Sheila LukinsBesprekingen

I'm usually very weary of "classic" cookbooks as I believe we should be moving forward with our palates not backwards, but this has some legitimately great recipes.

Chicken fajitas--I've been making these for decades. Great for parties.

We tried a soup--the summer squash and potato. It was nutritious, but a little bland.

The Silver Palate Cookbook team is back with a book that focuses on food for celebrations. Sections include Mother’s Day, Derby Weekend, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving,Christmas, New Years, and all sorts of social occasions that might call for a party. While many, perhaps most, of the recipes seem a bit involved, I suppose it is only appropriate that a special occasion calls for special effort and special foods. Quite a few recipes qualify as “sinful,” such as the “Fabulous French Toast,” “Poached Apples Stuffed with Gorgonzola,” “Banana Bourbon Cake with Bourbon Creme Anglaise,” and “Dacquoise with Chocolate Ganache.”

Many of the recipe pages have sidebars with additional info and tips, like the four categories of game animals, what wines to use for cooking, suggestions for tea sandwiches, and how to make holiday cheese wreaths.

For those with the time and energy to entertain in grand style, this book will definitely fill the bill.

This made for pleasant reading and lots of ideas for entertaining. Too bad I'm past the age where I want to entertain. I haven't tried the recipes yet. Many of them are for basic foods but with some flair. They seem easy enough, and I will no doubt try some of them in the future. Some depend on one's locality. In my rural area, I do not have access to the food shops the author's take for granted in New York City, so many of the cheeses, specialty meats, etc. are not available to me. That's ok, I know how to make substitutions for many of them, and if I want to pay large prices, I'm sure I could order some from my local grocery or online. I think much of this book is geared toward up and coming young folks in the city who want to entertain and make a show of it to impress their coworkers or bosses.

I was trying to understand why I kepy this when I rated it only two stars.

Well, probably because there are a lot of interestingrecipes with some of my favourite ingredients.

Then why only two stars? Because of the overwhelming number of recipes that have misleading titles, peculiar mixtures of ingredients, recipes that call for specific brand products ... I won't go into the things they call 'curry'. Sometimes they mention what changes they have made to ethnic recipes, but sometimes they just offer up their altered version without a comment. If you feel tempted to roast a goose, be aware that it will release a lot of (wonderful) goose fat. Vegetables that have been cooked in the pan will be overladen with it. A waste of both the fat and the veggies.

And of course all the cutesy ideas for a party.

I think I will rip out a few of the interesting recipes. The rest of this will land in the paper recycling.

Fabulous. The first book to use spices with abandon, as if we weren't counting the peppercorns before we went to bed. Rich, luscious, changed the way I think about food. Incredibly well-tested.

Quite a treasure trove, though the "cute" organization is a bit trying.

Quite a treasure trove, though the "cute" organization is a bit trying.

Quite a treasure trove, though the "cute" organization is a bit trying.

This is not a new cookbook, but there is a reason why it is has remained popular since it first appeared in 1982. As far as I’m concerned, the main reason is the cakes. Yes, the ratatouille is wonderful, and the Tarte Saint-Germain is delicious, but who offers cake recipes like this in these calorie conscious times? That is to say, it does not exactly seem like you could eat a lot of their cakes without showing some effects, but if you just exercise self-control (ha ha, a little humor there) you won’t regret it!

For example, ordinarily, I wouldn’t pick banana cake out of a pile of cake. But their banana cake is moist and lush and covered in scrumptious cream cheese frosting. The same frosting goes on their carrot cake, which is the best I’ve ever had, even though I omit two of the ingredients, coconut and pineapple. (You can easily find the recipe from the cookbook for this popular cake online, such as at this site. And by the way, it calls for pureed carrots. As if I would use, and therefore have to wash, the food processor. I buy baby food carrots. That counts as pureed, right?)

Most of the recipes are accompanied by something extra: a color photo, a suggested menu, or a quote (“...I had but one penny in the world, thou shouldst have it to buy gingerbread” from William Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labor’s Lost” and my sentiments exactly. Well, maybe not the sharing part, but definitely the gingerbread part.) There are also intermittent sections with background information about food, such as an explanation of the different kinds of olive oil, or a review of the differences among various mushrooms or salad greens. Occasionally there are anecdotes by the authors about a recipe or advice on cooking techniques, such as cooking bacon or making the perfect omelet.

Evaluation: There is a wealth of information in this colorful cookbook, and everything I have tried in it has been outstanding.

Got this when our son was in kindergarten, because his school seemed to have a regular "multicultural festival" where each class was assigned a country and parents were asked to provide a dish from that country for the program. His middle school did the same thing so the book was used for grades K-8.

Packing away now as we declutter the house, preparing to put it on the market.

Lovely little cookbook, written by the friend of a friend, and given to me by another friend. I've used many recipes from this one, but particularly liked the chicken marabella (which sounds bettern than chicken with prunes), which was easy to prepare when serving large groups. Most memorable dinner was out at Sunset Beach, NC at a beach house there for 10 of us.

Packing away now as we declutter the house, preparing to put it on the market.

Fantastic recipes and I loved the information sidebars everywhere. Probably not the healthiest food in the world, special occasion for the most part, but especially the dessert section was wonderful.

Oh, the eighties. What marvelous, ridiculous foodie ideas you had. *sigh* Back when capers were an adventure.

That said, this is the first place I encountered the idea of using aluminum foil instead of parchment paper for cooking en papillote, and I will never not be grateful for that.

testing multiple authors and authors in other roles

A big book of wonderful recipes (with wine and beer recommendations). Chapters helpfully follow the day, if rather cutesily named : Breakfast Nook, Coffee Break, Cafe Lunch, Cocktail Hour, Dinnertime, For Dessert. Certainly worth seeking out. Sheila Lukins (1943 - 2009) was famous for The Silver Palate store and books which she ran and produced with Julee Rosso.

I bought this in the early 90s, when the whole "foodie" thing had recently happened in NYC. I would read this like a novel. Love it, even though I've only cooked a tiny fraction of the recipes.

Another book gifted to me from my former chef relatives. I love this book! I have the 25th Anniversary edition so this completes my set (at least I think it does.)

As always there's great info on entertaining, etc. but of course that's mostly replaced by information from more recent releases. It's still nice to take a look back and remember though.

You can never go wrong with one of these recipes, especially if you are having friends over for dinner. Anything I've made has been delicious. This has always been, and still is one of my favorites!

I just bought this for myself for Christmas, to replace my original 1982 copy which is falling apart from constant use. It's still my first "go to" source when planning a dinner for friends. Just watch out for the Greek lemon soup - you could point bricks with it!

Before there was a Food Network, Iron Chef, or even a Martha Stewart magazine, there was The Silver Palate. Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins may not be classical chefs, and they did not revolutionize restaurant cooking like Alice Waters or Thomas Keller, but they did more to change the way Americans cooked in their homes than anyone since Julia Child first trussed a chicken on t.v.

Full review posted on Rose City Reader.

This cookbook is amazing. I had their earlier book from way back and this is set up the same. Very user-friendly and the recipes look great!

From a Manhatten, wealthy perspective. My favorite recipe is "decadent chocolate cake".

I bought this 10 years ago and still use it as a cooking reference, broken spine and all. Many of the classics add some ingredient or method that makes them extra delicious. There is also a healthy mix of non-traditional recipes (like cold avocado soup) that have become regular in my house.

Sheila Lukins had a mission. To bring together all the unique food she tasted on her travels around the world, in a cookbook which the average person could use in their home. I think she accomplished that mission. The recipes in this book look very approachable, and though she has tweaked them to be accessible, they still retain the aroma and flavor of their country of origin. I love a two page spread which shows how to make chicken soup from many countries by changing the ingredients.
I did not care for the way the book was arranged. Instead of by country, it is by the type of food, such as; salad, breakfast, meat, dessert. This is simply a matter of preference though and I'm sure most people would like it the way it is. The narrative style was not my favorite, possibly I just found the endless descriptions of restaurants around the world to be repetitive. But for those with a big interest in beer and wine from other countries, there are several highlights of those things. The pages were too busy for my taste, distracting from the recipes. I would have liked more food photos and less drawings and travel photos.
Though this is not my new favorite cookbook, it looks to be a useful one and I could see how someone else might love it.

This is a classic cookbook that I recommend to any adult who is starting out in the kitchen. The recipes are somewhat complicated, involving lots of steps, but the results are phenomenal. Even novice chefs can produce gourmet results.