Everyday Cooking

     A few years after I left home my parents presented my sisters and me with cookbooks that included many recipes we grew up enjoying around our family table. Before that my big sis and I often called Mama to ask how to make a particular dish. For each of my girls we have started binders, and they keep adding recipes that family members and friends share. Everyday Cooking by Vicki Bentley had a similar start. This is the cookbook that all of her girls took with them when they left home and it is filled with recipes that they eat regularly.

     The author shared:
"You'll see that, while the emphasis is on whole foods cooking, we are not purists, and you'll find our favorite Jello salad recipe, etc. We do try to avoid white sugar and white flour and I give substitutions throughout the book. 

As a mom of eight and foster mom of fifty, I didn't have a lot of time for fancy cooking—just healthy, simple, tasty dishes. While it is not intended as a cooking course, many moms have shared that their teens love to use Everyday Cooking because the recipes are fast and easy. 

I hope it is a blessing to you and your family."

     Along with the recipes are tips for shopping, cooking, and even equipment recommendations (which we can print for my girls' binders.) For an idea of her recipes, see her bread recipe here.

     The first recipe we attempted was her chocolate pudding.

     It was so delicious and without a box mix!

The chocolate version (a double batch) turned out perfectly rich and creamy.

     Unfortunately the triple batch attempt for banana pudding didn't set. I still haven't figured out what we did wrong. Her recommendation of using Succanat for butterscotch flavor was spot on. That is my husband's favorite and he agreed that it was delicious.

     Some sections would benefit from a little more clarification. Not in the recipes, but in the extra sections like one sharing tips for quick appetizers, amounts or even equivalent ratios of ingredients aren't included in all of the examples.

     Some of our old favorites are also included. No Bake Cookies is a recipe that Joseph always enjoys helping to make. Many recipes included are similar to ones I grew up enjoying, and her tips make it fun to read.

This 100 page book is available in e-book format ($14.99) as well as print version ($17.99) from www.everydayhomemaking.com View sample pages from this resource here. 

     We received a download of this e-book at no cost to me for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own. See what other crew members shared in their reviews here.