hinder the pleasure of using this book.
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Summary: No Cook Should Be Without It!
Review: The All New Joy of Cooking is a fabulous reference book at a decent price for many experience levels. This book teaches you how to boil the perfect egg, or identify ten varieties of hot peppers in your food market. This updated version includes old favorites such as Baked Alaska,, Pot Pie, and Tuna Noodle Caserole, as well as all sorts of world cuisines that are finding there way into current haut cuisine. Thai, Indian, and Puertorican to name a few. It even includes some information on current diet trends such as veganism. A section titled "Know Your Ingredients", and a multitude of conversion charts also make this book indespensible. I re-iterate, no cook should be without it! EnJOY!
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Summary: Book is great, CD-ROM is awful
Review: The book is great, hands down. However, the CD-ROM is one of the worst pieces of software I've ever used. The user interface is abominable--don't bother!
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Summary: The Joy of Cooking
Review: This is the best cookbook I have ever used! Although I have a shelf full of good cookbooks, I always reach for The Joy of Cooking when I want learn how to make a dish which I have never made before. The helpful information contained throughout this book is amazing! I am going to send a copy to my eldest daughter for a birthday gift. I know it will soon be as indispensible to her as it has been to me over the past 15 years.
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Summary: Bad Choice for CD Rom Cook Book
Review: Overall a bad choice for a PC based cook book. I ordered this book specifically for the CD Rom. I have an older copy of the cook book and didn't really need another copy. The CD Rom is not for the faint hearted. It is very difficult to use. It requires you to insert to CD Rom every time you use it. It takes control of the pc--i.e., you don't have use of the Start Menu Bar to transfer to different software programs; and the exiting of the program takes "forever". I had hoped to use the "Add your own recipe section", but this again is too time consumming to use.
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Summary: Still Useful
Review: I got my first JOY when I moved into my first apartment, but I'd been using my mother's older copy for several years before that. I agree that this new edition (which is now my third) is missing some of the old-timey stuff found in the older ones, but the new recipes and reference material make up for that lack. Overall, I think that I'll keep all my copies, and use them as one might use an evolving set of reference encyclopedias - the newer versions have new discoveries and knowledge, while the old ones have little-known but useful tips. By the way, if you haven't tried the recipe for banana pudding, do so - I made it for a large dinner party, doubling the recipe without a hitch, and it was all we could do to keep some guests from just eating it spoonful by spoonful directly out of the bowl...yum.
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Summary: Software is terrible
Review: I am absolutely disgusted with the Joy of Cooking CDROM. It is a terribly designed piece of software. The content is good (it is the Joy of Cooking after all). However the graphical interface renders the software useless. If you aren't VERY comfortable using computers, don't even bother trying to use this software. It will make you want to throw your computer out the window. Why the authors ever agreed to tarnish their names and the name of Joy of Cooking by associating it with this software I will never know. Simon & Schuster should have never let software of such a poor quality be sold.
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Summary: Still A Classic
Review: My mom gave me this cookbook with an inscription: "If you can read, you can cook". Every new household needs this book and the same inscription.A few years later, I gave mom a new VCR. I hooked it up but left the flashing "12:00" and didn't program in any of the stations. I handed her the instruction booklet and said "If you can read, you can operate it". Half an hour later, the VCR was fully programmed. Amazing how reading the recipe/instructions helps!
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Summary: It didn't live up its reputation
Review: M A Y B E if I entertained a whole lot then this book would be of more value to me. The recipes included are, by and large, difficult to find, call for expensive ingredients, and are not <<everyday dishes.>> While this is book contains a lot of information, its hodge-podge organizaiton makes it difficult to find the information quickly and presusposes a knowledge of cooking more advanced than I posess. Still, there are a lot of good recipes included, and when entertaining, it does give several suggestions. Still, I doubt if I will ever make the champagne-glass pyramid. There are better cookbooks out there. Much, much betters ones.
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