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Rating: 
Summary: Easy, delicious recipes for everyday and parties alike!
Review: I bought this book by chance. I live in Italy, so I have never seen a copy of Food & Wine magazine, but I noticed the book on Amazon.com, and, after reading reviews for other "members of the family" I bought this one, because it was the cheapest on Marketplace.
I got it on the day before Easter and immediately decided to try the recipe for guinea hen with plums and grapes. It is very easy, because the ingredient list is really short: Guinea hen, a little butter, salt, pepper, plums and grapes. That's it, really simple, almost too simple, it left me wondering how it would turn out. It was absolutely delicious! The grapes cooked down to a thick and chunky sauce to serve with the meat, which was really tasty and juicy... yummy! Everybody loved it.
Then I tried the Deep Dark Chocolate and Coconut Cake, which was also a great success: Extremely chocolaty with a bright white coconut and condensed milk filling (it is not cloying, I can assure you).
I tried one of the chicken recipes and a couple of others, but there's a lot more on my "things to do" list! The book is hard cover with glossy paper pages and many pictures. It is divided into several sections: drinks, appetizers, salads, soups, the different ones for meat and so on.
I don't like the layout very much, the recipes are crammed in newspaper-like columns, but I suppose it would be impossible to give each recipe its own page. Anyways, this is a minor fault, in my opinion, since they are so fresh and original. They all carry colour-coded dots to help you identify each type of special recipe: fresh, make ahead, healthy and best new cook. They are also accompanied by a wine or beverage suggestion to help you pair your creations.
Menu suggestions are scattered here and there and they all seem really appealing, but I haven't tried any so far.
All of the recipes seem fairly easy and the ingredients are not too exotic, there are many meals that you would be able to cook on a week night without much fuss, but there are also dishes and menus fit for entertaining. In short, I'm really satisfied of my purchase. I loved everything I cooked so far and even the things I haven't tried yet sound yummy to me. I am actually thinking about buying some more annual cookbooks, they are a really good idea. The pictures are gorgeous and the recipes easy (and there's plenty to choose from), so... what are you waiting for?
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