Cookbook Review: Madhouse Cookbook by Jo Pratt

Book: Madhouse Cookbook
 
Author: Jo Pratt
 
Release date (if applicable):February 28, 2013

Synopsis: A collection of healthy, family friendly, simple to prepare recipes. Recipes range from appetizers to desserts. For the big kids, alcoholic drinks included. 

Jo includes plan ahead ideas, tips on menu planning and shopping. 
 
My rating: 3 Stars
 
My opinion: I have to be honest and say I found a large handful of recipes that I felt would not be kid friendly in this book. Having raised a son, there are recipes included that I know I couldn't have gotten him to eat even if I had tied him down and force fed him. This included recipes based with  lamb, pork belly or curry based recipes. Now, this author is British, so eating habits are a tad different, but speaking to a number of American parents/grandparents of young kids, they confirmed what I had gone into this review with.  To be honest, there were a couple of recipes in there that I wouldn't have eaten and I consider myself pretty open, but with a large handful of the recipes being lamb based, I don't eat lamb and felt the author focused too much on this meat. 

Because a chunk of the recipes are Middle Eastern based, I think there are a large number of ingredients that might be difficult for a cook to find unless one lives in a large urban area. These include galangal, lemon grass stalk and kaffir lime leaves. 

Finally, when I review a cookbook, I place it on my computer for optimal viewing. One thing that I am really particular about is photograph quality. What really stood out to me was that the photographs were highly pixelated and blurry.

On that note, she had some rockin' recipes in there, particularly in the dessert area, that really saved the cookbook for me. 
 

Source: Netgalley for Publisher       

Would I recommend? : I am on the fence with this one. I would encourage you to check it out at your library before purchasing it. 
 
Stand Alone or Part of a Series: Stand Alone