The Bride and Groom's First Cookbook

Rating:
Summary: Not really a "first" cookbook
Review: Pretty good recipes, but they use many ingredients, some unusual, and frankly neither my husband or I thought the results were worth the time and effort. For any couple new to cooking, buy a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook instead. We've tried a number of cookbooks, and BH&G has the most consistently easy and tasty recipes.

Rating:
Summary: Not really a "first" cookbook
Review: Pretty good recipes, but they use many ingredients, some unusual, and frankly neither my husband or I thought the results were worth the time and effort. For any couple new to cooking, buy a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook instead. We've tried a number of cookbooks, and BH&G has the most consistently easy and tasty recipes.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best...
Review: This is one of the best cookbooks we received when we got married. The recipies are grouped together in menus that work for different occasions. The brownie recipe makes the most decadent brownies we have ever tasted. Would recommend this to anyone who needs a starter cookbook with more original dishes than a basic cookbook!

Rating:
Summary: Um no thanks - totally old school!
Review: This is soooooo not the first cookbook for newlyweds. Any well meaning guest who buys this for their bride and groom should really take a second to look through the recipes. Newlyweds and cooking are not a natural combination, if you know what I mean. Okay, call me crazy but if I open up a cookbook and most of the recipe titles have things I've never heard of in them, that spells trouble. The recipes are so 1980s - very foo-foo. What about healthy, quick, good food? And a little diversity in the recipes, please :)

Rating:
Summary: Um no thanks - totally old school!
Review: This is soooooo not the first cookbook for newlyweds. Any well meaning guest who buys this for their bride and groom should really take a second to look through the recipes. Newlyweds and cooking are not a natural combination, if you know what I mean. Okay, call me crazy but if I open up a cookbook and most of the recipe titles have things I've never heard of in them, that spells trouble. The recipes are so 1980s - very foo-foo. What about healthy, quick, good food? And a little diversity in the recipes, please :)

Rating:
Summary: A new cook
Review: What a fabulous cookbook. It was a shower gift to my husband and I and we love it. The dishes are excellent, the menu's and do-ahead suggestions very easy to follow. We haven't had a bad experience from the book and have tried almost all of them! I can't wait to see the second book!

Rating:
Summary: Fun for bride, groom, or anyone who enjoys entertaining
Review: What to get the bride and groom if you can't afford those sterling candlesticks, or even a single place setting of the china they're registered for? If they like to cook but don't necessarily have a huge culinary library, Abigail Kirsch's "The Bride and Groom's First Cookbook" might be the gift you want to give.

Abigail Kirsch wants you to know that she knows her stuff. The inside back cover text tells us that she has trained at The Culinary Institute of America and Paris's Le Cordon Bleu, and that she is proprietor and chef of her own catering establishment. Her catering experience includes having prepared meals for the Prince of Wales and 'literally thousands' of parties and charity events. The book is co-authored by Susan M. Greenberg, Kirsch's sister-in-law and a professional freelance writer.

This is not the cookbook bridal couples (or, let's face it, just the brides) of a generation or two ago used. It features dozens of recipes that are mostly simple, but elegantly named (sometimes to the point of ridiculous excess--the temptation to go through the book and cross out 'Double-Dipped Challah French Toast with Warm Poached Orange Syrup' and write in 'Breakfast, Dummy' is strong). Still, this is evidence of Kirsch's savvy in knowing her audience. Many brides and grooms, especially young, naïve ones, want to make an impression when they cook, especially when they are entertaining guests. These recipes allow them to do so, without being unduly difficult.

The book is laid out in sensible style, each chapter focusing on a different type of food (Soups and Salads, Fish and Shellfish, and so on). While this puts something of a crimp in trying to cook seasonally, it is useful for planning the particular type of meal you want. The menus section is a little too cutesy, with such frighteningly energetic-sounding titles as 'Tailgate Antics' and 'A Howling Halloween,' but again, this addresses many newlyweds' idea of fun: theme entertaining, or How Best to Elicit the Most Compliments Possible with the Least Amount of Work Possible. Kirsch provides a dollar-sign guide in this section to allow the beaming couple to entertain within their means, be they meager or grand.

Nothing is left to chance. Each recipe is prefaced with the kitchenware necessary to prepare the dish, the amount of time the dish requires (both preparation and cooking), and how much of the recipe can be made in advance. The instructions are followed with suggestions for serving, and tips on using the leftovers, or using the dish in a manner different from the original intentions.

In addition to a checklist for a bridal registry, Kirsch includes a pantry wish list and a glossary of cooking terms used throughout the book. The glossary is the least satisfactory portion of the book; several of the definitions are vague (she describes 'dice' as 'to cut food into pieces smaller than a cube,' as though cubes come in only one

size--whereas in reality, "to dice" comes from the idea of cutting food into cubes about the size of a gaming die). A few of the terms are out-and-out incorrectly defined, a distressing feature in a book purporting to teach newlyweds how to cook.

The book is handsomely designed, with periwinkle blue text, whimsical line drawings, and a butter-yellow striped cover featuring--of course--a photograph of a radiant, giggling bridal couple confidently preparing something with blueberries, eggs, and a muffin tin, though I could find no listing for blueberry muffins in the book. I'm being too picky, I guess, but they're not wearing wedding bands (are these folks really married, or what?), nor have they donned aprons, despite Kirsch's warning on page 5 to always wear an apron.

No matter. "The Bride and Groom's First Cookbook" would make a thoughtful wedding or bridal shower gift, and might even provide some future favorite recipes for the blushing couple you have in mind. It's very title--that 'first'--suggests an expectation of many other volumes keeping it company on the kitchen bookshelf. That, and the well-chosen recipes within, gives you the best sense of Ms. Kirsch's sense of generosity and inclusiveness.

Rating:
Summary: Fun for bride, groom, or anyone who enjoys entertaining
Review: What to get the bride and groom if you can�t afford those sterling candlesticks, or even a single place setting of the china they�re registered for? If they like to cook but don�t necessarily have a huge culinary library, Abigail Kirsch�s "The Bride and Groom�s First Cookbook" might be the gift you want to give.

Abigail Kirsch wants you to know that she knows her stuff. The inside back cover text tells us that she has trained at The Culinary Institute of America and Paris�s Le Cordon Bleu, and that she is proprietor and chef of her own catering establishment. Her catering experience includes having prepared meals for the Prince of Wales and �literally thousands� of parties and charity events. The book is co-authored by Susan M. Greenberg, Kirsch�s sister-in-law and a professional freelance writer.

This is not the cookbook bridal couples (or, let�s face it, just the brides) of a generation or two ago used. It features dozens of recipes that are mostly simple, but elegantly named (sometimes to the point of ridiculous excess--the temptation to go through the book and cross out �Double-Dipped Challah French Toast with Warm Poached Orange Syrup� and write in �Breakfast, Dummy� is strong). Still, this is evidence of Kirsch�s savvy in knowing her audience. Many brides and grooms, especially young, naïve ones, want to make an impression when they cook, especially when they are entertaining guests. These recipes allow them to do so, without being unduly difficult.

The book is laid out in sensible style, each chapter focusing on a different type of food (Soups and Salads, Fish and Shellfish, and so on). While this puts something of a crimp in trying to cook seasonally, it is useful for planning the particular type of meal you want. The menus section is a little too cutesy, with such frighteningly energetic-sounding titles as �Tailgate Antics� and �A Howling Halloween,� but again, this addresses many newlyweds� idea of fun: theme entertaining, or How Best to Elicit the Most Compliments Possible with the Least Amount of Work Possible. Kirsch provides a dollar-sign guide in this section to allow the beaming couple to entertain within their means, be they meager or grand.

Nothing is left to chance. Each recipe is prefaced with the kitchenware necessary to prepare the dish, the amount of time the dish requires (both preparation and cooking), and how much of the recipe can be made in advance. The instructions are followed with suggestions for serving, and tips on using the leftovers, or using the dish in a manner different from the original intentions.

In addition to a checklist for a bridal registry, Kirsch includes a pantry wish list and a glossary of cooking terms used throughout the book. The glossary is the least satisfactory portion of the book; several of the definitions are vague (she describes �dice� as �to cut food into pieces smaller than a cube,� as though cubes come in only one

size--whereas in reality, "to dice" comes from the idea of cutting food into cubes about the size of a gaming die). A few of the terms are out-and-out incorrectly defined, a distressing feature in a book purporting to teach newlyweds how to cook.

The book is handsomely designed, with periwinkle blue text, whimsical line drawings, and a butter-yellow striped cover featuring--of course--a photograph of a radiant, giggling bridal couple confidently preparing something with blueberries, eggs, and a muffin tin, though I could find no listing for blueberry muffins in the book. I�m being too picky, I guess, but they�re not wearing wedding bands (are these folks really married, or what?), nor have they donned aprons, despite Kirsch�s warning on page 5 to always wear an apron.

No matter. "The Bride and Groom�s First Cookbook" would make a thoughtful wedding or bridal shower gift, and might even provide some future favorite recipes for the blushing couple you have in mind. It�s very title--that �first�--suggests an expectation of many other volumes keeping it company on the kitchen bookshelf. That, and the well-chosen recipes within, gives you the best sense of Ms. Kirsch�s sense of generosity and inclusiveness.