[.ca] Rachael Ray 2, 4, 6, 8: Great Meals for Couples or Crowds (ISBN 1400082560)

Perfect for the Couple Who Likes to Have a Few Guests and Family Over:
I realize that this book sounds like it's a cheer for Rachael Ray, and Ms. Ray acknowledges that with her perky dedication to cheerleaders. If you are a busy couple with limited cooking experience who sometimes have two, four, or six family members or guests over for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you'll feel like cheering instead. Rachael Ray has done it again in creating a niche book for a special purpose that most cookbook writers totally ignore. And all of this comes within the context for 30-minute meals for fast choppers who keep the Rachael Ray basic ingredients on hand (lots of Extra Virgin Olive Oil - EVOO. garlic, most seasonings, and lots of fresh and frozen vegetables). By dividing up the menu to match the number of guests, you know you have a good chance of finishing up within 30 minutes whereas if you tried to quadruple a menu for two . . . you might not be even close! Unlike some of her cookbooks, this one has some gorgeous photographs of eight dishes to give you a sense of how to make them look great, too. The book opens with 25 menus or main courses for every moment over 24 hours a day . . . to serve two. These choices range from the simple (steaks and salads) to the more adventuresome (chicken marvalasala and pappardelle with rosemary gravy). Here are some of my favorites: Garden salad with smoked almond-cilantro dressing served with smoky chicken tortilla soup with chipotle and fire-roasted tomatoes; Sea bass with puttanesca and potatoes; Serrano-wrapped halibut with tortillas, savory cabbage, and warm cinnamon-chipotle tomato salsa; Chorizo-stuffed bread bites with warm mushroom and sherry vinegar salad; Sliced steak with green olive and tomato sauce with sautéed artichokes and mushrooms; and Veal topped with prosciutto and fontini served with a green olive-dressed green apple and arugula salad. Naturally, the menu choices for four will get the heaviest use for serving guests. This is the biggest section with 34 menus or entrees listed. Actually, if you have two teenaged children who frequently don't show up for meals, this cookbook would also work well for you. When the kids are home you use the recipes for four . . . and use the recipes for two when the kids have disappeared. Here are some of my many favorites: Sliced chili-rubbed flank steak on spicy rice with shrimp and guacamole stacks: Grilled shrimp and chorizo skewers with piquillo pepper gazpacho; Hors d'oeuvre dinner -- giant stuffed mushrooms, killer crab and potato cakes, and bitter salad with sweet dressing; Chipotle potato salad; Beef tenderloin bites on a bed of arugula; Lemon and egg soup, and Greek-style shrimp scampi and linguine; Chicken in orange-scallion-sesame sauce and big fat spicy sate noodles; and Thai-style chicken and veggies over ginger-lemon rice. Meals and menu choices for six is a smaller section with 22 menus and entrees. Here are some of my favorites: Lemon spaghetti, flounder franchese, and lemon sorbet with limoncello liqueur; Honey-Dijon dressed greens with toasted pecans; Three-alarm Italian-style chili mac served with smoky bacon and bean salad and pistachio ice cream; and NASCAR caution-flag chili with flat-tire corn and black bean toppers followed by peaches and cream. Menus and entrees for eight is understandably the smallest section with 19 choices. It's tough to feed eight in 30 minutes of preparation! I didn't find any favorites in this section: It's filled with tried-and-true basics that you'll be happy with if you don't know how to make these dishes (frittatas, baked cod, mushroom rigatoni, vegetable stew, spaghetti, chicken burgers, sausage and tortellini soup and Caesar salad; grilled chicken breasts; turkey burgers, breaded pork chops, seafood soup, and potato pancakes). I think the best part of using Rachael's recipe books is imagining her in your kitchen working up a storm alongside you as the 30 minutes quickly pass. Have a ball!

One recipe worth the price!:
Just tried the recipe "Spinach-artichoke Ravioli-Lasagna" and it was delish! That one recipe is worth the price of this book! I can't wait to try more of the recipes. My only beef is that the recipes are abit hard to find based on the index in the back. (Or maybe it's just me) anyways definately put this one in your cookbook library!