Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again

I've tried Giada DeLaurentis', Nigella Lawson, and various other cookbooks with mixed results. I ALWAYS have success with any of Ina Garten's recipes. I recommend her books to anyone who loves to cook.

Ina makes things seem simple. Her directions are easy to follow. I have made several recipes from this book and thought they all turned out good. You are lucky if you get one or two good recipes from an entire cookbook! Everything I have made from this cookbook is good.

It is good to find that home cooking can be fun and delectable without recourse to hard to find ingredients. I have tried and enjoyed Chicken Piccata,Fresh Pea Soup and Herb Roasted Onions. I plan on trying the cakes,muffins etc. when Winter comes. I envy her her East Hampton lifestyle! One problem is the lack of definition of some measurments ie stick of butter. I look forward to using this book again and again

Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa series are so much more than just the recipes. Her warmth, wit and passion are all translated in the stories she shares with the readers as well as the great photos of the food and places she loves in East Hampton. At Home is her lastest cookbook and although my favoite remains Barefoot Contessa Family Style, I am pleased to have this one in my collection.
There are great tasting recipes, those that have become requested favorites are; Mustard roasted potatoes, blue cheese cole slaw, old fashioned potatoe salad, blue cheese burgers and buttermilk mashed potatoes to name a few. The real stars here are the desserts; Beatty's chocolate cake with chocolate frosting was a sensation at a birthday party, peanut butter and jelly bars and chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing are stand outs. But the main attraction was the coconut cake with cream cheese frosting I made for my son's 16th birthday. It was a spectacular presentation with rave reviews from all guests and most importantly my son. This latest of the Barefoot Contessa series although not my favorite is definetly worth the investment and you will make the recipes over and over as Ina Garten promises.

This is another wonderful cookbook from Ina. Great illustrations of the food and great stories of her personal life and what she thinks really makes a house a home, as well as tips on entertaining, even how to design your own kitchen. I also loved the section in the back that gives the addresses and locations in the Hamptons of all the places she shops at for food. A lot of these places are shown on her Food Network show as well.

My only problem with some of the recipes is the amount of sugar that is called for. I make the lemon yogurt cake a lot which calls for a cup of sugar. I cut it back to a little under 3/4 cups because in this recipe you have to make a sugar syrup glaze to pour over the cake while its still warm and then you still have to make the icing to go on top of that. I also used lowfat yogurt, she calls for whole milk yogurt, but I find with the lowfat yogurt and a little less sugar that it still tastes great.

Her Coconut Cake also tastes good in this book, but again, it called for 2 cups of sugar. I cut it back to 1 1/2 cups and the icing calls for a pound of confectioner's sugar, which is the size of 1 box, I cut it back to about 3/4 of the bag. The cake tasted just a good with a little less sugar but be warned this is one RICH cake! 5 eggs and 3/4 pound (3 sticks)of butter for the cake and 2 sticks of butter and 1 block of cream cheese for the icing! Forget counting your calories with this one, but it is delicious, especially if you love coconut.

The Guacamole Salad is delicious and refreshing. Perfect for the summer to serve guests or as a light meal for your family. The vinagrette, made of lime juice, minced garlic and olive oil (and salt and pepper) really make this salad delicious. It calls for cayenne pepper and two jalapenos. I didn't want mine too spicy so I omitted the cayenne pepper and just did one jalapeno. It still had great flavor.

This is a great book. Ina always puts a real personal touch in her cookbooks in the way she writes. Coupled with great recipes, she's got a great formula for a great publication.