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Cooking Aboard Your RV by Janet Groene
Book by Gorene, Janet
Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 10, 2024
Wow. Groene starts badly with the claim that other campers view RVers as "luxury-loving sissies" a sentiment that I, as a tent-camper, have never thought nor heard from anyone around me. Really, we just don't care all that much about the RVers one way or the other so long as they, like everyone else, behave themselves and keep the noise down. But, despite begrudging this made-up-in-her-head 'reputation' Groene then:
>discusses what level the AC should be at while in site and reminds people they should turn it off if they leave to go hiking, etc.
>claims that RVers actually 'care more' about their impacts on the surroundings because they 'pay a lot of money for their vehicles' (?? Not sure how that correlates at all especially given that an RV is, you know, a giant, gas-guzzling vehicle in and of itself)
>discusses which power to get for said vehicle to run all of the electrical appliances
>discusses all of the electrical appliances that should and also could go in an RV (to be fair, she does half-heartedly recommend taking some while leaving others at home so that you know, RVers can have homemade-ice-cream focused outings one time and deep-fried-food themed outings a different time, etc. (yes, and actual example from the book)
>discusses the MULTIPLE SETS of dishes and glasses, pots and pans that ought to be part of an RV kitchen
>discusses the relative merits of having just one, "elegant" indoor kitchen, where people can dine in "bug-free, climate-controlled comfort", vs. also adding a full outdoor kitchen to allow for al fresco dining (though the outdoor kitchen will, alas, usually only have a half-sized fridge rather than the full-sized one found in the indoor 'galley'), but, hey at least the indoor one will also have a dishwasher
>adds in the necessary decision of having a larger indoor kitchen vs. leaving room for a home theatre
>calls buying produce from farm stands and markets 'living off the land'
>includes the idea that today's RVers are not so much interested in camping as in having somewhere to stay while attending dog shows and hitting the ski slopes (yes, also actual examples from the book)
>indicates that obtaining a "daily supply of fresh baked bread is one of camping's biggest problems" (how much bread does this woman eat that she needs to have it freshly supplied daily??) while also turning up her nose at the "white fluff" that, apparently, is a store-bought loaf of white bread
>etc.
But, again, Groene, please tell me how you, after you made-up the term in the first place, you are now saying that "luxury loving" doesn't apply to you, and apparently, the people who are the target audience for this book? I really had not given much thought to the topic, but now that Groene has pointed it out... hmmm.... Anyway, I will give it enough thought to post this review and return the book to the library, then go back to not caring unless someone misbehaves and/or gets too loud around me.
After that deeply hypocritical opening, the book then goes to the recipes, which are generally not anything I would ever consider making.
A few look like they might be decently edible (?) but I already have similar, better recipes for those dishes. Other "recipes" are of the format: 'heat up chicken nuggets from a fast food place' (yes an actual - ahem - "recipe") in the book. But, most are reminiscent of my 1970s childhood of the format: 'start with this can of condensed (insert flavour here) soup' or 'start with a package of dried (insert flavour here) soup mix'. And for most recipes after adding the soup glop, pretty much all of the other ingredients were ready-made, often-high-in-sodium, store-bought items. I actually found this choice of 'mix this ready-made item with that one' ingredients lists somewhat laughable and ironic given Groene's disparaging remarks about store-bought white bread (and I am a whole-grain gal myself so am not just standing up for my own preferences).
After that, as a vegetarian, I found it frustrating that so many of the dishes had meat in them. I realize that this is not a vegetarian cookbook, nor does it pretend to be, but seriously, this woman adds meat to pretty much everything, including salads and vegetable dishes. I mean even a fair portion of the desserts have gelatin in them. It is absurd (and so much for 'caring more about impacts on the surroundings').
I am glad that I got this one from the library and can return it back to them.
>discusses what level the AC should be at while in site and reminds people they should turn it off if they leave to go hiking, etc.
>claims that RVers actually 'care more' about their impacts on the surroundings because they 'pay a lot of money for their vehicles' (?? Not sure how that correlates at all especially given that an RV is, you know, a giant, gas-guzzling vehicle in and of itself)
>discusses which power to get for said vehicle to run all of the electrical appliances
>discusses all of the electrical appliances that should and also could go in an RV (to be fair, she does half-heartedly recommend taking some while leaving others at home so that you know, RVers can have homemade-ice-cream focused outings one time and deep-fried-food themed outings a different time, etc. (yes, and actual example from the book)
>discusses the MULTIPLE SETS of dishes and glasses, pots and pans that ought to be part of an RV kitchen
>discusses the relative merits of having just one, "elegant" indoor kitchen, where people can dine in "bug-free, climate-controlled comfort", vs. also adding a full outdoor kitchen to allow for al fresco dining (though the outdoor kitchen will, alas, usually only have a half-sized fridge rather than the full-sized one found in the indoor 'galley'), but, hey at least the indoor one will also have a dishwasher
>adds in the necessary decision of having a larger indoor kitchen vs. leaving room for a home theatre
>calls buying produce from farm stands and markets 'living off the land'
>includes the idea that today's RVers are not so much interested in camping as in having somewhere to stay while attending dog shows and hitting the ski slopes (yes, also actual examples from the book)
>indicates that obtaining a "daily supply of fresh baked bread is one of camping's biggest problems" (how much bread does this woman eat that she needs to have it freshly supplied daily??) while also turning up her nose at the "white fluff" that, apparently, is a store-bought loaf of white bread
>etc.
But, again, Groene, please tell me how you, after you made-up the term in the first place, you are now saying that "luxury loving" doesn't apply to you, and apparently, the people who are the target audience for this book? I really had not given much thought to the topic, but now that Groene has pointed it out... hmmm.... Anyway, I will give it enough thought to post this review and return the book to the library, then go back to not caring unless someone misbehaves and/or gets too loud around me.
After that deeply hypocritical opening, the book then goes to the recipes, which are generally not anything I would ever consider making.
A few look like they might be decently edible (?) but I already have similar, better recipes for those dishes. Other "recipes" are of the format: 'heat up chicken nuggets from a fast food place' (yes an actual - ahem - "recipe") in the book. But, most are reminiscent of my 1970s childhood of the format: 'start with this can of condensed (insert flavour here) soup' or 'start with a package of dried (insert flavour here) soup mix'. And for most recipes after adding the soup glop, pretty much all of the other ingredients were ready-made, often-high-in-sodium, store-bought items. I actually found this choice of 'mix this ready-made item with that one' ingredients lists somewhat laughable and ironic given Groene's disparaging remarks about store-bought white bread (and I am a whole-grain gal myself so am not just standing up for my own preferences).
After that, as a vegetarian, I found it frustrating that so many of the dishes had meat in them. I realize that this is not a vegetarian cookbook, nor does it pretend to be, but seriously, this woman adds meat to pretty much everything, including salads and vegetable dishes. I mean even a fair portion of the desserts have gelatin in them. It is absurd (and so much for 'caring more about impacts on the surroundings').
I am glad that I got this one from the library and can return it back to them.
October 2, 2019
This is a nice little book and I learned some stuff from it about convection oven cooking, but I wouldn't suggest buying it without taking a quick look first. I checked it out of the library, flipped through, and am now ready to take it back.
My problem was that there wasn't enough information about anything. It touched on topics briefly, but very briefly. If you're an absolute newby in RV living and if you don't know your way around any kind of kitchen at all, try it. For me, however, there was very little I didn't already know. And some things that were awfully irritating.
Examples:
Use diced fennel root as part of the celery measurement in chicken salad sandwich filling.
Who in the world has diced fennel root in an RV?
Plastic measuring cups do nothing but measure. instead, get stainless steel measuring cups, which can also be used for melting butter or heating syrup on a burner set on low.
Me: I melt butter in plastic measuring cups in the microwave all the time, and,
a tippy little stainless steel cup holding melting butter or syrup on a gas burner is just a disaster waiting to happen.
Her fish stew recipe with 11 ingredients, including four tin cans, an onion and a bell pepper that have to be diced, fresh parsley to chop, and fish fillets to thaw.
Me: How is this fast or convenient? (as the back cover proclaims)
The minestrone has 5 cans to open...I hope she's camped near a dumpster.
Make a zesty vegetarian pizza by toasting English muffins.... or worse, flour tortillas.
Me: That's not pizza--it's a toasted English muffin with toppings. And if you're going to pretend flour tortillas are pizza, why not fold it over and make a quesadilla?
On the other hand, I kind of like her chicken and dumplings recipe. If you've just hit the farmer's market in spring, you could grab an onion, some carrots, garlic, celery and peas, and whip up a halfway good version with things you'd be likely to have in your RV pantry--chicken bouillon and biscuit mix. Except I currently have neither of those...I should add them.
So her book did teach me something.
My problem was that there wasn't enough information about anything. It touched on topics briefly, but very briefly. If you're an absolute newby in RV living and if you don't know your way around any kind of kitchen at all, try it. For me, however, there was very little I didn't already know. And some things that were awfully irritating.
Examples:
Use diced fennel root as part of the celery measurement in chicken salad sandwich filling.
Who in the world has diced fennel root in an RV?
Plastic measuring cups do nothing but measure. instead, get stainless steel measuring cups, which can also be used for melting butter or heating syrup on a burner set on low.
Me: I melt butter in plastic measuring cups in the microwave all the time, and,
a tippy little stainless steel cup holding melting butter or syrup on a gas burner is just a disaster waiting to happen.
Her fish stew recipe with 11 ingredients, including four tin cans, an onion and a bell pepper that have to be diced, fresh parsley to chop, and fish fillets to thaw.
Me: How is this fast or convenient? (as the back cover proclaims)
The minestrone has 5 cans to open...I hope she's camped near a dumpster.
Make a zesty vegetarian pizza by toasting English muffins.... or worse, flour tortillas.
Me: That's not pizza--it's a toasted English muffin with toppings. And if you're going to pretend flour tortillas are pizza, why not fold it over and make a quesadilla?
On the other hand, I kind of like her chicken and dumplings recipe. If you've just hit the farmer's market in spring, you could grab an onion, some carrots, garlic, celery and peas, and whip up a halfway good version with things you'd be likely to have in your RV pantry--chicken bouillon and biscuit mix. Except I currently have neither of those...I should add them.
So her book did teach me something.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews