No comments about Simple Soups: Sixty Shortcut Recipes for Every Occasion.

No comments about Low-Fat Stir-Fry Cook Book: Recipes for Healthy Eating (Low Fat Ways to Cook).

1 comments about La Bonne Soupe Cookbook.

1. I first fell in love with this kind of food on a trip to the New Hebrides Islands (the island of Espiritu Santo) in the 60's. Upon returning home I immediately purchased the only book of French cooking around--Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and put on 20 pounds. This book is wonderful! It's fun to read, easy to work with, and the food is really, really good. I loved the Split Pea soup and the Hunter chicken. Fortuneately, since the paradigm shift in French cooking during the 1970's, there's not a lot of high-fat food here--just good, solid, nourishing comfort food. Enjoy...

No comments about The Taste of Home Cookbook.

No comments about The Smart Chicken and Fish Cookbook: Over 200 Delicious and Nutritious Recipes for Main Courses, Soups, and Salads (The Newmarket Jane Kinderlehrer Smart Food Series).

2 comments about 365 Vegetarian Soups.

1. ...especially when the weather turns cold in the fall and throughout the winter and early spring months. Most of the soups that I prepare are simple and nutritious. And while I enjoy the few soups that I regularly make, I wanted to expand my collection of recipes. So I was delighted to receive a copy of 365 Vegetarian Soups. Think of it, a different soup for every day of the year!

   Gregg R. Gillespie's soup recipes are contained in the following sections: vegetable stocks, basic soups, fruit soups, cream soups, hearty soups, chilled soups and dessert soups. The ingredient lists and directions are well laid out and easy to follow. Each recipe also contains the number of servings.

   As the title states, the recipes are vegetarian, not vegan. While some of the recipes can be easily modified for vegan diets, others containing several dairy products will be more difficult to modify. There are some recipes, like Ginger Melon Soup and Vegetable Soup With Lemon & Mint that require no alterations for vegans. And with 365 recipes, there are sure to be numerous recipes that everyone will enjoy.
   --Reviewed by N. Glenn Perrett




2. I am an avid cook who cooks at least once a day - and usually a dish I have never made before. Consequently, I thought that this book would increase the number of recipes to be tried by quite a bit and was very exited to recieve it. Obviously, as my 2 star rating suggests, my expectations were not met - and here is why:
   
   True to the name of the book, Gillespie does include a plethora of recipes - I didn't count them but I'm pretty confident that the number must be 365 or at least close. However, almost none of the recipes sound as though they might actually be delicious. I found them to be rather uninspired and uninspiring and keep thinking that Gillespie sacrificed the idea of good and wholesome soup for being as fancy and innovative as possible. The overabundance of "fancy" soup is rather burdensome when you are simply looking for a straightforward soup. The back-cover for example, lists several recipes that fall into this category - Brandied Strawberry Soup, Chocolate Mint Soup, etc. just don't do it for me.
   
   When I finally managed to locate a recipe that sounded like I would enjoy it, I had to discover that some of the listed ingredients never showed up in the actual recipe - this should have been caught by an editor. The soup, however, turned out quite well once I had figured out when to add the missing igredients.
   
   Unfortunately, there is more: Gillespie likes to included such illustrious items as dried potato buds, dried onions, etc. to his recipes - I would think that cooking involves fresh ingredients when available. While I understand that not everyone can get fresh galangal and that, therefore, it is helpful to used dried galangal in recipes, last time I checked, potatoes and onions were readily available pretty much anywhere.
   
   In addition, several recipes list chicken stock or fish sauce as ingredients (sometimes optional, sometimes as an alternative for a vegetarian item). Personally, if you publish a vegetarian cookbook, I want to see vegetarian ingredients only.
   
   And finally, one recepie had me laughing in disbelief. Gillespie lists a recipe for a "Super Fast Soup.: Now, if you were in the market for a super-fast soup, what would you do? I'd open a can of soup - and so would Gillespie. To make it a real recipe in his book, he suggests adding frozen veggies and water. Wow, I am so glad I have a cookbook to guide me through this difficult process.Unbelievable.
   
   As is now truly obvious, I do not like this book and I will certainly not recommend it. There are much better soup books avaliable and unless you are on a quest to own every single vegetarian soup cook book ever published, I would strongly advise you to stay clear of this book

No comments about Vegetarian Soups.

No comments about Soups: Over 200 of the Best Recipes.

5 comments about Quick Breads, Soups and Stews.

1. This has been a staple in my kitchen for about 3 years now. Don't be fooled by the title: she offers yeast bread recipes too. It's just that these recipes use quick rising yeast. You can easily adapt them to your own bread baking technique. This book has guided me through many delicious meals. It's also given my brain a lift when I've run out of food ideas.



2. My collection of cookbooks exceeds 100 volumes and my husband and I use them to entertain frequently. Recently, I packed them all in preparation for moving out of state. I only chose four to keep on hand until our house sells and this incredible book of Mary's easily made the cut. These are just a few of the recipes friends have requested: Whole Kernel Spoon Bread, Brown Sugar Coconut Coffee Cake, Lentil Soup, Michael's Chili and Mexican Cornbread. You may be deluding yourself in thinking you already have good recipes for these dishes. Well, if you're not using Mary's recipes, you don't have the best! If you happen to read this, Miss Mary, thank you for sharing so many delicious moments in our lives. We happen to be moving back to Tulsa, and I hope to meet you! Amy Main



3. I checked this out at the library - something I promised I'd do before I ever bought another cookbook. That has saved me lots of money - you know, the dozens of recipe books with only one or two good recipes each. But this cookbook has cost me more in overdue fees than any other book I've checked out! I kept checking it out until now it's overdue again, so I'm buying it. It's wonderful.
   Overall, the first 200 pages are breads - muffins, crepes, popovers, loaves, waffles, pancakes, biscuits, and cakes. The last 75 pages are soups and stews. Many are staple recipes, like cornbread, but then there is cornmeal-wholewheat bread (wonderful), buttermilk kernel cornbread, and about 10 other variations - can't wait to try Mexican cornbread! I find it an easy refrence when trying to find a bread to go with a certain meal or when the bread is the meal! Some of the soups don't appeal to me, but I find that most of them are delicious.



4. I love this book for its straightforward, uncomplicated and tasty recipes. And, wanted to givea new copy to a young couple we know. Am surprised to find this wonderful cookbood is out of print. Someone should tell the publisher to print a new edition.



5. I happened to see this book come back on the return cart at the library as I was working ... and had to snap it up. When I browsed through it last night, the recipe for Upside Down Gingerbread Apple Cake caught my eye. Then there were all these other bread recipes that I would love to start serving to my kids ... the stew/soup recipes didn't hurt either. It's a very slim volume but with almost 200 recipes, you can't beat it. It is definitely a "must-have" for my kitchen.
   
   So I ordered it today. I have to have it since I am more inclined to use more of these recipes than from my other cookbooks. It sounds so easy and so quick and so delicious ... it appeals to the cook and baker inside of me!
   
   I agree with the reviewer who says that the publishing house needs to issue out another copy of this book ~~ there are so many bakers out there that keep checking this book out at the library and it is a definite addition to any cook's library.
   
   This was a stumble that turned into a gold mine.
   
   11-28-07

3 comments about 100 Low Fat Soup and Stew Recipes: The Complete Book of Food Counts Cookbook Series.

1. No matter how much I praise this book, I can not give it enough credit. I am in a low fat soup club at work, and my collegues raved over all the soups I have made. I am very fat and this book has helped me to lose 200 pounds!!!



2. All of the recipes I've tried from this book have been delicious and healthy. My 3-1/2 year old likes them too.



3. Great recipes with great taste. If you want low-fat soups and stews that taste like restaurant made, this is the cookbook for you.