Kosher by Design

Customer Reviews

• best cookbook around!  May 19, 2003 (9 of 9 found this helpful)

  I received this book as a gift. It is so beautiful that I browsed through it a couple of times before I actually picked it up to find something to cook!
  Of the recipes I tested and tasted: Sesame Noodles (I made it without the chicken, and it was a yummy side dish - no leftovers there!!), Lemon Bundt Cake (nice, but not "wow"), Chocolate Pecan Pie (now here's a great find - for all those pecan pie lovers out there, who think the traditional recipe is a drop too rich and sweet, here's one for you!! The chocolate adds the right touch to balance the sweetness in this recipe! Still is great with a cup of milk, but it won't leave you nauseous like regular pecan pie!), and the Challah Napkin Rings came out beautiful and tasty!
  I'm planning my Shavuos menu now - first on the list are the Baby Blintzes, of course! (One look at the picture and I knew I have to make it!)

• Impressed by cookbook  Sep 26, 2003 (8 of 8 found this helpful)

  I was skeptical about getting this book - just because a book has great pictures in it doesn't mean that the recipes are any good. This book is different. I haven't made a recipe yet that I didn't like. It also turns out exactly as pictured in the book. (I just made the white and dark chocolate mousse dessert and it looks incredible!) My sister-in-law told me that my Sunken Apple and Honey cake looks so good it should be pictured on the cover of a magazine! I highly recommend this book.

• Mediocre recipes with intensive preparation  Dec 10, 2005 (11 of 15 found this helpful)

  The recipes in this book are not in the least unique: there is nothing in these books not found in the standard modern cookbooks such as the New Joy of Cooking or Silver Palette. What differentiates these recipes is the superfluous use of packaged foods, such as boxed Italian dressing powder (which is basically salt and common spices), which actually makes them less friendly to the kosher cook since they may not be available supervised. Fishbein puts all her energy into the Design of the food, for instance suggesting that you buy individual pumpkins for each of your 16 sukkot guests in which to serve soup, or that you serve your Shavuot meal entirely out of flowerpots, or that you have different set of dishes for each of the holidays. These little tips do make amusing reading, but for that you can check the book out from the library.

• The ultimate Matzoh Ball  May 9, 2003 (2 of 2 found this helpful)

  The search for the best Matzoh Ball soup has ended. That along with some of the recipes in Susie's book helped make our Passover dinner the most tasteful and enjoyable ever. The pictures and the easy recipes made the cooking of it a family affair. It will even encourage me to visit Mom more often as she experiments further with recipes in the book.

• The Perfect Gift  May 9, 2003 (4 of 5 found this helpful)

  When looking for a gift for my jewish friend, I came across this cookbook with it's eyecatching pictures, along with it's clear explanation of the holidays and their meanings. This convinced me that this was the perfect gift for her.

  The look of surprise and delight on my friends face when I gave it to her confirmed what I had thought when I first spotted it. I know she will enjoy it for years to come.

  I would recommend this book to anyone who is in need of a gift for a friend, family member or anyone who likes to cook.