This review was prepared by Natasha McKenzie.
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How excited was I get receive my first cookbook review challenge.

Not really a challenge, but I thought of it this way. I was so excited I was like a kid on Christmas when I found it in my mailbox. I literally jumped for joy and left the rest of the mail in the box. While I wouldn’t normally pick up a cookbook of this nature, I enjoy lots of pictures to correspond with the recipe, but I am sure am glad I had an opportunity to take a look.

Bite Me by the not-so-sweet, tiny-bit-salty sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat is very amusing and like the title suggests: a stomach satisfying, visually gratifying, fresh mouthed cookbook. While I apologize about the absence of photos, once you get this cookbook, you will understand why, your mouth waters and you just want to eat...then you remember you forgot to take a photo.

Each recipe has a corresponding anecdote that is both comical and interesting, each one made me laugh and created the distinct need to immediately share the anecdote, much to the chagrin of my husband.

The book offers up a bevy of selections from appies to dessert and everything in between. The nice addition is the mains are separated into poultry, meat, fish and vegetables, a great separation. I was especially amused by the ingredients; most times I find a recipe that am missing one ingredient, and ingredient that I would hardly use again, but not this time. All ingredients in the fridge and pantry, yippee, less spending on groceries.

While this cookbook offered fast, simple, easy and yummy offerings, I am not too sure if it will be my go-to cookbook. The first recipe up was tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons from the wittily named Soup Me section. What’s not to like, tomato soup, and grilled cheese, two of my favourites. Yum yum. The soup was piping hot and the croutons, gooey delicious.

Next dish, Berry stuffed and sauced french toast souffle. I love French toast; it is the breakfast I asked my dad to make me on my wedding day. However a twist on my old favourite, cream cheese and berries, intriguing. It was a great weekend meal and would be a wonderful addition to brunch with friends or families.

With lunch and breakfast down, time to dinner, beef bourguignon. Julia Child move over because Bite Me may be up to the challenge. While this stew took 2 hours to simmer, the simmering really added to the tenderness of the beef and the heartiness of the stew. Only thing I missed was potatoes, an addition that will be used the next time I make this. The great thing about this is the next day the leftovers had even more flavour.

The next evening, my husband wanted pasta of some sort. I pulled out the cookbook, checked out the Crave Me section and found bottomless bowl chicken lasagna. An easy and quick lasagna that didn’t require an hour for assembly and another hour to cook, nope this was deconstructed one pot lasagna, the type of meal my husband likes because it means less dishes. The dish was hearty and filled my husbands need for pasta.

The last dish we thought we’d try was from Gobble Me. The oven-fried chicken with mashed potatoes and buttermilk gravy. This was not as huge of a hit as I was expecting. I love country fried chicken with gravy. I think my disappointment was the buttermilk. I’m not a fan of buttermilk, but thought I’d try. Still confirmed…don’t like buttermilk. Next time, I’ll try it without the buttermilk.

All in all, for a fun whimsical cookbook, I would suggest this one. It is easy for beginners with simple recipes and everyday pantry ingredients. This cookbook received the Natasha cookbook stamp of approval, now if I could just find the stamp.