
Welcome to Foodie Fridays! This is a chance to combine two my favorite things: reading and cooking. I am going to put a linky up starting next week in case anyone else want to participate. How I am going to do Foodie Fridays: each week I will be highlighting a recipe (or two) from either a cookbook or food blogger that I follow. I am going to make it and share with you my experience. In the future I promise to take pictures but this week I did not (well I did but they turned out horrible).
This week I am featuring Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook (more information at the bottom of the post) which I requested from NetGalley. I made two recipes: Ranch Pasta Salad and Mexican Chicken Meatballs. Overall I really liked the recipes in this cookbook. They seem to be both simple and tasty. I will be trying several more :)
Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe
Ease of Recipe: Super Easy
Taste of Recipe: Delicious
Why I made it? I love pasta salad during the spring/summer. They tend to work well both as side dishes and main courses. When I saw this recipe in the cookbook I knew I had to try it! It was a definite hit and I was able to make two meals out of it. DELISH!
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Mexican Chicken Meatballs
Ease of Recipe: Easy
Taste of Recipe: Pretty Good
Why I made it? I was really looking for something that could act both as a meal or mix well with pasta. I also wanted something a little more healthy than a standard meatball. My brother adored these and I will be making them again.
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About the Cookbook:
At last, the famed Taste of Home Cooking School has its own cookbook. The Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook, available at retailers now, is the companion to America’s wildly popular cooking school tradition, attended by nearly 5 million people over the last 20 years. I am reaching out to offer you a copy for review or feature.
This comprehensive cookbook, available in both print and e-book, brings the best of these sought after Cooking School lessons into your very own home for the very first time. The Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook is packed with friendly guidance and savvy advice for anyone who takes the time to cook for their family.
Whatever your skill level in the kitchen, this instructional cookbook features more than 400 easy-to-follow recipes complete with nutrition facts, which have been expertly tested and selected by Taste of Home, the number one food and entertaining magazine, read by more than 16 million. Plus, the unique “Cheat It” icon indicates especially low effort recipes that offer big rewards!
LEARN TO COOK WITH CONFIDENCE WITH THE TASTE OF HOME COOKING SCHOOL COOKBOOK BASED ON THE POPULAR TASTE OF HOME COOKING SCHOOLS ATTENDED BY MILLIONS
Taste of Home Cooking School CookbookISBN: 978-0-89821-945-6;Paperback with French Flaps: $17.99e-book: $9.99
The Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook, is just like having a Cooking School instructor in your very own kitchen,” says Catherine Cassidy, Editor in Chief, Taste of Home. “This essential cookbook captures the highlights of our cooking school lessons and presents them in a way that allows people of all skill levels in the kitchen, to create memorable holiday meal moments in their own homes with family, friends and neighbors.”
Learn fresh techniques, tips, secrets and entertaining ideas straight from the Taste of Home Cooking School team. Each chapter builds from simple, beloved classics to spectacular dishes handed down by families from generation to generation that are sure to impress family and friends. Better yet, all of these recipes can be created with affordable ingredients available at your local grocery store. As you move from one recipe to the next, you will enhance your cooking skills and discover new favorites.
Highlights Include:
Low-effort “Cheat It” recipes with big rewards like the refreshing Lemonade Icebox Pie, the 10-minute Zesty Salsa and Chocolate Cooking Cupcakes
More than 400 simple to spectacular recipes including mouth-watering Gnocchi in Sage Butter, snappy Sweet & Tangy Wings, and Fresh Cherry Pie
140 how-to’s, secrets and tips shared by Taste of Home Cooking School experts from how to shape drop cookies to the best techniques for shredding meat for sandwiches and grilling salmon fillets
Exciting twists on all-time favorites like burgers, pizza, Chinese takeout and more
About Catherine Cassidy:
Catherine M. Cassidy is Editor-in-Chief of Taste of Home. She is responsible for driving editorial direction and product strategy across the brand’s media platforms. They include Taste of Home, the number one food and entertaining magazine in the world; TasteofHome.com; social media; special interest publications; and cookbooks. She also is responsible for editorial direction for the magazines Simple & Delicious and Healthy Cooking and Enthusiast Brands Birds and Blooms, Country, Country Woman, Farm and Ranch Living, and Reminisce.
Cassidy has toured the country as the face of Taste of Home for national and local TV, radio, and newspaper interviews in support of the best-selling Taste of Home products, including its cookbooks.
Prior to joining Taste of Home, Cassidy served as Editor-in-Chief of Prevention magazine, at Rodale, Inc. Cassidy joined Rodale in 1986 as an associate editor in the book division, and was later named Executive Editor of Rodale’s Custom Publishing division. She started her career at Runner’s World and Fit magazines in Mountain View, California. Cassidy lives in Mequon, Wisconsin, with her husband and two daughters.
About Taste of HomeTaste of Home is a go-to resource for the holidays and any time of the year for information on food, cooking and entertaining. Each year, thousands of great home cooks from across the United States and Canada submit more than 40,000 recipes, ofwhich 3,000 are published in Taste of Home magazines and online, making Taste of Home one of the largest and most successful practitioners of user generated content. Before being published, every recipe is tested in the Taste of Home Test Kitchen to ensure that it can be prepared with affordable, everyday ingredients from regular grocery stores. Taste of Home content is available in print; online at Tasteofhome.com; in books; via digital download on iPad, mobile apps and Kindle; and Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
© 2012, Geeky Bloggers Book Blog.



What an awesome idea!!!! How’s the rest of the book? Does it have basic recipes or crazy ones? I’m liking the sound of the ranch pasta so I’m going to try that one. I always have good luck with Taste of Home stuff!!
I loved the rest of the cookbook. I will be posting probably 2 more recipes from it in the coming weeks. They were all pretty basic—none of them looked to hard to make. The taste was great for the pasta!
I think Friday’s just became all the more awesome for this post! My husband (and me too!) will love the pasta recipe. Thanks for sharing!
This Friday I am trying stuff off the Pioneer Woman site :) I am having a blast doing this!
I love her show! I first found it when I was in pre-op and hadn’t eaten in two days. It was her Christmas special. I coined it food porn. It all looked so good!
Her cinnamon rolls are delicious but make SO many! We didn’t try the maple frosting though. We made our own. :)
So this week so far from that site I have made: Chicken Tenders, Beef Enchilades, and Monkey Bread Muffins! All YUMMY! :) :) :)
I love to cook and it is my second love next to reading. I’ve adding this to my calendar so I can participate next week. I think I’m going to choose one cookbook a month and try out a new recipe or two each week. I’m got almost a week to think on it but I’m really excited.
That is me too! I love to cook almost as much as reading. It is a serious stress reliever for me.
You do it however you would like. I just want to see what other people try! I love getting new recipes to try :)
Oh, yum. Ranch pasta salad sounds good!!
The Ranch Pasta I have made twice now (switched to bell peppers and added bacon) it was just delish :)
I love these foodie posts……that ranch pasta sounds super yummy…;)
I recommend the Ranch Pasta Salad (super easy and portable)
Ah… I hope you enjoy the recipes! I’m in awe of anyone that can cook. :)
*huggles* I will teach you to cook :)
Chicken meatballs.. I am intrigued
They were interesting…
My brother really liked them but I thought they were bland.
Fun fun! I love good cookbooks! Thanks for sharing.
I recommend the whole cookbook–there were several recipes in there that I have tried.
Oh, yum. That ranch pasta salad sounds really good. I can live a week on pasta salads in the summer. Think I’ll have to try this one–thanks for the recipe!
I could live on pasta salad during the summer too. It is just perfect for hot summer days :)