Like your favorite comfort food
597643
A consummate mystery, a leading character who is as warm as comfort food. It was extremely easy to slip into this mystery. Kelly, the owner, is very likeable and as an owner of a coffee shop it is understandable how she can get people and suspects to open up when she stops by with  a coffee cake. The book is  a wonderful two hour non-stop mystery with some insight into how forgiveness can change people's lives.
I also liked surprise at the end.
3878768
This book isn't a page turner in the classic sense. This is a book that makes you feel good about life and people in a time when it's difficult to have that feeling very often.  So, I kept going back to it. This book is to literature what "comfort food" is to cuisine.  Sometimes, we just need and want to listen to a good, entertaining story.  If you are from Texas, more the better to enjoy the book.  (I kept trying to figure out the town.) To let you know where I am coming from with this review, my favorite authors are Tom Robbins and F. Scott.  If this makes sense to you and you have a hankering for apple pie, I recommend this read. You'll enjoy it.
1058233
I really love this cookbook. It's a great place for you to go to find veganized recipes of some of your favorite comfort foods - foods such as tamales, tortilla soup, red beans & rice, etc. I will admit that he *does* use some processed vegan meats, but I don't think that's such a bad thing every once in a while. This cookbook is for people who are used to eating heavy dishes that contain animal products, so as a transition, I think allowing that person to eat some processed vegan meats is a great step for them to take. I personally don't like most vegan meats, so I just substitute those in his recipes for something like jackfruit or tofu or more veggies. My favorite recipe so far has been his veggie tamales - wow! I made those for some non-vegan friends, and they were blown away. The book has lots of pictures and lots of helpful tips on how to cook the food appropriately. I think you'll be pleased if you try it!
1362124
After eating in the restaurant on two occasions, I was delighted to obtain the cookbook and find recipes for ALL of my favorite items included. (I can't wait to make the Wild Salmon Hash at home.)  The book is beautifully illustrated and well-written.  Of special help are the Love Notes. These include useful hints to avoid common pitfalls: e.g., curdled or separated cream. Most of the entries include the rationale for the instruction, too.  Of course whenever I am in Portland, I won't hesitate to return to this wonderful establishment to enjoy the warm ambience and friendly staff, but since I live 500 miles away, this cookbook is a great "must have" in order to enjoy Mother's comfort food at the many other times when I'm craving it.
2534251
This book is the perfect blend of recipes and history.  The recipes are ones you'll want to try and will probably make again and again.  These are comfort food recipes at their best.  The author gives you a the person who contributed the recipe and then a little history to go along with it.  An usual format for a cookbook but a winner!
3029443
I love cookbooks and love to try to make my favorites from the resturants. this helped with a few favorites and a few new to try
1869058
Lari has bravely written a book that celebrates food as we once loved it-because it tasted good. Each recipe is accompanied by a nostaligic note that enhances its flavor. There are kindly written hints with each recipe that you will hear in your mother or grandmother's voice when you read.

Your heart,soul and stomach will be satisfied.
739164
This mental meal will leave a nice aftertaste on your brain's taste buds. The flavor slowly reveals itself as it takes full possession of your keenness and has you hold on to the story till it makes its way to yourself and fills you with contentment at two am.
1754019
Love this book! Anything by Virginia is fantastic. If you love comfort food and Southern food, and would like to "lighten up" this is a fabulous book. I haven't even noticed that these recipes are "lighter". Everything I've tried has been delicious!
3528973
They have a good taste while at the same time you feel and taste that you are eating something wholesome and healthy.
3847197
This is one of my go-to books when I make my grocery list. These are healthy, filling meals that make you feel good after you eat instead of sluggish and tired. The Pumpkin Chili is one of my favorite regular meals. I love chili, but beans would bloat me up bad. Use black eyed peas instead? Awesome! I would've never thought of that.
You don't have to be on a low oxalate diet to enjoy this book. It's just real, nourishing food that tastes good and makes you feel good about eating it. It's easy to find the ingredients in the grocery stores, and you don't have to be a gourmet chef to follow the recipes.
223794
5 star because these recipes are tried and true. Simple comfort foods that can be easily adapted to today's lifestyle. This is not a diet cookbook, but the recipes are hearty.  Stories that accompany each recipe are a nice touch.
2179870
I don't often say Yes when an author, publisher, or PR company asks me to review a book, but I couldn't resist it this time. I've become a&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mad-Men/dp/B000YABIQ6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mad Men</a>&nbsp;fan to a rather silly degree, perhaps because I grew up in New York during the 1960s so the background is extremely real to me. When I was offered the Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook (which I'll abbreviate here as the UMMC) -- described as "over 70 recipes inspired by the kitchens, bars, and restaurants seen on Mad Men" -- I figured that it might be a fun romp in the TV show's setting. Which it is. But to my happy surprise, this is a good cookbook even if you never watched single episode.

The UMMC is essentially a "retro" cookbook, bringing us back to the cooking and recipes of the early 1960s, which for some of us is a certain kind of comfort food: an era of upside-down pineapple cakes and Swedish meatballs and rumaki. Every recipe is presented in the context of a specific episode (the chocolate cake Sally makes for the dinner served in "Red in the Face," Season 1 Episode 7, when Don brings home Roger for dinner without warning Betty), and then some history about the dish (okay, less so about cocoa fudge cake, but the book discusses when Mai Tais came to be for instance), and then a 1960s-vintage recipe (this cake is adapted from the Betty Crocker's New Boys and Girls Cookbook from 1965). Some are "home cooking," like turkey tetrazzini; others are food eaten or mentioned at the restaurants where the characters eat, such as two versions of the Waldorf salad or oysters as they'd be served at the Grand Central Oyster Bar in 1961.

It isn't all "find cool old cookbooks." The authors went to quite some lengths for authenticity, learning that the yellow drink that Pete Campbell drinks at the Beverly Hills Hotel is a Royal Hawaiian, which was fashionable in the 50s and 60s but hasn't been served for decades -- and the hotel provided the recipe. (It has rum, pineapple juice, papaya juice, Myer's dark rum, a maraschino cherry, and a slice of fresh pineapple). As you'd expect, the UMMC has a lot of cocktails, but it also has appetizers (such as a classic shrimp cocktail); salads (Carla's potato salad); main courses (Lutece Gamabas au Beurre d'Escargot, Sal's spaghetti and meatballs); and desserts and sweets. Unlike some retro cookbooks which make me glad we grew up, these are all really good recipes, or at least "really good" in the context of the 60s (which means that you think fondly of turkey tetrazzini, I guess).

If you care about the show at all, you'll enjoy the food-meets-episode reminders. Even if you don't, you'll be tempted to throw a Mad Men dinner. I know *I* am thinking of doing so!

An aside: If you like this kind of "retro" cookbook but don't want the Mad Men baggage (and if you didn't care for the show I imagine it could get tiresome) you ought to check out&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Arthur-Schwartz-s-New-York-City-Food-An-Opinionated-History-and-More-Than-100-Legendary-Recipes/dp/B0044KMQR2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food: An Opinionated History and More Than 100 Legendary Recipes</a>, which scratches much of the same itch. Schwartz's book is more all-encompassing (such as a history of and recipes from Delmonico's, an influential restaurant that hasn't been mentioned on Mad Men), so if you want the "New York" ingredients more than "This is what mom cooked for me!" that may be a better choice.

I expected this to be a bit of fluff. To my surprise, I discovered a really nice cookbook that will spend quite a bit of time on my kitchen counter rather than on a shelf.
3642392
This soup rocks my tastebuds. I love cream of tomato soup (though I don't necessarily love the high salt of some and the high fat of others). This soup is lighter in salt (but could go lighter, if you ask me) and very high in sweet, satisfying tomato flavor. For those of us/you who love the comfort food power of a good creamy, tomato-ey soup, this one gives you that with organic ingredients, less salt, and has only 2 WW points per serving (4 WW points, about 200 calories, for the whole can). With some whole grain toast with melted lowfat cheese all gooey in the middle, it's a primo comfort food lunch/supper.

I had some of this soup last night for supper with penne pasta tossed in and some parmesan on top and it was sublime.

Better than Campbells and the other tomato soups I've had from cans. Amy's makes some wretched frozen entrees, but this soup they get right. Thumbs up.

Mir
1661598
They are all distinct flavors and i loved all of them. When you are craving this, it is a comforting treat.
4564730
This cookbook is perfect for down home comfort food that your country mom used to make. There are some treasures here!
3254670
You will love this book.  Hans knows there's too little time in life for fluff- and so he packs his  beautiful book with real food, real stories, real life.  The recipes are elegant and so easy.  This is "comfort food" in the truest sense because eating nature's best stuff is comforting to your body.