Crackers & Dips: More than 50 Handmade Snacks by Manning, Ivy (7 May, 2013) [Hardcover]

by Ivy Manning

This is the DIY guide to making homemade crackers, with 52 formulas for crisp snacks and the luscious dips to eat them with, all celebrated with 25 playful photographs. Portland, Oregon-based food writer and baker Ivy Manning capitalizes on the pure flavors of whole grains, real butter, cheese, fresh spices, and no preservatives in her formulas for crunchy, sweet, and savory treats, all made to pair with a chapter's worth of creamy, gooey dips, and schmears. Recipes and tips are for bakers of all skill levels and tastes, with formulas for vegan, gluten-free, and whole-grain crisps. This adorable book is timed perfectly for the cracker-making trend and makes the ideal gift for the baker or entertainer who takes pride in making everything from scratch.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

First published May 7, 2013

About the author

Ivy Manning is a Portland, Oregon-based freelance food and travel writer, food stylist, and author of The Farm to Table Cookbook. Her work has been featured in Cooking Light, Sunset magazine, Fine Cooking, ediblePortland, Food & Wine magazine and on Culinate.com. Additionally, Manning is a regular contributor to the Oregonian FOODday section with her Vegetarian Flavors column.

Her most recent book, The Adaptable Feast: Satisfying Meals for the Vegetarians, Vegans, and Omnivores at Your Table (Sasquatch Books, 2009) guides readers through the uncharted territory of cooking for mixed-diet families. Mannings book shows busy home cooks how to make delicious meals that feed everyone in the family, from meat eaters to vegetarians or vegans, without dirtying every dish in the kitchen.

Manning attended the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon, followed by an externship at the award-winning Paleys Place restaurant. Ever since, Manning has been cooking, writing, and teaching culinary classes.

Mannings interest in writing and cooking has led her to travel the globe studying the cuisines of every country she visits, including cooking trips to Thailand, Italy, France, Mexico, and the South Pacific.

When her bags arent packed, she is writing; blogging (ivysfeast.blogspot.com); cooking for her vegetarian husband, Gregor (the photographer for her books); and petting her retired greyhound, Mini."

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Making crackers looks easy but there are numerous opportunities for the play called at the line of scrimmage to fall short of the goal. Ivy Manning has at least two things going for her: she lives in Portland and she knows a lot about making crackers. Crackers tend to be unforgiving and her tips on ingredients (e.g. when to use barley malt syrup) and techniques (e.g. how to use a pasta rolling machine to produce crackers of perfectly even thickness) are very helpful. She has two biases which I share: preservative-free cooking and making everything from scratch. Recipes which caught my attention include Norwegian Havre Kjeks, Spelt Pretzel Rounds, and Za'atar-Dusted Pita Chips. The text concludes with an interesting variety of recipes for dips and schmears (e.g. Wasabi Edamame Schmear, Figgy Bourbon Conserve, Mushroom and Cashew Pate) which are innovative and inviting. This is the best book on crackers on my shelves.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of really promising ideas in this one, especially for gluten free crackers. Looking forward to giving these recipes a try!

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

More likely to make the dips than the crackers.

[Scott Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I small topic, but one that does hold my interest, since I never cooked a decent saltine in 20+ years of trying.

I did hope for a Chicken-in-a-Biskit recipe, though. Lost a start on that one.

Still a lot of fun for kids and Holidays parties.

[Anna Catherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique cookbook that breaks up the endless monotony of sweets in favor of a lot of fun savory cracker recipes. Refreshing, and one I hope to bake from at some point soon (there's a good many gluten-free ones!).

[Libraryassistant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful — I want to make and eat almost everything!

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs more crackers

Crackers needs more pictures but overall a great mix of recipes excited to try them all. A must have for the comfort cook.

[Kym · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this was better than I thought it would be! Ivy Manning covers the cracker gamut beginning with the "square cheese cracker" upgrade to very fancy cocktail party crackers. There recipes for gluten free crackers and crackers from other countries. I have to say that I was never really motivated to make crackers, but now I am! The dips, spreads and schmears are interesting and different are made to compliment the cracker. This is different from my goal of using a cracker as a carrier for the dip. For bakers wanting to try something new, Crackers and Dips is a fun place to start.

[Mrs. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice cracker/dip book with a lot of gluten free recipes. Don't know if it's just me or the topic, but it did seem to get a bit repetitive.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea of homemade crackers (and the ones in here, especially the shrimp chips and hazelnut crackers look good), but they definitely look like a ton of work!

[Marlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looks interesting for an experimental day

[Beatriz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inviting...

This recipe collection is really motivating. I have tried a few dips and are not only easy but delicious. The crackers, on the other hand, seem complicated. I have yet to try any...