Not quite a book review

[butterflymama3]

I am leafing through The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook: The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier.  Here's what annoys me so far:

1.  There is a recipe for Tangy Tomato Brisket.  In her introduction she mentions that in some circles it is called "Passover Brisket" Not if you use her recipe that calls for bottled chili sauce or ketchup and dry

Comments

[blognmomma]

I looked her up a couple of years ago, and her cookbook and story didn't appeal to me then.

[butterflymama3]

Glad it isn't just me.

[lisabella]

Considering it is her second cookbook, her third book overall, she's got a TV show, and a popular blog, she's not in danger of failing. :)

[butterflymama3]

I know...I just feel guilty that I really didn't like the new book. Silly I know. I doubt that my not liking the book is going to cause her to fail. :)

[lisabella]

I just got mine. There definitely wasn't as many recipes in there that I liked as there were in the last one. But I love the style of her book.

And I get you on the step-by-step pictures. But the thing is, that's how it all started. So it makes sense for her to do that because so many people love it.

As for the soy sauce, well, I'll just say that I love that she's not catering to dumb people. If someone (general) can't figure out that they can use low sodium soy sauce, that's their problem, you know?

[butterflymama3]

Good points Lisa.

[libwitch]

I occasionally pop into her site and check it out - I watch the food network once in a while when I am at the gym and she is much less annoying them most of their line up. But I treat her stuff as I do anyone else from that network (and really most tv chefs nowadays) - anything they make is probably made more for show/really more or less a treat/needs revising before it can go in a everyday kitchen.

She takes pretty photos, but I have never understood why she takes pics at every step, if I like something I just click through to the text part.

In her (rather weak) defense I will say that she is about the only cook I can see actually feeding her family some of the stuff she cooks routinely -in that at least they do hard enough labor to actually call for that amount of calories. Sometimes.

[butterflymama3]

Excellent point too. Her family is out there working hard so the extra calories that we gasp at make sense for them.

[mummygeorgie]

that's a LOT of soy sauce!

Somewhat tangential, but my pet cookbook hate atm is kids' cookbooks that are dumbed down to packet stuff.

E.g. one that Emma got for Christmas, has a recipe for banana pancakes. I thought, cool, that'll be something we can make with my overripe bananas (thinking it was similar to banana pikelet recipes I've made before). The ingredient list: one packet/bottle instant pancake mix, whatever stuff you add to that to make it pancakes, bananas. You slice up the bananas and serve them over the packet-mix pancakes. That is NOT a recipe.

[butterflymama3]

I agree with you 100% about the kids cookbooks. There are some good ones out there. I can dig around for a list if you want.