How to feed yourself 100 fast, cheap, and reliable recipes for cooking when you don't know what you're doing

Review by Booklist Review

The internet has become the fundamental source of guidance and information for college students, so it's no surprise that students would turn to it to learn how to cook for themselves and their friends. A pair of Northwestern University students created the startup company Spoon University with the goal of helping other students cook cheaply, quickly, and practically. Their enterprise grew enough to be sold to the Food Network. This quirky cookbook takes a step backward, reverting to a print medium from the electronic universe. Full of breezy recipes that require generally available ingredients and basic kitchen equipment, the book centers around just a few common ingredients: chicken, eggs, pasta, potatoes, and bread. Ubiquitous kale adds greenery. Recipes present few challenges, but not many undergrads have the equipment or experience to properly handle deep frying. There are also guidelines about how to comport oneself in restaurants and how to pair wines with food.--Mark Knoblauch Copyright 2018 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

The editors of Spoon University, which began in 2013 as a publication for students "who didn't know how to feed themselves," present an entertaining assortment of 100 recipes intended for coeds and recent grads who have small kitchens and small budgets. Some recipes focus on perking up simple ingredients (there are three variations on instant ramen and an entire chapter on toast), while others tread the line between creative and desperate. A bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich substitutes toaster waffles for the bun, and a dish called empty peanut butter jar noodles calls for shaking warm pasta inside a much-used jar. Each offering comes with usage suggestions: the scrappy cream cheese pasta, for example, is a good dish to make when supplies are low and "you refuse to go to the grocery store," and consists primarily of a box of pasta and a brick of cream cheese. This minimalism carries over to some healthier options, including flourless pancakes made from only bananas and eggs. A section on being a grown-up includes a two-page spread on how to dine at a nice restaurant, while a brief collection of cocktails contains creations only a freshman could love, including a punch called summer beer, which combines beer, vodka, and pink lemonade. No prerequisites are required for this intro course on easy and inexpensive cooking. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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