*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Title: Seven Spoons
Author: Tara O’Brady
Publisher: Appetite by Random House
Publication Date: April 21, 2015
ISBN: 9780449016305
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Seven Spoons is O’Brady’s remarkable and much-anticipated debut. In it, she shares more than one hundred of her best and most mouthwatering recipes—crowd-pleasing breakfasts like Blackberry Buttermilk Whole Grain Scones, weeknight staples like Everyday Yellow Dal, and terrifically inventive desserts like Roasted Grapes with Sweet Labneh. These elegant, flavorful, and wonderfully creative recipes, plus the show stopping photography, will have you heading straight for the kitchen to get cooking.
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Yum-o! Seven Spoons was a very different experience for me. Who knew a cookbook could be delicious and entertaining! First off, this cover is simply stunning…and it’s not just the cover. This beautiful book is filled with gorgeous photography of the food and of Tara’s environment. Before I cooked anything, I sat down and read this book cover to cover. I can honestly say, I never thought I’d be saying that about a collection of recipes. Tara prefaces each section, each recipe even, with anecdotes and memories that connect on a very personal level with the reader. I myself felt like Tara at the beginning of her cooking journey, wanting to try something new, but not sure what to create and not the most educated in cooking knowledge. But Tara walks you through each recipe, step-by-step, demonstrating to you that cooking lovely looking food is not daunting, but can be quite simple.
The recipes I tried:
1. Salad Rolls (page 75)
2. Chocolate Olive Oil Zucchini Brean (page 57)
3. Basic, Great Chocolate Chip Cookies (page 215)
4. An Uncomplicated Cheesecake (page 243) with Twangy Blueberry Sauce (245)
The baking went over well. Receiving this cookbook was perfectly timed. The day I set out to bake, we had a surprise birthday party to attend. The cookies were gone in a flash. I had people coming up to me all afternoon telling me how delicious they we. Thank you Seven Spoons!
The chocolate zucchini bread froze very well. I made muffins for myself for the week. Quick tip though with this recipe, because of how moist the dough is, once baked the zucchini muffins went mouldy pretty quickly. My suggestion is to freeze and thaw as desired. Perhaps refrigeration might have helped preserve them longer. I made a loaf for the boyfriend’s parents, which I froze, and gave to them a week later. It went over extremely well. This is definitely a recipe I’ll be making again.
Lastly, my favourite recipe of all was the cheesecake, but then again, cheesecake is the world’s best food. What’s not to love? The blueberry sauce was divine. What boggles me completely is why someone would purchase canned blueberry sauce, when this recipe took less than 5 minutes to whip together. So easy and absolutely delicious. Boyfriend took it to work with him to celebrate his birthday (Happy birthday!!).
5 stars to this cookbook. I’ll be using it for years to come, there’s no doubt about that.
Worn Pages and Ink 