Guest Author - D. Lynn Byrne, Ph.D.

I'm not a foodie, but I like to cook. I've also found its one of the greatest ways to pull together people from diverse backgrounds--nothing like closeting a group of unrelated people in a cozy kitchen, pulling out some good food and drink, and chatting. Beats the heck out of the cardboard pizza most study groups serve. So, when I received a copy of Megan and Jill Carle's College Cooking: Feed Yourself and Your Friends, I have to admit I was more than ready to give it a go.

Now, normally a cookbook labeled "College Cooking" is going to have 101 things to do with Ramen Noodles or 100+ ways to microwave canned foods so that they no longer resemble canned foods. The Carles didn't take this approach, however. They've put together real recipes, using real foods. The catch is, you're going to need a real kitchen--or at least access to one--to make their dishes. Sometimes that's not such an easy item to come by when you're still in college--even if you are a graduate student.

What do the Carles have to offer? Let's take a look at last week's brunch: fresh tomato soup (ripe tomatoes, salt, milk, and pepper), chicken salad pita sandwiches (real chicken, lettuce, celery, cucumber, grapes and a peppery mayo), zucchini olive salad (strips of crisp zuchinni, garlic, basil, lemon, olive oil, salt, pepper, Parmesan, black olives and sunflower seeds), and lemon sugar cookies (made with real butter). Everyone had fun lending a hand with the meal and it was absolutely yummy!

Unfortunately, everything in this meal--with the exception of the zuchinni salad--required access to a full kitchen; and that particular fact applies to almost every recipe in the Carles' book. Also, the Carles give quite a few tips on making vegetarian dishes using their recipes; but few tips on making their recipes either low-cal or low-fat. All of which explains why I'm reviewing this particular "College" cookbook on the graduate school site and not the colleges site--graduate students have been out of the nest long enough to have learned a few tricks to manage these particular issues.

If you do have access to a full kitchen (and a nice enough bank balance to afford some of the more particular ingredients these recipes call for--like fresh black olives as opposed to canned), the Carles have put together a really nice collection of recipes covering everything from comfort foods to party foods in College Cooking: Feed Yourself and Your Friends . All of which are available in a card-stock covered volume for about $19.95 US from your favorite retailer or online book seller.

Until next time!

Lynn Byrne