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Cooking among friends: Meal planning and preparation delightfully simplified Review
Bottom Line: This book is for freezer meals in quantity (6, 12, 18 meals). This is NOT "dump chicken". These are entrees from scratch that won't kill you with difficulty. Lots of good ideas on organizing your food exchange group. Worth it, even if you're just cooking for your own freezer.
The long version:
I bought the Cooking Among Friends cookbook several months ago when Becki and Mary spoke at our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. Our small group of 7 ladies decided to start a CAF group. We've been cooking and exchanging now for 8 months.
The premise of Cooking Among Friends is to form a group of somewhat like-minded cooks/eaters. You each choose a recipe or two, then cook it at home, making a quantity of 6, 12, or 18 entrees. Then you get together with your friends and each person takes home one each of the other entrees.For a few hours' cooking, you get 10 or 12 different meals, which lasts most of us about a month.
Our group used the survey and information in the back of the book to get started. We really couldn't have done it without that info. It included questions about food preferences, how much you want to spend, etc. It helps you to think about aspects you might not otherwise consider when choosing a group to exchange meals with.
We began with the recipes from the cookbook. In our group, we each choose two different entrees to prepare for an exchange. The recipes were all tested by Mary and Becki. One aspect our group really liked was that the recipes do not contain condensed soups, taco mixes, etc. Pretty much everything is from scratch (there are a few exceptions, but very few). Nor are they all casseroles! All of the recipes are laid out in 6-, 12- and 18- portion quantities.
We just began by preparing foods that looked good or interesting. Most are very good. A few we could do without. It's just a matter of preference, as with any cook book. For most recipes, though our group likes them, we agree could use either more wine or more garlic.
As families with preschoolers, we all feed the kids our choices and nobody's gone hungry yet. Some are more appropriate for adult palates, so we serve those for adult guests.
After a while, you can branch out and begin trying your own tried-and-true recipes for exchanges. We've gotten to this stage, but about half of the things we cook are still from the CAF cook book.
Regarding skill level, we have one gal who (admittedly) doesn't know the difference among anchovies, avocados and artichokes, and she has managed just fine. I myself hadn't cooked from scratch a lot before CAF, but it's darn fulfilling to make that white sauce!
If you are not involved in a food exchange group, but are simply cooking for your own freezer, I would still recommend this book. As I mentioned above, there are almost no casseroles, a very few pre-made seasoning mixes called for, and I can't think of any recipes with condensed soups (though there may be one or two). It's almost entirely from scratch, but doesn't require tons of work. You could cut a recipe in half, and still have 3 delicious meals in the freezer.
Some of our group's favorites: Chicken Gyro Kits, Baked French Toast, Coq au Vin, Meatballs with various sauces, and (one of my favorites) Chicken in Phyllo. Most recipes are the "main" food for a meal then you choose a side, like the pasta, or rice. There are also soups, and some appetizers and cookies.
We've found an additional advantage to the food exchanges. If the recipe stretches a little further, you can give the extra portions to a family that needs a little boost, like those with new babies, surgery, etc.
This book is worth the price tag. Also worth mentioning - I have the comb-bound version.
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