[.ca] Fix-It And Forget-It Recipes For Entertaining (ISBN 1561483796)

dump-it and serve-it:
This is the WORST cookbook I have ever read. Obviously, these recipes were neither taste-tested nor selected for any criteria other than someone submitted them and they "must be published." Bottled cheese product, canned soups, little or no seasoning in many recipes and the repetition...oh, the repetition: BBQ meatballs, cocktail meatballs, Italian meatballs, easy meatballs, festive meatballs and the list goes on. If you've got a can of cream of mushroom soup, American cheese, or corn flakes...voila...you can re-name your meatballs and you have another amazingly insipid recipe to add to the collection. Let the book speak for itself. Nothing could say it better than this recipe for "Hot Chicken Sandwiches" (found on page 123); "1 large chicken, 1 cup of water." (That's it, no seasonings, no salt, even.) "1. Place chicken in slow cooker. Add water." (You've got to admit it's easy.) "2. Cover. Cook on low 6-7 hours." (Simple, too, if not time consuming. But, I guess you've got to have some spare time on your hands to think up recipes like this.) "3. Debone chicken. Mix cut-up chicken with broth. 4. Spoon into dinner rolls with straining spoon to make small hot sandwiches. Top with your favorite condiments." (What??? Like ketchup, or bottled cheese sauce or ???? Boy howdy, can't wait to whip up a batch and invite over some friends to see their faces when I serve this to them!) Don't waste your hard earned cash. I once worked at Macy's where the employees assembled a collection of favorite recipes on goldenrod mimeograph paper. That was twenty years ago, and I am still using some of the recipes in that "book." "Fix-it" probably can't be, just "Forget-it."

Pick the best , leave the rest & use good common sense:
My husband's aunt "loaned" us this book since we're busy quite a few nights each week and she never used it. We weren't crock-pot cooks ourselves but we're learning - and we love the freedom the crock-pot gives when there's not a lot of time to cook. In a nutshell, let me say this volume is well worth the price of admission for the gems tucked in the pages! The praise: - There are some excellent contributors. We've been particularly fond of the submissions by Naomi Fast. Her "Pot Roast Complete," "Fruited Beef Tagine" and "Bavarian Beef," among others, have received rave reviews from friends and family. - Some of the odd recipes are actually quite good and have encouraged us to put our prejudices aside and give entries we might otherwise have ignored a try. - This is a good source of inspiration... it's got us thinking about what can be done in the cooker and not just what's printed on the page. Now that you know we like it, here are the criticisms: - You'll flip through a number of so-so, and some downright awful looking, entries. - There are a number of similar recipes, which could have been shown as variations on a basic dish. But, in fairness to the fact that they came from different contributors, we suppose they should be listed separately. - We've noticed a lamentable tendency toward too much liquid, and/or not enough thickening agent, in some of the recipes. It's almost as though they were originally stove top or oven recipes that someone converted to crock pot cookery (Without testing?? Either that or much of America likes much thinner gravies than we do!). After a while, common sense kicked in and we are getting pretty good at anticipating which recipes will need to be adjusted. We've coped with cornstarch slurries during the last half hour and the occasional packet of gravy mix as a quick rescue. Some trial and error and, finally, common sense will let you adjust for your tastes before you cook. For example, how appetizing will it be to serve skin-on chicken from a crock pot?? It's not! So, just ditch the skin! Many happy meals later, we've still got the book and we're sharing the gems with our aunt as we find them!

Ok slow cooker recipes- but not for entertaining:
The recipes are fine- if as many reviewers note you don't mind using processed ingredients. Those that I have tried lack sufficient seasonings. While I'll serve the recipes to my family (trying to improve their heathiness when possible), I would never consider them to be the kind of dishes to serve to guests.

Live's up to their first book!:
When I saw this book come out I grabbed it! I have the previous book "Fix it and Forget it" and loved it. This one live's up to the predecessor. I barely knew how to cook before these 2 books. Now I can cook even without the slow cooker. This is a GREAT beginning cookbook, not just for entertaining.

Great Book!:
This was a definite surprise! I love the recipes because when you are truly not having the time to pull off an extravagant meal, the last thing you want to do is to have to run to 3 different stores to get the ingredients. Most of the recipes contain ingredients I already have at home. I know there was a complaint about the duplication, but I agree with reviewers from the first book that it gives you a choice if you only have certain ingredients. It's not like you don't have enough different types of recipes in there to choose from. The sweet and Saucy Chicken is excellent as well as the Harvest Kielbasa. I also agree that the ingredients might be somewhat processed, but as someone who is cooking for a Celiac allergic to wheat, you can always work around them....and there is plenty there that are not processed foods at all. Great job with this book!