Let's Eat by Denise Burroughs

Cookbook
Copy provided for review through Virtual Book Tours

I have this thing about cookbooks.  I like 'em.  A lot.  But I don't really cook.  (My husband does probably70% of the cooking around here.)

Unless I feel like cooking, then I really like to try random new recipes and experiment.

But usually I just don't do a lot of cooking.

This is a cookbook for people like that.  :)

The recipes, most of which have an Italian influence, are fairly simple, though some ingredients are, if not exotic, pricier things that not everyone will just have on hand.

I was considering passing this on to my sister, because of the simplicity of the recipes, but after a closer look, I think they're better suited to someone that isn't a starving student. :)  The homemade Mac and Cheese, which would be her favorite, calls for some things that I know she won't have on hand... pretty much no student would.

This is, though, a great cookbook for newlyweds!  The recipes are fairly simple to follow, but the ingredients would be easier for people getting settled.  Spices that they don't have they could get to build up their spice rack.  And several of the recipes are really unique, which would be a fun and creative exercise for people who, if not learning to cook, are maybe learning to cook for two.

Plus the first several pages are full of tips for substitutions, how to know something is done, etc.

I loved the recipe on page 18.  Stuffed Hot Dogs.  I grew up on these!  You take a hot dog and split it and top it with mashed potatoes and cheese!  YUM!  I so wish my kids weren't so anti-potato.  (Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it.)

One note, this definitely didn't get the editing it needed.  In addition to little editing details (that probably don't matter so much in a cookbook, they just bug me) there are recipes that have 2 ingredients to a line in the list, so you do need to read carefully.  And there's not really much rhyme or reason to the arrangement of the recipes, but it's a slim enough book that finding something isn't too hard.

So am I the only one that likes collecting cookbooks more than using them? ;)