Average customer rating:
- the best book
- Great book for learning how to make deserts. Good recipes too!
- Classic Patisserie
- Pastries are great, instructions even greater
- wonderful concept brought foward, but flawed
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Dessert University: More Than 300 Spectacular Recipes and Essential Lessons from White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier
Roland Mesnier , and
Lauren Chattman
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Desserts
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Professional
| Professional Cooking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
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All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House, A Memoir
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ASIN: 0743223179 |
Amazon.com
Slightly older egg whites--the ones from supermarket eggs are already three to five days old by the time you buy them--whip up smoother and higher than fesh ones. This bit of information introduces the section called Magical Meringues in Roland Mesnier's Dessert University. For 25 years Roland Mesnier has been executive pastry chef at the White House. He's also a teacher who never forgets what it is to be a student. So he's ready, willing, and able to share what he has learned about producing desserts to die for.
There's a gentle, encouraging spirit that runs through this book, and it comes from the unique situation a White House pastry cehf finds himself in. On the one hand he has to prepare high-end restaurant-quality desserts for lunches and dinners that seat people by the hundreds. But the chief responsibility is to a single family and its guests, which makes the work more like a private chef who only has to satisfy one customer. So these are family recipes, in a sense, that can stand up to restaurant specs.
The book opens with a chapter on fruit desserts, a chapter that establishes a simple, user-friendly line. What follows are chapters on Puddings Custards and Souffles; Mousses and Bavarians; Frozen Desserts; Meringues; Crepes and Deloctable Fillings; Breakfast Pastries; Cookies; Tarts and Pies; Cakes; Chocolate Candy and Decorations; Sugar Decorations; and Syrups, Sauces, and Glazes.
At 540-plus pages this is a big, well-illustrated, cleanly written book with clear instructions and concise recipes. But it isn't intiomidating. Rather, it's welcoming. You'll feel as comfortable whipping up an Apple Sorget with Caramel sauce as you willbaking a Chocolate Butter Cake. And the best advice of all from this master? Practice, practice, practice. --Schuyler Ingle
Book Description
As Executive Pastry Chef at the White House for almost twenty-five years, Roland Mesnier has been responsible for creating thousands of elegant, delicious confections and dazzling desserts for hundreds of state dinners and family occasions. An accomplished teacher as well as a master chef, he now shares his expertise with home cooks in Dessert University.
This beautifully illustrated volume is a complete course in making the full spectrum of spectacular sweets -- from breakfast pastries, cookies, and pies to fresh-fruit desserts, frozen confections, and cakes. Recipes in each chapter are organized from the simplest to the most complex, and Chef Mesnier walks you through each step, pointing out common mistakes and offering insights on technique gained from his years as a professional. Most of these recipes need few special ingredients and almost no fancy equipment; nearly everything can be purchased at a well-stocked supermarket, department store, or kitchen supply store. Chef Mesnier includes tips on techniques, ingredients, and serving suggestions, and offers home cooks practical advice, such as how to fill and use a pastry bag and the best way to whip egg whites. A resource list is also included, so cooks can find the more unusual ingredients they need to make these delectable creations.
Mesnier starts off with his fresh-fruit desserts, including uniquely wonderful recipes such as Bananas in Raspberry Cream, Blueberry Fool, and Poached Peaches with Chestnut Mousse. He moves on to creamy custards, puddings, soufflés, mousses and Bavarians, ice creams, meringues, crêpes, and breakfast treats (including buttery brioche and croissant doughs). Chef Mesnier's cookie and bar recipes will fill your cookie jar with such treats as Chocolate Chip Cookies, Almond Crescents, Orange Butter Cookies, Brownies, and Florentine Squares. There are sweet and savory tarts, and cakes ranging from the simple (Lemon Pound Cake) to the unusual (Peanut Butter and Jelly Roulade Cake) to the sophisticated (Chocolate Champagne Mousse Cake). Ambitious home cooks can even try their hand at making chocolate candy and sugar decorations. A chapter on syrups, sauces, and other dessert components completes the book.
More than fifty black-and-white line drawings throughout illustrate Chef Mesnier's instructions for the more complicated recipes, and there are sixteen stunning color photographs of finished desserts.
Home cooks and professionals spend hundreds of dollars in formal cooking classes to learn what masters like Roland Mesnier have to teach. In Dessert University, Chef Mesnier has distilled the experience and expertise of an extraordinary career into one accessible, user-friendly volume. Whether you're a novice who has never picked up a rolling pin or an accomplished cook looking to hone and enhance your skills, this is truly a book you cannot do without.
Customer Reviews:
the best book .......2007-07-05
This is simply the best book on baking I have ever used! I bake a lot. At least one thing every day and I have never owned a book where every recipe I have tried has turned out beautifully until now. If your someone who likes to bake out of a box this book is not for you, but if you've wanted to try something different from your everday items this book is wonderful. Mesnier breaks everything down and teaches you the simplest way to do everything. If there's an easier way to do something, he's found it. It's not like other dessert books, where you've never even heard of half of the ingredients, or they're all super expensive items with long drawn out instructions. I'm now making things that I never in a million years thought I would be able to make. This is the book I turn to for any technique. In fact, I've taken ideas from other books and then put them together using the techniques in this book. Quite simply this is the best book ever!!!! I love it and I recommend it to everyone.
Great book for learning how to make deserts. Good recipes too!.......2007-04-11
I like the book. The best part is that Chef Mesnier has a brief introduction to each recipe. He gives instructions or advise which I found most helpful.
I have thousands, yes thousands, of recipes but few come with thoughtful comments about them. Chef Mesnier makes even difficult techniques seem possible for the average person.
In short, if you like to learn about making deserts get the book. If you are a professional chef who knows everything about cooking, this book is probably not for you.
Classic Patisserie .......2007-03-21
In Dessert University, Roland Mesnier, the White House Pastry Chef from the Carter Administration to the current Bush Administration, skillfully merges renowned expertise with effective teaching. Like the venerable, tenured professor of an esteemed academy of higher learning, Chef Mesnier has spent many years in many kitchens developing his extensive knowledge and creative interpretation of patisserie. His career parallels the evolution of a scholastic researcher continually refining his understanding while seeking new realms of discovery.
Chef Mesnier's personal love of learning is conveyed to others in his first opus. Dessert University is a varied collection of clear and reliable recipes. Most often they are prefaced by lively and personal commentary. By so doing, the reader senses the presence of the engaging teacher and master chef, ever ready to support and to nudge forward to new culinary challenges. Some recipes are accompanied by helpful sketches or stunning color photographs.
A quick glimpse into Chef Mesnier's classroom reveals a range of tantalizing options. There are basic dessert recipes for novice pastry students, such as Oatmeal Cookies or All-American Apple Pie. Chef Mesnier simultaneously offers multiple recipes for those students inclined to enlarge their pastry repertoire. A few, tempting samples are: gossamer Apple Butter Crepes with Marsala-Laced Vanilla Sauce, an ethereal Warm Strawberry soufflé, a delicate Quick Chocolate Mousse with Ginger, or a chapter on the intricacies of pulled and blown sugar artwork.
If research, complemented by a passion for teaching, epitomizes the highest values of scholarship, Dessert University has achieved the gold standard of excellence. Chef Mesnier does this without any Ivory Tower overtones that detract from his dual passions of learning and teaching. He warmly shares his pastry expertise within a clear and devoted mentorship style. Dessert University is certain to become a classic reference for any student of patisserie.
Pastries are great, instructions even greater.......2006-06-22
Pastries & dessert making isn't my greatest skill. So I bought this book hoping to find at least a handful of easy to make desserts. I was surprised to find most recipes quite easy to follow. I still have a long way to go making them look good, but at least my pastries taste good for a change.
wonderful concept brought foward, but flawed.......2006-04-26
This book appears to have been designed to provide value and economy for a wide audience and the author accomplishes this. The book is well designed and executed. It features good line drawings, interesting topics, and thorough instructions. For this, the book earns 5 stars.
From a professional point of view however, having been in the culinary field for over 20 years, I feel the title is a bit misleading. The term "dessert university" brings to mind a reader who has some prior knowledge of the culinary arts but upon reading this book, I see recipes for basic recipes like chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, and plain poached pears.
On the other hand, I see recipes for sophisticated cooks like peaches with chestnuts and figs with cantalope. Some of the recipes were just too bizarre. A good example is rum raisen ice cream with pears in red wine. My complaint?
There is too much going on in this book to present a clear point of view.
There are chapters for fruit, soft desserts, frozen desserts, cakes, cookies, and so on. For the experienced cook and baker, many of the recipes for these chapter headings are better found elsewhere, not that they are really needed here anyway.
The chapters that offered more information on meringues, crepes, chocolate work, and sugar work were the only advanced subjects that you would not find in a common bakery book.
Although this book is a great resource for people who want just one complete guide for baking, most of the consumers who really are interested and in need of instruction from a "dessert university" are likely to buy more than one book on the topic anyway.
But for my own opinion as someone in the business, I would of liked to see this book geared more for the truly advanced person in the field of culinary arts. I would of liked to see a chapter on the use of eggs with meriques and souffles together and also a chapter with molded desserts together (frozen and creme). I would want to see more ways to use crepes that was shown in the chapter.
Lastly, I would definitely want to see many more photos on the use of complicated processes like sugar work and chocolate decorations. For the reasons cited in the above paragraph, my personal rating for this book is 3 stars.
Book Description
With their eye-catching design and creative potential, textured and embellished walls have become the newest trend in home décor. Do-it-yourself decorators everywhere want to learn how to use the texturing techniques featured on such networks as HGTV -- and thanks to Spectacular Walls, now they can.
Readers will find:
-38 illustrated, step-by-step projects for walls
-A variety of techniques, including Venetian plaster looks, easy wall glazing and ideas drawn from cake decorating, to create effects ranging from subtle and refined to whimsical and colorful
-A wide array of suggested materials, from drywall mud to decorative papers to faux gems and pearls
With Spectacular Walls, readers can create exciting surfaces that would make anyone proud to be a wallflower!
Customer Reviews:
creative -- but what if you change your mind???.......2007-04-11
Step-by-step techniques for inspirational projects. How to add reveals of foil, pearls, glass gems, glazed leaves and fruits. Brilliant ideas, such as how to use cake decorating tools to make 3D leaves, vines, and flowers. "When in doubt add a scroll or color it gold". WOW.
EXCEPT: How do you remove the embellishments and textured plaster when you decide to change the look of the room?
(...I hate sanding).
LOVE this book!.......2006-12-28
I am a faux and decorative painter, and this book is perfect for adding interesting ideas to your portfolio that have a little "zing!" Great addition for any decorative painter's library!
Great New Faux Finishes..!!.......2006-11-04
As a professional Faux Finisher this book rates a 5 from me because it is easy to follow the steps and accomplish the finishes without a lot of expensive tools. These are out of the ordinary finishes and add punch to a portfolio that is mainly old world plaster finishes. Fun and do-able!! Even for a beginner..!
I'm inspired!.......2006-03-27
Thank you for inspiring me to start faux finishing! With your detailed instructions, colorful large photos, and list of items to buy, you make it very easy. Your ideas are fresh and fun! I am really enjoying your book - I would recommend it to everyone who is looking for something with extra pizazz! Not the same old colors and techniques.
By adding texture and embellishments to walls you can have spectacular results both original and tasteful as well as artistic .......2006-02-06
By adding texture and embellishments to walls you can have spectacular results both original and tasteful as well as artistic - and you needn't be a painter to achieve this. Spectacular Walls: Creative Effects Using Texture, Embellishment And Paint shows how, using a step- by-step visual approach and covering everything from materials and supplies to have on hand to tips on using paint, coating, drawing and preparations. Oversized pages and many color photos make for a winning display.
Book Description
Warehouse club shopping is thrilling. Walking down aisle after fluorescent-lit aisle of impossible-to-pass-up bargains, you fill your cart and tally the money you're going to save. Unloading the boxes and jugs, however, it becomes obvious that, while the way you shop for food may have changed, the scale of your refrigerator (and your stomach!) has not.
So what do you do with the sixteen chicken breasts, the five pounds of oatmeal and the gallon of olive oil that you couldn't afford not to buy? You turn to From Warehouse to Your House: More Than 250 Simple, Spectacular Recipes to Cook, Store and Share When You Buy in Quantity by Sally Sampson, veteran cookbook author, working mom and accomplished warehouse shopper.
Utilizing the fresh and packaged products available at the warehouse clubs and superstores, Sampson's flavorful recipes are simple enough for a weeknight dinner and special enough for entertaining and, if you're cooking for a couple or a small family, portioned so you can eat some, store some and even share some.
Those boneless chicken breasts turn into New-Fangled Classic Chicken Noodle Soup, Curried Chicken Salad for lunch and Moroccan Chicken for the freezer. Three pounds of butter becomes Chipotle Butter to dress up a grilled steak or chicken breast, Cinnamon Butter for your morning toast and Chocolate Chip Cookies: a batch baked right away, a batch of dough for the fridge and a batch for the freezer. And that big box of oatmeal? When you're tired of hot cereal (maybe with some of the Cinnamon Butter?), try the Fruit Crisp or Oatmeal Lace Cookies. From breakfast coffee cakes to soups, appetizers, salads and dressings, sandwiches and entrÉes, Sampson gives the home cook who buys big a wide variety of classic American recipes, as well as international dishes like Mexican Chicken Fajitas, Asian Ribs, Italian pastas and Jamaican Jerk Chicken.
Sampson includes an essential pantry list, and amusing and informative tips and techniques that will help you make the most of your time, your money and your groceries, whether you're cooking for a small family or a small army.
Customer Reviews:
Versatile and organized cooking for every day.......2007-05-04
You don't have to be a bulk shopper to benefit from Sampson's ("The $50 Dinner Party") organized approach. Many dishes are served immediately or made only a day ahead. But she does provide storage and do-ahead guidelines wherever appropriate.
Many marinated recipes, for instance, can be frozen raw in the marinade. These include dishes like Chicken with Balsamic Vinaigrette or Curried Chicken with Raisins and Cashews, Apricot Soy-glazed Sirloin Steak Tips and Flank Steak with Bourbon Balsamic Ginger as well as several recipes for ribs.
She includes plenty of finished dishes that freeze well, such as soups, stews, chilis, macaroni and cheese, lasagna and pasta sauces. Her Chicken Pot Pie makes filling for four pies. There are salad dressings which keep up to a month and plenty of ideas for leftovers of all kinds.
While do-ahead convenience is the theme, versatility is the charm. Side dishes, like Spinach with Garlic and Pine Nuts, can double as pasta sauce or omelet filling.
Suggestions for variations and garnishes abound and she offers serving suggestions with most recipes. Her Parmesan Chicken can be served with her Caesar Salad or with Grape Tomatoes with Garlic and Olive Oil (which can be a burger or pasta topping) or on a wilted lemon-pepper salad or with mozzarella on a baguette.
Her tastes run more to chicken than meat (she was a vegetarian for years) and there are lots of boneless chicken breast recipes that take little time to prepare.
Clearly written, well-organized, and attractive, with food quotes scattered throughout, and a friendly, conversational approach, this is a useful addition to any cook's shelf.
Customer Reviews:
Not So Spectacular Kitchens.......2006-10-11
Don't waste your money on this book. The kitchens featured are completely ordinary and really present few new ideas on how to use your limited space. I mean, leave the trash can in the center of the kitchen? Well, I guess you could say that _is_ a novel idea. Beyond the issue of the kitchens, many of the pictures are pretty low-grade. Several of the featured kitchens are almost too dark to see, more like you went in with your digital camera and clicked off a few shots as opposed to staging the room professionally. All in all, this is a few dollars I wish I had back.
Waste of money!.......2006-07-22
Well... I know kitchens in the USA are usually larger than the ones in Europe but even then... most kitchens shown in this book are 3 to 4 times bigger than my current kitchen. The book does NOT give you planning tips, no clever cabinet interiors, just pictures of finished kitchens, not even info on how that finished kitchen came to be.
So if you are looking for clever ideas for making the most of small kitchens, DO NOT buy this book!
Petra
A big help for kitchen renovations.......2005-02-07
Small can be efficient and practical yet quite charming as we see in Ashley Rooney's Spectacular Small Kitchens: Design Ideas for Urban Spaces. Almost 40 designers address in eye-catching color images the functionality and aesthetic considerations of a small kitchen. They balance the desires of the interior architecture and the client's desires and come up with myriad design solutions: from the Feng Shui Kitchen to the integrated kitchen to the long thin kitchen. The book includes an intriguing narrative by Susan Aiello, ASID, CID, about the exciting opportunities and demanding challenges involved in designing small kitchens in large cities. I was lucky and got to see this book before it is out. With so many wonderful and colorful ideas, it is one that anyone ought to have before starting a kitchen renovation.
Average customer rating:
- Beehives, Barbecues, Fireplaces, and More
- Excellent guide for the Do-It-Yourselfer!
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Beehives, Barbecues, Fireplaces, and More: How to Build an Inviting Outdoor Entertainment Area : 15 Spectacular Plans, Complete Material Lists, Basic Instructions
Kathy James
Manufacturer: Beehive Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Outdoor & Recreational Areas
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Design & Construction
| Home Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Remodeling & Renovation
| Home Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
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Outdoor Kitchens: Designs for Outdoor Kitchens, Bars, and Dinning Areas (Quarry Book)
ASIN: 0970674201 |
Customer Reviews:
Beehives, Barbecues, Fireplaces, and More.......2003-03-05
This book is a must have! I was on a waiting list for months. I was so determined to get this book that I even called the publisher, who just happened to be in my state. I was told that the book was currently not being printed, but that if I really wanted a copy I should go to Home Depot. I went to Home Depot and found the book. Man am I glad I went through the trouble! This book is full of beautiful ideas! Every project is thoroughly detailed, down to the material list. If you've ever dreamed of having an outdoor fireplace then this book is for you.!
Excellent guide for the Do-It-Yourselfer!.......2002-02-21
I was on the waiting list for this book for months before it was published and cannot say that I was let down at all.
The book has many pages of detailed pictures for outdoor beehive fireplaces, outdoor traditional fireplaces, barbeques and fire pits. The author also provides full and complete design plans that can be used to obtain building permits. It reviews the construction process and the masonry diagrams in laman's terms so they can be easily followed. Each project also has step by step instructions.
I have not come across another book that is as comprehensive as this for building outdoor entertaining structures. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!
Book Description
Create an amazing range of birdhouses and bird feeders with these easy-to-follow woodworking designs. Step-by-step illustrations will inspire the novice woodworker, while more complex projects will challenge those with more experience.
Designs range from simple wooden boxes to magnificent bird mansions suitable for all outdoor spaces, from large gardens to the smallest balcony. There are plans and projects for birdhouses, nesting boxes and feeders with a list of the best materials and notes about where to locate the finished project for best results.
Build Your Own Birdhouses and Feeders includes:
Clear step-by-step illustrations for each stage of building
Exploded and technical diagrams in color for each project
A wide range of projects and designs from the very easy to the ambitious
The 25 designs include:
Pagoda dovecote
Old fashioned clapboard house
Victorian townhouse
Hollow log birdhouse
Thatched cottage
Sailboat
Miami style art deco
Wild west saloon
Customer Reviews:
Build Your Birdhouses and Feeders........2005-07-14
No place in this book gives hole sizes for the birds you want to attract. Birds are very fussy about the size of the hole and also the size of the nesting cavity. I would consider this the worst book I have ever read on building bird house and feeders. I am glad I looked at it before I gave it to a friend. Not one practical bird feeder for wet and inclement weather. Beautiful bird houses, but no birds!
Beautiful Book, Great Plans.......2000-06-25
Perkins begins the book with some backround bird and woodworking information that will be useful for the beginner. He then gets into plans for 19 houses and 7 feeders.
Each project includes color photos of the completed house or feeder - these are not just the figments of a writer's imagination. There are detailed, measured, exploded color drawings of each house. His designs include several different methods of access for cleaning out the houses after each nesting period. I particularly like the "slide" designs - no tools or dropped screws to worry about.
Some of these houses are so pretty, I don't know if I would want to put them out in the yard. I suppose with a little imagination, you could scale his designs to meet the needs of a variety of species. He has a breif, one page chart showing entrance sizes for some birds. He also show "slot" as well as round entrance options on some of his designs. I still keep referring back to Scott D. Campbell's "The Complete Book of Birdhouse Construction for Woodworkers" as a more complete technical reference. (See that review on Amazon.)
Overall, this is a very good book on birdhouses, very inspirational for the imaginative bird "landlord." This book is profusely illustrated with color photos and drawings; it could be a "coffee table" book if you don't get it filled with sawdust!
Book Description
This series features the leading interior designers working in each city or region. Each collection features an impressive array of breathtaking homes that highlight some of the country's most talented designers. Whether it is the designer’s own home or that of a client, the stylish interiors selected for each book exemplify each designer’s best work, offering a look at the accomplishments and diverse styles of the top design professionals working in the interior design field today. Stylish and contemporary, these are extraordinary homes that will captivate and inspire.
Book Description
This lavishly illustrated volume displays dozens of the most spectacular residential interiors created in recent years. Located all over the world, they are set apart by their imaginative and innovative design, as well as their use of the latest technologies in construction, newly developed sophisticated materials, and furnishings from leading designers.
Whether it's one room or an entire house, NEW INTERIORS is sure to provide lots of inspiration on decorating the home.
Customer Reviews:
Gorgeous Book.......2007-07-17
This is a beautiful book of primarily European homes--some houses, lofts and apartments. I found it difficult to "run down" some of the most desirable products as they are not normally available in the US. The design work is of a very high caliber-so lift all the ideas you can use.
Book Description
This lavishly illustrated volume displays the 40 most spectacular houses built in recent years. Located all over the world, they are set apart by their imaginative and innovative design, as well as their use of the latest technologies in construction, newly developed sophisticated materials, and furnishings from leading designers.
Organized by geographic location -- city, suburbs, country, mountains, or by the sea -- they present the best of original and innovative designs from the world's most acclaimed cutting-edge architects.
Customer Reviews:
New Houses:36 of the World's Most Spectacular Home Designs .......2007-03-09
This book should not be bought.... I buy and study lots of books like this one and this books offers nothing and is poorly done.
Book Description
Spectacular Homes of Michigan is an impressive showcase of the top interior designers in Michigan headquartered in Greater Detroit, Grand Rapids and the upscale communities along the Great Lakes' shores. Over 200 photographs of some 40 talented designers including Lucy Earl, Nicole Withers, Jeffrey King, Arturo Sanchez, Barry Harrison, Rock Kauffman and Jennifer Taylor.
Books:
- Digital Color Management: Encoding Solutions
- Eames Design
- East Coast Rooms: Contemporary Portfolios from 40 north American Interior Designers
- Estimating in Building Construction (6th Edition)
- Family Houses by the Sea
- French by Design
- Furniture 2000: Modern Classics and New Designs in Production (Schiffer Design Book)
- Graphic Guide to Frame Construction: Details for Builders and Designers (For Pros by Pros)
- Graphic Guide to Frame Construction: Details for Builders and Designers (For Pros by Pros)
- Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet
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