Lisa Ks Book Reviews

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Thank you everyone for the wonderful reception you gave me last week with my first

What's Cooking?

This will now be an every

Thursday feature!

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VALERIE'S HOME COOKING:

More than 100 Delicious Recipes to

Share with Friends and Family

by Valerie Bertinelli

As the current star of her Food Network show, Valerie's Home Cooking, and co-host of the network's Kids Baking Championship, as well as having spent years acting on television, Valerie Bertinelli has made a name for herself in households across America. But to really know Valerie, is to spend time in her kitchen.

Inspired by her family's cooking legacy, Valerie specializes in showing fans how to make dishes their own families will love that are for the heart and soul. As she often says, there's a story behind every recipe and Valerie shares them in this gorgeous cookbook, where home cooks will find more than 100 recipes that are easy to make and innovative--they're just as fresh, vibrant and down to earth as Valerie herself. Many of these classic comforting recipes have an original twist like Bloody Mary Tea Sandwiches, Lobster BLTs, Quick Rotisserie Chicken Gumbo, and S'mores Popcorn. These mouthwatering dishes will become your go-tos, whether you're having breakfast or lunch on your own, friends are joining for last-minute cocktails and small bites, or the whole family is coming together for a hearty dinner and dessert.

"Valerie's wonderful home cooking book makes it look so easy and so much fun she almost convinces even me to try it!"―Betty White

MY REVIEW

I’ve been a fan of fellow Delaware girl, Valerie Bertinelli since One Day at a Time. And I adored her on Hot in Cleveland. I was flipping channels one day and came across her show, Valerie’s Home Cooking on The Food Network. I haven’t missed a show since. So I was beyond thrilled when I had the chance to check out her new cookbook VALERIE’S HOME COOKING: More than 100 Delicious Recipes to Share with Friends and Family. I’m so glad I did!

I got to learn more about Valerie from her wonderful narrative throughout VALERIE’S HOME COOKING. Her stories are enjoyable to read, and they struck me as very heartfelt. I could tell the love she has for family, friends, and food.

The photos in this book are magnificent. Vibrant and sharp, the photos of the dishes Ms. Bertinelli prepared made my mouth water. I could almost smell each dish. The photos of the actress cooking in her home, and often outside, are simply stunning. Valerie Bertinelli is a beautiful woman who seems to look better every year. In the photos of her cooking, her happiness at what she is doing is very clear not just on her face, but in her eyes as well.

As for the recipes . . . Oh wow! She has covered such a range of dishes, from super easy, to a bit more complex, using plain, simple ingredients, as well as items home cooks may not readily have in their pantries, but can certainly find at the local market. There is something for everyone. Even those with finicky tastes like mine will find many dishes to try. There are many that will certainly become new favorites in my house!

Readers will find recipes such as . . .

Four-Cheese Crab Mac ‘n’ Cheese . . . Slow Cooker Beef . . . English Lemon Cake . . . Quick Rotisserie Chicken Gumbo . . . Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms with Chile-Lemon Salt . . . Valerie’s Irish Coffee with Lemon-Vanilla Whipped Cream . . . Spicy Killer Shrimp Soup . . . and Homemade Cannoli!

Those don’t even come close to the many amazing recipes within the pages of this incredible cookbook.

In my opinion, there is no wrong person for VALERIE’S HOME COOKING: More than 100 Delicious Recipes to Share with Friends and Family.

Valerie Bertinelli has been acting since the age of twelve, appearing in more than two dozen made-for-TVmovies. Most recognizably, she appeared on the long-running sitcom One Day at a Time and, more recently, on Touched by an Angel. Now a spokesperson for Jenny Craig, Bertinelli was raised in Claymont, Delaware, and in the San Fernando Valley, California, and was married for twenty years to Eddie Van Halen (they split up in 2001). Currently, she lives with her son, Wolfgang, in Los Angeles.

Valerie on the Food Network