Many people are choosing to go gluten-free, some by necessity, other as a way to improve health and lose weight. Many people find cooking without gluten a challenge, especially when baking. With The Warm Kitchen, Amy Fothergill hopes to make gluten-free living accessible and flavorful.
Summary of The Warm Kitchen
The Warm Kitchen provides the home cook with gluten-free cooking techniques and tips, step-by-step instructions and family friendly dishes. It contains more than 150 recipes ranging from breakfast to dessert, each one using real ingredients. By using a single gluten-free flour blend that is easy to mix up, Fothergill shows you how to cook some of your favorite dishes like bagels, bread, zucchini pancakes, chicken pot pie, pizza, doughnuts, cupcakes, shortbread, carrot cake, chocolate chip cookies, and more. She also includes substitutions for dairy, eggs, and sugar, for those who want or need to avoid those types of ingredients.
What Worked for Me
There are plenty of favorite comfort food recipes included in this book, including Man and Cheese, Shortbread and Meatballs Stroganoff. The book is large with decent-sized print, so it is easy to read while cooking. The photos look real … and tasty.
The front matter includes a list of items to keep for a gluten-free pantry, which is helpful. Chef tips are sprinkled throughout, providing alternatives and technique explanations.
What Didn’t Work for Me
The book is perfect bound, and due to its dimensions, pages don’t stay open easily … unless you break the binding. Also, the book looks home-made, which gives a less than perfect first impression.
What I’d Love to See in the Second Edition
There are two things I think would make a second edition better:
- A format that makes using the book easier. This could be different dimensions, which increase the number of page so the can stay open under its own weight. Or a spiral or three-whole-punched binding. This is book meant to be used, so it would be nice if it were more usable.
- Higher quality photography. The lighting on many of the images is low, making the images dark and, at times, blurry.
Recommendation
Don’t let the home-made look and feel of this book fool you. There is some solid advice and tasty recipes worth adding to your collection inside.
Rating for The Warm Kitchen
Specs
Full Title: The Warm Kitchen: Gluten-Free Recipes Anyone Can Make and Everyone Will Love
Author: Amy Fothergill
Editors: Jenn Gonsalves and Carol Hunter
Format: Paperback
Publisher: The Family Chef
ISBN-10: 0989484300
ISBN-13: 978-0989484305
Pick up your copy on Amazon.com here.
NOTE: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you’ve read past book reviews, you’ll know that I don’t pull my punches when I believe they are warranted. I also try to provide balanced information so you can make your own decision to read or not read the book, even if you disagree with my opinion.
Take Charge of Your Health!
Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.
This Healthy Eating Worksheet will walk you through the process of creating a healthy eating plan. All you need to do is print it out, set aside some time to complete it, and then fill it out. Then you can create your plan, knowing that you have addressed potential obstacles and came up with some creative ways to handle them.
