Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?: Surviving Away from Home

This book is now my gift of choice for high school graduations. It is comprehensive yet simple, practical yet interesting. I have been a homemaker for 25 years and still learned new things from this book. We now use several of the recipes regularly, especially the Orange Banana Sauce for pancakes and the Dump Cake. The hardback version with the vinyl cover and the pockets is well worth the extra cost in convenience, cleanliness, and longevity.

I received this book as a graduation gift. I moved to another country and couldn't afford to call home everytime I had a question. This book became my homemaking "bible." I still use it regularly after 14 years of being on my own. I can testify the hardback is worth the investment. I, too, use this as my gift of choice for graduates and newlyweds!!

This book is absolutely amazing! It's the book I have always needed. I only wish I had gotten it when I was first on my own. I have only been "on my own" ( and married with my own house now ) for 4 years, and have learned a lot of hard lessons by experience... but this book has taught me a lot more! If I'd had it to begin with maybe I wouldn't have had to go through some of those hard lessons.

This book can never take place of a wonderful Mom, but for some people it will probably be the mother they never had. Everything in it is simple and easy, it's got tons of yummy looking easy recipes, tons of tips for EVERYTHING, and even has a section on health, like what vitamins do what for your body, and what foods you can find them in, as well as a bunch of nutrition tips.

I would DEFINATELY reccomend this book for anyone just starting out on their own, and even those who have been on their own for a long time, because there's so much information in this book that even the veteran "on-their-own'ers" could learn a thing or two!

I love this book! Many of the recipes are for plain/simple foods, which is perfect for me. I really like that this ring-bound book lies flat or props easily in a bookrest for easy reading/access.

There are some fancier dishes but there's equal time given to basics - how to boil eggs, time pasta, etc.

This would be a great gift for someone who doesn't really like to cook but finds themselves having to more than they might think.

The worst thing I can say about this book is the title. They completely missed their market when they titled this book "Where's Mom when I need her". While marketing to a college student may seem smart it is only a small piece of the market this book should have targeted. In reality this book is the most aptly targeted to the stay at home mom who is trying to live frugally and save money. Many moms out there are buying books such as "Miserly Meals" and "Tightwad Gazette" in an attempt to find ways to save money and make simple meals for their family. Also many of us did not grow up learning to bake from scratch and how to make our own mixes for things. This book is actually the best one out there for that purpose. It should have had the word Frugal in the title or Cheap/Inexpensive and it should have been marketed more for the moms than the kids. I bought this book years ago as a young mom because my mother never taught me these things. We never learned how to cook or bake or any of those things. This is absolutely hands down the only book you will ever need for saving money and learning the basics of baking, cooking. Excellent book. Editors totally dropped the ball on who to market to and probably lost the author untold dollars as a result but nevertheless the book is amazing!!!