Rachael Ray's big orange book

I got this book as a holiday present. In my earlier days, I really liked Ray, a lot. My food horizons have expanded as of late and I turn to her recipes less frequently than before.

I can still appreciate what she does, though, and this is a good book: it compiles her best recipes from previous

books. I admire Ray because she encourages using natural, whole ingredients. She also really pushes for people to make their own food instead of ordering take-out. In fact, I think she has whole chapters devoted to "Make Your Own Take-Out." Her Southern Italian heritage figures heavily into her cooking. Otherwise, if it's authenticity you're looking for, you won't find it here, but the recipes are good nonetheless. And fairly quick.

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LibraryThing member Krumbs

Some of the recipes look good and they are fairly simple, but I don't keep most of these staples in my cupboard so there's no need to keep the book on hand.

LibraryThing member cattylj

This is one big cookbook. Monstrous, even. I found some of the sections a little odd, as well as the ordering - holiday menus, from my family to yours, starters and snacks (not an unusual section, but it’s the second to last section, would have expected it near the beginning). However, there were

other sections that you don’t usually see outside of speciality cookbooks, but are fantastic - meals for one, kosher meals, burgers. The vegetarian section actually has some great recipes, which isn’t always the case unless you buy a strictly vegetarian cookbook.

In a book this size - 200 recipes - not every recipe has an accompanying photograph, which is a drawback for me. I know it’s not a must have for everyone, but if I can’t salivate over a picture first, chances are good I won’t end up making it. The other thing I’ve come to expect from cookbooks are a section on tips and tricks for cooking the recipes within, which is not include. Another trend in recent years is to include nutritional information, which is missing here. Again - that’s not a must have for everyone, but it bumps it down a notch for me. All in all it was fun to page through and I have more than one recipe bookmarked.

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