Pull Up A Chair: Recipes from My Family to Yours

by Tiffani Thiessen

Tiffani Thiessen is beloved for her roles in Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills 90210, but for the past few years she's been known as the host of the Cooking Channel series Dinner at Tiffani's. Each episode showcased her classic-with-a-twist recipes and knack for hosting a good time. For three seasons, Tiffani's fans were able to fall in love with her all over again. Now, in Pull Up a Chair, readers can bring home Tiffani's delicious food and warm hospitality. The 125 recipes in this debut cookbook are the kind that bring people together. Whether it's Stuffed French Toast or her husband, Brady's Favorite Short Rib Enchiladas for family-friendly meals, Curried Deviled Eggs or Boozy Date Milkshakes for special-occasion treats, or Mom's Cream Cheese Pie--because you can't forget dessert! With recipes and tips for pleasing the pickiest of eaters, feeding a crowd or pulling off a party in your PJs, plus gorgeous photography, Pull Up a Chair will be the book that fans and avid home cooks alike will want to include in their collection.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Collections

336 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2018

Reviews

[Bianca | bookd_by_bee 🐝]

Love her show on Food Network. Her recipes are fun and easy, and her family stories are charming.

[dp]

Thank you to HMH and Raincoast Books for the free copy.

Reading PULL UP A CHAIR is more than a cookbook to me. It brings me back to my childhood and young adult self because I grew up watching Tiffani Thiessen on Saved By the Bell followed by the popular Beverly Hills 90210. Fast forward twenty-ish years later and Thiessen has penned a debut cookbook bringing families back to the dinner table connecting them with real food and dinner conversation.

As a mom of three cooking for a family of five I don’t have time to waste experimenting with fad foods that require exotic ingredients and a lot of time in the kitchen. I’m also a mother of all girls and keenly aware that dieting and obsessing over weight is not the path I want my girl’s to go down. I’m thrilled to see Thiessen’s cookbook brimming with real recipes that are not fussy just honest to goodness plans.

I love that she goes back to the cooking roots to make jam – what a lost art, and sharing a simple lunch recipe such as fresh mozzarella, prosciutto & fig baguette requiring four ingredients as Thiessen aptly refers to as the ‘Swiss Army knife of lunch’ because of their portability and endless combinations. Dinner is comprised of the classic and humble bean & ham hock stew, which is one of my favorite comfort meals to the modernized beef & mushroom stroganoff with creamy polenta – this is not the stroganoff you grew up eating!

PULL UP A CHAIR has me wanting to slow down and enjoy family meal time and I think you will want to do the same.

[Stacy]

I mostly know the author through her work on White Collar (where she plays a caterer/event planner nonetheless) and of course, the 90s classic Saved by the Bell. All the recipes sound lovely and so inviting that I have bookmarked a bunch to try. This also looks like a wonderful coffee table book because all the photos are stunning.

[Jaime]

I use this cookbook all the time — most often for the roasted beets which are in the wasabi salad. Highly recommend!

[Monica Albright]

Now, this is what a cookbook should be! It has vibrant colorful pictures of the food to accompany almost all of the recipes. The recipes are well written and easy to follow for the seasoned cook and the novice, too. I like how it almost reads like a story from cover to cover.
Many "celebrity cookbooks" have overly fancy recipes with hard to find ingredients or dishes that you can't pronounce just to impress your guests. I've found that you do not need pretentious food to impress. You need fresh, simple ingredients and easy to follow/understand recipes. This is that kind of cookbook. Everything that I've made from it has been delicious! It has fun party tips with pictures to inspire serving, decorating, and even fashion.
I might pick up more copies to give as gifts. It's a little bigger and heavier than what I like to use, but it opens and lays flat open on the counter so I don't have to fight with it.

[Maria Koebele]

This was a great book to sit down and read. The writing was fun and easy to follow. The pictures are beautiful, of both the food and her little family.

There are several recipes that would try. Made the “chorizo” cauliflower tacos tonight and they both looked and tasted amazing.

Minus one star for having few ingredients that are a little harder to find.

[Laura]

This is a beautiful, family-friendly cookbook. There's lots of fresh ingredients, great photos, and she gives the right amount of backstory to each recipe. The extensive breakfast section was probably my favorite; also her deserts are on the lighter side and are a little different.

While the ingredients are generally easy to find, many of these dishes are kind of time consuming to make, so I don't think this is an everyday cookbook. Otherwise, it's worth checking out for a modern twist on a lot of classics. Also, there's no nutritional information.

[Miss Clark]

3.5 stars

Lovely and ample photographs, nicely divided into sections by mealtimes.

Favourite recipes:

Cherry and Maple Granola
Raspberry Toaster Tarts
Yogurt Pancakes with Whipped Maple Butter
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Bean & Ham Hock Stew
Spring Pea & Pancetta Carbonara
Cuban-Style Black Beans
Cowboy Poutine
Brady's Favorite Short-Rib Enchiladas
Blackberry Cobbler
Vanilla Bean Bread Pudding with Bourbon-Caramel Sauce
Cherry Galette with Vanilla Whipped Cream

So start cooking and enjoy!

[Linda]

Beautiful book with personal stories and very enticing recipes. Flipped through and flagged so many recipes I want to try. Already made her yogurt pancakes; probably the best pancakes I’ve ever made! Nice variety of family and entertaining recipes.

[Kelly]

Great to see all of Tiffani's recipes in print as I thoroughly enjoyed her cooking show. Not too many recipes that I want to try though. Good pictures of all the recipes & detailed plans for parties.

[Erin Lynn]

This book both makes me love Tiffani Thiessen even more than I did before, and makes me want to grocery shop (something I actually thoroughly enjoy doing). I've already tried the Mac & Cheese, and it's divine.

[Bethany]

Something delicious for everyone

5 star cookbook. Easy to follow directions, no hard to find ingredients, and 1:1 talk with Tiffany= perfection. I particularly liked the dessert and entertaining sections.

[Carolyn]

Appetizing food, lovely photos, and a manageable selection of ideas. I’ve actually made a couple of her recipes before—maybe I found them online? I wish I had a copy of this for those “what even sounds good?” moments.

[Paige Showalter]

I love this book, the recipes, the ideas and the photos.

[Debbie]

Beautiful photographs for each recipe. Recipies use 'every day' ingredients.

[Valerie]

Love her! Lots of these recipes have been on her show but I still loved reading this cookbook!

[Elizabeth]

Decent, easy recipes. Excellent photos.

[Laura Duvall]

Love this cookbook! We made a number of the recipes and were not disappointed. My only complaint was that the recipes don’t indicate how long it will take to make the item from beginning to end.

[Heidi]

This cookbook had beautiful photos and the book was very aesthetically pleasing to look at. Her recipes looked okay although she used a lot of all purpose flour she still seemed to use mostly whole ingredients. Her kids are adorable in the photos!

[Heather Santos]

As a long time fan of Tiffani Thiessen, I was so excited to receive this cookbook as a gift. This cookbook is full of fun recipes. I cannot wait to try as many of them as possible!

[Clementine]

The photographs are lovely, and there are a ton of recipes packed into this thing, all of which seem pretty accessible to home cooks.

[Beka]

Really homey with some good recipes and gorgeous pictures.

[Jenny]

3 for the recipes, rounded up to a 4 for the presentation/photos/commentary. It's a beautiful cookbook, but I likely will only make a handful of the dishes.

[Terri]

I didn't see enough variety with some gluten free options. So i was excited about a few recipes but overall my rating is low. GORGEOUS PHOTOGRAPHY throughout the book though!!

[Rachel]

There are only a few recipes that I will actually try, but lots of yummy looking pictures.

[Heather]

Easy to follow instructions and the recipes I attempted came out tasting yummy. If she made another cookbook I would give it a try.

[Kim]

Beautiful pictures of yummy-looking food and adorable kids. What's not to love?

[Ann Marie]

Lots of good recipes in this book. Easy to make and follow the recipes.

[Nicole]

Well written. Original recipes throughout, but they were not necessarily my cup of tea.

[Jamie Reads]

Didn't even find an idea in this book. Not bad looking food but not my type of meals.