Anyone Can Cook (Better Homes & Gardens) | Better Homes and Gardens

Anyone Can Cook (Better Homes & Gardens) | Better Homes and Gardens | A great intro to the kitchen, whether you're young or old

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Anyone Can Cook (B...

	Anyone Can Cook (Better Homes & Gardens) Better Homes and Gardens Better Homes and Gardens, 2007 - 506 pages average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Lacking kitchen confidence? No problem. Using simple instructions with accompanying detailed photos demonstrating the instructions, this cookbook provides more than 500 tasty and easy recipes spanning breakfast to dinner and all points in between so you can amaze your friends and family with your culinary skill. Add in the intro chapter that covers kitchen basics such as which appliances are a must and the ingredients for a well stocked pantry, and you'll be on your way to demonstrating Anybody Can Cook.

Love this cookbook!

This is a wonderful cookbook that I highly recommend!

The first section is titled "Intro to Cooking." The description reads, "Here's everything you need to know about what to stock, how to shop, how to chop, and more -- a starting point you'll return to again and again." It explains cooking methods and terms, cooking techniques, equipment (includes pots & pans, appliances, gadgets, etc.), fruits and vegetables (buying, storing, cleaning, cutting information) and ingredients/pantry (even giving basic information on how long things like flour, rice, etc. are good for, where you can find them in your grocery store, and how to store them at home). I'm thinking I can learn right along with my daughters! This section is incredibly helpful (lots of photos and descriptions) on how to do even the most basic kitchen tasks.

The other chapters are: Any-Day Appetizers & Snacks, Satisfying Sides, Breakfast Anytime, Slow & Savory Meat Main Dishes, Quick-to-Fix Meat Meals, Market-Fresh Fish and Shellfish, Platefuls of Pasta, Rice & Grains, Make-It-a-Meal Salads, Bowls of Soups & Stews, That's a Wrap, Sandwich or Pizza, and Something Sweet. Each page has an "Ask Mom" section at the very bottom which tells you which pages to turn to if you don't know how to do certain tasks, like seed and peel an avocado, chop an onion, snip fresh herbs, juice a lemon, how much juice does one lemon yield?, what is a garlic clove?, how do I mince garlic?, how do I peel tomatoes?, how do I seed tomatoes?, how do I chop a tomato? and how do I handle hot chili peppers? There are tips and info scattered throughout the book as well.

The recipes are rated 1, 2 or 3 depending on difficulty level.

Maybe even *I* can cook now!

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A great intro to the kitchen, whether you're young or old

I just bought Anyone Can Cook for a recently-retired family member who's as unfamiliar around the kitchen as I am in an auto shop. I wanted something with a solid foundation and ample descriptions of basics such as choosing, storing, and prepping fruits and veggies (a step which is often overlooked in "regular" cookbooks), a primer on kitchen tools (knives, utensils, appliances), and step-by-step guidance in addition to easy-to-prepare recipes. The first hundred pages or so are devoted to the differences between produce and tool tips (red, yellow or white onions? Cremini, enoki, button, morel, or portabello mushrooms? Springform or cake pan?). Also, recipes are ranked according to skill level, with 1 being easiest and 3 being easy.

Enter Better Homes and Gardens: Anyone Can Cook. Like millions of other housewives, I grew up using the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, and have several reincarnations, so I had no reservations about investing in Anyone Can Cook. Its organization is similar to the traditional BHG cookbook; i.e., appetizers, soups, salads, meats (including detailed charts of the various cuts), poultry, veggies, desserts, breakfast and more. However, many of the recipes are simplified and rely heavily on store-bought shortcuts such as refrigerated dough and precooked meats (in that respect, it reminded me of Betty Crocker Quick and Easy Cookbook: 30 minutes or less to dinner (Betty Crocker Books), so if you're put off by the idea of using so many processed foods in your recipes, you might want to invest in the original BHG cookbook. Of course, once you have a little more experience, you can whip up your own pasta sauce or use leftover roast to achieve the same effect with fewer preservatives.

The layout is stuffed with step-by-step photos and can be visually overwhelming at times, especially with the choice of bright colors. I noticed that several of the recipes are carryovers from other BHG publications such as Vegetarian Cooking (Better Homes & Gardens). Also, many of the recipes are ethnically influenced, including many with a Latin/Asian flair. If "exotic" doesn't appeal to you, you might want to steer clear.

For everyone else, this is a perfect, step-by-step introduction to the kitchen, including some simple baked goods, that will allow you to graduate to more difficult standard recipes once you've mastered the basics.

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Anyone Can Cook

This is a great book for the first time cook. It gives clear directions along with great pictures. I've purchased two of these books for beginner cooks and they love it! One draw back would be the recipes tend to be more traditional and not as healthy as I prefer.

Good book & very informative!

I bought this book for my son who is just starting out. He is a pretty creative cook already, but I thought he could benefit from some "real" how-to's! This book has that and more. I even saw a couple of recipes I would like to try! I recommend this for the beginning cook and tips for the more experienced cook!

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Great Book

Well worth the price. Has a lot of great tips for both the beginner cook, and the " old timer"

reviews: page 1, 2

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