Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club discussion

Food & Cookbooks Winner: Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten



Book Summary
For the first time, trusted and beloved cookbook author Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, answers the number one question she receives from cooks: Can I make it ahead?

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in front of the stove at your own party, scrambling to get everything to the table at just the right moment, Ina is here to let you in on her secrets! Thanks to twenty years of running a specialty food store and fifteen years writing cookbooks, she has learned exactly which dishes you can prep, assemble, or cook ahead of time. Whether you’re hosting a party or simply making dinner on a hectic weeknight, Ina gives you lots of amazing recipes that taste just as good—or even better!—when they’re made in advance.

In Make It Ahead, each recipe includes clear instructions for what you can do ahead of time, and how far in advance, so you can cook with confidence and eliminate last-minute surprises. Make a pitcher of Summer Rosé Sangria filled with red berries, let it chill overnight for the flavors to develop, and you have a delicious drink to offer your friends the minute they arrive. Simmer a pot of Wild Mushroom & Farro Soup, enjoy a bowl for lunch, and freeze the rest for a chilly evening. You can prep the kale, Brussels sprouts, and lemon vinaigrette for Winter Slaw ahead of time and simply toss them together before serving. Assemble French Chicken Pot Pies filled with artichokes and fresh tarragon a day in advance and then pop them in the oven half an hour before dinner. And for dessert, everyone needs the recipe for Ina’s Decadent (gluten-free!) Chocolate Cake topped with Make-Ahead Whipped Cream. Ina also includes recipes for the biggest cooking day of the year—Thanksgiving! Her Ultimate Make-Ahead Roast Turkey and Gravy with Onions & Sage may just change your life.

With beautiful photographs and hundreds of invaluable make-ahead tips, this is your new go-to guide for preparing meals that are stress-free yet filled with those fabulously satisfying flavors that you have come to expect from the Barefoot Contessa.

This is another book that I think only won, because Ina Garten/The Barefoot contessa is a somewhat popular figure and thus many people voted for her .. not necessarily this book. I'm a vegetarian/nonstrict vegan, so many of the recipes just don't work for me. However, they seem nice. Lots of different ones that I'm sure are tasty enough. But, I can see no difference between this book and many others .. or what is "make ahead" about it. Of course you can prepare a soup ahead or ingredients for most meals. Well, actually pretty much any recipe except for idk Fajitas can be made ahead (and even those you can make ahead if you cut ingredients and marinate meat) .. no magic behind it. So, why this book?

It's not a bad one for sure, but I'm certain that many of the other nominees would have been much more original .. which to me is the thing that makes a cookbook stand apart from the rest.

I think many of the winners are popularity contests, so it isn't necessarily the best book that wins. Too bad there wasn't anything special about for you. I picked it up from the library and I'm hoping to have a chance to look at it this weekend.

I think we should insist on pictures meals cooked / baked for this thread! ;)

yum I agree, I want to see pictures!!! :D

Is Ina Garten some type of celebrity then? I've never heard of her.

The previous year's winner was Ree Drummond -- The Pioneer Woman and with Ina Garten winning this year -- I feel its all about the celebrity of the cook -- and lets face it -- the faces that are known are going to get the most votes -- although I did find a few of the recipes I will use out of this cookbook but this is not an everyday type cookbook - its more for parties and get togethers -- but I watch Ina on tv too...I found that there were more practical cookbooks that I actually bought and use that were better this year as far as quality and amount of recipes given...But working at a library gives me a better choice of cookbooks to look over!!

I went through this one last night and thought it was ok. There weren't too many recipes that I would make, though a few of the desserts looked delicious. I found the few meals that looked interesting to me were too fatty/heavy for me or I already had a similar recipe that I think is better.

I saw that there were little make ahead tips, but I agree with Janina, there wasn't anything special about the make ahead part either.

My opinion is that it is a pretty average cookbook.

I looked through this book and like looking at the the tips that were for making ahead. There were a few recipes that I was interested in and plan to make some of them.

I just started this last night. I haven't got to many of the actual recipes, though. I've mainly read the intro information.

I do like the concept. Prepping and making things ahead for bigs meals would help a lot.

The cocktails section seemed silly to me. The "make ahead" parts seemed pretty obvious. But then, not really sure why they needed cocktails in cookbook about making things ahead.

I hope there are some good recipes.

I am about mid-way through and it is feeling a bit pretentious. Some of the recipes sound absolutely delicious, but they are the type of things that I'd rather enjoy while dining out.

I finally ended up just skimming the recipes. Not blown away by this one.