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Anthony Ragan

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Anthony is Currently Reading

Anthony Ragan is currently reading

The Blue Apron Cookbook: 165 Essential Recipes & Lessons for a Lifetime of Home Cooking

by Apron Culinary Team

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Reading for the 3rd time

read in August 2020

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Anthony Ragan said: " Good Cookbook, Unacceptable Index

Blue Apron is a company that sends “meals in a box”: prepped ingredients and detailed instructions delivered weekly to your door, ready for you to finish on the stove or oven. I don’t subscribe to their service, but t Good Cookbook, Unacceptable Index

Blue Apron is a company that sends “meals in a box”: prepped ingredients and detailed instructions delivered weekly to your door, ready for you to finish on the stove or oven. I don’t subscribe to their service, but their menus looked intriguing enough that, when I saw they had a cookbook, I decided to give it a try.

As a self-taught cook, I need a lot of hand-holding – step by step instructions, lots of pictures of what things should look like at each stage of the process, and clear notes about what kind of equipment is needed. The Blue Apron Cookbook does all that, and I happily recommend it, especially to beginner-level home chefs like me who want to make fancier looking (but still easy) meals.

There’s the usual chapter on stocking your kitchen (equipment and staples), and thankfully it tells you something I wish more cookbooks did: define what a “medium” this or a “large” that really means. It’s annoying when a recipe says “use a medium pot” and you’re left wondering “okay, does your ‘medium” mean my ‘medium?’” So, points earned, here.

Recipes are divided into chapters both by type of methods (e.g., braises and roasts) and by type of meal (sandwiches and risottos). Directions are step-by-step and have plenty of pictures, and always tell you up front what equipment you need. There are helpful tips and sidebars, such as how to clean leeks or capers, and suggested variations.

None of the recipes are difficult, though I think sometimes some are aimed at higher than average budgets; how many of us have leftover roast lamb for sandwiches? Still, there aren’t any real budget-busters in here either, particularly if you ignore their constant admonitions to buy the “freshest, best ingredients.” Sometimes, the pack of Foster Farms breasts on-sale will have to do.
I’ve only made a few of the recipes so far, but they were delicious: for instance the white risotto with parmigiano-reggiano and the crispy-seared chicken thighs with mushrooms. I’m looking forward to cooking my way through the whole book.

I have two complaints about the book: one niggling and one serious. The minor criticism is their constant use of the word “flavorful.” Honestly guys, there are synonyms and you can look them up online.

More seriously, this Kindle version commits the egregious sin of having a flat index – no tappable links. Page numbers in the index don’t match the page numbers in the e-book, so you have to search manually. That’s inexcusable for such a nice cookbook and this far into the age of e-books. So, one star deducted.

That aside, I do like the Blue Apron Cookbook quite a bit and recommend it for people looking for impressive, tasty yet easy to make recipes in a book that has instructional value. ...more "

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— Jul 29, 2020 12:10PM

Aug 18, 2020 06:29PM · see review

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Red Dawn Over China: How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity

by Frank Dikötter

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Testimony of Mute Things (Penric and Desdemona #15)

by Lois McMaster Bujold (Goodreads Author)

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Dec 29, 2025 10:56PM

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Anthony’s Notes & Highlights

Book cover for A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome

A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome by Emma Southon

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Admittedly, the priesthood wasn’t exactly a spiritual calling in Rome, but it was still a bit like the Archbishop of Canterbury going full Rambo when Scipio Nasica lost his patience, stood up in the temple and shouted, ‘As the consul is a ...more

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Anthony’s Quotes

“The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail, its roof may shake, the wind may blow through it, the storm may enter, the rain may enter; but the King of England cannot enter; all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement! —WILLIAM PITT THE ELDER, 1763”
― Daniel Hannan, Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World

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“Most of the time, however, the cruelty of Soviet camp guards was unthinking, stupid, lazy cruelty, of the sort that might be shown to cattle or sheep.”
― Anne Applebaum, Gulag: A History

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“The Times correspondent who reported on the battle commented: ‘The estimation of Austrian losses is somewhat difficult as many of the fallen were not discovered until the penetrating odour of decomposed humanity disclosed the presence of bodies in wood or unharvested field.”
― Martin Gilbert, The First World War: A Complete History

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“After Watergate, few would have predicted today’s dynamic in which some journalists view their job not as questioning the powers that be, but undermining those who report on the powers that be.”
― Sharyl Attkisson, Stonewalled: One Reporter's Fight for Truth in Obama's Washington

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