Magnolia Table: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering

Miranda Reads

Rating: really liked it

Above: pork tenderloin, grilled raspberry-chipotle (p. 235)

There are two things I remember distinctly about those early days in our marriage. One, I really loved the act of putting on an apron...And, two, I had a domed glass cake stand on our counter that I never liked to see empty.


Above: green beans amandine (p. 174-175)

Joanna Gaines, from the hit TV show Fixer Upper, and designer of Magnolia Homes, has added one more star to her plate - cookbook author.

Above: chicken casserole (p. 199)

And let me tell you, I am blown away.

Above: chicken potpie p. 196-197

The cookbook is split into several main categories - starting with what Joanna recommends for a well-stocked pantry, then recipes for breakfast, lunch, soups & salads (etc).

Her recipes are simple, effective and delicious.

You want an enchilada- here's an enchilada. You want a potpie - here's a potpie.

You want a four-course dinner with un-pronounceable ingredients? Get a different cookbook!

I adore how Joanna often provided "cheats" in her recipes for the family on the go.

For example, she provided a recipe for roasting a chicken...but then says in all her recipes that use chicken that you could buy one of those pre-cooked ones from the grocery store and get the same results.

Most of the recipes are accompanied by images - some of the food and some fun, candid ones of the Gaines family.

The pictures were gorgeous and totally made this book stand out in comparison to my other cookbooks.

All of the food-type sections and each recipe is accompanied by personal anecdotes either about where the recipe came from, a few tweaks she's tried on it or her family's reaction to her recipes.

"Welllll, umm, it doesn't taste like my mom's spaghetti."
I almost choked on my noodles.

So far I've tried about 10% of the recipes and have had success every time - I've made modifications and have tried her suggestions and have been pleased by her the results.

Most of the recipes are the kind that are right up my alley - so I'm excited to see what happens as I try more.

My family LOVES the sour cream chicken enchiladas (p. 192-194), the quick cinnamon swirl & walnut roll (p. 58-59) and (of course) Jojo's biscuits (p 16-18).

All in all, I could not be more satisfied. I adore cooking and trying out new recipes on my family - and it's safe to say that we are all very happy with this purchase.

I stick my hand in a bowl of flour to begin to make a pie crust, or peel some potatoes, and all of a sudden my thoughts slow down. I begin to unwind....signal to my heart and my mind that I am home.

Cannot wait to experiment!

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Weatherly Webb

Rating: really liked it
My reviews are not generally so very different from everyone else s. This may be a first. I love to cook and love cookbooks and read them from front to back. I think I read at least half of this one with my jaw hanging open.
I don't think I am a food snob. I often make the basic "Texas Queso", Velveeta and Rotel in the microwave, but the number of times Velveeta showed up in this cookbook was astounding. Condensed cream of something soup also was included in several recipes. The author also uses Uncle Ben's Wild Rice as a part of a few recipes. I am all for shortcuts, but ingredients like cream of chicken soup do not taste good in Mexican recipes and the way to make these recipes without the soup is usually no more difficult. She makes her grandfather's favorite Lebanese meat pies (Fatayar) with refrigerated crescent roll dough. Refrigerated crescent roll dough has a distinct taste to it and doesn't taste anything like Fatayar dough to me. There are other prepared doughs on the market that would work just as well and taste better.
I burst out laughing when I got to the mashed potato recipe with milk, butter, salt and pepper. You think? I have never seen their TV show but I think these people are clever at business and are laughing all the way to the bank.
I was disappointed because I was looking for some good basic dinner recipes that were not complicated and didn't have hard to find ingredients.
I did think that almost all of the desserts looked good and the techniques and ingredients looked reasonable. The dessert section just wasn't enough for me to give this cookbook more than one star.

Cori

Rating: really liked it
Absolutely beautiful book, but in terms of practicality...I'm not sure how many of these recipes I'll ever make. Still, the pictures and writing style are gorgeous. And I can't help but love the Gaines and want to support everything they do.

Diana

Rating: really liked it
Fans of the Gaines family will really enjoy Magnolia Table because Joanna has added a lot of personal touches to this book. She talks about her family and her life in Waco. There are many pictures of her children, her farm, etc. She also includes family recipes that apparently have been family favorites through the years.

The recipes have easy to follow instructions and, for the most part, require common ingredients that are easy to find. Not all of the recipes include photos but I would say more than half of them do. Nutrition information is not included. One major drawback is that the book does not lay flat on your countertop. I had to use paper weights to hold my page open while cooking. Apparently Joanna is of Korean descent and she includes a small section of Korean recipes from her mother and grandparents. The recipes in Magnolia Table that I tried were delicious and there are many, many recipes to choose from.

Brittany McCann

Rating: really liked it
I received this book as a college graduation present and was enamored with it. I love the layout, the way that everything is presented and so many delcious things. I want to cook practically everything in it! In a saturated market of cookbooks, this one stands out!

Melissa

Rating: really liked it
I just love Joanna Gaines. And this book is not an exception... I marked more than half the recipe to try! Note that if you have food intolerances, like I have, you may have problems finding some recipes that you can eat, because she uses a lot of bread, eggs, cheese and milk, but there's always a way ;-)

Can't wait to try these!!

Conni (AKA Book Goddess) Neiswinger

Rating: really liked it
Lots of gorgeous photos of food made with canned ingredients, store bought mixes, condensed soup, etc. Nothing I'll be purchasing or cooking from! It doesn't deserve any stars.

Arielle

Rating: really liked it
Waaaaay too much canned cream of chicken soup. And canned/boxed things in general.

Sara (Sjthroughthelookingglass)

Rating: really liked it
I love the Gaines empire, but this cookbook fell flat. To me, a seasoned cook, the recipes seemed simplistic and lacking creativity. I read this cover to cover and came away thinking it was mad
e to round out her brand.

Melanie

Rating: really liked it
Every picture is tan and brown for every recipe except the salads. I made the chili recipe and kept thinking there had been a mistake during book printing. I’m not kidding you - no chili, cumin, cayenne pepper - NO SPICES in the chili recipe! It was so bland as to be inedible as written. I realize now that her recipes reflect her decorating style. Tan and brown.

April

Rating: really liked it
I love this cookbook, but gave it 4 stars because she uses Velveeta in several recipes and I just CANNOT. I’ve made several of the recipes and loved the baked chicken with bacon bottom and wild rice! It was a hit among everyone, even kids!

Elaine

Rating: really liked it
3.5 stars

I'm not a fan of home improvement shows so it took me more than a minute to realize the stars of Fixer Upper and the owners of Magnolia Table restaurant were one and the same.

I picked up Magnolia Table: Volume Two because I love to eat and I love food porn.

First, the quality of the book is great. It's really thick and heavy, on nice paper with large, gorgeous pictures.

Second, I wasn't sure what to expect with the recipes; in my experience, you see the same crop of recipes pop up time and again, familiar staples and/or favorites you find on most tables rear its head in a similar shape or fashion in cookbook after cookbook. The same applies here.

Some of the recipes are labor intensive and require many steps and some are shocking simplistic, requiring store-bought ingredients, which I respect because, hello! Joanna Gaines is a mother of four, about to be five!

What sets Magnolia Table apart from most cookbooks I've read, in my opinion, are the dessert recipes!

Most cookbooks offer your typical mainstays and the standard, salivating pictures but in here, there are more desserts to pant over; beautiful, lavish, and, for the most part, decadent.

I would make some of the recipes, hmm....maybe.... but I'm in no rush. I'd prefer to flip through the dessert photos again.

Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads)

Rating: really liked it
A nice collection of well known recipes with simple ingredients and easy to follow directions. The beautiful photographs and notes from Joanna are a great addition.

C o u r t n e y ☕

Rating: really liked it
Firstly, i just absolutely adore her and Chip so maybe im biased.

However, a recipe book is either for you or it isnt. You either like what you see or you do not.

This book is well put together separating by food category, informative with kitchen gadgets and appliances that are necessary, helpful with measurement and temperature equivalents etc.

I like that she included so many recipes that they seem to share around their own kitchen table and i like that she included alot of lemon desserts (my personal favorite) i only just received this book yesterday but have skimmed through every recipe and sticky noted which ones im eager to try.

Thank you Joanna!

Susan Crowe

Rating: really liked it
Beautiful pictures! Great commentary before each recipe. But boy, does she use a lot of cheese and butter! And that's not the vegan in me talking. That's the person who enjoys blood moving swiftly through my arteries. I do love JG though. And this is a beautiful book that I will proudly display on the shelf with my other favorites.