COOKBOOK REVIEWS
Honest assessments using measuring both recipe quality and book design. Because you deserve to know if a cookbook is actually worth cooking from.
What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: A Cookbook Review
There is a specific kind of tired this book is made for. Not I can’t cook, more like I could cook, but I don’t want to think. That’s exactly where What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking fits. And after cooking from it across multiple real week nights, tracking CPR scores and outcomes,
Cookbook Review: Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy
Cookbook: Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy by Tieghan GerardPrice: ~$23 | Pages: 288 | Recipes: ~120 When I was gifted Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy, I was optimistic. The book promised big flavor fast—one-pan dinners, cozy casseroles, and crowd-pleasing bakes wrapped in gorgeous design. At first glance, it checked all my boxes. But
F.A.Q.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s exactly what it sounds like…how much I swear while cooking each recipe. Unclear instructions? That’s a high CPR. Smooth sailing? Low CPR. It’s the most honest measure of whether a recipe actually works.
No, that would be insane. I cook a representative selection from each book to get a real sense of the recipes, techniques, and whether the author knows what they’re doing.
I eat it, obviously. And so do my friends, family, and anyone willing to be a guinea pig. Some weeks are better than others.
Because a beautiful cookbook with terrible recipes is just an expensive coffee table decoration. Recipes have to work first – everything else is secondary.
The 2026 challenge lineup is set, but I’m always looking for future additions. Drop me a note with your recommendation!