Review: The trimmings make this great!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 25, 2012
Labor Day is one of those days where it can be too hot to cook, and too easy to fire up the grill and cook the same thing as last weekend, and the weekend before that.  Blah. That's not the way to celebrate a wonderful summer.Well, trust Maggie to come to the rescue!  In this cookbook, her main dishes are classics (but worth celebrating) and they'll get you out of the burgers-and-dogs rut.  Most of these recipes are spicy but not too hot.  I'm pretty sure you could leave the peppers out of most of the main dish recipes, if you're not a fan of barbecued meals with extra sizzle.  Maggie seems to specialize in down-home recipes that can be adapted to any menu.But, for me, the trimmings really make this book a worthwhile purchase.  I'm delighted to finally have a pineapple salsa recipe that doesn't just substitute pineapples for peppers (or add pineapple to the peppers).  Maggie's recipe uses ingredients that will enhance the pineapple flavor without making it too sweet, and nicely accent whatever main dish you add it to.  (In this case, Maggie shares a good, simple pork chop recipe.)The iced brownies recipe features an ingredient that hadn't crossed my mind, to keep the brownies moist and "just right" (as Goldilocks would say) for the icing.  If, like me, you're accustomed to cake brownies that don't really work with icing, you (and your kids) will be very pleased with Maggie's recipe.Likewise, Maggie's grilled garlic bread recipe brings some extra flavoring that hadn't occurred to me.  With a beef dish -- like her pot roast recipe (cooked on the grill) -- it sounds like the perfect accent, far better than the Texas toast garlic bread I usually serve with grilled beef.And, as someone who's been making homemade ice cream since forever, the peach ice cream recipe impressed me.  Once again, Maggie's recipe includes a flavoring that made me stop, blink, and wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?"  It's definitely in the "secret ingredient" category, because no one has mentioned this when I've asked them how their peach ice cream tastes so good.My attitude towards Kindle cookbooks is:  If I discover just one new recipe that becomes an instant "family favorite," the purchase was worthwhile.In this case, like with Maggie's other cookbooks, I've found at least three or four recipes that I know my family will love.  The trimmings -- the extras I'll cook in my kitchen when I'm not lighting the grill -- make this cookbook a real delight.And, gosh it's nice to have recipes that will become Labor Day classics for our family!