Dean McDermott

There are two ways to review this: as a cookbook and as a book. Firstly, as a cookbook, I thought all of the recipes were interesting and seemed fairly tight. I was impressed with his creativity and wish I had time to cook my way through his whole book. I found most of the instructions quite clear; however, as someone new to having to make two different versions of meals, I found the children's version to be too separate from the adult instructions - before making anything, I struggled with reading the instructions to figure out "am I taking out the children's portion at some point or am I stuck making two different meals?" (I am used to making everyone suffer with my dietary needs) the photography in the book is well done, but not only does not every recipe have pictures (a high proportion does, admittedly) but sometime the photo associated with the recipe actually has nothing to do with the recipe! This makes it a challenge, as I do find I use photographs both in deciding what recipe to make and for visual cues in preparation. Also, I agree that these recipes do take a fair amount of time to prepare; however, I expected that from the title "The GOURMET Dad."

While I too share frustration of a lack of nutritional information, I do not hold that against a cookbook: (a) it is only a subset of the population - that recently accepted me - who truly needs that information in planning meals, therefore I am used to having to make my own calculations; and (b) having a substantial collection of cookbooks (nearing 100) and having read even more, while including nutritional information has increased, it is still too rare for me to expect it. Still, if McDermott comes out with another cookbook, it would be a nice consideration.

Truly, I loved just sitting there reading this book. Ordinary I hate when cookbooks have too many stories (yet oddly love introductory paragraphs). I am always asking "why am I suppose to care?" For his, I not only cared but enjoyed the stories and descriptions. I sat with my tea and read page-by-page, soaking up not only the narrative but the savoury bits of Canadiana. It all had a sense of familiarity for me, and made me momentarily appreciate things I ordinarily take for granted. I still cannot believe Sesame Snaps are a Canadian thing! It just made me more appreciative of my home and native land.… (plus d'informations)

There are two ways to review this: as a cookbook and as a book. Firstly, as a cookbook, I thought all of the recipes were interesting and seemed fairly tight. I was impressed with his creativity and wish I had time to cook my way through his whole book. I found most of the instructions quite clear; however, as someone new to having to make two different versions of meals, I found the children's version to be too separate from the adult instructions - before making anything, I struggled with reading the instructions to figure out "am I taking out the children's portion at some point or am I stuck making two different meals?" (I am used to making everyone suffer with my dietary needs) the photography in the book is well done, but not only does not every recipe have pictures (a high proportion does, admittedly) but sometime the photo associated with the recipe actually has nothing to do with the recipe! This makes it a challenge, as I do find I use photographs both in deciding what recipe to make and for visual cues in preparation. Also, I agree that these recipes do take a fair amount of time to prepare; however, I expected that from the title "The GOURMET Dad."

While I too share frustration of a lack of nutritional information, I do not hold that against a cookbook: (a) it is only a subset of the population - that recently accepted me - who truly needs that information in planning meals, therefore I am used to having to make my own calculations; and (b) having a substantial collection of cookbooks (nearing 100) and having read even more, while including nutritional information has increased, it is still too rare for me to expect it. Still, if McDermott comes out with another cookbook, it would be a nice consideration.

Truly, I loved just sitting there reading this book. Ordinary I hate when cookbooks have too many stories (yet oddly love introductory paragraphs). I am always asking "why am I suppose to care?" For his, I not only cared but enjoyed the stories and descriptions. I sat with my tea and read page-by-page, soaking up not only the narrative but the savoury bits of Canadiana. It all had a sense of familiarity for me, and made me momentarily appreciate things I ordinarily take for granted. I still cannot believe Sesame Snaps are a Canadian thing! It just made me more appreciative of my home and native land.… (plus d'informations)