I first heard about this book on Dragon's Den. As a writer and editor who's also learning to cook, I was curious to read a self-published cookbook/memoir. Then my sister just happened to give it to me for my birthday. Erin's bubbly personality certainly comes through in her writing, but it's not really that innovative or inspiring. It reads like someone didn't edit it (one sentence made me want to shred the page) but that kind of adds to the small-town charm of the book.

However, the recipes are the biggest failure of this book. They're not anything special (four separate recipes for chocolate bark? Please.) And while the use of common ingredients is nice, the directions are horrible. Anyone who has melted chocolate knows you have to melt it in a double boiler, not in a saucepan on the stove. Yet every direction that involves melting chocolate says to melt it in a sauce pan.

I attempted two recipes before I gave up on the book entirely: the sea salted caramels, and the shortbread cookies. The directions for the caramels include nothing about temperature (which is vitally important when working with sugar) and makes no mention of ideal texture or how long to cool the caramel. Even though I followed the directions to the letter (including burning my chocolate in a saucepan, which makes the chocoholic in me very sad) the caramels were a major flop. I've checked other caramel recipes, and the ingredients are pretty much the same. It's the instructions that kill it.

When I tried the shortbread cookies, they turned out to be a flop, too. They tasted all right, but my mother, who's made shortbread cookies every Christmas for as long as I can remember, tasted them and announced the flour-to-butter ratio was off, namely that there wasn't enough flour. I also recited the directions to her, and she told me how there isn't enough mixing time given to allow the gluten strands to form properly, which is why my cookies crumbled to dust if you looked at them wrong.

The only thing that really impresses me about the book (aside from Miss Bolger's enthusiasm) is the photography. The images are fantastic, and there are a few I'm considering just cutting out of the book and hanging on my wall. Because otherwise I have no use for this book, as I'd never recommend it to any bakers I know, and I'd feel bad donating it to Goodwill.

This book could have been fantastic. The energy is there, and Miss Bolger certainly beleives in her book (and I'm assuming that she does indeed know how to bake, since the Dragons were impressed by her treats) but it sorely needed an editor with a test kitchen.

Once I got past the obvious spelliing/grammatical errors I really enjoyed this book! Not only is it an entertaining read while your items are in the oven, but the recipes are easy to follow, use common ingredients, and turn out absolutely wonderful! The items had rave reviews at a party I threw!
I also enjoyed that each recipe has a picture and you have an idea of what the item will turn out to be. A great book for people who love to bake with ease and enjoy an entertaining read!

So I got this book as an easter gift from my Mother in Law. At first glance I assumed I would just put on the shelf with all my other cookbooks that I have never ever tried one recipe out of. Then I took a glance at this one, started reading the stories and couldn't put it down. Upon completion I drove into town, grabed a couple of ingredients I didn't have in the cupboard and make my very first dessert from a cook book!
yummy!

Loved this book, once I got past all the glaring spelling mistakes. This is a fun, entertaining book with great tried and true recipes with fun new names. It would make a great gift and I'd definitely recommend it!!