Chocolate and other food groups

I had heard a lot about this cookbook. Apparently, the author is known for a food column by the name, The Minimalist, because he goes for simple, easy recipes with few ingredients. So I got this one from the library to see what I thought. At first, I was most impressed by the size. It's huge! But don't be fooled by the title. It won't really tell you how to cook everything . It does, however, teach basic cooking principles which would help you create your own recipes or analyze someone else's. But after trying several recipes from the book, I am not sure it's worth it. The first one I tried, Kale and Potato Soup, was good, but not great. I put that down to the fact that I used canned broth instead of homemade. The next one, Easy Tomato Sauce, was too bland. It was easy, but it wasn't as good as the stuff from a jar. I also made the Bruschetta, and that was good. Then I tried the Bitter Chocolate Sorbet. It sounded so easy - just cocoa powder, sugar, and water. W...

How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Food by Nigella Lawson First of all, I have to say this - this woman is nuts! She may be a great cook and a very nice person, I don't know, but honestly, she is nuts. This book, in case you couldn't tell right away, is about baking. She sets it up in several categories: cakes, cookies, bread, pies, Christmas, etc. The pictures are wonderful. But the writing? Wow. It's hard to tell you just how bad it is. So here's an example. "Coconut Macaroons. These are a very English kind of macaroon, the sort you always used to see displayed in bakers' shops alongside the madeleines (those sponge castles dipped in luminous strawberry jam and dredged in throat-catching grated coconut, and so very different from those that inflamed the memory of Marcel Proust). The difference with coconut macaroons is that you need neither to be ironic or self-consciously retro-cool to enjoy them." What? I have SO many problems...