Blog Tour & Review :: Real Mom Kitchen by Laura Powell

To those of you dropping by on the blog tour for Real Mom Kitchen, welcome to The Bookish Mama!

Author: Laura Powell
Genre:Nonfiction/Cookbook

Publisher: Cedar Fort, Inc.
Publication Date: August 8th, 2011
Source: Received electronically from publisher

I am a little bit ashamed to admit that I am completely inept when it comes to cooking. I grew up in a home where my dad and grandfather did almost all of the cooking. I spent my time after-school as a young child in the Chinese restaurant that they owned and operated. I ate very well growing up and even now as an adult, I still crave home-cooked meals by Dad or Grandpa. Luckily for me, I married a man who also loves to cook, which alleviates me of the need to learn how to feed my family on a daily basis.

I wish I COULD cook though. I am very much a recipe person when it comes to cooking and I have often been frustrated when trying to learn how to cook from my dad because, like most good chefs, he is such a good improviser in the kitchen. I, on the other hand, need more exact instructions if I expect to prepare a decent tasting meal that people will actually want to eat. This is actually why I own a whole shelf full of cookbooks in attempt to become a better chef and maybe not despise cooking so much, but in all honesty, I don't use most of them. I find the instructions for a beginner chef like myself very confusing, especially when there are no photos to look at!

Ever since I became a mother, I feel a lot more pressure to build on my cooking skills because I need to feed my baby girl something other than Costco chicken or Ramen noodles everyday. As any new mother can easily attest to, it is hard to find the time to do this though. This is why I really enjoyed reading Real Mom Kitchen by Laura Powell.

I loved that the recipes were so simple and almost all of them had less than 10 steps total. The recipes were very simple to follow and the cookbook itself is full of beautiful photos and graphics. I don't understand cookbooks with very minimal photos because how am I supposed to figure out if it looks right, if I have nothing to compare it to? Real Mom Kitchen is full of mouth-watering images and even though they're not on every single page, it's definitely enough to get you hungry! Plus, the ingredients that Laura uses in her recipes are items that you can easily find in your fridge, pantry and/or local grocery store.

The recipes are REAL dishes that moms (and dads) could make on any normal given day or even for special occasions or gatherings. Nothing too fancy, but still simple to prepare and yummy to eat. I especially appreciate that they don't take a ton of time or expertise to prepare or make.

Some of the recipes that I bookmarked to try out this next month are:

• Appetizer: Black bean and corn salsa
  
• Bread: 45 minute cinnamon rolls
• Salad: Chili cheese Fritos salad (I mean, who doesn't love Fritos?!)
  
• Main dish: Mom's meatballs and rice
• Dessert: Pumpkin bars

I picked one from each of the sections of the cookbook. Hopefully I can find some time to photograph the process and share it with you on the blog.

Overall, I really enjoyed Real Mom Kitchen. You can tell from the start that it is written by a REAL mom who understands how hard it can be to get a meal on the table everyday, but also how to make it a simple, enjoyable process as well. I highly encourage you to also check out Laura Powell on her blog (Real Mom Kitchen), twitter (@realmomkitchen), and/or facebook page (Real Mom Kitchen).

Rating:
5 out of 5 stars

Special thanks to Cedar Fort for including me on this blog tour!