Cook, Eat, Repeat: Ingredients, Recipes, and Stories – Nigella Lawson's Delicious Essays on Food, Family, and Life

love this book.

Cook, Eat, Repeat . . . . is the way many of us felt — staying at home, cooking all the time, day in and day out. No take out, no restaurants, no family meals or celebrations. Well, during this time, Nigella Lawson was working on her website with some asparagus recipes, and her publisher saw them and thought she should write a book, so she did. Cook, Eat, Repeat, is my new favorite of Nigella's so far. Her children are grown. She was home by herself as she tried the recipes. She made do with what she had on hand, making a meal for herself. There are lots of smaller ingredient lists, and small portions, perfect for a small, tasty meal.She even tried some gluten free recipes and actually found she liked them better than her traditional way. The taste and texture were far better. A favorite is Gluten-free Banana Bread with Chocolate and Walnuts. The book has excellent photos. The index is coded in color dots for vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free.A nice addition with each recipe is Make Ahead, How to Store, and How to Freeze Notes for each recipe found at the back of the book.The best thing about Nigella Lawson, is that she can really write. She talks about ingredients, recipes, and stories which are all well-written and delightful. It is just like you are sitting down with her for a chat. This is a cookbook that will be "read" as you might read a novel. She has a great sense of humor. This book is a must have for cooks, chefs, and people who want to prepare really good food. Perfect too, for someone living alone and wanting to try some new great tastes. Her section on rhubarb is to die for — so many ways to simply cook and serve a bunch of deliciousness.Did you know that recipes can not be copyrighted? Nigella says so. And, she also freely admits to using other chefs recipes and then changing them to her liking. Then she shares hers with you. What's not to love? Order this one right away. A++++ for Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson's cookbooks long ago earned the special designation of "pre-order this book as soon as Amazon permits it." I've worn out the spine on some of her cookbooks, several of which fall open to recipes that I've made dozens of times. She has reliable instructions, simple (but not over-simple) recipes that are do-able on a weeknight, and a marvelous bedside manner. Needless to say, I was excited about Cook, Eat, Repeat....and I still am, though this cookbook is _different_.Lawson wrote this cookbook in the throes of the lockdown, when clearly she was cooking primarily for herself. Much of our globally-shared mood comes through, primarily the upbeat, "Well, we shall carry on as best we can!" optimism that cheers me up so much. But she has thoughtful food essays too, including one that is an embrace of "pleasures" over "guilty pleasures," because what's the point of feeling guilty about the things you enjoy and are going to do? There's a sense of comfort-food indulgence in these recipes (because obviously all of us have been needing that), such as her regular family favorites -- the lasagna she always makes for family, for instance.But it isn't merely a difference of "mood," because frankly I like her so much that I'd be happy to hear Lawson share her opinion on an IKEA instruction manual. The book's organization is different, too, and I'm a little less keen on that.Several of Lawson's cookbooks eschew the traditional presentation of appetizers / soups / entrees / desserts, etc.; if you're familiar with her cookbooks you already know that. This one has themes based on ingredient (rhubarb or anchovy) or event (Christmas comforts, or Much Depends on Dinner). That makes it hard to figure out where to find a particular chicken recipe that had sounded interesting. Expect to use the index a lot, if you don't adopt my habit of sticking tiny Post-Its on anything that sounds appealing; the latter has the effect of waving tiny flags of encouragement to (in an Alice in Wonderland voice) "Eat me!"However, many of the recipes are not given in the ordinary guise of a list of ingredients followed by numbered instructions. Lawson includes them in a long foodie essay, kind of the "talkin' blues" approach to cookery: "Well you can roast it with a little basil, should you have any on hand, or thyme if you don't." Which makes me think of sitting next to my Aunt Libby and asking her, say, "What else can I do with rhubarb beyond pie?" and listening to my aunt ramble for 10 minutes with inspiring, "Well, you could do THIS and add THAT and...." Which is wonderful, in its way, except for the inability to find those instructions ever again. It might have been solved with a layout change, wherein the Recipe Name appeared in another color or as a sidebar or something.But enough whining, because this is a great collection of advice from a reliable cookbook author whom I have come to like personally (at least in her public persona). The rhubarb essay taught me to cook rhubarb in the oven (I'd never heard of that!), which was foolproof and avoided any mess. The "one pan chicken with apricot harissa and sweet potatoes" came out GREAT on a Tuesday night -- though I took her advice to use storebought harissa and add a dollop of apricot jam. I just bought the ingredients to make the "celery root and anchovy gratin," which I marked with a bright MAKE THIS post-it. There will be more.If you like her earlier cookbooks, I'm sure you'll like this one. I'm not sure that it'll get worn out quite as quickly as some of the other titles, but I'm glad I bought it. You probably will be, too.

I have all of her cookbooks and I love them! I love reading them. Her tasty blend of flavors (and thematic writing) in any given recipe are delicious because she’s not strictly British. She blends so many spices from her neighbors and the Commonwealth. This collection is no different. It’s a book you will need to sit down with to become friendly, again, as you pick up where you left off last time, like a neighbor coming over for an afternoon tea. Photos are always beautiful (have you ever tried taking a pic of food? it’s not easy) which is keen. If you love adventure, her cookbooks will lead you in wonderful directions. Her books ARE short stories. 5+ stars!!

Checked this book out from the library and loved it so much I just had to have it.

Another great book from Nigella

This cookbook is standard Novella Lawson fare but with even fewer recipes than usual and more text. The text is both stories and lengthy descriptions of food/ingredients and extremely wordy details in the recipes. I normally find Lawson witty, but this book seems kind of redundant and not at all "fresh".

I will try to use some of her recipes to feed my family !!!

Love Nigella and love that she wrote a book that deep dives into the stories behind recipes. Try reading it aloud in her accent - it’s so much fun!

Suelo comprar los libros de Nigella y no defrauda. Hay recetas muy variadas y para todos los gustos, sencillas o más elaboradas. Personalmente me gustan sus guiños hacia las recetas vegetarianas y veganas, muy saludables. A nivel de edición, este último libro pienso que está mejor editado, de mejor calidad. Lo volvería a comprar.

J'ai déjà fait les 2 pains c'est un régal, merci.

I am a big Nigella Lawson fan, but I was disappointed with this book...the recipes aren’t that exciting..it’s very different than all her previous books

This book is among the best cookbooks that I have read and used over the years. This is not surprising since it comes from the best and most elegant of British chefs. Nigella is an exemplar of that breed who constantly show high level accomplishment along with skills and creativity. Her writings are classics of communication and purpose. If you want to cook and entertain, or simply provide meals for family, you will do no better than to learn from her cookbooks. Not only that, you will see English prose as it is supposed to be seen and read.British cooking has long been the subject of scorn from foreign critics and travellers. And yes, some of that view has been deserved. But behind the sour samples and over generalised views commonly put forth by some critics, there can be found a long and interesting history of British regional and historical gems of cuisine. Brits are, after all, a very mixed and sometimes rebellious lot. But then there are the realms of the British pubs, state dinners, professional and academic feasts and banquets. To this can be added countless private family traditions among both the rich and poor.In this particular book by Nigella, the richness and uniqueness of the kitchens and bakeries of that oft benighted isle show through. It is a marvellous collection of recipes and related stories. Many of them awakened memories that I have of marvellous foods and dishes that were taken for granted in the parts of England where I lived as a child. Nigella brings to modern life the taste and feel of those times and regions.I highly recommend this author and her work. She deals with her cuisine both beautifully expressed and with great taste. Some champions produce "How do you like that?" Nigella says "That's how it's done".