Blog Tour Review: In the Kitchen by Allison Waggoner

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In the Kitchen: A Collection of Home and Family MemoriesIn the Kitchen
A Collection of Home and Family Memoriesby Allison Waggoner
Cookbook
Hardcover, 160 Pages
December 12th 2014 by Front Table Books

Summary

Savor your favorite family memories—ones that start right in your kitchen. Popular TV personality Allison Waggoner brings her family’s recipes to your table in this beautiful collection of meals. With recipes for brunch, dinner, dessert, and drinks, this cookbook invites you to create your own family memories, full of delicious food, fun with friends, and love that lasts a lifetime.

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My Review

I loved In the Kitchen. It included a diverse collection of recipes, not only in category (breakfast, main dish, dessert, etc.), but also in interesting ingredients and variations. Each of the recipes we tried were delicious and some of them had a unique combination of flavors that we really enjoyed. I have only two complaints. I would love for there to have been more recipes, especially in the cooker pressure section, and for the number of servings for each recipe listed.

I liked that you could find a good amount comfort foods, such as Morning Cheese Danish, German Pancakes, Baked Rigatoni with Fennel and Sausage (which we loved), Mac and Cheese (definitely not store-bought), Homestyle Pot Roast, Blueberry Cobbler (we also loved this one), and Creamy Flan (in a pressure cooker no less). Then there were some unique recipes, such as Gruyere Chive Popovers (don't those sound good?), Creamy Asparagus Soup with Seared Scallops, Pork Tenderloin with Tomatillos, Lobster Macaroni and Cheese, Fig Crostata, Elephant Ears (only has three ingredients, the main one being puff pastry), Raspberry Lemonade Slices, and Peach Layer Cake with Mascarpone Frosting to name a few.

I loved what the author states in her acknowledgments:
I introduced [my daughter] to a variety of foods at a young age, convincing her that scallops were not a scary fish but "Japanese potatoes." These early persuasions have made her the best sous-chef and taste tester.
- p. 3
I'm hoping my children will also gain a diverse and appreciative pallet from the various recipes we try at home.

Here are some of the recipes we tried (not the best pictures as they definitely do not do the food justice and some of the coloring is off, but you get the picture):
Spicy Ginger Beef & Bok Choy over rice

Moroccan Chicken (in the pressure cooker) over rice with green beans

Blueberry Cobbler (this was before it was fully cooked)

Baked Rigatoni with Fennel and Sausage

Salted Caramel Hand Pies

The Roast Chicken with Lemon and Herbs was also fabulous as was the Potato Leek Soup (my children loved this one too), and I'm planning on making the Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies soon along with several other recipes. You can see a slide show of some of the recipes in this book that look much better than the pictures I took on the author's website here.

We've really been enjoying trying out these recipes. I have loved the recipes contained in this book and the hardcover and picture on the outside. This is definitely a cookbook I would gift and one that will be staying on my shelves. 

Source: I would like to thank the publisher, Cedar Fort, for my complimentary review copy, which did not affect my review in any way.

About the Author
PictureGrowing up in the chocolate industry inspired a journey filled with delicious and innovate cuisine for Allison Waggoner. Allison began her career developing her family’s gourmet chocolates, creating some of the finest, award-winning confections in the world. Her culinary designs have been featured in Crate & Barrel, Culinary Product Magazine, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, Godiva Chocolatier, Walt Disney World, Fancy Food Magazine, Sally Foster Magazine, Target, Universal Studios, William-Sonoma and The Food Network. As a classically trained chef, Allison’s culinary and marketing career brought her to the attention of television executives. She first appeared as a guest host, bringing her confections and family history to the home shopping industry. Allison is presently seen in more than 80 million homes as a host on ShopHQ, a leader in retail broadcasting.

Now, Allison brings her love of food and favorite recipes to you in her first cookbook. A nostalgic collection of recipes accumulated through the course of her life and career, In the Kitchen is filled with simple, delicious dishes for every day of the week.

3 comments

  1. Sounds like a great cook book! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Salted Caramel Hand Pies sound so stinkin good. Yum! A lot of the recipes sound like things my husband and I would definitely enjoy. We both love to cook, and we try new recipes as often as we can. This sounds like it would be a good cookbook to add to our collection! Taste of Home magazine is our usual source of new recipes, but a nice cookbook would be a good addition!

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  3. You made me hungry just treading the blog Tressa! Great review :)

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