Do you fear the frying pan? Are you skittish about sauteing? Is the Italian joint down the street on your speed dial? The Junior League of Beaumont banishes kitchen bashfulness with Dining Without Reservations. This cookbook presents a simple approach to all types of cuisine and promises to “tempt every palate.”
Divided into seven sections—appetizers and beverages, breads and brunch, soups and salads, vegetables and side dishes, entrees, seafood, and desserts—this cookbook leads you step-by-step through short, scrumptious recipes. And though most instructions are easy to follow, the book provides additional guidance with side notes in the margins.
Unsure if your finished product is exactly, well, right? Photos of prepared dishes appear throughout the book, providing a visual cue, and the corresponding page numbers allow for quick reference, connecting the visual images with the recipes.
Dining Without Reservations offers down-home favorites such as Tex-Mex Pinto Beans, Barbecue Sandwiches, and Heartwarming Chili. It also features dishes like Roast Pork With Strawberry Salsa and Caviar Puff Pastry Stars for the more discerning palates.
The most enticing sections, however, are appetizers and desserts. Cheese lovers will enjoy appetizers such as the Pesto Cheese Pasta Bites, Spinach and Three-Cheese Dip, and the particularly tantalizing Southwestern Cheese Appetizer with cheddar, pepper jack, cream cheese, and sweet red peppers.
As for the dessert section, staples such as chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies mingle among the decadent Chocolate Amaretto Pound Cakes With Hot Fudge Sauce and Show Stopping Chocolate Mousse Cake. Even avid dieters should give up hesitations and indulge.
Dining Without Reservations features about three hundred recipes, and the proceeds support the Junior League of Beaumont and its “commitment to enrich the quality of life” for the Beaumont community. Before you book a table at the finest dining establishment in town, consider that the newest eatery of fantastic fare could be your very own home.
