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Even though my family is picky when it comes to food, I like to try a new recipe every couple of weeks. I never really know whether it will go over well on the table, but every once in a while I’ll find a recipe that ends up being a keeper. That’s cause for excitement when I’m the only one that’s ‘free-spirited’ and willing to shake up the food routine!
Despite all the recipes I cook and create, I’m not really a good meal planner, I get in these moods where I try to, but that may last a few weeks and then I start forgetting to do it and before I know it…it’s shopping day again.
I have gone through a lot of cookbooks. I love food. I enjoy cooking and usually find at least two or three family worthy recipes out of most books I own, but to save shelf space I copy those down and then usually pass the book on to someone else. I’ve had a number of weeks to go through and make some of the recipes in Don’t Panic – Quick, Easy and DELICIOUS MEALS for Your Family by Susie Martinez, Vanda Howell & Bonnie Garcia. This is more than just a cookbook, it really could become a ‘meal guide’.
It is filled with easy recipes that are suitable for week night dinners or for entertaining guests. It’s written for busy families where whomever is cooking is out more than they are in. What I love about it is that there are more than just a handful of recipes that I’d make, both straight up and altered, enough that this book is staying with me.
Sometimes I follow the recipe in a cookbook and it’s a dismal failure, either in taste or in texture or it was just too time consuming. Every recipe I’ve made out of Don’t Panic has come out great. To make it even simpler to navigate what you want to make the recipes come with a code whether it indicates it’s Lighter Fare, Quick, for Entertaining, 6 Ingredients or Less, Freezer Meals or one of the Author’s Favorites, you can flip through and at a glance find what you’re looking for.
Just so you can see, I made the Quick Apple Pie Wedges with a couple of changes. It was given a thumbs-up from my family. I made it on a weeknight when I don’t typically make dessert but it really didn’t take much time at all and was far less intensive then making apple pie and the end result was impressive.
I recommend this Don’t Panic cookbook for anyone that is looking for a new one to try. I think that it will save you some time in the kitchen, let you sit down with your family to a homemade dinner even during a busy week, and help you with ideas for entertaining.
Available April 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Revell provided me with a media sample. No monetary compensation was provided. All opinions are my own.
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