I saw this cookbook in a store and didn't buy it therefore I ordered it from Amazon. I like the recipes and am happy to add this cookbook to my collection.I've enjoyed reading cookbooks since I was 12 and taught myself to bake using my mother's Betty Crocker Illustrated Cookbook. I've been reading Deb's blog for several years now, and was so happy to hear she had published a book.The photographs are amazing, crisp and clean and not out of focus (like Pioneer Woman's). Like Deb, I have a tiny kitchen and I liked the peek into her kitchen. Deb is not a blogging juggernaut; she comes across as a good home cook who cooks so she can eat the food she likes.I have to eat a gluten free diet for health reasons and was pleased to see many of her recipes are either gluten free naturally or can be adapted easily; for instance, her Leek Fritters only call for 1/4 cup of all purpose flour, so substituting a neutral GF flour works perfectly here. I made them the other night and was amazed at how a few simple ingredients made something so addictive. The recipe was also easy to adapt to use different vegetables; I've made them since with cooked asparagus instead of leeks and they turned out wonderfully. They were a tad salty to my taste, but this may have been a difference in salt, so I just dialed the salt down the next time I made them.So far in the sweets section I've only made the chocolate roll-out cookies, which were easy enough (though the dough was very stiff at first) and got a thumbs-up from my kids. Looking forward to making the granola and the latkes and the lemon bars, just to name a few.Some people have commented that the layout of the book makes it awkward for cooking. I've noticed that is true on a few recipes, where the ingredients are on a righthand page and then the directions are on the page after that...this was an editing snafu, but is no reflection on the recipes themselves. If anything it will encourage me to gather my ingredients first, as one should, and then proceed with the recipe.UPDATED 1/11/13--- I made the Whole Lemon Bars and at first was mildly disappointed; for having a whole lemon they didn't have a lemony, puckery "punch"--I thought perhaps too much butter, which muted the lemon. They were delicious, just not quite as lemony as I thought they'd be. But when my husband and sons tasted them they gave them RAVE reviews, my husband saying they had "just the right amount of lemon" and that more would have been overwhelming. My sons agreed with them. I tend to like things very tart and sour, which most people don't, so I will not change anything when I make them again, and I will make them again--my husband said he has never liked a lemon bar before in his life, so Deb must be on to something! The recipe is so freaking easy, too--as long as you have a food processor you can do it all in that and never dirty a mixing bowl. I also adapted them to be gluten free--using an equivalent amount of King Arthur Gluten Free Flour for the crust--and they came out perfectly.The granola was easy, and as promised, made large chunks of granola. I did not have the coconut or walnuts, so used raw sunflower seeds instead. What a revelation that granola does NOT need tons of butter or oil or sugar to be delicious! And without having to stir it every ten minutes as in most recipes it was so much easier.I've been following smitten kitchen for a few years now and have made over 40+ of deb's recipes from her site with great success. I pre-ordered this cookbook and have been having so much fun cooking my way through it.So far I've made the following:-gingersnap pumpkin tart (twice)-deep dish apple pie-ratatouille sub (three times)-blueberry cornmeal cakeI made the pumpkin cheesecake tart for thanksgiving and I thought it was delicious. The apple pie was seriously the best apple pie I've ever had - and I used a combination of golden delicious and granny smith. It was perfect. I added an extra 1/3 cup of sugar b/c i used granny smith as my "other" apple...and I felt the sweetness was perfect this way.Ratatouille is my favorite pixar movie and I was delighted to see it in the book. It was so much fun to make and so delicious. I made it once myself and the other time w/ my 11 year old niece. We had a blast making it and even more fun eating it on sourdough subs w/ melted provolone (didn't have baguettes or goat cheese on hand but it was delicious anyhow!).The blueberry cake tasted like the ideal blueberry muffin (in a square) and the texture, sweetness and delicious streusel topping were absolute perfection.Some of the reviewers complained that her intros to each recipe are too lengthy. Honestly, my favorite part of going through my cookbooks (other than cooking and eating) is reading each story behind the recipe. It helps me understand how she came up with it and why, so it's not just a hodgepodge of randomly selected recipes in her book....but there's a reason.She made a deep dish apple pie b/c one wasn't cutting it and two didn't look cool on the table, so she came up w/ a monstrous pie to satisfy everyone's cravings. The pumpkin tart has a gingersnap/graham crust (toddler-pleasing) + cheesecake swirled in (husband-pleasing) plus a thin pumpkin layer (deb-pleasing) for an all-in-one thanksgiving/fall dessert.I love her stories, her meticulous attention to detail, her obsessiveness with perfection and the fact that she will make a recipe 50x until she gets it just right.What that means for me as a home cook/baker, work-at-home-mom and extremely time-pressed mom of 2 little boys who spends every spare minute in the kitchen (with another baby on the way) is that as long as I follow her recipe (exactly for baking, and roughly for cooking) that I will be guaranteed excellent results. I've never made something and sat there going "huh?" No. Her recipes work. She won't publish something online or in her book that will leaves you frustrated or feeling pissed that you spent $50 on ingredients that are now in the garbage.She gives wonderful tips on using parchment, saves you time washing dishes by suggesting reusing certain bowls, and she tries to keep things easy for the sake of simplicity.Her approach to cooking and baking is a fun, hilarious and delicious adventure, and I can't believe anyone who has actually read this book or COOKED through this book would give it less than 5 stars.Love this book. Love her web site. I will forever be a loyal fan and can't wait to keep cooking through it! I've posted two pics of my pie and tart. Kind of grainy b/c i took it in low light w/ my (ancient) iphone but you'll see that they turned out as promised.OK, so any cookbook that states 'believing the world would be a better place if we could all stop pretending that kale tastes good has me (the recipe actually used Cavolo Nero or Tuscan Kale for Kale Salad with cherries and pecans which is good for me. Love the recipes, not the usual 'run of the mill'. Bought a 'very good' copy for next to nothing through Amazon and am delighted! More only problem is what to cook first.A beautifully written, crafted and photographed cookbook that will be in your repertoire for quite some time.In my opinion, it is a cookbook for the more experienced cook - and also someone who has the time to spend cooking - as quite a few of the recipes are three pages long, so may scare off those with little experience or patience.However, as an avid collector of cookbooks, it is a wonderful tome which will keep me occupied, both reading and cooking, for some time to come.Yet another winning order from Amazon (I must hide my credit card!!).A beautiful book. So well written and a joy to read. Will look forward to trying some of the recipes, very helpful that they do have the British measurements as well as American. Great pictures. Have now subscribed to blog.I read the blog and so decided even though I wasn't meant to buy any more cookbooks to purchase this one. When it arrived very quickly I may add the front cover boasted comments for the great and good but it wasn't till I turned it around to see the recommendation from O Magazine (my fav magazine) that I knew this would be a good investment.It is easy to read and the recipes look amazing. I will be attempting the courgette salad this weekend.Great book with a lot of vegetarian options which suits me perfectly. If you have any doubts check out Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen blog and try out a few of the recipes there. You'll be quickly convinced.If there were a downside it's that the blog is extensive and would keep you going for a while but it's a whole different selection available and I much prefer having a book to leaf through and pick recipes from.