ROUND 3 OF THE COOKBOOK CHALLENGE

ROUND 3 OF THE AMERICAN IDOL-ESQE COOKBOOK CHALLENGE

TODAY'S CHALLENGERS:

GOOSEBERRY PATCH EVERYDAY SIMPLE SUPPERS BY GOOSEBERRY PATCH

THE SWEET MELISSA BAKING BOOK BY MELISSA MURPHY

WITH HEART AND SOUL AMONG FRIENDS BY ROXIE KELLY

CHALLENGER #1 - WITH HEART AND SOUL AMONG FRIENDS - sorry pack your bags

This book was a difficult decision.  It had all the things I look for in a cookbook such as beautiful illustrations, anedotes about the recipes, and practical recipes with easy to find ingredients.  I ultimately decided to regift this book though as although it had some great recipes, I can scan the recipes I do need and the other recipes were too similiar to ones I had already collected.  Thus this would be a pretty book on my shelf that I probably wouldn't use very much.  It will make a nice gift though as it is a really great overall cookbook.

 

CHALLENGER #2 - THE SWEET MELISSA BAKING BOOK - winner

This book I actually expected to be able to part with easily as I have quite a few baking books and honestly don't do as much baking as I should due to lack of time.  When you're a working mother there is only so much time in the day, and believe me being up at 3am to bake cookies is not top priority, of course apparently a bowl of dry cereal and episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer does rate top priority if I wake up at 3 am.  Yesss- I so have my priorities in life straight, my poor kids may never know what a homemade cookie tastes like anytime soon....

That being said though, there are some books that you just have to keep for inspiration to be a better form of yourself, in my case that would mean a doting mommy who bakes.  The recipes in this book are really different, very gourmet, hipster, I'm the best mommy type of recipes.  The kind you brag to your coworkers, oh yeah I made that caramel latte pear apple french tart thing over the weekend, yeah I am just that impressive.  So yes, Sweet Melissa is sweet because she won today's challenge by having different yet doable recipes and enough of them to really make the book worthwhile to keep on the shelf.

CHALLENGER #3 - GOOSEBERRY PATCH EVERYDAY SIMPLE SUPPERS -pack your bags

I have picky kids that I cook for.  While the main recipients of my cooking are aged 13 and 14, they still have the palates of a 5 year old.  Pizza, sloppy joes, mac & cheese, and chicken nuggets reign supreme in popular dishes in our household.  The most exotic thing they like are buffalo wings.  So with simple suppers, for me yes there were some recipes that might work if I bluff and say "yeah remember you ate that and said you loved it" - this is the standard mommy white lie I use to make them try a new dish.  But even so there were just not enough dishes for the picky terrible twosome that are my boys to like.  So I plan to scan a couple recipes and pass this on to a family who might actually eat things like green beans.  :)