Nigella Bites: From Family Meals to Elegant Dinners: Easy, Delectable Recipes for Any Occasion by Nigella Lawson

Nigella Bites: From Family Meals to Elegant Dinners: Easy, Delectable Recipes for Any Occasion Reviews

• 
  else fine

  I will never forget the first time I saw Nigella Lawson - flipping through channels on a late, rainy night, I was stopped short by the sight of this curvaceous, gorgeous woman holding a stick of butter in each hand, extolling the virtues of bacon. Oh, the gleam in her eye, like some ancient goddess of bounty, inviting us cold and dieting masses to stop denying ourselves the oldest of pleasures. I was mesmerized. I feel the same way - enchanted - whenever I read one of her delightful cookbooks. Do the recipes turn out well? Not so much, to be perfectly honest, but if this book is a failure as a technical manual, it is a success as a guide to inspiration.
• 
  Valerie

  I didn't really like Nigella Bites. I've never seen Nigella's show, but I checked this book out from the library after reading (and liking)
  Nigella Express. When I was finished with Nigella Bites, I compared the publication dates for the two, and Bites was published in 2002 while Express was published in 2007.
  
  This could account for some of the reasons I didn't like Nigella Bites. It was much less polished and seemed to lack focus. The book was divided into sections with titles such as "Comfort Food", "TV Dinners", "Party Girl" and "Trashy" that are drawn from her television show (as noted in the preface). But when transferred to book form, the result is a jumbled heap of recipes that range from the simplest recipe (for mashed potatoes) to the most retro (for pigs in blankets) to the most complex (soft and sharp involtini) to the most artery-hardening (deep fried candy bars with pineapple).
  
  There were a couple of recipes that I'm interested in trying, but that's barely enough to justify purchasing this book (thanks again, library!), especially when they seem to be particularly easy to find on the internet.
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  Sophie Crane

  Extremely nice recipes, but very quick and simple.
  Already tried many of the recipes.
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  Fostergrants

  the unpretentious way she talks about food makes me want to park my butt at her kitchen table and just watch and wait. this is not a sterile instruction book. she takes you into her messy kitchen that smells delicious and her sleeves probably have egg on them but she tells you to eat and enjoy the company and leave the dishes for tomorrow. i have tried quite a few of the recipes..but the 24 hr pork has to be my favorite. it is amazing. i left one star off because quite a few of the recipes were not ones i wanted to try, although i enjoyed reading them anyway. she includes recipes from different cultural backgrounds...not a lot of stodgy english food. there are blank lined pages in between each section for "NOTES" which i thought was considerate.
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  Claire

  I like to read cookbooks. Not recipes, but the little intros that some food writers will include. And Nigella's great. Her attitude is breezy, you can tell she's brilliant and fun, appreciates delicious, uncompromised dishes, and sees her curves as a badge of honor. Plus the photographs are beautiful, typical food porn.
  Highly recommend the recipes for bread and butter ginger jam pudding and the toffee dessert.
• 
  Crystal

  Beautiful book but the food is horrendous.
• 
  Anne

  This was the first
  Nigella Lawson book I ever read, because I'd seen her recipe for ham in Coca Cola on the TV show of the same name and was dying to try it. I've made it several times since, along with many other of her recipes. In fact, every recipe I've tried (which has been most of them) has had fabulous results, most especially the orange breakfast muffins, lemon risotto, italian sausage with lentils, slow-roasted pork shoulder, and sticky-toffee dessert. The book isn't perfect, though it's not because of the recipes. There are massive (albeit gorgeous) pictures, tons of white space, and whole pages, sometimes two, devoted to recipes when only a quarter was needed (asparagus in a soft-boiled egg? mashed potatos? watermelon daquiri?), making one feel a bit cheated, considering the book's price. Still, I've used it enough to make up for the extra cost.
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  Giki

  This is a real favourite of mine that I come back to again and again. It has turned me into the sort of person who will sit down and read a recipe book from cover to cover rather than flick through the index looking for one recipe. There are a lot of superb recipes in here – ones that really work. You are not going to lose weight or save money cooking these but they well well explained, simple to follow and the results are very worthwhile. Ham in coca-cola is a real favorite of ours and way better than it sounds, the spaghetti and meatballs is sublime. There are a lot of photos in this book, but they are mostly of the food, and that is fine by me – I like to see what I am going to eat. I have learnt by bitter experience not to judge a recipe book by the volume of recipes crammed in, but, by the clarity of explanations and the quality of results – this on ticks the boxes for me.
• 
  Bevin

  I love Nigella. Her casual elegance is easy to identify with. She's like the friend you always wanted- one who cooks well and loves to share! In this book based on the show of the same name, we get a lot of little tidbits about each dish and a beautiful colour photo as well. Why don't more cookbooks include a photo for each dish? It is an invaluable resource for the home cook.
  
  As a vegetarian, there are many dishes I cannot try but several that just need a bit of a tweak. I'm most excited about her deserts and cakes. Nigella makes baking seem within my usually clumsy grasp.
• 
  Samantha

  Definitely not for you if you're eating light and lean. This book is very much about comfort food in various shapes and forms and if you like to eat, well this works! The recipes work well (as all cookbooks should) and my favorites are probably the lemon risotto, the mozarella sandwiches and the cream cheese brownies!!! Yum. As usual Ms Lawson chatters away entertainingly and I think this is one of her better books.
• 
  Dean

  I love Nigella Lawson,and I love this book.
  (Although she had me at the cover.)
  t's just a fun book to curl up with,and bring a cup of tea,and add a rainy day and it's a soothing wonderfull book.
  Nigella's unpracticed amateur prose puts a kind of personal funky layer to this that makes it a lovely read.
  I reccomend this very much,and also,it's just got some damn good simple recipies.
  I would buy this as a gift for a new couple.
• 
  Celia

  This is probably the least dense of Nigella's cookbooks, and I think I prefer her enormous volumes. Bites is pretty simple, but well organised (I always like the way Nigella arranges her books) and contains some interesting recipes. I think her bigger books (Domestic Goddess and How to Eat) are always going to be my favourites though.
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  Bittersweet

  My copy is naked and singed, after an accident with a gas burner.
  
  This is a kooky book - many ODD recipes, but still good ones. On first read i thought i would never use it again, but the Ham in Coca-Cola is a perfect dish, and the chocolate-chestnut fridge cake is, as Nigella says, dangerously compelling.
  
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  Allison

  I love Nigella Lawson. Although I don't think I will be trying to make her recipe for "Spatchcoked Birds" I love reading all her cookbooks. She writes with wit, humor and true SASS about food, ingredients, cooking and life. I am thoroughly enjoying this books. I can't wait to rustle up the roasted vegetable & halloumi cheese bake.
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  Deanna

  I love the sections divvied up into categories like "Trashy," "Comfort Food," and "Temple Food", etc. This is one of my go-to cookbooks I use at least a few times each month, if not each week. Nigella writes with warmth and fun, and it shows just how passionate she is about food. I MUCH prefer her food-shortcuts approach than that of Rachael Ray.
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  Jessica - How Jessica Reads

  I love her extravagant use of adjectives. And the fact that she's an unabashed chocoholic. Some of her recipes are a little weird/too British for me (asparagus dipped in runny eggs?) but the desserts are fabulous.
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  Tuyet Duong

  I read this cookbook generally all the way through, skipping the more cheesy recipes. I have not tried any of the recipes out, but I will probably be storing some away from a couple holiday dinner parties. Great delectable writing and tasty blownup pictures.
• 
  R.

  Nigella Lawson herself gets five stars from me, as does her writing style. The recipes in this book, however, earn two stars. Each dish is either too complicated for me, too unhealthy, or just unappetizing. "How to Eat" is much better.
• 
  Malina

  This is a fun Nigella cookbook. The pictures, organization and writing made it a fun read and we're planning to try out some recipes this week, though I'm sure their good or she wouldn't be so popular right?
• 
  Aaronichi

  This is my favorite Nigella book. Good, easy recipes for a variety of occasions. Great for people that need this kind of direction in their cooking, or just want some fresh solid ideas.
  I'm not a fan of her writing style, though. Her writing is a little too verbose for a cook book.
• 
  Lisa

  It's hard to review, in essence, a book of recipes. I absolutely love Nigella. She's so real, whereas a lot of "TV chefs" are full of it and themselves. If she says use real butter, she's not kidding. She's exceptionally down-to-earth and her cookbooks show that.
• 
  Ginger

  I love looking through this cookbook. Some recipes are a little different, but she makes everything seem so comfortable. I used to watch her show and it was as if she just opened her home to you. Good comfort food recipes
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  Constance Williams

  So good I bought it twice! (A friend permanently borrowed my initial copy so I had to replace).
  
  There are a number of recipes in here I couldn't live without. I adore the Coca-Cola ham, Egyptian Tomato Salad and the American Pancakes.
  
  Easy to follow and fun! Something for everyone.
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  Monique

  Nigella doesn't prepare meals for the working mom. Many of her recipes are for special occasions and require tons of prep work. There are several items I want to make when I have time...but not for a dinner party.
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  Sarah

  great book for learning to cook basics and some fun britofile meals (like yorkshire pudding!). Good in pinch when you want to make something yummy but have absolutely no idea what to make.
• 
  Whitney

  i have made almost everything in here and it is all wonderful! the cloud cake and lemon risotto are my favs!
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  Dvoshe

  I like this book because I just like looking at any picture of Nigella. I have the UK edition so that takes the easy out of the recipes. but so what! the ones I've made have been scrummy!
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  Yasmin

  This made the list because I really enjoy reading cookbooks, and I like Nigella's conversational tone and the multitude of glossy photographs of her. Beware: a little goes a long way.
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  Gerry

  This is, by far, my favorite by my Nigella. I love them all, but I have many go-to recipes from this book, like the halloumi bake, corn pudding and coca-cola ham, to name a few...