Food Swings: 125+ Recipes to Enjoy Your Life of Virtue & Vice: A Cookbook Hardcover – April 25, 2017

While perusing Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook I noted right away that the book seemed to be separated by colored pages into two sections. Quickly looking at the book the darker pages have the lucious desserts, the chicken parmagiana. The light colored pages have the chard wrapped cod and watermelon mint granita. Ah ha, I spotted the theme of this book, and what a great one it is. Virtue vs Vice, the food we eat to stay healthy and the food we eat when we need a special treat.The author, Jessica Seinfeld, starts out with an Introduction, discussing her philosophy of food, swinging between what we want to eat and what we need to eat. A perfect explanation and formula for good eating while remaining healthy. No yo yo dieting, exercise, eat a healthy meal most of the time, and then eat whatever is calling you the next time.The recipes, all 125 of them, are found between the Virture and Vice sides of the book. Then the recipes are further separated to Breakfast, Mealtime and Desserts. The Virture side is full of delicious looking foods, Ginger Salmon, Whole Roasted Cauliflower, Smoothies, and Chocolate Cherry Coconut Drops. The Vice side took me longer to peruse, Cinnamon Buns, Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake, one of my all time favorite coffee cakes, Red Wine and Shallot Beef Stew, Rib Eye Steaks with Blue Cheese and Parsley Butters, Chocolate Fudge Cake and Lemon Macaroon Pie. And, a section devoted to Jessica's Granny, her memories and the foods they enjoyed.In Jessica's Acknowledgements she recognizes her photographers, John Kernick and Mark Seliger. The photographs of the food are exceptional, mouth watering exceptional. This is truly a wonderfully organized and presented cookbook. I made the vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting, my very favorite dessert of all time. It brings back such fond memories of baking with my mom. And, that is what cooking and baking is all about, memories you make while cooking and eating with friends, families and even strangers.Recommended. prisrob 04-26-17

To date, this is my favorite cookbook for several reasons. 1. It's easy. Don't get me completely wrong, it takes some thought and effort. But compared to most it is pretty straightforward. Cooking times and ingredient measurements are accurate. Which the baker in me appreciates since I feel like some cookbooks get liberal with estimates just to get them into print, and even with the recipe in front of you the meal is still a fail. 2. The ingredients are fresh and simple. No spending hours hunting down random ingredients you might use once and then stash in the abyss of your pantry. (Don't judge. You know you have a three year old bag of millet in the back of your cabinets too.) 3. It is an easy read and is not intimidating. You will actually feel like you know what you are doing in the kitchen with this book. Beware though, your family will start to expect consistent deliciousness. (Mama needs to keep a few pizza delivery nights in her back pocket for sanity. Burn something from time to time to keep it real.) 4. I think Jessica is the bees-knees in general. She shares pics on IG of her recipes on the fly. If you don't follow her on IG, you should. Unless you don't have a sense of humor. Then don't follow her.I feel like this is one of those cookbooks that helps shape what you keep on hand in your pantry and fridge in general - which therefore changes how you cook and eat as a whole. Jessica is all about balance, which I appreciate. Because I ordered the Whole 30 Cookbook and twitched a little as I read it. The entire point of this book is Virtue & Vice. So you have the choice of going healthy, or maybe you had a really bad day and need meatloaf covered in potatoes​ followed up with a chocolate cake chaser. This book gives you BOTH. Worth the purchase!

There are some great recipes in this cookbook. My husband made a salad & brought to a poker game. Everyone raved about it.

i was intro'ed to this book through i believe Shape magazine...i tried the Moroccan chicken recipe that was printed in the magazine, and had been almost buying this cookbook for prob months afterwards. i finally bit the bullet when the price dropped and am so glad i did!!i am not a complete novice in the kitchen, but by no means am i an expert. this book speaks to you with real words, and describes things in an easy to understand way...almost thinking of the questions you would have on how to cut, when to do what, etc. and answering them for you in a completely non-condescending way.i have tried a handful of options from the virtue section of the book, and none have been particularly hard, and all have been delicious! even my hubs has been impressed. this book has actually made me want to cook more, for cooking to become a hobby and not just something i have to get through.i do want to try some recipes from the virtue section as well! i've been brainstorming cake ideas for my daughters 2nd birthday and am getting very excited. p.s. i have always loved baking...cooking is a new "passion." ;)the cover was actually a turn off to me...it just looked kinda weird...but now that i have the book it makes more sense...creating dishes for both sides of your eating personality...or rather you "food" swings (play on mood swings).my review: get this book, you will not be disappointed!

My daughter showed me the book and I wanted a copy for my bookshelf!

Good

Honestly, the book is done really well. There are photos for each recipe, which is something I really appreciate. Also, the concept of the book is definitely unique and I thought I would definitely keep it. However, the recipes themselves are not very original (a few are, but most aren't), making the book a dud for me, unfortunately. That said, if you're a novice cook, super busy, don't have many cookbooks, or just don't like thinking about cooking then absolutely this is a book for you as there are many go-to yummy recipes that are both healthy and indulgent. I am picky as I have quite a few cookbooks, so I prefer a little innovation and creativity in the books I keep. This was a return for me, sadly.

Creative and yet accessible recipes. Artfully put together book filled with colourful photos and quirky details that the author is known for. My wife got the book first from the library and loved it immediately, so it was a clear-choice gift idea for her. She loves it and uses it often for planning and preparing meals.

So far I've made mushroom pasta, eggplant cutlets, peach and sriracha chicken, and roasted carrots with chickpeas. All were very good and not too difficult. Nice photos. The explanations are clear and sometimes funny.