4 out of 5 stars.
I would like to thank Ten Speed Press for providing me with a free electronic ARC of this book, via Netgalley, in exchange for an open and honest review.
This was a glorious book to read. Not only were there the large, colourful and eye catching photographs I now feel are synonymous with Ten Speed Press, the history and stories that come with each recipe really drew me into loving ‘The Perfect Blend’ before I even got to reading the recipes.
And, as for the recipes… If I had all the ingredients for some of those smoothies right now, I would be enjoying some amazing drinks! I’m looking at you ‘Glowing Green Chia’!
Another thing I really enjoyed about ‘The Perfect Blend’ is how it was broken up into segments. It wasn’t the traditional – soups, starters, mains, etc. It was broken into different areas of use to those wanting to heal themselves with food – Energy, Immunity, Detox, etc. And each section has its own introduction to the best foods for that particular type of meal – loved it!
I also really loved in the main introduction, where Ms Masters is up front and says she’s not a Doctor nor a nutritionist, but a cook. So everything she does is through research and a love of healing through food – which is a love of mine too.
Okay, I do have a very minor niggle about this book, and I feel it is all down to reviewing it on a tablet/ laptop and is not an issue that would be apparent if reading the paper version. Sometimes it was hard to keep track of the name of the recipe and what you were doing. But I feel this is simply down to the layout. Electronically I could only view it one page at a time. Where, if I had it as a book, you would see two pages at once and I honestly feel the layout issue would be instantly solved. I hope that makes sense? 😉
Other than that, the layout is good. The font is an easy to read one, the recipes are laid out in such a manner they are easy to follow and do, the measurements are in both metric and imperial and all in all a book of recipes and knowledge anyone of any level of cooking could use and enjoy.
Would I recommend this book to others?
Yes I would. I am very much into promoting people use food to heal and gain good health and ‘The Perfect Blend’ just clicked with me as being exactly the right sort of book that showcased exactly how important (and easy) it is to gain better health through the foods you eat.
Would I buy this book for myself?
Now this is a kicker as I really don’t know. I mean, yes I loved it and yes there were many recipes in it I want to be making… right now! But there was also a lot of hit and miss recipes for me due to my annoying food intolerances to allium, seafood, etc. And it’s that usual hit and miss thing that makes me wary. I mean, I really do LOVE this book… but don’t know if I would use up my scarce bookshelf space for it. I tell you what, if Ten Speed Press bring it out as an eBook – then yes please! I would buy it when I had the money! With my new tablet I am getting more and more into cook books as eBooks and the gorgeous images in ‘The Perfect Blend’ really look amazing on my tablet and so I could easily own and enjoy it as an eBook.
In summary: A gorgeous, educational and endearing book on health and healing yourself through cooking. I highly recommend it!
Until next time,
Janis.
Janis's Journal 