Madhouse Cookbook

Madhouse Cookbook
Jo Pratt



From: Publisher
Grade: B







What it is: 
Oh, how Jo Pratt's life has changed over the last few years! Gone are the days of spending a day or two preparing for elaborate dinner parties, using ingredients she hunted down in back-street markets and fancy deli shops. That was all pre-children - now things are very different. She's a busy mum who has to juggle work, children and all the associated chaos. She lives in a madhouse! Bestselling author Jo has devised a cookbook full of delicious and healthy food that addresses one of the most challenging problems experienced by busy parents: finding time to cook meals for their family. The recipes are simple, easy to shop for and quick to make, with shortcuts and prepare-ahead tips. But there's much more to the book than this - there are also Lifesaver mini-recipes that give you staples for your freezer and store cupboard, and Leftovers mini-recipes too, to show you how to be clever and get more value out of time spent in the kitchen. There are three chapters - 'Monday to Friday Survival', 'Busy Weekends' and 'Cling onto your Social Life'. These chapters feature recipes for every meal and eventuality, including weekday kids' teatime recipes that will go down a storm, dinners that will wow your friends, and Sunday lunches to make the most of those precious moments of relaxation with your family.

My thoughts:
This was the first cookbook I have reviewed. I never used to accept them but now that I am a wife and trying to cook more I have decided to. I thought a lot of the recipes in here were superb. I enjoyed trying some of them out, like the fondue, and look forward to trying out more of them. These were recipes my husband and I can both agree on.

The only problem I saw with this book is that the recipes are not all very kid friendly. In fact, I would say at least half of them aren't. Maybe I am wrong, I'm not a mom yet, but I was a nanny at one point and have a 7 year old brother-in-law. I could not have made any of those kids eat some of these.

If you are looking for a fabulous cookbook for a stay at home date night I recommend this 100% but if you are looking for a book to try on the kids this is probably not for you.