Review: Deleted It - Useless For Me
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 12 1, 2011
I really like the idea of this book, especially this time of year when I'm expecting to be doing some entertaining for friends, family, and even coworkers.  However, this book falls short on the execution for me.  Perhaps my expectations were invalid because I was unfamiliar with "Instructables" before downloading this freebie.There are 18 recipes in this "book", but if you've ever been to a wedding, a dinner party, or seen either of the two on TV, I'd say you're already aware of most everything in here.  The only faintly unique thing I saw was in the "Simple and Elegant Wedding Appetizers" section.  I don't need two recipes for baked brie and two for bruschetta... just give me a "variations" section on those recipes.  There are no servings on the recipes so you can only guestimate how much you're going to end up with, though some are obvious (i.e. 12 crackers = 12 servings).There are no chapters (that you can use the 5-way to click to), but there is a Table of Contents at the back of the book with linked chapters that you can use to click to specific sections.  Why is the TOC at the end of the book?  Is that so I don't see that I already know these recipes when I download the sample, or is there another reason?  (Honestly, I'd be curious to know.)If you are expecting anything more than some recipes, don't.  I thought there might be a few tips about how to organize a table or trays to deal with warm and cold appetizers... you know, how to keep from having traffic jams at the buffet table, how to keep warm appetizers warm so the cheese stays melty, how to fix it so people can get one serving of an item without having their fingers all over 6 other servings, etc.  There's also no advice on prepping things (i.e. like the day before so you don't have to run around like a madman to get everything ready at once) or about estimating the number of appetizers or the different types (i.e. dairy free, meat free, warm, cold, pork free, etc.) to have per guest.  Again, my expectations for this book were off.As a note, if you have a dairy or gluten allergy, you're about 85.675% screwed with this book.On the plus side, the recipes are relatively simple so it probably wouldn't take you too long if you did use something from this "book" at your party.  Each recipe has links to "related" recipes if you're looking for something else, but still in the same vein.  Also, the pictures are relatively easy to decipher while being viewed on a Kindle.Maybe this recipe collection would be helpful to you, but it was useless to me.  I'll stick with allrecipes.P.S. - In case it helps, I would call myself an intermediate level cook.  I won't be making my own phyllo dough, but I'm pretty darn capable in the kitchen.