Just add Water, Silly.: Book Review: "Against All Grain Celebrations" by Danielle Walker

I am so thrilled to be reviewing Danielle Walker's newest cookbook, "Against All Grain Celebrations". This wonderfully creative Gluten Free and Paleo cookbook is out in stores on September 27,2016.

I have to confess, I'm a huge fan of Danielle Walker. I have both of her other cookbooks in hardcover, I follow her blog and get her newsletter. I must have pinned over a hundred of her recipes in the past few years and every recipe I've made has come out deliciously. I love that Mrs. Walker gives tips both in her book and online about how to make her recipes the best you can achieve.

Cooking Paleo and Gluten Free is hard. Not only is it difficult going without the regular, convenience foods everyone else can indulge in but acquiring all the myriad ingredients and then producing a successful recipe can seriously be daunting. In comes Danielle Walker and her cookbooks. I can't believe I can say this but I have only had success with her recipes, that's a miracle in the Paleo & GF world. I'd have to say that when I just go online to find recipes it's usually a 50-50 chance that the recipe will fail. This is usually no fault of my own, I know to follow directions explicitly. In fact, the first Christmas we were GF, more than half of our recipes were inedible. What a waste of food, effort and Christmas spirit! Needless to say, I didn't have Danielle's cookbooks, "Against All Grain Celebrations", "Danielle Walker's Against All Grain: Meals Made Simple: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Paleo Recipes to Make Anytime" or "Against All Grain: Delectable Paleo Recipes to Eat Well & Feel Great" then. Now several years later, I'm looking forward to Christmas cooking & baking, especially with Danielle's newest cookbook specifically focusing on successful celebrations at hand.

(5+ stars means this book is BETTER
than great, it totally ROCKS!)

"Against All Grain Celebrations" is laid out in celebratory holiday sections like Halloween, Mother's & Father's Day, Easter, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Birthdays and even Fourth of July Barbecues and Autumn Dinner Parties! You'll also find conversion charts, a recipe index and a special diet index where Danielle has specified which of her recipes conform to certain special diets or food group exclusions like needing to be egg free.

Mrs. Walker also has a section on the most successful ingredients and brands to use. Many times it matters just what almond flour or other ingredient brand you use. It can mean failure if you have the wrong grind on your flour for instance. Danielle has done ALL the work for you in her cookbooks and website. Danielle Walker draws on her own experience of fighting an autoimmune disease and she knows the pain of not being able to eat what other's eat. Now with this newest cookbook you can have company over and know that the food will please everyone. You will not have to risk your health by cooking "regular" recipes for those who do not need to eat a special diet. No one will suspect that it's grain free because it will taste so delicious, it won't matter that it's made using Paleo & Gluten Free ingredients. Speaking for those of use who need to be Paleo and Gluten Free to save our health and lives, I thank Danielle Walker for all her amazing diligent work.

Lastly, I received this cookbook as a download onto my Kindle and I've personally found that I enjoy the hardcover cookbooks much more and find them easier to use. I didn't get to enjoy the colorful, encouraging and mouthwatering photographs because mine were black & white. Before Christmas, like you, I will be purchasing my own hardcover of this cookbook. I really can't imagine trying to do holiday cooking without Danielle Walker's excellent help. Now with her three cookbooks in print I have a huge plethora of great recipes to choose from.

Best,