Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've had such consistently good results making Ina Garten's recipes that I would have felt remiss had I not added this newest cookbook to my collection. While I mostly like it, I have to say that I am a little disappointed in a couple of ways. But first, the good part - the verdict on the recipes I've tried so far: --- Lentils & Kielbasa Salad - I loved this, but, although he liked it, my husband didn't think it was particularly noteworthy. I liked the idea of cooking the lentils with a whole turnip and clove-studded onion thrown in and thought that it would deliver a flavor punch that I hadn't tried before, but for my money (and time), I think Alice Waters's Lentil Salad from The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution packs just as much flavor with less than half the work. These lentils, with those flavors, along with the heavily mustarded vinaigrette, worked really nicely with the kielbasa and were delicious. I will likely make this again, but Alice's remain at the top of my lentil recipe list. --- Maple-Roasted Carrot Salad - We LOVED this salad. So perfect for fall. Although Ina suggests it for lunch or a side, we found that it made a satisfying light supper with a glass of crisp, white wine. My son, who also had it, loved how flavorful it was and even asked me if he could have the recipe! Although the recipe instructs that everything be tossed together, I would have preferred leaving the goat cheese and almonds to be scattered over the top of the tossed vegetables. --- Spaghetti Squash with Garlic and Parmesan - This is the recipe to try if you're not sure how to make spaghetti squash. It is similar to Sara Foster's delicious recipe from Fresh Every Day: More Great Recipes from Foster's Market, which is made with balsamic vinegar and without garlic. The addition of garlic is a good one. Freshly-grating the Parm is a must. This is yummy. --- French 75 - a standard recipe for this cocktail, but messing with it would make it something other than a French 75, wouldn't it? I'm so glad she included this, though. It's a lovely cocktail that's not seen often enough. What disappointed me about the book was that I didn't feel as though the theme - cooking for Jeffrey - was realized in the way I was expecting. Although some of the recipe descriptions say "Jeffrey likes this" or "Jeffrey and I had this when...", Jeffrey's favorite recipes appear at the back of the book as a list of dishes, the recipes for which are in Ina's other cookbooks! What? I thought that's what this cookbook was supposed to be! In addition, there are a lot of recipes that seem to be little more than variations on recipes from earlier books. As usual, desserts take up the lion's share of pages, but as much as I like to complain about that, desserts from Ina's earlier books (coconut cupcakes, those brownies!) have easily been among the best I've ever made. Bottom line: There are good recipes here. The first few I tried assured that I will be delving further into these recipes. I'm not sorry I bought this book, but I do have to say that it was not exactly what I was expecting.