My Year in Meals and My Year in Cocktails Hardcover – November 13, 2012

My wife purchased this book for her Kindle and the two of us have been reading it on our Kindles throughout the day. Rachael Ray grew up very close to us in Upstate NY, so we were lucky enough to know about her talent early on as she was prominent on the local TV stations well before she became a famous name. This latest installment is a pleasure to read and is especially pleasing because she never strays from her roots in providing excellent, but easy to prepare recipes in a very homespun and readable manner. In order to get the full value of this book; I would recommend that you purchase the hardcover edition if you have an older Kindle like we do. There are many wonderful photographs throughout, but viewing them in black and white certainly doesn't do them justice. The newer Kindle Fire with its color screen, or dare I say iPad should work out fine too. The book provides pleasurable and delectable recipes, including numerous ones for cocktails and satisfies those who are looking for recipes that will suffice for all 3 meals of the day. My wife and I usually eat just 2 meals a day, skipping breakfast, but we'll certainly be trying out some of the breakfast dishes; we'll just call them lunch. This awesome book provides a fantastic opportunity to take a behind the scenes look at Rachael Ray's kitchen. Rachael Ray's unassuming personality shines throughout this book, as does her ability to make everything she describes sound so easy. Just as she's totally at home behind the camera; she's totally at home presenting recipes from around the world in a very easy to understand and often humorous fashion. Her bubbly personality shines throughout the book, as it does on TV(I wish a little bit would wear off on me). There are recipes in this book to last an entire year, and they range from the quick and easy, to the more complex, worldly, but still easy. There is no one else who can make the world of cooking so much fun. Now that we've spent the day reading the book; it's time for us to try out some of her mouth watering selections along with some cocktails to boot. Both of us highly recommend this book.

The author's recipes are trendy, affordable and relatively easy to prepare. I'm a fan of her monthly magazine, and you will find some of those recipes in this book. If you own a device which scans, you can scan sections at the front of the book for additional cooking and shopping information. The reverse of her book (turn it over) is the cocktail recipe section authored by her husband, and the photographs of the drinks are a great assist for creating a party atmosphere. His detailed information for building each specialty drink is easy to read and he offers tips on which brands of liquors are best to incorporate in recipes. Further information (how-to scans) are also available at the front of the cookbook for the cocktail recipes. I consider this book to be a great current resource and expect it to stand the test of time.

I like the idea of this book. Basically, Rachael kept track of most of the meals she had for a whole year and wrote them down, with the recipe and some comments. It is an interesting concept - definitely not like any cookbook I've ever read before. The little notes around the pages make it read like a scrapbook at some points, which is nice. It does have a real personal touch from Rachael.Most cookbooks read through organized by categories, or someway. This book is organized by the date that she had the meal. Of course there is an index so you should be able to find whatever you are looking for that way.These meals do seem a bit more complicated than most of her "30 Minute Meals". There are also many different types of cuisine. That's something I really like about Rachael - she doesn't always cook the same type of food like many chefs. I like to try the occasional Middle Eastern or Asian dish, in addition to the Italian and American dishes. I haven't cooked anything from this book yet, but I've marked pages of some recipes that I'll try soon. I've cooked many of her recipes from other books and from her show and website. I would say the are a hit about 70% of the time, average tasting 20% of the time, and are duds about 10% of the time. That's great for me. She is my favorite chef for sure!I'm only about 25% through this book at this point, and I didn't really look at the cocktail section yet (written by her husband John) but I'm looking forward to getting there.

I'm a huge rachael ray fan. I was kind of on the fence about getting this, but when i heard she was doing a book signing in my area, i knew i had to have it...I saw the recipe for poblano chicken on the show. It was so easy and delicious, i'll be making again. Also just tried the cider beef, per her suggestion at the signing... DELICIOUS! Try it.

I must admit that I absolutely love watching Rachael and I own 4-5 of her cookbooks.What I like about this one: It purportedly offers a glimpse into how Rachael and hubby John dine at home, and that's interesting! I love the anecdotes and many of the recipes sound intriguing. Unfortunately, what I like about this book is negated by...What I don't like about this one: The food-styling and photography is far less than stellar. She gushes about taking their own photos and not using a food stylist on this one. My recommendation is to break bad, hire professionals, and make your food look more appealing. It occurred to me while reading this what, that instead of wanting to appear authentic by not using professionals, they were just trying to cut costs.This cookbook does not succeed from an artistic standpoint at all, although some of the recipes, when one hunkers down to read will be tried by my family!

Very well written, I use this for great meals and variety in my cooking.

Item arrived on time and was just as expected

Love having both Rachel’s and John’s recipes in this book!

I liked Everything about the book😀👍

very good recipies and very interesting