A few weeks ago, I received an email offering a review copy of the book Recipes Every Man Should Know. Never one to turn down a free food-related book, I gratefully said yes, knowing that it would be a fun read and perhaps helpful to my husband.
As the book’s promo site states:
Now guys will have all the essentials covered: Coffee, Eggs & Breakfast Classics • Sandwiches, Burgers & Snacks • Meat & Potato Dinners • Bacon, Beer & Bar Food • Chocolate, Cheesecake & More!
I don’t see any veggies on that essentials list, but sometimes, that’s just okay. My husband works about a jillion hours a week, so making a full meal was pretty much out of the question. Instead, he decided to make the cheesecake recipe from the book.
And before I could tell him that Cool Whip should never ever be used in anything, ever, he was off. . .
Its been a while since I made anything of the culinary variety – aside from boiling an egg, making toast and tea/coffee. I wanted to make something that anybody could make – no brains involved, just ingredients, some stirring, and out comes a dessert. So I opened the book to p. 134 NO-Bake Cheesecake and purchased the necessary items.
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened.
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) container of non-dairy whipped topping
1 graham cracker pie crust or oreo cookie pie crust
As shown above, gather your ingredients together – place the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl, and stir until mixed.
Adding the Cool Whip (everything is better with Cool Whip – see family guy for further info) makes the stirring a lot easier.
Once mixed for a further 3 minutes, just pour the contents of the bowl into the unwrapped Oreo cookie pie crust* (foil wrap left on for authenticity) 
and place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour, or until your craving for something sweet takes the better of you.
Despite my wife’s comments on Cool Whip – It ended up being one of the easiest desserts to make – about as difficult as scooping ice-cream into a bowl. Though one word of advice, do not serve this after any kind of heavy meal, as the cheesecake is quite filling.
Steeled by this stunning success – I am encouraged to explore further recipes from the book – I had already appreciated the burger selection, and the cocktail lists are definitely interesting.
The book also comes with a list and diagrams of useful household items you should own and basic techniques to know before embarking on this culinary quest. Useful man topics are also covered in the book – like “The Hangover Cure” and the “Perfect Steak”. Although this book may be more targeted towards guys about to leave home, or college or fellas with simply too little time on their hands, I found it exceptionally easy to follow, entertaining, and would recommend this to others for a bit of kitchen fun.
*Please note that my husband does know how to make a graham cracker or Oreo crust for a cheesecake. The store-bought crust was to stay true to the recipe in the book 
Please also note that, minus the Cool Whip, this would be a perfectly delicious dessert. There is just something about that not-so-natural whipped dairy topping aftertaste. . .
In your household who does most of the cooking? Is it you, your significant other, a roommate or someone else? Or do you let takeout handle it?
