Betsy

I thought it might be fun to share a teeny bit about the chefs who are creating these reviews (hoping that our fearless blog administrator, Bridgette, will be okay with this idea :) ).

I always like to know what kind of cook is recommending recipes: is he/she feeding a large family? a single person? coming in after a long day's work? generally picky? likes to try new things? Etc.

So, here's a wee bit about me (Betsy) and the kind of environment in which I'm testing these recipes and giving them a thumbs up or thumbs down:

• married to her best friend/love of her life for 7.5 years
• mommy to three exuberant and active children: almost-3-year-old twin boys; 4-year-old daughter
• stay-at-home mom (kids are home all day, too)
• hubby frequently gets in late from work and we have to reheat his dinner
• working on a fairly conservative budget for groceries
• hubby and I love ethnic food; our children do, too, and are particularly fond of Asian food
• I really enjoy cooking, but don't want to spend all day, every day doing it--especially given my three children running around
• I also place a high priority on feeding my family unprocessed/commercially prepared foods when possible; to that end, I bake a lot of bread, cook my own soup, make my own pizza, etc. when feasible--this means we eat more simply now, but it's still tasty!
• before this blog began, I'd started compiling a list of the recipes I'd tried from HTCE and a quick rating. Here's that list. Someday I may rate them all in more detail here.
• I've owned HTCE for exactly one year (bought it in January, 2009) and cooked from it more than any other cookbook this past year (of the 40+ that I own).
• I "discovered" it at a friend's house while I was babysitting for her. It was the first edition. I borrowed it and tried out a few recipes (like the biscuits!!). Then, I spent some time perusing the 10th anniversary edition at Border's, trying to decide if I really needed another cookbook. What swayed me were the extensive section on beans (rare in most cookbooks), the many charts and tables, and the overall simplicity. I'm so glad I took the plunge and bought it!

One final note: Bridgette and I are in complete agreement on this. We use Bittman for our normal, everyday cooking. It's perfect for that. If I want a showstopper recipe, I'll use one I've already tried and liked, perhaps, but I'm more likely to turn to America's Test Kitchen or one of my Southern Living cookbooks. Those are more "company food." (They're also more complicated, more expensive, more fussy, and so forth.)