I'm usually very weary of "classic" cookbooks as I believe we should be moving forward with our palates not backwards, but this has some legitimately great recipes. ( )

This made for pleasant reading and lots of ideas for entertaining. Too bad I'm past the age where I want to entertain. I haven't tried the recipes yet. Many of them are for basic foods but with some flair. They seem easy enough, and I will no doubt try some of them in the future. Some depend on one's locality. In my rural area, I do not have access to the food shops the author's take for granted in New York City, so many of the cheeses, specialty meats, etc. are not available to me. That's ok, I know how to make substitutions for many of them, and if I want to pay large prices, I'm sure I could order some from my local grocery or online. I think much of this book is geared toward up and coming young folks in the city who want to entertain and make a show of it to impress their coworkers or bosses. ( )

Fabulous. The first book to use spices with abandon, as if we weren't counting the peppercorns before we went to bed. Rich, luscious, changed the way I think about food. Incredibly well-tested.

This is not a new cookbook, but there is a reason why it is has remained popular since it first appeared in 1982. As far as I’m concerned, the main reason is the cakes. Yes, the ratatouille is wonderful, and the Tarte Saint-Germain is delicious, but who offers cake recipes like this in these calorie conscious times? That is to say, it does not exactly seem like you could eat a lot of their cakes without showing some effects, but if you just exercise self-control (ha ha, a little humor there) you won’t regret it!

For example, ordinarily, I wouldn’t pick banana cake out of a pile of cake. But their banana cake is moist and lush and covered in scrumptious cream cheese frosting. The same frosting goes on their carrot cake, which is the best I’ve ever had, even though I omit two of the ingredients, coconut and pineapple. (You can easily find the recipe from the cookbook for this popular cake online, such as at this site. And by the way, it calls for pureed carrots. As if I would use, and therefore have to wash, the food processor. I buy baby food carrots. That counts as pureed, right?)

Most of the recipes are accompanied by something extra: a color photo, a suggested menu, or a quote (“...I had but one penny in the world, thou shouldst have it to buy gingerbread” from William Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labor’s Lost” and my sentiments exactly. Well, maybe not the sharing part, but definitely the gingerbread part.) There are also intermittent sections with background information about food, such as an explanation of the different kinds of olive oil, or a review of the differences among various mushrooms or salad greens. Occasionally there are anecdotes by the authors about a recipe or advice on cooking techniques, such as cooking bacon or making the perfect omelet.

Evaluation: There is a wealth of information in this colorful cookbook, and everything I have tried in it has been outstanding. ( )

Lovely little cookbook, written by the friend of a friend, and given to me by another friend. I've used many recipes from this one, but particularly liked the chicken marabella (which sounds bettern than chicken with prunes), which was easy to prepare when serving large groups. Most memorable dinner was out at Sunset Beach, NC at a beach house there for 10 of us.

Packing away now as we declutter the house, preparing to put it on the market. ( )