Book Description
Here it comes: a revolution in sudoku solving! This is by far the most complete guide to cracking these addictive puzzles ever produced, with tricks even the experts won’t know. While most books might have a few pages of introduction before proceeding straight to the sudokus, this one covers it all: hidden pairs, naked pairs, X-wings, jellyfish, squirmbag, bivalue and bilocation graphs, turbot fish, grid coloring, and chains. Every single one is here, and much more too, including the exclusive Gordonian logic methods (Gordonian rectangles and Gordonian polygons) that will turn even the hardest puzzles into a breeze. Of course, there are hundreds of sudoku for practice. A very special addition is a reprint of the very first sudoku ever published in 1979, from Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games magazine!
Customer Reviews:
Excellent guide for Sudoku.......2007-09-04
I found several techniques that I had not run across before that have helped me solve some of those "black belt" puzzles in the paper with relative ease.
Mensa Guide to Solving Sudoku.......2007-09-01
The book met my expectations. It is an excellent resource for a serious Sukoku puzzle solver. It teaches new problem solving techniques and has puzzles in each chapter that test the new knowledge learned. It also has a lot of puzzles at the end of the book that will give hours of pleasure or frustration, dependin on your point of view.
Definitely good value.
My only negative comment would be the binding is not good and I have loose pages already.
helpful, but hard to understand.......2007-08-15
Maybe because I am not a genius, this book was hard to undertrstand. It has tons of puzzles and a plethora of techniques to guide someone in solving the hard sudoku puzzles. However, I needed to buy another book that dumbed it down a little. The 2nd book I bought was Mastering Sudoku Week by Week: 52 Steps to Becoming a Sudoku Wizard by Paul Stephens. This book is wonderful. It is easy to understand and still teaches the techniques to solving the extreme sudoku puzzles. Also, for Mensa Guide to Solving Sudoku: Hundreds of Puzzles Plus Techniques to Help You Crack Them All (Mensa) there are 6 puzzles to a page and that is rather cramped. The harder puzzles require notes/candidate listing, which is nearly impossible with the size of these puzzles.
Just Exactly What I Wanted.......2007-07-31
Although I had figured out most of the basic techniques listed in the book by myself, I needed a "teacher" in order to learn the more sophisticated solving techniques. This book provided exactly that, without the huge jumps between instructional steps that some books have. I like the fact that this book contains a large number of puzzles to solve which increase in difficulty, but for the hardest puzzles it would have been nice to have the name of a possible solving technique to access first in the answer section, instead of being forced to go directly to the completely solved puzzle.
I also would have preferred a round-wire or spiral binding so that the book would lie flat when open which would make the puzzles easier to work, but removing the sections of early finished puzzles while keeping the instructions intact allowed the book to flat and served my purpose anyway.
Overall, it was a great book...the best I've seen, and I've looked at lots of them.
The Sudoku "Missing Link".......2007-07-29
Most Sudoku books are a collection of puzzles of varying complexity with either no solving strategies other than the basic rules of Sudoku or with a brief, superficial look at the more elementary solving methods.
"Solving SodoKu" by Peter Gordon is the exception. It covers virtually all the techniques required the crack the more difficult "evil", "diabolical", etc. type puzzles. It starts with the fundamental methods and graduates up to the difficult strategies. Each chapter includes a number of puzzles solveable using the method in the chapter to practice the technique. The book also has about 700 more puzzles. So far this is the only book I have found that goes into the level of detail to identify the "key" to the puzzle and then solve it. After working thru the techiques I am now finding and solving many puzzles using the Gordonian Logic family of strategies. That chapter alone was worth the price of the book.
I highly recommend the book if you are serious about solving super-tough puzzles.
Unfortunately, I could not give the book a 5 star rating as the puzzle size (6 per page) is too small and the binding is poor. My book is simply falling apart after what I would consider normal use. I'm also getting tired of copying the puzzle to a larger blank grid to properly work the puzzle.
Book Description
Layer blending modes have been part of Photoshop for years, but because they're not easy to understand at first glance, this immensely useful feature tends to get overlooked. Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers is the only recipe-format book that covers blending modes specifically for digital photographers.
The book covers:
- Changing hue, saturation, luminosity, and color
- Correcting basic color shifts
- Repairing highlights
- Sharpening or softening focus
- Adjusting lighting for subtle or dramatic effects
- Controlling contrast
- Creating surface effects and textures
- Adding interest to landscapes and urban scenes
- Enhancing portraits of children and adults
- Simulating graphics arts techiques
and much more.
Unlike Photoshop's built-in filters, blending modes don't change the actual pixels that make up an image, so their effects are completely reversible. There are over 20 blending modes in Photoshop CS2, which range from those which darken and lighten images (such as Darken, Multiply, Lighten, and Screen) to modes that increase contrast (such as Overlay and Hard Light) and adjust color (such as Hue, Color. Luminosity, and Saturation).
In addition to covering each blending mode in detail, John Beardsworth, a London-based photographer and author, takes the reader through a whole collection of recipes that demonstrate how to use blending modes alone or in combination to fix problem photos, add subtle effects, and create dramatic images that are truly unique.
With clear, step-by-step instructions, real-world projects, an easy-to-follow format, and hundreds of full-color examples, Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers is shows you how to use blending modes to achieve a wide range of image adjustments and special effects-without having to first learn everything there is to know about Photoshop.
Customer Reviews:
Fair for the price.......2007-09-12
This is not a book for beginners. Shows blending techniques and effects in a very focused way. Should only be considered by those who are indeed interested in these fields.
Great Book.......2007-08-14
I guess it depends on how you learn. This book has recipes for various looks using Photoshop's Blending Modes. The examples generally include several different kinds of photos. The result is that you get to see what happens to photos of things, people, landscapes, etc. using the same or similar recipes. The author also tells you when he did things a little differently for one or two kinds of photos, and why.
I've seen a lot of this stuff before, but found that I learned a lot from how this book is laid out. It should also make it a lot easier to find, and use, a specific technique for a specific problem.
Because I am a digital scrapbooker, I might find all of this a lot more useful than some other people who use Photoshop. I'm not only manipulating photos when I scrapbook, I am also making and manipulating digital papers and elements. These techniques would be extremely useful for scrapbooking.
Cream of the Crop.......2007-06-12
Of all the wonderful Photoshop books by the O'Reilly Studio, this one rocks solid and gave me things about Blending Modes I never knew were possible. I am still playing around with all the possibilities. They have great internet access to images that go with the 'recipes', and a terrific index with examples of all the different combinations they offer so if you need a type of effect, all you have to do is go to the visual index and pick what you are looking for and there it will be. All have the same single image, so it is easy to find the effect you want. I highly reccommend this book to any level Photoshop lover who likes to get artistic with their photos.
Photoshop, CS2, blending.......2007-05-12
This text is very well done and introduces the average reader to numerous blending modes that he/she might not have known eisted. The cookbook design makes following the procedures to gain specific effects easier to understand. While most people will never use all of the methods described, he/she is exposed to the techniques to employ. And that makes for better understanding of the blending process within Photoshop. My nly real complaint is that the typeface used makes it difficult to read. It should be darker and more prominent. The publisher needs to be aware that books are not always used in perfect light.
Useful and interesting.......2007-02-06
This book put several previously unused tools into regular use for me.
Book Description
How would you like to create your own impressionist landscape, a van Gogh still life, or a surrealist Salvador Dali dream world? Or perhaps a classic Ansel Adams photograph of Yosemite or an authentic-looking 19th century Daguerrotype? You can do all of that and more with Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook.
The book tells you all you need to know to turn your original digital photographs into images that mimic the styles of great photographers and painters. From advice on how to develop an eye for appropriate subject matter to 62 detailed recipes that demonstrate exactly how to create an "original" van Gogh, Vermeer, Edward Weston, or Andy Warhol (among others), this book is an authentic guide to understanding and simulating the work of great artists-and a whole lot of fun.
- Analyzing the styles of great artists: format, composition, angles of view, color palettes, and image textures
- Shooting for digital manipulation, working non-destructively, making your own brushes and patterns
- Creating Daguerrotypes, cyanotypes, stop-motion photographs, cross-processed images, Polaroid transfers, and infrared effects
- Mimicking photographic styles from the pre-Raphaelites and the Naturalists to Jerry Uelsmann and David Hockney
- Exploring painting and printmaking techniques from Rembrandt to Warhol: Dutch portraits, 18th century landscape painting, Japanese woodblocks, Impressionism, Pointillism, Fauvism, Art Nouveau, Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism, and Pop Art
Packed with step-by-step instructions, an inspirational selection of full-color digital imagery, and authoritative information and advice, Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook is the ultimate guide to creating convincing digital masterpieces in the styles of many of the world's greatest artists.
Customer Reviews:
Rhondda Boy.......2007-06-11
I would like to thank John Beardsworth for writing this book as it has given me much pleasure in replicating his creations and following his recipes are so easy. The quality of the printing of the book is superb.I look forward to hours of enjoyment making my own paintings.
Lots of errors.......2007-04-15
The concept is interesting & it is fun to try the different recipes, but many many errors mar the book. Also, some the instructions are less than clear.
Waste of money.......2007-04-04
There are many web sites with better information. Take a look on them.
Great recipes, easy steps, wonderful results........2006-07-09
This book puts you on the fast track to grafting the styles of famous artists into your own work through more than five dozen easy-to-follow recipes. Not surprisingly, you'll find yourself learning more than you originally expected to about Photoshop.
not-so-fast ..........2006-05-04
Earlier this year I reviewed what many will see as the companion volume to this book ("Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers"), written by the same author. Unfortunately, the newer publication is less useful. It seems to have been written on a pretext that it's clever to be able to duplicate what traditional artists can do. This seems - from my own personal viewpoint - to be greatly undervaluing the power of Photoshop (and similar software). Practitioners of digital fine art should (really, constructively) be looking to explore what the principles of prior and traditional art can mean within a new domain.
Plus, the book gets off to a definitely poor start. The second and longer of two introductory sections is titled "The Tricks of the Trade". Well it would be better if just some of the "tricks" had been explained in full and more accurately. Say, how to make a selection in Photoshop from the best available precursor (a black-and-white alpha channel). Or say again, how to make tonal corrections to the original photograph using a luminance mask. Then again, the first (and shorter) of the introductory chapters, titled "The Artist's Eye", is just a teaser. This topic - pre-visualizing what can be achieved as an output image when composing the original photographic input - could have benefited from a much more detailed explanation/argument. Indeed, it could even merit an expansive concluding chapter (but the book doesn't have one of those at all ....). This is, after all, at the very core of what the user could harness to any given artistic objective.
Additionally, I think that it's strange that a book such as this simply makes no reference at all to what could be printed from the recipes it contains. Some of the finished (output) images might look quite intriguing as 3 by 5 inch reproductions in the book - but does the methodology hold up if you're targeting a 20 by 36 inch output (say) on a large format printer? And what to do if that's not the case? Finally, and in common with the earlier companion volume, this book suffers from strange and inconsistent layouts of screenshots and text, plus all sorts of technical and editing omissions/errors (which include, for example, having the wrong screenshot in the wrong recipe - see p.108).
Book Description
This practical, nuts-and-bolts toolkit puts theory into practice with ready-made answers to common Flash development questions. It's the perfect resource for Flash developers, as well as designers who are ready to start doing development work.
Flash 8 Cookbook offers quick look-up (and cross-referenced) recipes in four main categories:
- Creating Flash Content
- Building Interactive Flash Interfaces
- Adding Multimedia and Data
- Planning Flash Projects
Using O'Reilly's popular Problem/Solution/Discussion Cookbook format, this book offers 280 standalone recipes that include a brief explanation of how and why the solution works, so you can adapt it to similar situations you may run across in the future. For people who say, "I understand everything in theory, but I don't know where to start in practice," this book offers ready-to-use answers to real-world problems.
Joey Lott is the author of
ActionScript Cookbook (O'Reilly) and co-author of
Flash MX 2004 ActionScript Bible (Wiley). He's a leading speaker and consultant in the Flash development community.
Customer Reviews:
Start Cookin with this one.......2007-03-28
I am not keen on any book that has Cookbook in the title. This book however is more of a Hanes manual for your old Volvo 240. You will have lots of shop spills (coffee not oil) and dog eared pages on this when you finally move on to a future version of flash. Even then this will become a great tool.
The book has four main solution sections: creating content, building interactive interafaces, using projects (I never get around to actually doing that!) and adding multimedia and data.
O'Reilly put a lot into this book, with a load of solutions, with the if, how, why and here you go.
Best if your up to speed and know your way around Flash well. For me, its a matter of understanding and implementing solutions as I encounter them. "Damn, how do I best deal with that problem? - Dunno? Read the book".
Short and too the point, you will need this if your a professional - either from the design side or the programming side of Flash. Not much use to students, though educators should read it through and get up to speed to increase the amount of knowledgeable students coming out of courses (enough of the bouncing balls already).
Cooking with Flash 8??.......2007-02-15
Flash 8 Cookbook
Joey Lott ISBN: 0-596102402
Cooking with Flash 8??
Reading the Flash 8 Cookbook is a painful experience considering you pay $44.95 for it. If you need answers to real-world problems don't look here. This book is a semi-helpful reference guide for those designers who are just beginning to branch out into Action Script. They try to make everything in the book very easy for you to the point that some of the chapters talk down to the reader.
The meatiest information is concentrated from page 200-340 of an almost 500 page book. Some of the information in this section is about fading movie clips in and out, the key word "this", working with Java Script in Flash, and adding event listeners.
This book features one of the best explanations I have seen on how to create a listener object and add an event listener on page 346. They break all the code down there with samples.
A bonus to reading this book is that you can download a number of great low file size components written by Joey Lott . Some of the unique components are the form controller, slide show, and window controller.
This book even introduces you to 3d Max and how to use it in conjunction with Flash. There is info on video and mobile but, surprisingly no chapter on Office Yoga for the Flash Action Scripter. They lumped together a number of topics that could have individually comprised a number of 500 -1000 page books.
I think too many cooks spoiled the Action Script in this case. I consider this to be an easy fast read. Great to take to the gym or the beach. If you had to buy just one book on Flash 8, this wouldn't be the one you would choose.
I should have listened.... Very basic!.......2006-09-19
This is a book for beginners, not even intemmediate level readers. If you are familiar with any other design software like Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, etc. you will find that much of this book is useless since you already know it! This is a perfect exapmple, quoting the book:
"1.1 Drawing Straight lines
Problem: you want to create a straight line segment or a shape made out of multiple straight line segments.
Solution
Use the line tool[...], the pen tool[...] or the pencil tool."
This is by no means a "cookbook" and I'm very disappointed with O'Reilly being the publisher, since most of the time their books are great.
The book probably focuses on REAL ACTIONSCRIPTING up to 15% its entire content!
Only consider it if you never worked with a design application in your whole life and don't have the time or patience to read more than 2-page long chapters.
Excellent source.......2006-06-29
As an intermediate Actionscripter, I find this book incredibly useful on a daily basis. It's well-organized and well-written, with several juicy tips and tricks.
Basic Flash information presented as a 'cookbook'.......2006-06-08
Hardly any information that would constitute as worthwhile if you have a decent grasp of Flash. There is entirely too much elementary information here. One recipe is a small excerpt on how to create an invisible button by only putting content in the hit state of the button. Also, although the cover reads "Using the Flash IDE to build Flash animations and applications", it includes entirely too much information on Swift3D in a Chapter discussing 3D in Flash. The chapter should probably have been renamed "Creating 3D in For Flash using Swift 3D" instead of the misleading name "Simulating 3D in Flash".
Book Description
Adobe Photoshop CS2 offers professional and amateur photographers, artists, and designers unprecedented opportunities to manipulate images on their personal computers, but it's a complex application that can take years to master. With Photoshop Photo Effects Cookbook, you don't have to be a Photoshop expert to create sophisticated effects. The 61 easy-to-follow, fully illustrated recipes in the book show you how to use Photoshop CS2 to simulate classic camera and darkroom techniques and special effects-without making you first learn Photoshop inside and out.
Author and digital artist Tim Shelbourne has assembled a collection of real-world techniques that you'll be able to apply immediately to your own images, whether you're working on photographs or digital illustrations. Digital files of the examples in the book are available for download, so you can easily follow along as Tim takes you through each recipe.
The book covers:
- Creating graphic art effects: posterization, watercolor, pen and ink, woodcut
- Working with lighting effects: neon glows, lens flares, fire and flame effects
- Simulating natural phenomena: rain, clouds, rainbows, lightning, snow
- Adapting traditional techniques: film grain, contrast masks, hand-tinting
- Adding motion blurs and other special effects
- Simulating textures: stone, metal, glass, plastic
- Making mattes, vignettes, frames, borders, signatures
- Assembling multi-layered images and photomontages
Packed with hundreds of full-color photographs, step-by-step instructions, and at-a-glance panels with many practical tips, Photoshop Photo Effects Cookbook is all you need to quickly and easily create professional graphic art effects from almost any image source.
Customer Reviews:
Not that great a resource.......2007-03-28
I am a firm believer that cookbooks should remain in the kitchen. This book did not really provide me with any new recipes of use. The one recipe I did want to use for a client operation, I resourced the online materials and followed it through but was unable to have it turn out. If the experiment was a cake, it would have been in the compost bin.
Most of the book is taken up with two page layouts that show you how different effects work. Well I have been pretty familiar with the graphic pen filter for a long time, so most of the book which touched on those was wasted pulp.
There was nothing here that really wowed me about either the work, the layout or the subject matter. Maybe a first entry user of Photoshop might find it interesting , but I can't really recommend this title to a serious Photoshop user. I couldn't even give this book away at my user group meeting.
If you know photoshop...you know most of this stuff in the book.......2007-03-04
Just a pretty rehash of photoshop filters and effects.
Skip it if you know photoshop
If you don't and like big picture learning this will teach you effects...but it won't teach you photoshop.
Next Level of Photoshop Artistic Quality.......2007-01-10
I have been Fooling around with Photoshop-CS2 for years, i have been able to produce Amazing Effects. Many of my greatest Photoshops were done by Accident, because i wasn't sure were to start or in what direction to go in. I got this book and right away i saw some i have done but wasn't sure how i did it. Plus they have Tons of other effects you can do, by the time your done you will have Museam Quality Photos. Most people will ask you to do Photos for them to hang up in there house as a Center Piece.
I use this book all the time..........2006-11-12
This is a great book that gives you well laid out instructions with invaluable visual aids throughout the book. I am constantly referencing this book for tips and techniques, and I have also combined many of the different areas I have learned into new effects. I would certainly recommend this book if you are looking for usefull tutorials that you can use in our work on a regular basis.. The best part is, this book is helpful for everyone from the beginner, to novice, to advanced users.
Not for Newbies.......2006-09-10
Like everyone else who rated this book, I would've given it five stars for all the stated reasons if I had been using Photoshop for a year or so.
Unfortunately, the author is an expert and assumes everybody who reads the detailed instructions in the book knows exactly what he is talking about. Apparently, he only had experienced Photoshoppers review or try to follow his instructions prior to publication. Thus, it can be a very frustrating experience for a newbie to try to duplicate projects presented in the book. (If the book was designed to be a cookbook, then it should contain detailed fool-proof instructions and avoid statements and/or instructions that only experienced Photoshoppers understand.)
It is a shame because, with just a little bit of extra work, this would've been an absolute must-buy for anyone whether they were experienced Photoshoppers or had just bought their first copy of CS2.
I'm sure the author is thinking "I can't make the instructions any more clearer than what is in the book." If the author is preparing another book, I suggest that he submit his instructions to a few newbies to determine if they can duplicate every project without tearing their hair out.
I'll bet they can't.
Book Description
With this lavish introduction to the centuries-old art of enameling, even beginners can effortlessly create imaginative designs. Written with clarity and passion by a leader in the field, it covers all the popular techniques, the fundamentals of setting up a studio, and 14 fabulous projects. The various styles range from traditional cloisonné, champlevé, and plique-à-jour to experimental techniques such as firing enamel onto mesh forms. Even more creative possibilities await in the firing: use copper oxide to create cool color variations or try raku firing for unique effects. All the well-photographed projects, from a vibrantly toned flower ring to an elegant set of buttons with a delicate leaf pattern, encourage novices to use their skills and imagination.
Customer Reviews:
The Art of Enameling.......2007-10-05
This is a fabulous guide to enameling. As a beginner it answered all my questions in an easy to follow format. I have purchased several enameling books and this is the best by far both educational and inspirational. This will be my enameling bible.
Top Enameling Book.......2007-09-06
This is a great book. Has lots of step-by-step pictures, very detailed, goes through all the equipment etc. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is serious about enamel jewellery.
The Art of Enameling: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration.......2007-05-15
Very comprehensive, photos and examples are excellent, projects are great. I can't recommended this book enough for artists interested in enameling. It's a must have.
Very Helpful.......2007-03-10
What a wonderfull reference to have on hand when enameling. This is a great book for first timers as well as those that have been doing it for a while. Step by step instructions and illustrations make the book easy to follow and understand.
An Excellent Enameling book for beginners.......2006-09-13
I had been enameling for several months when I came upon this book. It provided answers to my many questions. I enjoy the historical highlights and the fast facts helpful hints. I also love the projects provided which teach beginners and those more advanced the various techniques. This book has been a definite plus to my library.
Average customer rating:
- this just gets better, and Better, and BETTER!
- Not that simple stupid!!
- Great Basic Cookbook
- Disappointed
- Worst cookbook in my kitchen
|
The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook: America's Bestselling Step-by-Step Cookbook, with More Than 1,400 Recipes
Manufacturer: Hearst
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
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jp-unknown3
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Good Housekeeping The Complete Household Handbook: The Best Ways to Clean, Maintain & Organize Your Home
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Good Housekeeping Great Baking: 600 Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Breads, Pies and Pastries (Good Housekeeping)
ASIN: 1588161870 |
Book Description
More than 650,000 copies later, this big, visually appetizing cookbook remains a home chef's favorite. More than 5,000 exciting photographs and 1,400 recipes cover every meal, from lunchtime sandwiches to lavish dinners. And, all the dishes--appetizers, soups, omelettes, pastas, meat and poultry entrees, breads, sauces, desserts--have been triple-tested by Good Housekeeping for infallibility, ease, good taste and value. Includes loads of techniques, time-saving tips, and complete menus for entertaining.
Customer Reviews:
this just gets better, and Better, and BETTER!.......2007-06-19
At nearly 60 years old, and single all that time, I guess one could say "I never would have gotten this far if I couldn't cook!"
Well, that I CAN DO! I love to cook. Over the years I collected perhaps 125 cookbooks!?!? Guess what? I did not USE them! Over the years, I have kept paring down with each "move" (occasionally 'slipping' and picking up a new one here and there). I am now down to about 6 of my most favorite ones, and this one, "Good Housekeeping's Illustrated Cookbook" is the one that I reach for the most frequently. I have worn out two copies of it over the years, and I fully intend to always have a copy of it around until that "final" day!
This book just "begs" you to cook, to experiment, etc. Every recipe is aided by illustrations and clear instructions "as you go" to help you with everything you'd ever want to cook up in your kitchen at home. I have used dozens and dozens of cookbooks, and none of them have ever "aided" me as much as this wonderful kitchen helper.
Thanks, Good Housekeeping, you're the Best! ~operabruin
Not that simple stupid!!.......2007-04-02
I've had this book since college. It was the required book for my cooking class. And years later I have collected many other cookbooks, but I always find myself going back to Good Housekeeping. And the main reason is... new books appear to rely on the concept of "KISS - Keeping It Simple Stupid." But if your purpose is to create a memory of home cooking, keeping it simple just doesn't cut it. The other day I was searching recipes for cheesecakes. The Good Housekeeping had about 4 more ingredients than others provided. And I feel the reason is we're so stuck on shortcuts. If you want to "wow" people... simplicity wont' do it.
Great Basic Cookbook.......2007-01-27
This is a terrific cookbook for both the beginner and more experienced cook. There is a photo of every recipe and beautilful illustrations throughout the book. Some of my family's favorite recipes have come from this book and Good Housekeeping is a name you can always count on for quality.
Disappointed.......2007-01-11
Many years ago I received a Good Housekeeping Cookbook as a gift. It was practically my bible for cooking. In the interim I lost it, so decided to get a new Good Housekeeping book. Big Mistake! Very few recipes, and the ones in the book were uninteresting.
Worst cookbook in my kitchen.......2006-12-07
I've had this cookbook for years. I don't turn to it. I don't trust it. This cookbook has no credibility. At best, the recipes are pretty bland and boring. But usually, they're fatally flawed.
This book is not for someone who wants to learn how to cook. It's got all the sections you'd hope to see... some on equipment, some on technique. But those sections are sparse. They'll show you a bunch of knives, but not tell you what knives work well in what situations, or what knives you need. The cookbook has pictures of every dish, but the pictures are low quality and have bad color so you can't really trust the pictures.
But it's the recipes that are the real downfall. It talks about bullion cubes or cooking wine without explaining that they are convenient, but not good when you have time and want flavor. It gives that standard cooking temps for food, but doesn't mention you need to pull the food off the heat early or the food will be overcooked until the very end of the book in the microwave section. Recipes will say "cook until done" without ever explaining how you should be checking how fried eggs, for example, are cooking.
With this cookbook, you won't learn the best ways to cook eggs. You won't learn what "divan" means, even though there are a bunch of recipes divan here. It'll show you what different herbs and spices look like, but won't do well at helping you learn what goes well when. If you make all the recipes, take notes, and remember what didn't work, you'll learn a lot, but you'll have alot of poor recipes in the process.
Cookwise will teach you more about the fundamentals of cooking. William's Sonoma books have better pictures and better recipes. The Cook's Bible and Cook's Illustrated will teach you more about recipe variations and how to find recipes which work reliably. Saveur will give you better traditional food from across the globe.
This book will help you prop up a chair with a short leg. Beyond that, it's not worth much.
Average customer rating:
- Great Novice Information
- making use of my new smoker
- Recipes are inaccurate
- Excellent variety of smoke cooking recipes.
|
The Smoked-Foods Cookbook: How to Flavor, Cure, and Prepare Savory Meats, Game, Fish, Nuts, and Cheese
Lue Park , and
Ed Park
Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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Canning & Preserving
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ASIN: 0811701166 |
Book Description
Easy, modern methods of preparing smoked foots, with 147 tasty recipes. Includes low-fat and low-salt alternatives for healthful eating.
Customer Reviews:
Great Novice Information.......2007-04-05
This cookbook has given me the basic knowledge necessary to understand the smoking process and to independently expand my recipe base.
making use of my new smoker.......2005-10-09
The book in conjunction with the directions for my new smoker was very useful as it contains numerous recipes along with short shorties on the history of smoking
Recipes are inaccurate.......2005-07-06
First as another reviewer stated the salt to sugar ratios are off. Secondly the book tells you to smoke a brisket at 350 for about 1 hour per pound. I'm not an expert at smoking by any stretch of the imagination, but I know that brisket needs to be smoked low and slow, otherwise tough brisket and a ruined meal. I also have a problem with adding liquid smoke to recipes as a couple in this book have, it seems to have a chemical aftertaste. The game recipes are scant with only one for venison. I do like the tables in the back for brining and smoking times. If you want a book that gives a little information on everything with some interesting recipes go ahead and buy it. If you want a book that teaches you the art of smoking this one isn't for you.
Excellent variety of smoke cooking recipes........1998-09-01
A complete and interesting compendium of recipes and smoke cooking methods. The advanced smoke cooker will enjoy this book and find some new ideas within. The section on sausages and pemican, two of the advanced smoke cooking skills, are expecially helpful. The beginer may be disapointed in the results of applying the recipes due to one major oversight.
The heart and soul of good smoked food is the cure. Smoke goes on the food last. This book although mentioning cures of many types fails to make this point clear and to provide the first time smoke cook with a simple first time recipe. In fact, the cure recipes provided do not have anywhere near enough sugar in them. Having smoked foods for 20 years I have found that the taste for sugar is strong and if not enough sugar is used the complaint of smoked food is that there is too much salt. First timers should use the cure on page 39 but substitute 4 parts sugar to 1 part salt. And don't leave the sugar out of meat cures like the author does.
Curing time is not covered adequately either. Lean meat absorbs salt while fat absorbs sugar (more or less), and time in the cure makes a huge difference in the saltiness of the food. The longer in the brine, the saltier the food will taste. The leaner the meat, the saltier the food will taste. Never leave your meat in the cure longer than the recipe states, or you will have salty meat.
Buy this book to improve your smoke cooking skills, but not to learn how to smoke cook if you have never done so before.
Book Description
Practical and unpretentious, A Gentleman Entertains includes
- 15 essential preparations before entertaining
- 100 things every gentleman should know about being a host
- Ideas for twelve specific parties complete with more than 20 fool-proof recipes
- Tips on dealing with inevitable, inescapable, really ugly disaster moments.
Customer Reviews:
Great and Useful Purchase.......2005-02-13
This is a rare book that actually deserves 5 stars.
Most books in this genre (including some in this series) are too superficial to be of any help but Bridges does a great job of filling each page of this little book with helpful, practical hints.
There isn't much in the way of recipes or cooking specifics, but that isn't the idea here. Spend $12 on this and $12 on a cook book and you will be set.
In conclusion, the two best things I can say for this are: 1. I have not had to call my mom for any entertaining, non-cooking questions since I got this book. 2. My wife has looked things up in this book.
Who Says Guys Don't Want to Be Good Hosts?.......2000-12-21
A great, easy read, filled with practical advice. This book takes the "who me??" out of cool entertaining. Highly recommended by the editors of SharpMan.com.
A Gentleman Entertains by John Bridges.......2000-06-22
"A Gentleman Entertains" takes a surprisingly unpretentious look at men entertaining, though the book is by no means without merit for women readers. The practical advice and simple, elegant recipes cover a broad range of entertaining scenarios, from casual cocktail parties at home to dining out, to family reunions. The South is perhaps the only place left where it is still fashionable to be genteel, and Bridges lives up to his Southern upbringing without coming across stuffy. Leaving no stone unturned, the book touches on everything from tipping to starting a charcoal grill to choosing the wine. Though the title suggests a certain level of sophistication, the author is just as quick to advise readers to use paper plates when the situation dictates as he is to recommend the proper way to garnish a cocktail. Bridges writing style is crisp and on the wry side, though he had more room to shine in "Keeping Up," a delightful series of essays on his upbringing in Slapout, Al., as well as witty observations on life and martinis. I would have liked to have seen him cut loose in this book a little more stylistically, but being the proper gentleman that he is, he wrote a respectable book suitable for any coffee table. It is a fine follow up to his previous outing, "How to be a Gentleman." I recommend it to anyone who is looking for the kind of practical advice on entertaining that bears repeating and never goes out of style.
Average customer rating:
- Just OK
- Great Recipes
- Nothing like what iowa's Cousin Rick Black Has!! Give us The Deer Burger Cookbook anytime!
- Very Poor, Rick Black's books are by far better!
- A very good book with a variety of recipies
|
301 Venison Recipes: The Ultimate Deer Hunter's Cookbook
Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine , and
Deer Hunting Magazine
Manufacturer: Krause Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Plastic Comb
Game
| Meat, Poultry & Seafood
| Cooking by Ingredient
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Complete Venison Cookbook
-
Deer Burger Cookbook: Recipes For Ground Venison - Soups, Stews, Chilies, Casseroles, Jerkies, And Sausages
-
Kill It & Grill It: A Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish
-
The Complete Venison Cookbook: From Field to Table
-
The L.L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook
ASIN: 0873412273 |
Customer Reviews:
Just OK.......2006-11-28
This book is nothing special - a book of OK recipes that provide little insight into how to cook venison.
Great Recipes.......2006-02-24
I really enjoyed the wide variety of recipes that are in this book. I would highly recommend this to someone.
Nothing like what iowa's Cousin Rick Black Has!! Give us The Deer Burger Cookbook anytime!.......2006-01-11
Cut and Dry.. Iowa's Cousin Rick Black is by far the leader with us deer hunters and how we cook our harvest. I got a copy of 301 Venison Recipes from my uncle. I asked him why he was tossing it out? His reply? "Heck boy, I got The Deer Burger Cookbook and the Venison Cookbook by Cousin Rick Black"!
Yepper! Like everyone else. "We will stick with Rick" and his Deer Burger Cookbook and Bag Em and Tag Em.
Very Poor, Rick Black's books are by far better! .......2005-01-15
Sorry about the bad review, but the truth hurts. I like every other hunter now days am a Big fan of Iowa's wildman Rick Black and his line of outdoor books. I will stick with Rick. For the deer hunter I reccemend the following by Black" Bag Em and Tag Em, Venison cookbook, The dead deer cookbook, and Cookin' with beer, If your a redneck like me then you will love TRAILER TRASh COOKIN' (A VERY FUNNY BOOK)
A very good book with a variety of recipies.......1999-03-03
My wife bought this book after I ,finally, brought home my first deer. We had venison roast ("Bag-o-Buck") for Thanksgiving that year. My son, who doesn't like anything that isn't from McDonalds, decided after that meal that he actually likes venison (darn it, that's less for me!)
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