Cooking Secrets of the CIA: Favorite Recipes from the Culinary Institute

From the second you open this book you know you are holding a wannabe chef's dream in your hands. These mouthwatering recipes from America's most famous cooking school will have you impressing you hubby (of wife, whichever the case may be) in no time. They'll have your guests thinking you went to culinary school. In fact after cooking your way through this book, you might as well have, because not only will you be turning out tastier meals in your kitchen, but you'll learn quite a bit about the art of delicious cooking too. It's sort of like osmosis, this book will open the pours of your skin and that old chef's talent will work its way in. Oh yes, I'd be a bit remiss if I didn't mention the excellent photos. It's just not possible to open this book without your mouth watering. Plus, you'll see just how you're exotic meal (and there are quite a few of those in this book) should be served. You can't go wrong with these Cooking Secrets of the Culinary Institute of America. You really can't. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

My study group and I used this book as a reference for our baking and advanced baking classes and found it to be quite creative in its recipes. It is also well-written, which is half the battle in any culinary book. However, for our class exams in baking and advanced baking classes we used the following:Study Guide for Baking: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations by Melissa HeilmanStudy Guide for Advanced Baking: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations by Melissa HeilmanThe last two study guides prepared us for our baking exams. They showed use the type of questions to watch out for on our exams. They helped us a lot because we all got very good grades.

For those of us who have found that home cooking is better than most restaurants, but don't have the time to develop the tastes yourself, the CIA books are a must for your kitchen. We've tried most every recipe and they have all been hits with our dinner friends! Follow the directions, add a bottle of wine and you've got a winner!