Review: Milk Bar Life by Christina Tosi
Title: Milk Bar Life: Recipes and Stories
Author: Christina Tosi
Publication Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Cooking, Non-Fiction
Find It: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, Book Depository
Source: review copy from Blogging for Books
Rating: 2 stars – you are getting very sleepy
For anyone addicted to crack pie, compost cookies®, and cake truffles, here are their savory counterparts—such as Kimcheezits with Blue Cheese Dip, Burnt Honey–Butter Kale with Sesame Seeds, and Choose Your Own Adventure Chorizo Burgers—along with enough make-at-home sweets to satisfy a cookie-a-day habit. Join Christina and friends as they cook their way through “weaknights,” sleepovers, and late-night snack attacks to make mind-blowingly delicious meals with whatever is in the pantry.
I’ve never been to Milk Bar but have heard wonderful things about the delicious treats that can be found at its NY storefront. As such, I was very excited to receive a copy of Milk Bar Life for review. Milk Bar chef and owner Christina Tosi promises simple, comforting recipes with a nostalgic flair.
The book itself is beautiful. The pages are thick and glossy with beautiful images of the featured recipes. Peppered throughout the book are Tosi’s stories about her connection to the recipes and where the came from. Her personality really comes through and the stories were probably my favorite part of the book.
I was a little less impressed with the recipes in the book. It may have just been my preconceived idea of what the book would be like but I was hoping for recipes more in line with the Milk Bar book. While there were definitely recipes for baked goods, it focused more on appetizers and savory snacks and dishes. Many of those recipes were just not ones that appealed to me and had a more kitschy feel than I was expecting. I also come from a different cultural background than Tosi so a lot of the recipes that are very nostalgic for her don’t have as much appeal to me. Some of the recipes in the book also used pre-made ingredients like Tang, Cool Whip and Ritz Crackers. While I don’t consider myself a food snob, a lot of the recipes just didn’t appeal to me and were not things that I would want to eat.
If you like kitschy recipes that aren’t afraid to use unconventional ingredients, this might be a good book for you. I love the idea of recipes that can be thrown together quickly and don’t require a ton of prep. However, these recipes just didn’t appeal to me I don’t see myself coming back to it very often. I would suggest borrowing a copy to see if the recipes interest you before purchasing.
*I received a copy of this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my review or opinion of the book.
