Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

To date, 40 out of 44 reviewers, or 91% of them, gave this book 5 or 4 stars, which would seem to indicate this is an excellent book. However, because 11 reviews were written by people who received free copies in exchange for writing a review and another 20 consisted of one or two lines of text (e.g., "Love love love this book", "First class", "Beautiful book") - that's over 75% of the reviews! - I was not completely convinced. So, I checked it out for myself - by checking out a copy from our public library. And, I would agree the book is lovely coffee-book material (linen cover, aspirational photographs), and the concept is noble (communal dining and building community), and I did find a couple of interesting recipes (Beet Pickled Eggs, Fennel Slaw and Winter Slaw). However, I also found a few recipes that made me start to wonder about the "cookability" of the rest of the recipes in the book. For example: . - Apple Olive Oil Cake that serves 8-10 with 5 cups of sugar, 3 cups of olive oil, 3 cups of whole milk and 6 eggs?!?! Yikes! I'm afraid to make that even for a special occasion splurge! - Ice Cream recipes that are heavy on the egg yolks. For example, 1 qt of David Lebovitz ice cream generally uses 3 cups of dairy liquids (milk, cream) and 4-5 egg yolks. Sunday Suppers uses 6 cups of dairy and 12-15 egg yolks. Also, Sunday Suppers' recipes only provide servings ("serves 6-8") rather than quantity. The standard qty for most ice cream recipes is 1 qt (see Lebovitz, Jeni's, Bi-Rite, Ciao Bella). The Sunday Suppers' recipes are probably closer to 2 qts, no doubt because this is for communal dining, but it would've been very helpful if they made that clear since not everyone owns a 2qt capacity ice cream maker. Lack of specifics hurts a couple more recipes . For example, the Chocolate Bread Pudding recipe doesn't provide a weight for the amount of challah bread. Only "12 cups 1-inch cubes (about 2 regular loaves or 3 small loaves)". Same for the Wild Mushroom and Brioche Stuffing. If the recipe said "1 lb of bread cut into 1 inch cubes" that would've been a lot more helpful. Another disconnect for me was including a Fig Tart recipe in the Winter Brunch menu. Where the heck are you gonna find fresh figs in the middle of winter? And if you do, how much are they gonna cost? So in conclusion, I think this book would appeal most to aspirational cooks. Experienced cooks will likely find they already have a favorite recipe for many of the dishes (e.g., Fish Tacos, Black Beans and Rice, Perfectly Scrambled Eggs, Granola, Fried Chicken, Guacamole). And if you do cook from the book, I would try to stick with the sandwich, salad, veggie recipes that don't require precise quantities and are lower in sugar and butter.