A fantastic resource for new cooks! This book would be the perfect gift for a new college graduate or newlyweds. The text is written in an easy to understand and accessible style. Ingredients used are readily available, found in the grocery even in my more rural area. The recipes are all printed in a large, clear font that is easy to read. The photographs are beautifully done, although many recipes lack a photo. I believe this is a strike against the book, as it is reassuring for novice cooks to have a photo of the finished product as a reference or inspiration. Approximately sixty pages of the book focus on wine pairings and cocktail recipes. For those who are in recovery, I would not recommend the book. All in all, a very solid book that will certainly find a welcome audience. ( )

nonfiction/cooking (cooking blogger, accessible tips for beginners and intermediate home cooks) - ***early reviewers free copy courtesy of the publisher***

Most people don't actually read their cookbooks aside from a quick flip through and selected recipes, but this one has some pretty helpful information that beginner cooks and even novice cooks can benefit from, as well as a nice collection of flavorful recipes (with options for customizing to your personal tastes) and the requisite mouthwatering photographs.

Bri is a former non-cook who taught herself, through lots of trials and errors, by making her way through countless cookbooks in the various kitchens (some tinier than others) of successive homes and apartments. With humor and humility she provides a helpful and accessible guide, with plenty of thoughtful tips so that the reader can avoid the rookie errors that she herself had made.

This would make a lovely gift for new adults, or even seasoned home cooks who want to develop their skills beyond just following a recipe.

a sample of recipes I'd like to try:

* welcome home pot roast (w/cream of mushroom in the sauce, p. 122)
* savory mashed sweet potatoes (p. 173 - something to bring to Thanksgiving? actually all of these veggie sides in this section sound good--roasted broccoli with lemon, green beans, balsamic glazed carrots)
* tamale casserole (p. 146)
* creamy coconut rice(p. 179)
* bacon fat sweet potato fries (baked, p. 180)
* crispy sausage chowder (p. 193)
* lemony chicken potato soup (p. 196)
* chicken and fries (p. 247) ( )

I love to cook. I have been doing it for many years. I also love to entertain. My evolution of cooking ability has been a long one. I have a bookcase of purchased cookbooks, bits and pieces of magazines and the cooking sections from newspapers all arranged in carefully sectioned notebooks.I have watched the cooking shows on TV and made careful notes to add to my notebooks.

Right away, this book had me, when it begins with the discussion of a cook’s ability to not just read a recipe to be a good cook. And this book perfectly fits it’s title, A Cook’s Book.
Here is a beginning for new cooks, a refresher course for those of us who have been cooking for years. The format, makes sense, page layout has the right amount of text. Photographs are colorful and appetizing. There are helpful Icons for adding extra flavor or a hint about preparing a dish. Easy to read and easy to use.

Laid out in sections that begin with making your kitchen your own, the author, Bri McKoy, takes readers step by step into understanding the way every part of the cooking process comes together to make a delicious meal. McKoy explains what to do when your recipes don’t go as planned, she adds the sides, she explains the meats and she shows you how to make sauces to compliment everything. Her soup and sauce sections are excellent. Her wine knowledge and pairings add the perfect accompaniment to her down to earth recipes of foods with ingredients that are easy for home cooks to find and prepare.

I highly recommend this book. It will be a very useful addition to your kitchen.

I wish Bri McKoy liked to bake, I would love to see her do a cookbook for baking!
Read as an ARC from LibraryThing. ( )

I wish I had this book 30 years ago, it would have changed the trajectory of my entire cooking life! Bri teaches things that are so simple to learn but will improve everything you cook. Each new “lesson” is followed by recipes that highlight what you’ve just learned. I’ll be giving this book to everyone I know! If you have a kitchen, you need this book. ( )

This cookbook is so approachable! I wish I had it when I started cooking. My partner is starting to get more adventurous in his cooking and wishing to learn more so I may gift it to him. For me, it is a bit meat/dairy centric but really it seems like a lot of cookbooks are.

I absolutely love the chapters on wines! The author breaks down what wines go with what foods and exactly what types of wines to look for. For example, for pizza look for a Zinfandel from Italy or Paso Robles in California. She provides charts on where the wines fall on a scale of dryness, sweetness, type of body and what flavor hints to look for. I am clueless about wine and used this to buy a bottle yesterday to go with pizza and it was fantastic! ( )