Blue Ribbon Baking from a Redneck Kitchen:  By Francine Bryson, Foreword by Jeff Foxworthy

Francine Bryson has brought down home baking to a new level in her recent book Blue Ribbon Baking from a Redneck Kitchen.
The book is divided up into 8 chapters.
The first chapter involves everything pies, from her nana's Lard Crust to her granny's Butter Crust recipes you feel as though you are in the kitchen cooking with them. The most decadent pies you can imagine, including Peaches and Cream and a White Chocolate Banana, 8 pie crusts along with 18 recipes for pies.

The second chapter brings you to Cookie and Bar baking, 17 recipes from Best Ever Chocolate chip cookies to Classic Southern Lemon Bars. Francine Bryson brings the ole south baking recipes to life here and adds her personal touches to add a little more magical touch to them.

In chapter 3 she brings us to the world of  Cakes like Granny Made, 15 recipes that seem to top each other. It takes you bake to the good ole cakes, the ones you wish you had your grandma's recipes that was lost over the years, and she had found it for you. Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Sauce, Old Fashioned Carrot Cake and Classic Pineapple Cake to name a few.

Chapter 4 brings you into the world of Cheesecakes, personally my downfall, can't resist a good cheesecake, but then who can. There are 12 recipes, Apple Caramel Cheesecake and key Lime Cheesecake I believe top the list here.

In chapter 5 called Sunday Go To Meeting you find a variety of recipes 15 in all, ranging from Apple Crisp to Rice Pudding, Peach Cobbler and something new Crock Pot Monkey Bread. she makes all her recipes so easy to use  with detailed explanations and hints.

OK, chapter 6 is Baked Goods to Show Off and I think it says it all in those words. Eleven wonderful recipes from Lemon Tiramisu and Upside Down Apple Pecan Pie are definitely guest impress desserts to die for.

Chapter 7 is Biscuits and Bread, really Mama's Corn Bread and Biscuits Like Nana Made bring you right into their kitchens, 15 recipes in all of comfort breads and biscuits.

Candy and Truffles are Chapter 8, containing 11 wonderful recipes from Southern Pralines to Liquored Up Fudge, you will just have to read the book to find out how that fudge got so liquored up.

All the recipes are down home good, if you are scared to cook with butter or lard, well you just never learned the flavors they impart, Francine Bryson makes you want to go out and buy pounds and pounds of each. My only regret in her cook book is that she did not include more pictures of her wonderful Baking. her stories and tips are delightful. I give this cookbook a top rating for decadence in a Down Home Redneck Way.


 "I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Peter Reinhart has done it again!! Bread Revolution

Peter Reinhart has done it again!! Bread Revolution World-Class Baking with Sprouted and Whole Grains, Heirloom Flours, and Fresh Techniques is a winner.

No matter a novice in bread making or a well seasoned baker, you will find this book filled with information, recipes, stories. Mr Reinhart has taken baking bread to a new level. The book encompasses helping novices learn ingredients and measuring to seasoned bakers learning how to work with old and new grains, not limiting one to wheat and oat flours alone.

The book is beautiful, full of wonderful photos, you know we all love photos of what our baking should look like.
I am most intrigued with the variety of starts he presents in the book, not just plain sour dough starter, from pineapple to raisin. He explains the function, the reason and use. When using his recipes it is always an education in itself.

I am excited to get into the kitchen and try my hand at one of his many recipes, I just can't decide which first, from Apricot Almond Quick Bread, Cinnamon Raisin Bagels, English Muffins to Focaccia to Onion Rye Bread, he covers it all, a little of this and a little of that. You will not be disappointed in any of the book, guaranteed you will find something you fall in love with.

High praise goes to the work Mr Reinhart has put into this book.
I highly recommend it.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Just requested this wonderful bread book to review
Renowned baking author and instructor Peter Reinhart has always been on the forefront of the bread movement—from his seminal work, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, to today. In Bread Revolution, he explores the cutting-edge developments in bread baking, with fifty recipes and formulas that use sprouted flours, whole and ancient grains, nut and seed flours, alternative flours (such as teff and grape skin), and allergy-friendly and gluten-free approaches.

A new generation of bakers and millers are developing innovative flours and baking techniques that are designed to extract the grain’s full flavor potential—what Reinhart calls “the baker’s mission.” In this lushly photographed primer, Reinhart draws inspiration from these groundbreaking methods to create master recipes and formulas any home baker can follow, including Sprouted Sandwich Rye Bread, Gluten-Free Many-Seed Toasting Bread, and Sprouted Wheat Croissants.

In many instances, such as with sprouted flours, preferments aren’t necessary because so much of the flavor development occurs during the sprouting phase. For grains that benefit from soakers, bigas, and sourdough starters, Reinhart provides the precise guidance that has made him such a trusted expert in the field.

Advanced bakers will relish Reinhart’s inventive techniques and exacting scientific explanations, while beginning bakers will rejoice in his demystification of ingredients and methods—and all will come away thrilled by bread’s new frontier.

So we wait with anticipation.

An elevated guide to the craft of pasta-making by rising star chef Thomas McNaughton of San Francisco's hottest Italian restaurant, flour + water.

From San Francisco’s wildly popular Italian restaurant, flour + water, comes this complete primer on the craft of pasta making. Chef Thomas McNaughton shares his time-tested secrets to creating simple, delicious, and beautiful artisan pasta—from the best fresh doughs to shaping and cooking every type of pasta.  A true celebration of Italy’s pasta traditions, flour + water includes fifty seasonally influenced recipes for home cooks of every skill level. The recipes cover the flavor spectrum from well-loved classics to inventive combinations, such as Tagliatelle Bolognese; Pumpkin Tortelloni with Sage  and Pumpkin Seeds; Tomato Farfalle with Chicken Polpettine, Roasted Peppers, and Basil; and  Asparagus Caramelle with Brown Butter. With guidance from McNaughton and the secrets of flour + water’s dough room, anyone can learn to make amazing pasta at home.
On Sale: September 30, 2014
Pages: 288 | ISBN: 978-1-60774-470-2


I waiting with anticipation for Flour and Water by Thomas McNaughton.
I married into an Italian Family, my idea of pasta was homemade egg noodles and pierogi, till my marriage.

Flour and Water is a masterpiece, I have always loved old cookbooks with a story for the recipe found within the book. Thomas McNaughton has written a novel on Pasta. With home experience of making pasta since childhood and graduating to more intricate pastas later on I was anticipating a first-time pasta maker book, to my astonishment I was totally wrong.
The cover of the book is impressive, you do feel like you are holding a masterpiece novel. The recipes have intricate descriptions, easy for anyone to follow, along with beautiful pictures.

The book starts out with Part One --- How to Make Pasta Dough and How to Cook the Pasta,
Part Two The Recipes which are broken down by season. If you like cooking with fresh ingredients, from scratch,  (Rustic Cooking) but think it is hard, this book makes it easy.

For those scared of diving into pasta making this is the book for them and also for the seasoned pasta maker. If I only could have one pasta book on my bookshelf, this would be the ONE!!
"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."