Month: December 2012

This large beautiful cookbook, America’s Favorite Food, arrived on my door last week.  But it’s not a coffee table book by any means.  It’s a compilation of favorite recipes or casual foods from all*you, Coastal Living, Cooking Light, Health, Real Simple, Sunset and Southern Living – all found on myrecipes.com.  This means no need to keep those stained magazine cut outs.  The other thing about this book is that is it “smart” as is has a new Scan-It/Cook-It feature that allows you to download an app for your smartphone and point at the watermarks in the cookbook for demos, tips and videos.  (I must admit it’s smarter than I am because  can’t seem to get the app to load).  Luckily for me I’m not techie and while I think the added technology is interesting, I’m happy with the recipes and cookbook all by itself.

I made the All Time Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies first.  These are just as the name says.  This was a great cookie that my kids easily made with friends and me during a playdate.  Later for dinner I prepared the Cabbage and Apple Slaw to go with the Honey Glazed Chicken Thighs.  All went very well and we enjoyed dinner.  Although I sometimes forget that my oven cooks hot, as some of the spice rub on the chicken burned a bit within the cooking time and set off my fire alarm, while I was distracted by my daughter.  Now that’s hot and spicy.  It’s a good reminder to always set your timer a minute or two (or three) before the suggested time to check your food’s cooking status (before the food is burned or your neighbors call the fire dept.)  I didn’t take photos of me opening all the windows and fanning the smoke detector with a pillow.  That’s what we all do right?

All in all if you like these magazine and website already and have clipped their recipes, then I think you’ll appreciate this book.  It’s also a fun and unique gift for the cook who’s into technology and can watch all the tips and tricks of the recipes on their phone.

Review

Pros:  Easy to follow, simple recipes.  Yummy comfort food for all times of day and holidays.  Bright photos and large print.  Icons to find recipes that are kid friendly, gluten fee, low calorie, less than 30 minutes, etc..  Tips from magazine readers who give suggestions on how to alter and improve each recipe.  Cook-It/Scan-It may be exciting for some.

Cons: Cook-It/Scan-It app may be a hinderance for some.  Nutrition info in the back of the book for each recipe rather than on each recipe.

Give Away!

If you would  like a chance to win a copy of America’s Favorite Food (tis the season), please comment about your family’s favorite food, on this post.  One winner will be chosen at random on Friday December 14th and notified via email.