Before I get started..I'd like to just inform you that this cookbook is outstanding. My expectations have been reached and then some. And I had very hBefore I get started..I'd like to just inform you that this cookbook is outstanding. My expectations have been reached and then some. And I had very high expectations, btw. Chrissy Teigen remains the cooking goddess she is and this cookbook will become a kitchen staple for me, just like her first cookbook. I know I'll be using the recipes over and over. I cannot wait to keep the cooking going. So far..and this is since the release (which was last Tuesday)..I have made four recipes from this book. And all four were delicious. My sister made two others and they were also delicious. I'd say we're on a roll. And now what follows can probably be described as a rant of my love for Chrissy Teigen's cookbooks. I'll let you know which recipes I've made and how this book compares to the last one. Let's go!
Okay, so I've already written a raving review of her first cookbook, Cravings. It became my all-time favorite cookbook. I've never made so many recipes out of a single cookbook. I'm telling you..her tastebuds are in sync with mine or something. Or maybe I should stop thinking the world revolves around me and realize the book is called Cravings, so no shit is it going to be delicious to most people. I suppose I'll update that review eventually with the recipes I've made, but it'll get ridiculous because I've really worked my way through it.
I spent the entire time since the release of the first waiting for the release of her second. I'm one of those people who followed her blog before the cookbooks happened. After the blog stopped, I remember loving watching the process of Chrissy making her first cookbook. This time around..she didn't seem to document it nearly as much, which I found disappointing. I still need something to fulfill the void of waiting for Chrissy's blog posts because it took over 2 and a half years for this second cookbook to come out.
Now...it is a great cookbook. This time around..it is once again cravings, although because she is now a mom there are a few differences. She opted for "lighter food" this time around, which let's be real..there is still tons of cheese and bacon and all types of good stuff throughout. But compared to the first book, there are less of those foods that seem like straight indulgences. Still...very similar in ways too. Meaning..if you enjoyed the first book, you will definitely once again enjoy this one.
The other difference here is, once again because she is a mom, time has become an even more precious thing. So there are things that she takes shortcuts on, while also admitting it along the way. For her jerk lamb chops, she says to buy jerk seasoning ready from the store but notes that if this were her first cookbook, she would have given the recipe to make it yourself from scratch. This is true because there's a recipe in her first book involving cajun seasoning and sure enough, she gives you the recipe to make that from scratch. I'm torn on how to feel about this because yes, I am a major lover of saving time. I love getting the option of how to do things a little quicker when it doesn't make a difference in the finished product. However, I do like to get told how to do something, so I can make the decision myself if it was worth it. She could have included a brief put salt, pepper, this, this, and this and you'd have the seasoning. But it's fine. Not the biggest deal. And again, it's something I'm torn on.
This book has a couple sections that weren't in the first book, such as a dessert section. Chrissy isn't much of a sweet person, so it's not cakes, cookies & brownies. This one has a banana bread, soft pretzels, two-faced cobbler, mango sorbet, homemade magic shell, mousse, and skillet peanut butter chocolate chip blondies (UH...YES PLEASE).
Also, there is an entire sandwich section, which includes a couple grilled cheeses I need..the jalapeño-parmesan crusted grilled cheese and sweet & spice peach & brie grilled cheese. Oh and the philly french dip she makes with more of a cheese sauce au jus. There is just so much. I probably shouldn't just list every recipe in the book. Although, if you get a chance..it wouldn't hurt to check out the table of contents.
Plus...this time there is a potatoes & their friends section. POTATOES!! Yeah..my stomach is pleased. It has plenty of potato dishes among other veggie dishes. I made the Tators, Shrooms, & Peas with parmesan cream from this section. And it was SO GOOD!!! My husband and I were both in heaven. It was more filling than we expected, so next time it'll be a main and we'll add diced ham to it. The parmesan cream was so good that we'll definitely use it with other dishes. I'm thinking it'll be good with pasta.
This time around I didn't find the Thai Mom section quite so intimidating. It probably helped that I got blue apron for six weeks this summer when Chrissy had a partnership. A few of the dishes were from the thai section of the first book and they were absolutely delectable. I get why I was freaked out by ingredients like fish sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin, sweet chili sauce, sambal oelek ..really just things I wasn't used to cooking with. Nor did I see how these ingredients would all mix together to become something heavenly. Garlic is also pretty common in the thai section. I love garlic, though. Anyway, this time around I found myself excited to make these authentic Thai dishes. Last night, we had the Thai soy-garlic fried ribs and OH BABY. Yes, they were ridiculously easy, but oh so tasty. I never knew ribs could be cooked so quickly and there was this nice crisp to them that ribs don't usually have, but I lived for it. Definitely making these again. I cannot believe Chrissy considered not including this one in the book because of how easy it is. It's a keeper. And not something you'd think to do yourself.
I also went into the breakfast section and made the Everything Bagel Breakfast Bake. So good!! It was kind of like a breakfast casserole, but there were chunks of bagel in it that didn't taste fully like bagel by the time they cooked and soaked in the egg mixture. They were much softer. And there were cream cheese bombs throughout. This was a good one for sure! I made mine with mushrooms instead of tomatoes because I'm not a tomato person. And I'll do it this same way again in the future when I want a breakfast casserole with everything bagel type flavoring. Yum!
I finally understand why people call Chrissy a soup master! I have been DYING to try her pot pie soup from the first book. Honestly, I only haven't made it yet because for the longest time I could not find heavy cream in the store. Finally this summer, I FOUND IT!! It's only at one grocery store in my area. So I will make that one in the next month. For now, I needed to make something from her new book. I opted for the French Onion Soup. I'll be honest..I'd never had french onion soup before. I really love onions, though. This one was a major winner. And I feel talented for being able to say I can make it. Not too difficult. Hardest part was getting through cutting all those onions without crying my eyes out. But this beautiful soup turned out sooo tasty. It was oh so cheesy and there were croissant croutons in it that became doughy and just OOOH! You know what I mean? Yeah..this is a major winner.
I guess it's good I've only made the four recipes so far because this review would go on and on. Luckily for you, I didn't have all the time in the world so I'll be making more this weekend.
There is also a salad section, snack section, and supper section which actually has mains & sides tacked on to several of the dishes giving us more side recipes than what is included in potatoes & their friends.
I will say that her introduction to the book and the intros to all the recipes have a great layer of humor. Her stories are fun and will make you laugh out loud. She also talks about how she went through postpartum between books (and babies) and how that affected her/this book. She reminds us she is only human, and a relatable one at that.
There are photos of almost every recipe, but a couple might be missing and that bothers me. I like to see what the outcome of what I'm making should look like at the end. Not to mention, you want to see how tasty a dish looks to decide if you want to make it. I'll still make everything in this book regardless.
So there you have it...delicious recipes from Chrissy Teigen. Food that will make you look like a pro in the kitchen when you have a dinner party. Highly recommended to anyone looking for a cookbook with food they actually want to eat....more
I won this through goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
I actually won it with Zodiac and the second book in the series. I really wanted to enjoI won this through goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
I actually won it with Zodiac and the second book in the series. I really wanted to enjoy it. The first one had too many plot holes for me. I attempted to push through, but it's difficult. And there are too many books out there to suffer through one not working for you. Sorry :(
I'm not rating this because I did not finish....more
I won this through goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
I actually won it with Zodiac and the third book in the series. I really wanted to enjoyI won this through goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
I actually won it with Zodiac and the third book in the series. I really wanted to enjoy it. The first one had too many plot holes for me. I attempted to push through, but it's difficult. And there are too many books out there to suffer through one not working for you. Sorry :(
I'm not rating this because I did not finish....more
This was an interesting YA sci-fi, but there are really too many holes in this complicated plot. I won this entire series through GR first reads so I'This was an interesting YA sci-fi, but there are really too many holes in this complicated plot. I won this entire series through GR first reads so I'll try pushing through to see if it gets better. If not, there are too many good books out there to struggle through something not working for me. It seems others have enjoyed this more than me if you still wanted to check out a more detailed, raving review.
I won this through goodreads in exchange for an honest review....more
I made the mistake of thinking this was just a contemporary romance between two girls, but it actually has a lot more to the story. Racism being the mI made the mistake of thinking this was just a contemporary romance between two girls, but it actually has a lot more to the story. Racism being the most common theme throughout. There is racism from one POC to another, which is not often portrayed. Because of these themes, racism is very present and can make readers uncomfortable*. However, it is often called out by another character or Sana ponders what just happened addressing the racism head on. Stereotyping is one of the main ways racism occurs in the story. This is a very diverse story with Asian, Mexican, and queer characters present. I cannot speak on how offensive these are personally.
The romance was meh. It is pretty insta-love. And then the cheating storyline happens taking away from the “oh it’ll be a sweet romance.” Nope. I hated the justification of the cheating. This all was pretty frustrating.
But then I go back to the racism portrayal and the growth we see in Sana. Maybe if we saw this sort of thing more, I’d have enjoyed this less because the romance really turned me off. It’s nice to see people grow and learn from others after struggling and making some bad choices earlier on. I am curious how others feel about the portrayal, so I think I’ll come back to these reviews later on and see what everyone is thinking.
I won this through goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
*I will clarify that I said this can make readers uncomfortable, not me personally....more
I have seen a lot of comparisons to the movie Deliverance, only substituting a female cast in for the male cast. I have never seen the film, so I won’I have seen a lot of comparisons to the movie Deliverance, only substituting a female cast in for the male cast. I have never seen the film, so I won’t have anything to say regarding that comparison. I do recommend looking up other reviews if you have strong opinions regarding that movie.
The River at Night follows four friends who decide do something different this year for their annual girls’ trip. They are going to the wilderness of Maine for an adventure where they’ll hike, white water raft, and unbeknownst to them, fight to survive.
The women have been friends for fifteen years. Winifred, our narrator, is lonely and vulnerable after the loss of her fifteen year marriage and death of her brother. She is an anxious individual whose idea of a trip is a luxury resort, so is clearly not excited about a getaway in the middle of nowhere. Regardless, she is convinced by her three girlfriends to go. It was Pia’s idea as the group’s leader and ER nurse Rachel and teacher Sandra are in. Each of the ladies has their own baggage opening up the door for some good drama.
About halfway through is when the real action, high-stakes adventure begins. Before that, it reads more like a women’s fiction novel with a heavier focus on the characters and their relationships. Very character driven. But from this point on, fast-paced action that keeps you on the edge of your seat. A rafting accident leaves the ladies stranded and in need of help. They find themselves becoming hunted prey and must fight for their lives.
The story is exciting with a great deal of suspense. The setting is excellent with it’s remoteness and vivid descriptions. There are a few surprising twists and even a bit of humor throughout. I ended up really enjoying this story. It made the Wrong Turn fan in me really happy.
I won this through goodreads in exchange for an honest review....more
Loading...
