Rosemary Brown's Big Kitchen Instruction Book

Rating:
Summary: Every Kitchen and Its Users Need This Cookbook
Review: I have well over 200 cookbooks - of every size and topic imaginable, and I think Rosemary Brown's "Big Kitchen Instruction Book" is a "MUST HAVE" for every kitchen. Even if you only boil water or heat something in the Microwave, you can use this book. I have the paper back, but I will buy the hard back version when it comes out.

Even though Rosemary's "Acknowledgments" and "Introduction" pages are a little lengthy, she has much to say that the reader will find informative and entertaining. These sections should be read - to find out what an extraordinary person she is.

From these pages, I perceive Rosemary Brown to be professional, organized, caring, humorous, helpful. Not only has she written a great kitchen proposal and cookbook, but I believe she truly wants to inspire each reader to have a great workable kitchen in which to prepare delicious meals.

She doesn't just thank all the people who have inspired and helped her; I sense she also cherishes their roles in her business and personal endeavors and in her every day life.

Now, why do you need this book? - to make your or someone else's life in the kitchen more enjoyable and tolerable. This book is for any-age, any-sex single person, for a newly married couple, for a "use-a-pinch-of-this, butter-the-size-of-an-egg" cook, for a "been-cooking-since-I-was-6" (and now I'm 65) person, and also for someone who just wants their kitchen to look and smell wonderful with no plans to ever cook a single thing in it.

Rosemary gives you valuable information and suggestions on how to organize your cabinets, pantry and drawers; how to buy groceries and store them and for how long - from Arrowroot and Arugula to Wheat Germ and Yogurt. Her suggestions for buying kitchen equipment and implements are very practical. She tells you how to use these items. She gives you detailed definitions of kitchen and cooking terms. The "Food Substitutions" section is the best I've seen. She even has substitutions for containers in the "Container Capacities" section. Included also are conversions of all kinds, and Fahrenheit and Celsius comparisons, for example. There is a section for buying quantity per number to be served. It has what every cook needs!

All of the above goodies are in addition to the varied, easily-prepared and delicious recipes. Do you know what Fava and Cranberry beans are? Lingonberries? Jicama? 11 varieties of pears? Salsify? Rosemary will tell you. Each recipe page also has a side bar column for notes pertaining to the recipes on that page.

I am just amazed at the research, experimentation and dedication Rosemary Brown has put into her "Big Kitchen Instruction Book". As you may know, her husband, H. Jackson Brown, is the author of "Life's Little Instruction Book" and "Live and Learn and Pass It On."

Rating:
Summary: Not just for beginners
Review: Rosemary Brown's Big Kitchen Instruction Book is a comprehensive resource for the kitchen with much more than great recipes. The organization of the information makes for easy access. The first several chapters are full of "secrets" which only a very experienced hostess and cook could reveal. A great gift book.

Rating:
Summary: Great for beginners..
Review: This cookbook won't win any awards for beautiful glossy pictures and it doesn't have the name of a well-established, celebrity chef attached to it but it is a great addition to any cook's kitchen. As has been mentioned in one review, this cookbook relies heavily on a lot of pre-packaged products but I do not feel that this detracts from the cookbook at all. There are plenty of cookbooks out there with recipes that will instruct a cook on making everything from scratch. But let's face it, in this day and age not many people have the time to make everything from scratch on a daily basis even if we have the desire to do so. This book allows you to take canned goods and pre-packaged items and turn them into something wholesome, filling, and tasty! One of the best features of the book is a section that helps you convert recipes from say a 6 portion serving to a 2 portion serving. This is a great all-around cookbook that doesn't pull any punches. It tells you how to cook normal food for everyday living.

Rating:
Summary: Good Straighforward Cookbook
Review: This cookbook won't win any awards for beautiful glossy pictures and it doesn't have the name of a well-established, celebrity chef attached to it but it is a great addition to any cook's kitchen. As has been mentioned in one review, this cookbook relies heavily on a lot of pre-packaged products but I do not feel that this detracts from the cookbook at all. There are plenty of cookbooks out there with recipes that will instruct a cook on making everything from scratch. But let's face it, in this day and age not many people have the time to make everything from scratch on a daily basis even if we have the desire to do so. This book allows you to take canned goods and pre-packaged items and turn them into something wholesome, filling, and tasty! One of the best features of the book is a section that helps you convert recipes from say a 6 portion serving to a 2 portion serving. This is a great all-around cookbook that doesn't pull any punches. It tells you how to cook normal food for everyday living.

Rating:
Summary: Great reference source, but only fair on flavor
Review: This is a good book to refer to for organizing your kitchen or to learn about an unfamiliar ingredient, but I have found that many of the recipes are on the bland side and I always have to make notes on how to improve every single recipe for the next time, which isn't the case for other cookbooks I own. More importantly, some recipes don't give nearly enough detail. For example, in one recipe that includes a pasta sauce, there aren't guidelines for heat or cooking time, and unless you're an experienced cook,you'll end up with a watery gruel. I enjoy looking things up in this book, but the flavor of the recipes is hit and miss.

Rating:
Summary: Great for beginners..
Review: This is a great basic cookbook to have. The recipes are good and relatively easy without calling for too many exotic ingrediaents. It has several pages of helpful substitutions, and tells you how to choose produce as well as the proper way to cook any vegatable. Try the banana bread and the monkey bread.