Once-A-Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg is a simple, easy introduction to the art of cooking ahead. The authors relate how cooking ahead can assist in saving time and money, allowing for a cook to care for her own household as well as extending the arm of hospitality to a friend in need.
The book very simply lays out four plans for cooking ahead: a two-week plan, a two-week low-fat plan, and two one-month plans. The authors walk the reader through each step from the planning calendar, to the grocery store, to assembling the recipes. Each plan is detailed, using recipes that have been tested in many different homes. The plans include main-dishes only, and the authors include a small section with accompaniments such as salads, bread, and desserts.
At the end of the book, the authors discuss how to adapt the plan for your own recipes. They include a blank calendar that may be copied for use in meal planning.
Since this book leaves little room for creativity, I would recommend it only for someone who is very unfamiliar with the concept of cooking ahead. The step-by-step directions would make a novice feel very secure in their first venture into freezer cooking. Once a cook has gotten started in cooking ahead, he or she would probably like to have a little more information on how to adapt their favorite recipes, or new recipes, to this form of cooking.
Go To Page: 1
