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Cooking Comically: Recipes So Easy You'll Actually Make Them

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This is not your grandma's cookbook. Cooking should be as much fun as reading a comic book. Recipes should be cheap and easy. And the food has to taste good. That's where Cooking Comically comes in. Tyler Capps, the creator of recipes like 2 AM Chili that took the Internet by storm, offers up simple tasty meals in a unique illustrated style that will engage all your senses. These dishes are as scrumptious to eat as they are easy to make. This collection includes all time favorites and original recipes from Cooking Comically including Sexy Pancakes, Bolognese for Days, Mash Tatoes, Pulled Pork aka Operation Man Kitchen, and Damn Dirty Ape Bread. Perfect for those who can barely boil water but are tired of ramen and fast food. Stop slaving. Start cooking.

186 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2013

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126 people want to read

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5 stars
190 (54%)
4 stars
91 (26%)
3 stars
51 (14%)
2 stars
9 (2%)
1 star
5 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
Profile Image for Douglas Lord.
712 reviews32 followers
November 19, 2013
Does the world need another cookbook? No. But it needs *this* new cookbook from Capps, creator of online recipe comic 2AM Chili. Here dudes will find exactly what the subtitle promises—and then some. Readers are guided by a sassy, aggressive stick-figure dude with a great sense of humor who melts butter with a flamethrower, chops up veggies with a samurai sword, and says things like, “Mmmm. Smells like touchdowns.” Difficulty-wise, the recipes range from “Reading this recipe is harder than making it” (for jalapeno poppers) through “On par with shoe-tying” (for chicken soup) to “You’re gonna see some serious shit” (for bread bowls). Nothing in the book is harder than chicken parm, so foodies beware—this isn’t for you. All recipes feature about four pages of photographs of the product at various stages; e.g., for the Super Teriyaki Burger II readers see the assembled ingredients, toasted bun, and fried burger (difficulty rating: ‘Pssssh’). Good, solid, basic appetizers, main courses, and desserts are here, and I guarantee that they will please a normal, unfussy crowd. My kids enjoyed the cornbread, the mac and cheese, and the Chicago-style deep dish pizza. There’s a token vegan dish (pasta primavera), and six simple desserts which include Damn Dirty Ape Bread (like a Bundt cake). The only way this could be improved is with spiral binding so that it would lie flat more easily. VERDICT From this incredibly useful tome, magnificence will be created. Like Timothy B. Schnabel’s The Gift Giving Handbook for the Inept Man: Thousands of Gift Giving Ideas to Make His Life Easier and Her Life Better (Shanem, 2003), I recommend that dudes buy this, hide it, then act like you know what you’re doing. Soon enough you will. Find this review and others at Books for Dudes, the online reader's advisory column for men from Library Journal: see http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/cat.... Copyright Library Journal.
Profile Image for Nadin Doughem.
819 reviews67 followers
October 16, 2024
A comic book for food recipes!
This is what happens when a gamer enters the kitchen. 😉
Profile Image for egellston.
13 reviews
December 30, 2013
Cooking Comically is an interesting concept but I would not suggest the book.

Tyler Capps combines photography and comics to do a how to for non-cooks. The photographs are clear and the comics are interesting. However, the fonts can make the book hard to understand. The language in the book is what killed me from considering passing it on to someone who might appreciate the concept more.

Profile Image for Brenda.
2 reviews
June 15, 2017
Too many f-bombs made it impossible to share with my family. Too bad, because it was witty with great color illustrations. I'm not a prude, but I do recognize that there is a time when cursing gives emphasis to a message, and a time when it is just gratuitous. This was the latter. It at least seems to live up to its subtitle, with recipes proving to be easy even if not particularly inspiring; I have routinely made my own variations of most of these recipes.
Profile Image for Krysten.
7 reviews
July 17, 2017
This is a great cookbook for the student, bachelor/bachelorette, cooking newbie, etc. The recipes are photographed each step of the way and laid out into comical, cheeky comic strips that make cooking these crazy-easy recipes infinitely more fun.
Profile Image for Rachelle.
1,331 reviews14 followers
January 19, 2022
Extreme Book Nerd Challenge 2022
Challenge Topic: Recommended by an IFPL Librarian. Beth Recommended.

I loved this. Simple easy recipies written in a no nonsense comical style with in your face comments. This may be one I have to buy so I can try a few of the recipes.
Profile Image for Laurie Eirual.
71 reviews1 follower
June 29, 2019
Most fun in kitchen! These recipes are really yummy! Hopefully there will be many volumes in the future. Thank you Tyler!!
Profile Image for Reiz.
38 reviews1 follower
February 5, 2021
I loved how well explained the recipes are and how sometimes the author also jokes. Theres so many recipes that made me hungry and I really would love to try them out someday.
Profile Image for Christine Whittington.
Author 2 books9 followers
December 6, 2016
Cooking Comically is one of the few cookbooks I have read all the way through! I love it and am so glad I bought it for my library (and will soon buy it for myself because, messy cook that I am, I can't cook with my library's copy).

Tyler Capps is a graphic artist and author of the Cooking Comically website who may or may not resemble the stick figure chefs in his book. I want him to cook for me. His book is not aimed at the vegan, Palaeo, or gluten-free chef, but at those who love to eat! I want to make all 35 of his recipes, adjusting for my vegetarian proclivities. I confess that I have not made any of them yet, but will as soon as I buy my own copy of the book.

Capps explains each recipe graphically and artistically, including the groceries to be gathered, the difficulty level ("cook must be can-opener certified," "You are taking your life into your hands") the method, and the outcome, which is always drool-inspiring.

Despite the graphic-novel approach and innovate recipes and descriptions ("Damn Dirty Ape Bread" and "Well, that was messy as shit!"), Capp includes solid cooking wisdom, such as "overworked flour means tough pancakes" and "Boston butt isn't actually butt; it's the shoulder." And then there is the advice that "all food tastes better when chopped with a sword." Actually, it does.

Most recipes are fairly standard fare but I was so happy to see more challenging dishes, such as pulled pork, bread bowls ("like with yeast and everything; you're gonna see some serious shit"), and an emphasis on fresh ingredients (with an eye to economy).

An artistic and artistic gem, "Cooking Comically" includes shoutouts to Shredder, The Game of Thrones, Barry White, Miles Davis, and The Princess Bride. It has a muffin named for McGuffin and defines the term. It ponders philosophical questions such as "Have I ever told you the definition of insanity?" and makes jokes about cutting the cheese. The F word abounds.

Highly recommended for those with taste buds and a sense of humor.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
1,281 reviews4 followers
December 30, 2015
Really entertaining and educational! The book has a fun cover with photos of food and a cartoon stick figure with pans and a chef’s hat. It’s broken up into 5 sections: Appetizers and Sides, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Desserts and an index combined with metric conversions. Most sections have funny black and white comics which introduce each recipe. There are full color photographs that accompany each recipe with a difficulty scale and how many servings for each.

When describing the recipes, Capps often uses swear words, which will definitely make teens giggle. He also gives a shopping list and notes for each section, which is very helpful. His sarcastic and snarky tone will resonate with teens, as will most of his pop culture references (i.e. Game of Thrones). I think this book would be good for visual learners who may not like reading written recipes. My only caution is that some recipes call for alcohol being used, but teens can either skip those or not use the alcohol when making them!
Profile Image for Sam.
Author 14 books31 followers
November 12, 2015
I love Cooking Comically. I checked this out from the library and I will have to get my own copy, because I want to make basically every single recipe it contains.

The only reason this didn't get a five star rating is a petty one: I can't make easy copies of the recipes to pass along and share, and...well, that's sort of the point of a cookbook isn't it? Easily passing along or saving delicious sounding things to eat with those I think might like them? I realize that it was printed this way to save the integrity of the comics and also to encourage people to buy the book, but a simple addition to the ingredients list at the back to include the instructions (albeit less amusingly)that could be copied would be greatly appreciated.
Profile Image for Aubrey.
97 reviews18 followers
June 2, 2014
The recipes in Cooking Comically read like the ones I swap with friends (i.e. "chuck all this &*%! in a pan and bake it for twenty minutes") only with more pictures, pop culture references, and LOLs. As long as the reader possesses basic cooking skills he/she shouldn't have any trouble successfully turning out these dishes. The recipes are mostly for staples of American cuisine like mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, pulled pork, pancakes, etc. They call for ingredients which can be found at regular grocery stores. This would be a cool house/apartment-warming gift for the young adults in your life. (At least the ones who aren't averse to swearing.)
Profile Image for Corey.
361 reviews65 followers
January 3, 2014
I came across Tyler's recipes via Reddit and while I didn't go for the original 2AM Chili I did go for the lasagna/bolognese sauce and LOVED it so I decided to pick up the cookbook. There's not a ton of recipes but what is here is easy to follow, hilarious and well worth the investment even though it's "just another cookbook." It's so far beyond that though and this is a great gift idea for the man who likes to cook (or the woman with a great sense of humor). I'll check back in when I've tested out more recipes but from the 2 I've tried, it's a hit.

Profile Image for Beth.
1,625 reviews26 followers
February 1, 2016
I was first introduced to this book by my friend CJ, who is a master at making "The Cheesecake for Champions" (more like the champion of cheesecakes - it's DELICIOUS!). This is a very entertaining guide to cooking. I like that it's male-centric, so guys would be more inclined to pick this up. I do think the author's "easy" ratings were off. There were things in here that seemed harder than he rated them as. However, some very easy and delicious recipes, with a side of humor!
16 reviews2 followers
March 11, 2014
Cooking is art...literally! Tyler Capps' style is so original, and being a fan of comics is a bonus. Capps goes through each recipe like an adventure, adding sound effects and even a few familiar faces. Every page made me smile. Don't know what or how to cook for yourself? Please start here.
Profile Image for Richard.
250 reviews18 followers
June 28, 2017
This book is a lot of fun, the recipes are simple, I have tried a few and had good luck with all of them. There is one error in the original books, but it is easy to spot if you have ever baked before, and if not, they sent a little card telling you about the error.
Profile Image for Kate.
367 reviews6 followers
April 6, 2022
Hilarious.

The recipes are pretty grease-heavy, but otherwise simple and useful.
Profile Image for Merry.
69 reviews3 followers
April 29, 2014
A cookbook, a comic book........... What a combo!!!!!!!!!!!
1,085 reviews9 followers
July 30, 2015
A good book to give to a guy who is moving into his first apartment and has to learn to cook.
Profile Image for Charlie Easterson.
429 reviews2 followers
October 30, 2015
Heck, I could just sit and read this, if only everything didn't look so delicious. Funny, engaging and informative. The perfect trifecta, plus food.
Profile Image for Ann Keller.
Author 31 books112 followers
April 6, 2014
Very funny. I enjoyed the humor; could have done without some of the bad language, though.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews

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