Cookbook's quick snacks soothe cravings

Who hasn't had a craving for some unidentifiable food? In the midst of a studying break, you might find yourself staring at the refrigerator, as if expecting it to answer your hunger pains. "Midnight Snacks," a cookbook written by Michael J. Rosen and Sharon Reiss, attempts to offer a solution to your cravings. The book promises to provide "150 easy and enticing alternatives to standing by the freezer eating ice cream from the carton." While all the recipes I tried were delicious, unless you live in a grocery store, chances are you will not have the ingredients necessary to prepare the enticing dishes.\nRosen and Reiss gear the cookbook toward college students and young professionals, but I've yet to find a college student who has Norwegian smoked salmon in their fridge, which is the main ingredient needed for "Smoked Salmon Wedges." This is just one example of the ingredients that this cookbook assumes you have on hand.\nIf by chance you do have a wide variety of odd ingredients in your kitchen, you're in luck and will be able to make wonderfully simple dishes. My favorite was Impromptu Pizza. The pizza calls for seven ingredients. The only ones I already had were salt and pepper. While I did have to go to the grocery store and spend quite a bit on fresh mozzarella and fresh basil, along with the other ingredients, I found the final product to be satisfying. All the fresh ingredients blended together nicely to create an enjoyable entree. Minus the time spent at the grocery store, the actual preparation and bake time were brief.\nAnother recipe I enjoyed were Buckeye Bars. They have a peanut butter base with chocolate on top and are very similar to peanut butter cups. While I actually had more of the ingredients involved in this recipe (peanut butter, graham crackers and chocolate chips) I did have to make a run to the grocery store for unsalted butter, confectioners sugar and brown sugar. These took a little bit longer to make but were worth the effort.\nIn addition to food dishes, "Midnight Snacks" even includes self-care sections like "late night rehab," which offers energizing drinks like Ginseng-Sling and "spa night," which consists of relaxing remedies like Japanese Sake Bath. Even with these sections, chances are you'll have to hit up the grocery store before embarking on your cooking adventure.\nOverall, this is a really good cookbook, as long as you understand that it will not live up to its claim of providing late night snacks to college students. If you are interested in getting an out of the ordinary cookbook, then this is for you. Most of the recipes seem new and original, yet simple to create. If you love to cook, check this book out, but if you want an alternative to "standing by the freezer eating ice cream from the carton," order pizza.