CookBook Evaluations Part 2

Part two of my CookBook evaluations with my "grading rubric" copy/paste'd from my previous part. Again, I apologize for the lengthiness.

6. Cook's Encyclopedia

of 30 Minute Cooking by Jenni Fleetwood

Ethos: Author of many cookbooks

Pathos: Provides pictures in the procedure to ease the task of cooking AND reading simultaneously. I wouldn't use due to the very "grand buffet" feel the recipes provide but it appears to fulfill its purpose of providing "30 minute meals."

Logos: Neatly organized and visual but the text is small to fit pictures in...

Cook's Encyclopedia of 30 Minute Cooking is not designed for beginners or expert cooks.

Total: 3.5/5 Points (0.5 points deduced from Logos and 1 point deducted from Pathos)

7. Martha Stewart's Cookies

Note: I covered a corner of the cookbook's cover due to the price tag still being there. HMMM. I wonder if my family has used this book alot...

Ethos: Martha Stewart is renown figure in the Culinary part of media. At one point, she had a TV show (which may still be running although they may be old ones?)

Pathos: The book is dedicated to the Cookie Monsters within each of us (:)). Not sure if my family has used this book alot but I would definitely use it due having a huge sugar tooth. The pictures of the recipes are very innovative by putting the cookies in various stunts.

Logos: Concise, reader-friendly organization. The table of contents is alone intriguing to look as it has a picture of an individual piece of the recipe and also the table of contents is divided not by types of recipes but the recipes' textures i.e. chunky and cakey. In addition to the recipes, the book provides a section for shaping the cookies as well as tools for decorating the cookies.

Total: 5/5

8. Essentials of Cooking by James Peterson

Ethos: There are a good number of reviews on the bookcover's flaps

Pathos: The book helps beginners with preparing ingredients. I would use the book but perhaps not as much as I would use Basic Cooking.

Logos: Essentials of Cooking is easy to read as it has the procedure numbered but the photographs provided do not follow the trend (or is placed with the associated step) rendering a possible effective stunt to being powerless and superfluous.

Although lacking in recipes like Basic Cooking, the Essentials of Cooking has an in-depth glossary.

Total: 4/5 (1 point deducted from Logos and Pathos -- 0.5 each)

9. (Greatest Ever) Tapas

Ethos: Written by a publishing company called Parragon (o.O a little weird, yeah?)

Pathos: I would use this book for Spanish delicacy and I think my family has used one of the recipes here multiple times.

Logos: The text is a little small for my liking but tolerable. The organization is well-done by having the basic ingredients and recipes placed upfront.

The book is specialized for Spanish cuisine so it isn't a book everyone may

like. For misc. reasons, there are alot of footnotes, which provide helpful tips from the cook and servings. However, I could use a more effective listing of the recipes than index, especially if you can't remember the name.

Total: 4.5/5 (0.5 from Logos -- listing of recipes to be specific)

10. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by James Beard

Ethos: It seems to have been revised and published multiple times (the one my family owns is the thirteenth version!)

Pathos: My family seems to have used it a lot as there are a lot of tape applied on the bookcover. The book also considers the readers' financial

limits.

Logos: Organized similar to my third and fourth cookbooks by having a section for appliances. However, the book seems to be designed for an older audience/generation for the preparation is made

in paragraph form and the photographs are actually drawn by hand.

This book is better than Basic Cooking (my first cookbook) in regards to preparation as it has preparation for pretty much everything. However, it is nothing but preparation. Don't expect recipes from it. Actually, I like how they do not even bother to add recipes or else it'll be misleading.

Total: 5/5

Common Threads:

1. Cookbooks are designed to be concise and easy-to-full.

2. A cookbook is only as good as you want it to be i.e. "what you see is what you get"

3. There is a basic format of providing a list of ingredients, a picture of the recipe (or of another recipe in the book) on the opposite page, and instructions step-by-step. There is typically an extra section filled with either history/culture for some or preparation for others or even both!

(For fun common threads):

4. Formatting the picture here for them required alot of dragging as my cut/paste trick didn't work.

5. All pictures were taken by an iPhone.