Martha Stewart - Martha Stewart's Hors D'Oeuvres: The Creation and Presentation of Fabulous Finger Foods

Pros: Tasty, creative recipes, cooking hints and techniques, beautiful photography, unique ideas, inexpensive
Cons: Hard-to-find, out of print, many challenging recipes, uncommon ingredients, requires special equipment and tools, time-consuming

You all know who Martha is, of course. If you open any newspaper or listen to TV news shows you are aware of Martha Stewart's ImClone stock trading woes. Personally I'm tired of seeing her name screamed across front-page headlines. Whether you love...

Pros: A lot of very doable recipes.
Cons: A lot of over the top ideas.

My mother and I are Food TV addicts. There are a few shows, however, that we skip. The old "Essence of Emeril" is fine. The new "Emeril Live" will get us to immediately switch channels. I like "Iron Chef" but it makes mom nervous to watch them cook. On...

Pros: Beautifully illustrated
Cons: Unrealistic for most people

If you are a Martha Stewart Wannabe, then this is the book for you. I must confess that I do enjoy Martha's program and magazine. Now and then you can really get a good tip for cooking, wine purchasing or gardening. But for the most part I think...

Pros: wonderful tasting food
Cons: none

Martha is like family to me. I have a daughter, a niece and a friend who all try their best to be like Martha! They get Martha's magazines and they love Martha's HorsD'Oeuvres book very much. I like it for two reasons, I love to read new recipes and I...

Pros: Has a good guacamole recipe
Cons: too intimidating, unrealisitic recipes and prep work, very expensive ingredients for the average "joe"

Yes, I admit I have this book. Yes, I admit that I have read it. And yes, I admit I have found a recipe in here that I like and use. But that's about it. Don't get me wrong. Martha Stewart is an incredible woman and Marketing Genius! She has a...

Pros: Lots of diverse ideas for entertaining
Cons: Some ideas are not very practical

This book helped me get out of my "cheese & cracker entertaining" rut. Okay, it's written by the woman that most people love to hate, but if you can get past that, then you'll get a lot of entertaining ideas.

I like this book...

Pros: Great Recipes
Cons: Complex Recipes

This is one of Martha Stewarts older standby's. This book has got many great recipes and ideas in it. Though I would not recommend it to any beginner. Some of the recipes are quiet complicated and complex. My wife and myself have used this book on...

Pros: Ideas For Experienced Chefs
Cons: Hard to Find Ingredients in the Book, Long Preparation of Recipes

IF you haven't read any of my reviews yet, I love to cook. It's my favorite hobby. I own SEVERAL cookbooks by well known authors.

But this book is literally a joke. If you didn't go to culinary school, don't bother. The recipes that are...

Pros: well presented food
Cons: Recipes and presentation can be intimidating unless you feel ready for the challenge

Martha is a little too much but she has taken something that she likes to do and turned it into a business empire. Say what you will, but she did something that the great tycoons of the 1800's did which makes her another American success story.
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