A good easy introduction to cooking - Rated 
This book contains some great recipes with simple clear instructions. Most recipes contain 4 or 5 fairly easy to follow steps with clear instructions on what to do when.
This isn't an advanced book, but it does contain some very good meals.
I brought this book for my wife and it's improved her ( previously dodgy ) cooking a great deal and saved countless restaurant bills.
good but sometimes confusing. - Rated 
i like this book and i have made a few interesting and tasty things with it...however. some of the ingredients are hard to get hold of or they are named in a way that needs some detective work(pimiento caps was one that i eventually tracked down to a jar of sweet red peppers.) this is ok but a true beginner would get lost. that said though it's not often that happens.
soemtimes i feel the instructions aren't quite clear enough and i have had to read a couple of times to work out what i am meant to be doing. I am farely experienced with following recipes and have good food knowledge and have to say that a complete beginner would struggle with this and i would reccomend the dairy book of cookery or good houskeepings 101 cheap eats instead. a total novice may benefit from the river cottage family cook book.
my other gripe with this is the vegetarian section, nearly every veg dish is made with a meat substitute like quorn or tofu. we tried the spaghetti quolignaise and it was a waste of good ingredients!!!absolutely disgusting.
If you can take the time to work out confusing ingredients and sometimes hazy instructions then the results are pleasing! and there is a wealth of recipes to cover any need. I am still working with this book am not ready to pass it up yet so it must have some appeal despite the problems i have discovered.
another good point is that all ingredients and many terms have american terms next to them. if you have found some american recipes that you want to try then i have found that this book helps me decode them.
Truly superb - a bargain - Rated
***
This recipe book is a superb addition to anyone's culinary library - clearly not every recipe will suit every person but it is inconceivable that you would not find a significant number of useful recipes in here and even if you found just one nugget, then considering the price, it would be well worth it.
I have used this book extensively and refer to it again and again.
The variety of recipes in the 1000 series is simply staggering - to say you are stuck for choice is an understatement.
Ok, so there are no photographs but against that, the books don't cost a fortune either and they are compact.
You really cannot go wrong with any of these recipe books and when you consider they cost little more than 1 issue of pretty much any food magazine, well, they truly are an absolute bargain.
Buy this one, buy them all - you won't be disappointed.
***
Perfect for the beginner! - Rated
Having just moved out of home, I had never needed to cook for myself before. But having had enough of frozen supermarket meals, I decided to try some cooking of my own. I found this book to the the perfect learning tool.
Even if you're not just beginning to learn how to cook, this book is an essential. It gives some fantastic basic information such as making your own stock, hygiene, ingredients to always have stocked in your cupboard, planning meals and so much more.
I found the recipes very simple and clear to follow. Being a beginners book, this was really a necessity and it did the job perfectly. There are even recipes for things that I thought would be far too complex to make, but they make it sound so easy to prepare!
Definately a MUST HAVE for anyone who enjoys cooking.
Great Book! ***** - Rated
I am only in my teens but found the recipes easy to follow and have already successfully made many of them for my family of four! They all loved the food and are begging me to make meals! EXCELLENT COOKBOOK!
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