A few cookbooks

 Since this fall I have tried recipes from the following cookbooks:

1. The Dude Diet by Serena Wolf   My friend gave this book to me for my birthday. Favorite recipes: Quinoa Crunch Granola, Magic Faux-Tisserie Chicken, Manly Mediterranean Salad, Chocolate-Almond "Cookie Dough" Bites     I do not like the swearing (why include it??? Unnecessary!), some references to sex (again, why include that?), and her repeated "dude" phrases and the almost patronizing tone to men.

2. Half Baked Harvest & Super Simple by Tieghan Gerard   My sister-in-law introduced me to Ms. Gerard when she shared how she made her wreath bread recipe for their Christmas celebration. I made the wreath bread and . . .it was delicious and seemed to taste better with time! Since making this recipe, I have borrowed the following two books from the library. Overall I found her recipes a bit too fancy for me. Favorite recipes: whipped maple butter & coconut-banana muffins (only honey as a sweetner and they are yummy!!) I have a few more marked to try. We did not care for the Hazelnut Brownies.

-Borrowed from the library.

3. The Pioneer Woman Cooks  Super Easy! by Ree Drummond   Out of the four cookbooks, this one is my favorite. I wasn't sure if I would like it since the recipes include more convenience food. After borrowing it from the library, trying a few recipes and flagging a lot to try, I decided to buy it! Favorite recipes so far: sheet pan pancakes, salad bar salad, classic stromboli, sheet pan quesadilla and sheet pan mac & cheese. The dessert section does not appeal to me (almost all of the recipes call for "boxed" ingredients. Growing up I mostly ate from scratch desserts and can actually taste the artificial ingredients when boxed ingredients are used!).