How to Boil Water: Life Beyond Takeout

Alright, where do I start? If you are thinking to buy this book for yourself to learn to cook, BUY IT! If you are considering it for a wedding gift, or graduation gift - BUY IT! In fact, buy more than one. This book is the perfect gift. So far I have made several recipes, and I am AMAZED at how good each one is. My husband is thrilled I've found this book. I am cooking more than ever, only because I can't wait to taste how good the next recipe will be. I am continually pleased. I can't stress enough: BUY THIS BOOK.

I ordered this cookbook for my daughter who is away at college. I reviewed it before I sent it to her. It has all the basics, how to shop for food, how to store it, how to prepare it, even basic cooking utensils that a beginner would need. She loves it and uses it all the time. So I think this the true measurement of the book being user friendly.

This book is incredibly informative. It's everything I wanted to learn about food, but was too lazy to ask -- where it comes from, what to look for when buying it, how to cut it all up... and that's aside from the great recipes. This mass of info is fortunately so intelligently written and laid out that it never really feels like overload. I'd put the book on my coffee table if I didn't need it so much in the kitchen.

I like to eat - other people's cooking. This can be a problem as friends sometimes expect you to reciprocate and invite them over for more than beer and peanuts. Thanks to this book, I was actually able to have a dinner party - well two friends - over to the house on Saturday and feed them a roast chicken and green salad. That may not sound like much to you but it was a big deal to me. The nice thing about this book is that it doesn't make you feel stupid even if you know nothing about cooking. For know nothings like me, it can start you at the beginning, but if you already have your four standby recipes it looks as if it could help you double or triple that number. I recommend it for everyone.