The recipes are fine, but the format is irksome. I much prefer the ring-binder with tabs cookbooks to this one, which I recieved as a gift. The other irritating aspects of the book are:* small font* thin, flimsy pages (Think newsprint or coffee filter absorbancy.)* instructions interspersed with the ingredients (I prefer to see them listed first, followed by instructions.)* drawings only (In this technologically advanced day and age, you'd expect photographs at the very least, and maybe even some color -- but not with JOC.)* no tabsDid I mention there are no tabs in this book which has many, Many, MANY pages? To find a recipe or section you must either use the table of contents/index or else flounder around until you find it.This book makes me tired and cranky and I find that I am very averse to using it, not because the recipes are bad, but because of the format.