Cookbook Review: Sunrise Sunset Across America

Do you love travel and good food? If so, you'll be thrilled with Sunrise Sunset Across America by Claudia A. Givens. This cookbook is packed with recipes from some of the best Bed & Breakfast inns across America. There are recipes from at least one B&B in every state in the country.

Not only will you learn how to prepare many tasty recipes from Sunrise Sunset Across America, you can also get great ideas for places to visit on your next vacation. In addition to getting terrific ideas for delicious meals, you'll get to read about and view photographs of many of the inns with featured recipes.

When I think about visiting a Bed & Breakfast, I think about comfort and pampering in a homey atmosphere. B&B innkeepers take great pride in the appearance of their facilities and the quality of the food they serve. This book reveals some of their secrets for preparing wonderful meals for guests from all types of backgrounds. The recipes in Sunrise Sunset Across America are perfect examples of family-style home cooking for special occasions. Most recipes are very easy to prepare, but are also elegant and beautifully presented.

My Favorite Recipes from Sunrise Sunset Across America:

• Rhubarb Nut Bread from the Achnorage Mahogny Manor Downtown Inn in Alaska gets my vote for the most unique quick bread recipe. Rhubarb is one of the foods that I'm never quite sure what to do with. I like it, but don't often cook with it. However, this recipe just might change that! It is a sweet bread, reminiscent of a banana or a zucchini bread, with a really unique flavor.
• The Peppered Cheese Wheel recipe from the Plantation House B&B in Elgin, Nebraska is out of this world. It is a savory cheese ball designed to be served with hearty crackers, and is great as a breakfast item, appetizer, or snack. It's perfect for tailgating, and I'll probably make this easy, no-cooking required dish frequently during football season!
• Crab cakes are a favorite in my home, and the recipe for Shaker Inn Chosen Vale Crab Cakes (from the Shaker Inn in Endfield, New Hampshire) is out of this world. Oddly enough, the "secret ingredient" that gives these crab cakes their unique and delicious flavor is Ritz crackers.

The crab cake recipe isn't the only one in the book made with ingredients you probably have in your pantry at all times. That's the beauty of B&B cooking, and that's why I think this book is so great. I don't want to have to purchase unusual and expensive ingredients to try new recipes. I want to learn how to make new dishes with things I keep on hand or can find easily.

Innkeepers prepare meals in their own kitchens, for their valued guests. Every meal is a special occasion at a Bed and Breakfast. You can have a little taste of B&B cooking in your own home when you learn to make the recipes in Sunrise Sunset Across America. Visit SunriseSunset to learn more or to order your own copy.