For the month of November 2016, we cooked through The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and blog.
What Lisa Had to Say:
For Smitten I have a bit of a mixed review. I have used the blog a ton…found lovely recipes and made delish things both for this blog and before the blog was even a glimmer in my eye….one recipe in particular that I have made more times than I can count is the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Cream Buttercream and Jameson Whiskey Ganache filling. That recipe alone, which is not featured on our blog (yet!) is worth its weight in gold. There is also that amazing corn and bacon hash that I made and the challah…like really….ALL GOOD THINGS!!!!
The book, aside from a handful of recipes, doesn’t really grab me. In fact, I struggled hard to find things that interested me enough to go ahead and make….leaving me searching her blog for recipes that made me think YUM (which I found in abundance)! I will say, the egg dish I prepared for the blog and the mulling spice cranberry squares (not reviewed on our blog) in that book are definitely delicious and will be made again and again if I have my way.
While I fully endorse Smitten Kitchen as a great recipe resource and fantastic recipe creator, I would recommend that you check out the cookbook at your local library to make sure the recipes appeal to you.
What Cindy Had to Say:
Well, I’m pretty much in the exact same boat as Lisa – I have mixed feelings about the cookbook but good feelings about the blog. I, too, agree that the recipes in the cookbook didn’t really pull me in with excitement. Perhaps it’s due to how the pages were set up – the recipe would begin on the right facing page with an extremely long introduction, and continue on the back with a photo or two.
I digress though, this is about the recipes and not graphic design! The recipes I chose from the cookbook were simply okay (with one being top notch!), while the one recipe I chose from the blog was delicious. Bookmark the blog (I’ve made many recipes off of it in the past and had yummy success), and as Lisa said, take a gander at the cookbook at the library.
Recipes We Cooked: Mushroom Bourguignon, Greens, Eggs and Hollandaise, Sundried Tomato Stuffed Mushrooms, Apple and Honey Challah, Bacon Corn Hash, Linguine with Cauliflower Pesto, Tomato Glazed Meatloves and Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes
Final Cookbook Verdict: Recommended
kneading + knives 