No comments about Bocadillos: rapida y sabrosa (Spanish Edition).

No comments about Pace Picante Sauce: 40th Anniversary Recipe Collection; a Treasury of Tex-mex Cooking.

No comments about ANTIPASTI AND OTHER APPETIZERS: GLI ANTIPASTI (Anna del Conte's Italian Kitchen).

5 comments about Fast and Fabulous Hors D'Oeuvres: A Survival Guide for Today's Busy Entertainer.

1. I have made many recipes from this book and they have all been fabulous. The make-ahead tips are extremely helpful and actually let you prepare for a party weeks in advance. Many of the recipes can be frozen, and they taste great when thawed. This book has enabled me to feel at ease about throwing a Christmas party for 60 people!



2. I love this cookbook! I have a large collection of cookbooks, some that mostly just sit on the shelf, but this is one of the few that I turn to when I need a recipe - it is almost completely worn out! I just ordered a copy of this book for a friend of mine that raved about some of the dishes that I prepared for a party of 70 last week. This is one of the few cookbooks that offer several different serving suggestions for each dish, ranging from simple to spectacular - and ways to prepare ahead of time. So when it is time to make something for a party, I usually double the reciped so that my freezer is ready for an impromptu get together!



3. I just received this book, and I'm very disappointed to say the least. This book is more about sauces and vinaigrettes not appetizers.



4. Although I have tons of cookbooks, this is, by far, the most used of them all. Each recipe is delicious and I never tire of trying out something new on my friends as this is a no-fail cookbook. If you like to make something unusual, get this book! This cookbook is to hors d'oeuvres as the Joy of Cooking is to basic recipes. Can't live without...



5. I've had this book for over ten years--I bought it the first time I threw a big party. It's still one of my standbys. In fact, for many years, I wouldn't even tell anyone the name of the book because I didn't want them to find out my "secrets".
   
   She's got great tips for presentation. A lot of the recipes are great for making ahead and serving at room temperature (important for me--the only thing I enjoy more than cooking is the party itself).
   
   People rave about the gorgonzola pistachio torta for years after I make it for them.

No comments about Taste of Home: Appetizers: 325 Simple Party Foods.

No comments about Soup (Mini Cookshelf).

No comments about Tapas: 40 Delicious Traditional Spanish Recipes (Contemporary Cooking).

5 comments about 1,001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes: Easy, Great-Tasting Dishes for Everyone -- from Appetizers and Soups to Entrees and Desserts.

1. Having gone veggie a few years ago, this was my first non-introductory style vegetarian cookbook, and although I commend Spitler and company for the sheer quantity of recipes here, I've found the recipes to be very hit or miss. I think this is partly due to the often non-intuitive combinations of ingredients found in many of the recipes. While sometimes these out-of-place ingredients are genius (i.e. the black -not adzuki- beans in the egg rolls, or the more than liberal use of celery seed in the bleu cheese dressing), sometimes these combinations can turn what seemed like a tasty dinner into something even my dog looks askance at (like the orange juice and zest in the hummus or the cream cheese and cranberries in the savory wontons). The dishes err more on the sweet side of the palate than on the spicy side. That said, all of the dessert type foods I have tried so far have been solidly good, while the majority of the entrees required a healthy dose of crushed red pepper. My suspicion is that these recipes were generated by a crew less than adequately familiar with vegetarianism, as many of the recipes attempt to make use of meat substitutes (i.e. Mexi "meatball" soup, rigatoni with italian "sausage" and fennel pesto, "burgers" provencal, swedish "meatball" and dilled potato cassarole, etc, etc)with less than appetizing results. There are a least two problems here: first, there are plenty of amazing veggie dishes that don't try to imitate the "meat and potato" style meal (there are almost NO Indian entrees in this book), and second, nothing makes one miss the real thing more than a poor substitute. Yes, those tvp crumbles look innocent enough in the grocery aisle and are easy enough to throw into the pasta sauce, but unless you want to spend you're evening sobbing over your half eaten plate of "sausage" lasagna for your momma's home cooking, then PLEASE skip the phoneys and throw in some chopped baby bellas instead. To summarize, this book is like the bargain basement of vegetarian recipes: over-stuffed with so-so items, but amidst the bland and the out-and-out bad, there are a few gems that make this book deserving of a place on your shelf.
   
   As a bonus for those tracking diet information: each recipe is tagged as vegan, lacto-ovo, lacto, or ovo, to make finding appropriate recipes easy, and all recipes come with calorie counts, basic nutrition information, and the exchange listings for the ADA.



2. I'm not even vegetarian and this is one of my most used books, especially in the summer when fresh fruits and vegtables are abundant. Very tasty and adaptable recipes.



3. This is just a good, basic vegetarian cookbook with lots of variety. One may not use every recipe in it, but I rarely use every recipe in any cookbook, so I don't think that is unusual. And, it IS 1001 recipes to work with. A nice addition to vegetarian cooking, and really nice to have. It is not a how to be vegetarian book, I would recommend Becoming Vegetarian for that, or The Vegetarian Way.



4. I only got to page 3 because I saw something that was completely non-vegetarian listed in a vegan recipe! "Chili Bonzos" call for Worcestershire Sauce. I don't know if the author knew, but one of the main ingredients in Worcestershire Sauce is ANCHOVIES! If one were to assume that the author meant Vegetarian Worcestershire Sauce, then shouldn't that have been covered in the Ingredient Information section at the beginning of the book?
   
   I'm already turned off of it and I don't know if I'll read past page 3 unless it's just to look for more errors.



5. I have had this cookbook for several years and have made many recipes in here. I'm about to give up on this book. So many of them are just not good. I need to be able to trust a cookbook, and I am not able to rely on this one. Save your money.

1 comments about Meze: Small Bites Big Flavors from the Greek Table.

1. This is an excellent little book. Could have used a few more pictures, but those that there are are inspirational. I have begun, since I received it, to work my way through, and my husband definitely noticed the difference in his dinner a couple of night ago! There are very few recipes that call for items difficult to obtain, and there was a great section on yoghurt-making and the making of little cheeses one can store in olive oil - very simple, and great for Christmas gift ideas. There's an excellent little conversion page @ the back of the book as well. This is the first meze book I've bought, but I'm definitely inspired to buy more. As the dishes are small and easy to make and most of them are served at room temperature they're really good for preparing beforehand and then you don't have to worry about synchronizing the food being ready with people's arrival. I'm looking forward to making many more items from this book. Recommended.

No comments about Sophie Conran's Soups & Stews.