Maria Provenzano shares a plethora of recipes and crafts to make every meal a special occasion.
Since I graduated from college, I have gotten rather into cooking – it’s soothing, and it introduces some variety in my diet. I love trying new recipes, especially if I like them enough that I can add them to my weekly rotations. I definitely found some recipes that I liked in this book, but I doubt the entire thing would suit me.
The book is divided up into five main sections, each celebrating something different – the weeknights, family, friendship, sports, and the seasons. Each section is filled with various recipes and crafts. The recipes have a definite Italian lean, and the crafts kid-friendly.
I tried out three recipes from the book – Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos with Oven-Baked Crispy Shells, Blackberry Italian Sodas, and Caprese Pasta Salad. The recipes were easy to follow, and all the dishes turned out well, though I did freely adapt them in places to better fit my tastes. I thought there was a good variety of dishes and ingredients used – something I appreciated as I have dietary restrictions, and it’s always disappointing when I happen upon a cookbook that uses primarily red meat in its recipes, for example.
I did not try any of the crafts as they did not appeal to me, though. They definitely seemed more suited for a person with young children who would like to involve them in arts & crafts, with things like dry-erase place mats, pasta art, and DIY trophies. However there were also some more aimed at grown-ups like wine tags, sugar scrubs, and homemade candles. There was an odd quality to the crafts, in that they seemed either very simple or very complicated to execute.
One thing I didn’t like much were all the pictures of the author and her family that peppered the book. A few would have been fine – but there were a lot. I think they were supposed to support the author’s brand, but they were rather distracting considering I really just wanted recipes, and to see what the food ought to look like. I also thought the author’s stories about her childhood and the recipes were oddly bland.
In conclusion – like the recipes, but not really the crafts or the trappings.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
