Good Grape Wine Company

While most cookbooks are loaded with dishes that are too extravagant for everyday, this book is full of "normal" meals that I never new how to make - or how to make well.


Good ideas, but a few shortcomings.   January 12, 1999
 138 out of 143 found this review helpful

As a "Weight Watcher" myself, I was particularly interested in this cookbook. Indeed, it does have Weight Watchers' unique POINTS values for each entry. And there are dozens of great ideas to choose from. Unfortunately, there are three shortcomings.

First, as another review here pointed out, while the cookbook identifies number of servings, it fails to provide the size of a serving. If I'm cutting-up a baked good, that's one thing. But for a whole pot-full of soup, it means measuring out the whole batch to determine the size of a serving -- very tedious.

Secondly, the recipes are composed of less-common ingredient choices, most of which are based on partial portions. A half-can of this, a sprig of that, when it's unlikely you'd use the rest of the can or bunch in something else. This leads to a great deal of ingredient waste. Why not stick to common items that could be leveraged better in routine, daily cooking, or in other recipes?

And finally, there's still too much fat in many of these recipes. Some would be better off with zero added fat, while others don't need anywhere near the amount they suggest to turn-out perfectly well. Why add needless additional calories, raising the POINTS value? Why add two tablespoons of margarine when one teaspoon (or none at all) is adequate? This seems odd.

But as a basis to stimulate ideas, this cookbook does work -- more or less.


Tasty and delightful   December 5, 1998
 295 out of 302 found this review helpful

I found the recipes easy to follow. They make use of herbs and spices that add flavor and interest to the meals. However, one point I would like to bring up is the lack of serving sizes in the recipes. For instance the Beef Barley Soup states that it makes 4 servings and each serving counts for four points; it fails to mention the size of the serving. I had to measure out the entire pot of soup to find how many cups I had and then divide it by four. This is time consuming. I have seen throughout the entire book that there are no serving sizes for most of the recipes. Unlike your other cookbook "Simple Goodness" and your Weight Watchers Magazine.