Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy: A Cookbook

Another awesome trove – great for beginners and long-tenured cooks alike
I love Tieghan’s recipies. I’ve been cooking my entire life and inherited not only my grandmother’s cookbooks, but her obsession with them. My grandfather used to tease that she’d sit in her arm chair and read cookbooks like novels. I’ve learned that a good cookbook does teach you how to cook to the point that you can improvise. Poorly written cookbooks not only have untested or bad tasting/textured recipes, but also don’t educate you as to why you’re doing what you’re doing. Tieghan’s recipes come out fantastic. She gives just enough detail to allow you to understand what to look for in texture, finished color, etc. to really nail the cook on everything, and she does so without being overly wordy. Her recipes are also unique without being bizarre or trying too hard. I have waaay too many cookbooks, and those that I have (sixty some) I whittled down and curated after years of owning/borrowing from the library many a cookbook. Of all of them, not being hyperbolic here, hers have the best balance of offering unique recipes that aren’t too wild with the ingredient list or flavor. The flavors are profound and phenomenal, don’t get me wrong – and that’s the point. She doesn’t over-do one flavor profile just to have a dramatically different recipe. She successfully balances complex flavors, combinations I haven’t seen elsewhere, and does so in a way that makes for a bite that is enjoyable – not confusing. Many of my cookbooks have one or two categories that they nail and then I avoid the other categories (like maybe the desserts are great but the author tried to squeeze in salads and they’re all predictable and half-hearted). Tieghan’s recipes all come out GREAT. Like something where I am legitimately exclaiming how good the flavor is. She knows how to handle the ingredients she is using. I own four of her cookbooks and they are all worth owning. It impresses me that she keeps coming out with volumes of recipes that are all like “that golden version” of something you’d cook. A lot of my improvising in the kitchen has evolved and been influenced by her. It’s surprising again because she’s relatively young and I don’t think she was a chef at any point (could totally be off base here). She’s clearly a natural.I highly recommend trying either this or another of her cookbooks. Doesn’t matter what “level” chef you are. Her recipes are easy to follow for a newbie but unique enough to be inspiring to the tenured cook.

One of my most used cookbooks that I own
I have over 100 cookbooks and this cookbook and her HBH Super Simple are two of the ones I use the most. I was nervous about purchasing it when there were so many negative reviews at first, but I have been enjoying cooking my way through this one! I host college football game nights at my house for a few friends a couple times a month during the season, and have found some great appetizer ideas to serve that have been well received, like the brother’s game day snack mix, and dad’s crunchy, cheesy potato skins. Some others I’ve tried so far and enjoyed were the broccoli cheddar soup with gruyere, italian chop salad, jalapeno buffalo chicken pizza, and fish tacos with jalapeno cream and avocado salsa. I do wish she had included a pizza recipe with this one as well, since she has so many pizza recipes in the book, but the book is supposed to be quick, so makes sense to use a store bought pizza crust. I have so many more recipes earmarked to try!

So many great recipes!
This author is one of my favorite cooks and her book does not disappoint! I have been following her and making her recipes for a few years now and I’m so happy to have this beautiful visual book of all great new recipes. I actually purchased this cookbook for 6 of my friends this last holiday and they all love it too!

This is a beautiful book, full of Tieghan magic. My big family loves everything I make from Tieghan’s blog, and some of them are very picky eaters! Lots of zing to her recipes. My husband has been flipping through the book, putting sticky notes on the pages showing food he wants to eat.The photos are beautiful, and her commentary is fun to read. Great recipes. I’ll be buying extra copies for Christmas gifts.

Daughter in law was thrilled with her new cook book