Sara Foster's "Foster's Market Cookbook" is a hands-down winner. She combines a comfortable manner with comfort food galore--usually comfort food with just enough of a twist to make it new and interesting. Granny Foster's Refrigerator Rolls (which keep for an amazing two weeks in the fridge if you want to put off baking them) are highly recommended!

In addition to featuring terrific, simple, delicious recipes, the layout of the book makes it a breeze to read. It's amazing to me how many cookbooks are actually sort of hard to follow when it comes to the directions, but this one isn't. The design is attractive and the font easy to read. Each recipe direction is numbered--a wonderful thing if you happen to look away and lose your place. For the most part, each recipe is complete on a single page and when this is not the case, the recipe is usually complete on the facing page. This makes following the recipes a breeze. This one is a keeper.

The criteria I set forth for an ideal cookbook is that the recipes must be relatively easy to make (but the food has to be outstanding), it has to be beautifully organized, and the ingredients must be easy to obtain. The magic touch of this cookbook is that it not only meets all of these criteria, but you can use it for weekly family cooking *and* for entertaining. The recipes are simple and affordable enough to work for nightly home cooking but tasty enough to feed guests for special occasions. What a star you are, Sara Foster, for sharing these lovely recipes with all of us! The Foster's Market Cookbook will be my number one gift for fellow home cooks and food lovers from now on and I'll continue to use it each week in my own home.

I completely LOVED "The Foster's Market Cookbook" by Sara Foster et al. I found her recipes beautiful, easy to perform and glorious to eat. She's a woman I can really get behind. I found her approach very familiar and comforting. I think we have the same basic food philosophy and you can really see her catering background. This is a great book for parties, gatherings or those special occasions when you really want something special with fresh ingredients.

I am a sucker for a gorgeous cookbook and this one did not disappoint. I love it and think it might be holiday gift for more than one of my friends. A real treasure!

I love the local L.A. Nobu restaurants (Matsuhisa and Ubon), and I enjoyed the book from a purely entertainment perspective. The photographs are beautiful, and I found some of the recipes to be fairly do-able. However, it is noteworthy to mention that quite a few ingredients are difficult if not impossible to find in the U.S., even at Japanese specialty markets (Nobu himself admits that he included recipes that have "many ingredients that can only be found in Japan."). These are interesting, but I don't make it to Japan often enough to be able to whip these dishes up for my dinner parties.

Another thing I found somewhat annoying was all of the Hollywood name-dropping the book is peppered with. I don't really care which celebrities have dined in the various Nobu restaurants, nor do I care what their favorite dishes are. The fact that Nobu once made lunch for Princess Di was equally unimportant to me. The thing I really appreciated was learning more about the quality and "kokoro" (heart) that goes into some of the dishes I've enjoyed at Matsuhisa. The book definitely inspired me to go and eat there again soon!

While many of the recipes we have tried from this book have produced excellent results, it is not for the novice nor for the cook who cannot find exotic ingredients. We live in the San Francisco Bay area and must make special trips to the Asian seafood markets because the local grocer, although high-end, does not carry the exotic varieties of fish and shellfish that he uses. He does not offer suggestions for substitutions.
The food is very good, but you can tell that this is definitely a vanity cookbook. I don't think most home chefs could use this book - it is definitely for the obsessive foodie who would go to any lengths to prepare his recipes. Good for special occasions or for those who have a lot of time and resources for foods.

This cookbook is full of amazing recipes and pictures (I love cookbooks with pictures, you can see what it is supposed to look like and work based on that!)

Anyway, I had the privelege to visit the restaurant in NYC twice through a relative of mine, and was pleased to realize that some of the dishes we tried were available in this book. I also think that, while on the difficult side for cookbooks (obviously, Matsuhisa is a true master of cooking,) the recipes are not impossible if you are familiar with the techniques and ingredients listed.

Marthat Stewart in herself is an interesting woman. She must have strong leadership to get where she is at. And honestly I was hoping to read more about her leadership capabilities, how she organizes her days in some depth and some of the obstacles she had to arise from. I did learn about her upbringing, all her successful steps and how she buys this and decorates and entertains that. It was good reading, but I was hungry for more and did not feel the price tag was worth it.

Anyone would be insane to rate this book below five stars. One of the best reads of the year. Meachum has brilliantly tapped into the enigma that is the life of Martha Stewart. If you have kids, buy this book for them. Heck, buy one for yourself as well. You shan't regret it.

Oh boy, I can't wait to read this book! And that's not just because I helped do the research for it (well, I Xeroxed an article and mailed it to the talented and lovely author, that is.) It's extremely well-written and Virgina Meachum has utterly mastered the difference between passive and active voice (I helped with that, too.) But seriously, it's an insightful and awesome book.

Martha Stewart says it's full of inspired wisdom and knowledge- I wonder if she read it! The pictures are good- but much of the information is found in many other rose books I have in my library.

I could part with this book and never miss it- but then again I have a good size collection of Gardening and Landscape books. I suspect that the average person who loves roses would truly enjoy this, especially if it was the first rose book in the collection.

Some of the photographs would make great study photos for an art teacher to use to help her students study the structure of these flowers for drawing and painting.

Many different types of roses are covered, but only limited information on each is given. This book forms an overview of roses- with beatifull color photographs.

This was my first rose related book and it was absolutely magnificent. An all-over great experience. To me it seems mostly useful only if you are in the Pacific Northwestern area or a place where the climate is similar to Reddell's (N. California). If you're looking for a book that covers that area, you can't get any better than this. The book was fat with knowledge and had tons of gorgeous pictures which are always a plus. He catalogues his favorite 50 roses with a page each to their honor. Most priceless was his refreshing honesty with his opinions of roses. He wasn't afraid to show favorites or non-favorites and came right out and said what his experiences were with actually growing in this climate. I absolutely recommend this book to any new beginner in the Pacific Northwest, it covers all the bases.

"The Rose Bible" is the best and most helpful book on roses I've ever browsed or read. The pictures are magnificient, the language is informative, honest, and humorous, and the history of roses is explained very well. There is a slight bias towards cutting as opposed to garden roses in the top fifty list, but the contents and organization are nearly flawless. No potpourri tips here! If you want to know where roses came from, what is available now (with strong and weak points for each), how to buy, feed, prune, protect roses, and if you don't mind drooling over hundreds of rose pictures in the most undignified fashion, this is the book you want.

Celebrating ten years of phenomenal success, Martha StewartLiving magazine offers an invaluable compilation of all the recipesthat have graced the magazine's cooking pages over the years, alongwith an abundance of interesting facts, useful cooking and cleaningtips, favorite menus of MLS food editors, personal stories aboutMartha, and much more.

This is a same-easy to use format companionto the bestselling "Martha Stewart Cookbook", this newvolume is a compendium of more than 1,500 recipes that celebrates thetenth anniversary of the award-winning magazine. Master courses--thesignature 101's that are so popular in the magazine--explore recipeseveryone needs, including Spaghetti 101, Roast Chicken 101, Pizza 101,Turkey 101 and Caesar Salad 101.

Great photos and greatideas. Martha, as I sip from my "Martha Stewart Doesn't LiveHere" coffee mug--I applaud you.

Though I've seen complaints that these aren't all Martha's "original" recipes, I think those are from people who are missing the point. This is simply a compilation of the most popular recipes--more than 1,500 of them, this is a BIG book--which have appeared in Martha Stewart Living magazine to date. Stewart makes no secret of the fact that many of these recipes come from chef's, friends and others who have either appeared on her show or contributed to her magazine.

I've looked at other Martha Stewart cookbooks, including the classic "Entertaining," and think that, for the money, this is the best Martha cookbook on the market. It offers a wide variety and hits on all the favorites from both her show and magazine.

While I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as the only cookbook to have in your kitchen, it does have a great mix of old-fashioned classics--those contributed by Martha's mom are my favorite (I'm addicted to her meatloaf)--and meals which can "wow" company, both with taste and presentation.

Alongside the classics--"The Joy of Cooking" and/or "The New Joy of Cooking," the "Betty Crocker Cookbook," the "Fannie Farmer Cookbook" and/or a Cook's Illustrated title (either "The Best Recipe" or the "Cook's Bible")--the voluminous and comprehensive "Martha Stewart Living Cookbook" will round out a perfectly balanced recipe collection for anyone who enjoys cooking, or just wants to be able to put together a smart looking meal now and again.

This book is full of all sorts of delightful culinary masterpieces. This book has changed my life. Before getting this book, I could not cook. No one wanted to come to my home because they could not bear to eat my hors d'ouvres. However, after buying this book, I started to cook like Martha. This book includes recipes for desserts, main courses, appetizers, and lots of other foods. It even has a convienient index so you can easily look up your favorite recipes. Even a pathetic homemaker wannabe like me can cook like a TV homemaker. Now, everyone wants to be my friends just so they can eat the wonderful goodies I prepare for them. In fact, my home is now the hub of suburban society. I have been elected president of the PTA and the neighborhood watch. Thanks, Martha!

These romantic words are echoed in this lovely book by Martha Stewart. It has marvelous photos that may be hard to live up to. The books is not inexpensive, nor are many of the ideas. And for most of us, weddings are, unfortunately, no longer a once-in-a-lifetime thing! The only omission is mention of the wedding song When I Look in Your Eyes from the novel Defenders of the Holy Grail. Buy the book and find the CD. This will make your day magic!!

This book is a gorgeous one! The ideas inside are so beautiful. Just paging through it has made me even more excited about my upcoming September wedding. I think there are a lot of unique ideas that are very do-able - if you want some special touches to your wedding. I lack the creativity to think of ideas like this on my own, so I don't mind borrowing from this very special book. It is a useful resource for planning my wedding, and I hope one I can use for years to come for other deocrating and memory keeping ideas! Buy and enjoy!

Beautiful and inspiring, this book is full of great ideas. A must have for the bride-to-be, or even a young lady just dreaming of her future wedding. Pages 23-95 primarily focuses on the use of flowers for decorations, the bouquet, the boutonniere-- beautifully simple and practical enough for you to request to your florist. Though flowers are adorned throughout the book, candles, wedding cakes, invitations; details of a fantasy wedding are all attended to. This book is filled with many gorgeous pictures! My fiancé bought it for me for our Anniversary and I can't put it down. It really is a must have.

For any Martha Stewart fan, a must. This is a collection of her easiest projects, yet they really pack a punch. Try giving someone a gift wrapped in a paper bag tied with raffia and a fall leaf gift tag with their name written in gold ink. Faster than all that tape and expensive paper, and just see how impressed they will be with such a simple statement. The book is full of ideas like this. And they can be translated from one use to another. (You never entertain and use place cards? Try those ideas for gift tags.) The book is slightly overpriced for a softbound volume, but it it worth it not having to wade through three years of Marth Stewart Living trying to remember what issue that pilow project you are thinking of was in.

This book is fab!!! It contains neat little projects on everything from food to tools!! I f you want a Martha book tht's not just focused on one topic such as gardening or cooking, this book is definately for you! It contains the best projects on entertaining, cooking, celebrating, giving, gardening, decorating, and homekeeping. As usual Martha throws in a couple X-tra tips too! In one word.......FABULOUS!!!!

The "Good Things" segment of Martha Stewart Living magazine and television show has always been my favorite. The book is brimming with concise ways to make life more pleasant. In all, very delightful and beautifully done. From cover to cover, it's full of fresh ideas that can be accomplished in a short amount of time. For the busy woman who wants to take pride in her home, these ideas are just right. The best part is....all my favorite "good things" are now in one place. Thank you Martha, for a very good thing

When I am ready to don my apron to prepare for a cocktail or dinner party, this is the first book that I pull off the shelf. I flip through the beautiful and tantalizing photos in the front third of the book, find what I want to try, and then go on to the correlating how-to page. The recipes are easy to follow, some more involved than others, but depending on how much time you have, it's easy to make a choice on what to serve. The last chapter entitled The Guide is filled with a wealth of information - menus, an index of culinary utensils, description of uncommon and exotic foods and spices, equipment and food sources and a directory of specialty shops. I also like the built-in fabric book markers - great to mark favorite recipes.

This informative book has been a welcome addition to my cooking library and I recommend it to anyone who loves to entertain. It will also make life easier for those who are sometimes forced to entertain whether they like to or not!

I have used this book several times, made me want to have a party to try out these wonderful recipes. Full-color photos which show you what the food is supposed to look like; and well labeled -- telling you what page the recipe is on. Such creative ideas for snacks and treats, "why didn't I think of that?". Recipes are well detailed, easy to follow, good print (making it easy to read) with special notes on pages telling you where to get "hard to find items" and techniques explained. I think this book is not necessarily for beginners, but, those who love to cook and love to take time and pride in their cooking. Everytime I have made something from this cook book I get "waves of praise". The back of the book has "the Guide" which gives additional information from planning a party to taking Horsd'Oeuvre to a party. Equipment and ingredients are explained, as well as, a source list. I recommend this book to anyone, again, who loves to cook. It is right up there with the other Martha Stewart cookbooks, great!

The Hors D'Oeuvres Handbook by Martha Stewart is filled with creative appetizer recipes and spectacular pictures that make you want to run to the kitchen and start cooking. Stewart is, no doubt, an authority on entertaining and this book shows how she has evoluted from the first Hors D'Oeuvres book she wrote in the early 80's. I have tried several recipes, and they were all great, specially the Crispy Asparagus Straws (Fresh Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, fresh parmigiano and then several sheets of phyllo dough), and the Mini Bisteyas (Morrocan Chicken Phyllo Pies).
My friend who owns a catering company uses this book all the time and is having lots of success with the new ideas.
If you want to impress your guests or family, this book has many many recipes that will make you show off your kitchen skills.

I wouldn't really consider this a how-to book, as most of it is pictures of arrangements with a paragraph or two about the flowers. To paraphrase, "Martha loves spring when the peonies in her garden are blooming. They look stunning massed together." Most of the description is of her garden.

However, the photographs ARE wonderful and gave me many, many ideas. I checked this book out of the library to get ideas for my wedding, and it's a book that I've renewed several times.

Most of the arrangements included are simple yet elegant, involving one species of flower or monochromatic color schemes.

I recommend this book as long as you're looking for arrangement ideas, not step-by-step instructions.

This is another excellent addition to the Best of Martha Stewart Living collection. Martha's directions and tips are easy to follow and even inspire new ideas. The many bright, full color pictures will certainly help guide everyone, even beginners. This is the best book to own for anyone interesting in floral arranging!

This is an extremely beautiful book with plenty of gorgeous photos of terrific flower arrangements. But a lot of books fit that description. What sets this one head and shoulders above the rest is the practical, well-written and easy-to-follow text. Martha has divided the book into four sections, following the four seasons--and she gives us gorgeous arrangements for each. Besides telling us HOW to arrange the flowers, Martha also gives us tips on what flowers mix well with what and how to care for them. For example, I never knew that daffodils are best used alone since they give off a substance that is toxic to other flowers. As a woman, as a homemaker and as a gardener, I just loved this book. It's written so we can actually use it, rather than just being one of those glossy books done by interior decorators that you look at once, sigh over then close. This practical and beautiful book is gorgeously photographed and written in Martha's lovely, intimate style. The best book on flower arranging ever! A must for anyone who loves flowers or has a garden!

In a crowded field of interior design books, Designing Women stands out. Inspirational, informative and entertaining, Margaret Russell shows why she is considered the top interiors editor in the industry. Every weekend my wife and I add new design elements and decoration to our home all inspired by Ms. Russell and her book. I highly recommend Designing Women to anyone interested in interior design or just looking for the perfect gift.

In addition to being a useful summary of current design trends,this book is simply one of the most beautiful interior design volumes produced in years.

We compliment Margaret Russell for her good taste and her clear, presentation, refreshingly uncluttered by hyperbole.

When it comes to design books, the bridge between aspirational and practical is hard to cross because it usually doesn't exist. This book not only showcases great ideas, but sources them. It is inspirational (especially for women) in that you feel empowered to create a room of your own. It is beautifully photographed and well-written; each brilliant corner seems attainable. I loved the sources in the back, which lead readers on a variety of paths. Unlike other design books, this is luscious and useful at the same time. I highly recommend Margaret Russell's interpretation and explanation of how modern women live.