[.ca] Recipes from Home (ISBN 1885183992)

From Amazon.com:
In Recipes from Home, husband-and-wife cooking team David Page and Barbara Shinn invite readers to take a seat at their family table for a heaping serving of the reinterpreted American comfort food they've been popularizing at their tiny Greenwich Village restaurant, Home, since 1993. Taking a cue from the legendary James Beard's pronouncement that "American food is anything you eat at home," Page and Shinn pack their book with over 250 recipes for all-American family favorites that conjure up the nostalgia of Sunday dinners, holiday gatherings, Fourth of July picnics, county fairs, and weekends at the beach. Chapters reach from "The Pantry" (where you'll discover the recipe for their signature Famous Tomato Ketchup) to "The Canning Shelf" (with recipes for Green Tomato-Apple Chutney, Pickled Peppers, and Raspberry Jam). Their Simply Roasted Chicken and Grilled Blue Cheese and Apple Sandwiches will have you running to the kitchen, and Steamer Clams with Local Ale and Lobster Rolls are destined to make an appearance at your next summer shindig. "Something Sweet" wraps things up with Frozen Lemon Icebox Cake with Strawberry Sauce, Chocolate Pudding, and their irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies. Recipes from Home is sure to become a favorite on many kitchen bookshelves, and even armchair cooks will delight in wasting away a Saturday afternoon thumbing through the anecdotal recipe introductions and generation-spanning black-and-white family photographs featured throughout the book (they've even included a family tree). By the time you get to the recipe for Mom Page's Scalloped Potatoes, you'll feel like you're part of the family. Home sweet home, indeed. --Brad Thomas Parsons

nice section on canning:
I've eaten at Home several times, and was touched by the interview on NPR about how they fed folks after Sept 11. But I probably won't use this cookbook that often, despite its charming design and friendly-sounding food. The recipes sound good, but most seem like they're a little too complicated for everyday use--not to mention the fact that they aren't especially healthy. However, I really liked the section on pickling and preserving--and when my garden gets out of hand again next summer, I know I'll put this book to good use.

a big load of cholesterol:
Does "homey comfort food" have to mean big doses of animal fat? I don't think so. If you like to cook, you know there are so MANY other books that have great, lower-fat (and easier) recipes than this book. Try some Italian, Moroccan, southern French, Japanese "home cooking" books instead.

The best cookbook I have seen in YEARS!!!:
Home was my favorite restaurant when I lived in Manhattan--I was one of their earliest customers. I recently stumbled across this book, and was so pleasantly surprised to find recipes for some of the greatest dishes I have ever had: excellent simple roasted chicken, cumin crusted pork chops, lemony blueberry muffins--so many good things to eat!. I have made at least 10 things from this book--each better than the last, and none of them too difficult. And the desserts! The chocolate pudding is TO DIE FOR!!! It alone is worth the price of admission if you ask me (or my newly addicted friend, Harry). And I think my whole family agreed that the apple pie from Home was the hit of our Thanksgiving this year, with the honey pumpkin coming in a close second. These recipes are just fabulous. Further, this book is also a plain old good read. Brings back childhood memories of learning the ropes from my mother and grandmother and makes me want to get in the kitchen and start cooking! This book would be a great gift for anyone who loves to cook and who has love and respect for doing things right in the kitchen.

Nearly Impossible to Read and Use:
While the text of this book and the pictures are somewhat interesting, especially if you are into stories about people's lives as they grew up, this book is definitely not designed to be used as a practical cookbook. It's size and shape are much better suited to a storybook for casual reading, not a cookbook for working in the kitchen. The format and design of this book make it impratical to read the recipes and virtually impossible to use in the kitchen. Whoever designed the size of this book did not take the reader into mind and definitely did not make it user-friendly for cooks. The book is so thick that you have to exert a bit of force to get to the text and ingredient lists in the inner part of the pages. And it definitely will not stay open on the kitchen counter. If you are buying the book for the story of the authors, you will probably enjoy it. If you buying it as a recipe book, be forewarned that it is a bear to use and not worth the trouble. On the topic of home canning: The recipes in this book are very limited and seem to be almost an afterthought. If you are interested in home canning, look for a better cookbook on the subject.

Big Disappointment!:
I was extremely disappointed with this book. While it was a nostaligic and somewhat interesting read, the book itself is very difficult to hold open while reading and the format is totally impractical as a cookbook. The book is 10 1/2 inches tall by 5 3/4 inches wide by 1 3/4 inches thick. The printing runs so close to the inside margins that you have to break the spine of the book in order to pry it open far enough to read all the words. Holding the book open that wide is a challenge and a definite strain on the hands. To use this book in the kitchen, you have to place a brick on it to keep the book open to the right page and prevent it from closing. Even then, the pages do not stay open wide enough to be able to read all of the ingredient measurements and instructions that are hidden in the center crease. Not to mention having to shift the brick to see the other half of the recipe. The recipes are primarily down-home comfort foods with lots of butter, cream and other high-fat ingredients -- not for anyone concerned about their fat and cholesteral intake -- and the instructions make some recipes more complicated than they need to be. In the back of the book is a section on home canning with a dozen or so basic and unusual recipes, which seem to have been added almost as an afterthought. This section is pretty rudimentary and the recipes leave a lot to be desired. If you're looking for a good source for recipes and canning information, this definitely is not it. Instead, you would be much better off with a cookbook like 'Blue Ribbon Preserves', which has an extensive selection of award-winning recipes and clear, detailed, up-to-date instructions. While the storytelling and family history sections in 'Recipes From Home' have some entertainment value, they alone are not worth the price of the book. Unless you really thrive on frustrating cooking and reading challenges, pass on this book.