Apples for Jam: A Colorful Cookbook

Excellent, world cookbook. Full of beautiful photography and recipes. The recipes are inspired by life and they are simple and delicious. Truly a favorite cookbook.

This is the polar oposite of Betty Crocker (which I love). If you can combine poetry, art and cooking, this is it. This is not a how to boil water cook book. It is for those who like a little art/philosophy and nostalgia mixed in. I appreciate writers who can make eggs seem poetic, I think Ms. Kiros is one of them. A lovely book for romantic cooks.

I purchased this book at the grocery store and spent some time paging through it. I love the colors and photographs. I decided I would try a recipe from the book and planned my shopping for the day around it. Beef Stew with carrots was my choice and I followed the recipe directly except I added a cup of spaetzle 15 minutes before it was done (and had to add a little hot water at that time too). The flavor was aromatic and complex and totally satisfying. Unlike many stew recipes that have you dust the cubes of beef with flour, this recipe makes a flavorful thick broth without the flour or any thickening agent aside from an onion and allowing the stew to... well, stew. Even if it hadn't turned out so well, I would have been happy with the book as it is very entertaining to read and has gorgeous pictures. However, I wouldn't have given it 5 stars unless the recipes cooked true as written. I plan to try another recipe for tomorrow.

If you want a "just the facts, ma'am" type of cookbook this is not for you. However, beyond the good range of simple but inspiring recipes, it was the stories and pictures that are mixed in that really made this book for me. (NB: I didn't mind the colour-coding of the recipes as there is an alphabetical index in the back) I will definitely be adding more of Tessa Kiros in my cookbook collection.