Some other reviewers have complained that this book seems to have a lot of repeats of recipes or feature things that don't seem very new or original. In this book though, that is the very point. These are the old fashioned recipes with which all Americans are familiar. There is no attempt to dress them up, only to make the best comfort food you ever had -- using ordinary ingredients. Cook's Illustrated continue with their high standards of performance and this is one of my favorite cookbooks ever.