Weekend Cooking is a weekly meme hosted by Candace over at Beth Fish Reads. Have a food-related posted this week, why not join the fun?
Food Network Magazine’s 1,000 Easy Recipes, is one of my kids’ favorite cookbooks. It is a book that has been checked out many times over the past year by each of the kids. I’ve even started going through the book to try various recipes.
1,000 Easy Recipes really is 1,000 easy recipes. There are recipes for breakfast, appetizers, main dishes, and even drinks. In the beginning of the book, readers can find suggested menus for a variety of occasions. The one thing that’s really different about this cookbook compared to other cookbooks is that the recipes are in paragraphs instead of being in list format. But every recipe is pretty short, which is a great way to make sure each recipe stays easy. I like this paragraph format, but I know a lot of people don’t. The format also makes it easy for beginner cooks like kids to follow and execute a recipe. None of the recipes include a list of ingredients but the recipe is a paragraph, so I found it pretty easy to just scan the recipe to find out what I needed. So here’s an example of one of the recipes:
Buttermilk Pancakes
Whisk 1 ½ cups flour with 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon each baking soda and salt. Whisk 1 ¼ cups buttermilk, ½ stick melted butter, 2 eggs and a little vanilla, then whisk into the flour mixture. Cook by ¼ cupfuls in a hot buttered skillet until bubbly, then flip and cook until golden.
That’s what a typical recipe looks like. I tried this recipe and it was a success. My youngest doesn’t usually eat pancakes but he ate three of them. When it comes to the vanilla, I added as much as I wanted (which was a lot). I plan on trying more recipes from this book.
What do you think of this cookbook’s format? Would it bother you?
Food Network Magazine’s 1000 Easy Recipes: Super Fun Food for Every Day
393 pages
Published in March 2012 by Hyperion
Source: Public Library
I need a good cookbook with kid friendly recipes. This one sounds great!.
I’m not sure what this “a little vanilla” means. I always use a lot. And I make my own, so it’s especially…uh…good. LOL
I’m not sure if the format of that cookbook would bother me or not. With the advent of food blogs and their gorgeous photography, I’m getting to where I like a picture with a recipe. I’m so spoiled!
You make you own vanilla?! The cookbook does have pictures but food blogs make everyone feel spoiled.
1,000 Easy Recipes sounds right up my alley, I like that the recipes are easy to follow. The format looks good to me and the pancakes sound yummy.
I NEED an ingredient list to scan! The cookbook sounds great, but the format would drive me crazy, lol.
LOL! That’s understandable!
I will have to try this one. Who doesn’t like easy recipes? I’m also curious about the drinks section.
OK, this is the second pancake recipe I’ve seen posted today. I think I know what we’re having for breakfast tomorrow!
LOL! I just used this recipe this morning!
Often easy is just what one is looking for…
Simple is always good. I quite like the paragraph format. Have a good week.
I think I would struggle without a list of ingredients. I tend to skim recipes anyway, and without a list I know I would miss a key ingredient. Or else it would become one of those situations where I don’t find out I am missing an ingredient until halfway through making the recipe. But I do like easy, especially if easy means delicious.
I could work with this — it’s good training for kids to graduate to Joy of Cooking. That took some getting used to, but now that I am, I don’t mind the paragraph format — especially for short, easy recipes.
My sister-in-law bought this book for me but I haven’t used it often. I’m going to take a good look at it now.
I like that the ingredients are in bold so you tell at a glance if you have everything you need. So yes, I could easily work this way … its the format of most magazines. I like that idea of 1,000 easy recipes. I’m keeping it in mind as a gift idea.
Yeah, I agree with Beth. A lot of the recipes in Everyday Food are in paragraph form, and I’ve never had a problem.
I like easy recipes, but am not sure either whether I would like the format. I need a list of ingredients.
Mmm… pancakes! I agree with Rikki – I like a list of ingredients, though I can see the charm in one paragraph recipes. Thanks for sharing!
Oh wow, this is a book i should have, love simple recipes like that. I don’t think the paragraph format would bother me at all. My library doesn’t have it though, so I’ll have to buy it!
If each ingredient is in bold type, then the format seems ok. Otherwise, I would lose my place. Even the most experienced cook can always use a few more easy recipes, and the pancakes look good.
Cookbooks are very popular at my school library. The children at my school love to find cookbooks to check out and share with their parents. It’s hard to find cookbooks that children at my school can read themselves. But it is a good motivation for children to read them with their parents.
I miss pancakes!!!! ARGHH!
The paragraph form would not bother me. Quite the opposite! Thanks so much for the example recipe!