The Scottish Buddhist Cookbook really drew me in.  The stories are great and told with a lot of compassion and humility, and the recipes provide the perfect balance.  A friend of mine says that peace begins in the kitchen.  She cooks to center herself.  The Scottish Buddhist Cookbook is perfectly in line with that philosophy, and it's given me a greater appreciation for it.  

The book tells real life stories, and some of them really hit me in the guts -- hard life kind of stories, but just when I was feeling like, man, that's a bummer, I'd turn the page and there's this nice crock pot recipe sitting there.  Like a wave of peace.  And somehow I know that everything's gonna be alright.  I really love this book.  I agree with the author when he says it's for guys (because the book really spoke to me), but I think women should read it too.  It would help them understand us a little better.

Throughout the book is a thread of wisdom, compassion, and wit.  It's not a braggadocios attempt by the author to tell everyone how brilliant or incredible he is.  No, Jay Craig lays it on the line to give you a real piece of the truth, and you will respect him for it.  On top of all that, the 11 Demandments of Scottish Buddhism and the 12 Step Program for Christians will basically give you all the philosophy you'll ever need in life, and probably leave you laughing and feeling free.  The Scottish Buddhist Cookbook is as authentic as it gets.

Jeremy A. Hillpot



Despite being a woman, a happily married non-drinker, gourmet cook, Christian and in short supply of Zantac, I found the Scottish Buddhist Cookbook rather amusing. I busted out my crock pot for hours of cooking fun. I only tried one recipe, the Beef Stew, but it was tasty and satisfying in my-bachelor-brother-invited-me-over-for-dinner sort of way. The recipes are certainly economical with time and money. The 11 Demandments and the 12 Steps are guidelines for living that I found both transcendental and nihilistic. I appreciate the narrator's humility: he doesn't take himself too seriously and is aware and honest enough to be both funny and reliable. Refreshingly free of judgment and self-aggrandizement, the Scottish Buddhist Cookbook is like Festivus- a book for the rest of us!

Kimberly Giunta



"Hi! I'm Maggie!" gave me a major belly laugh. God, I needed that! Thanks from New London!

Bob Stuller



The Scottish Buddhist Cookbook is a very enjoyable read--funny, wise, honest, and even somewhat practical. It is too brief to challenge the bible when it comes to kindling, but is a superior text in many other regards. Buy Jay Craig's book. You'll thank yourself.

Darren G., NY



I have to give kudos to author Jay Craig for putting out part his life story (talk about no hold barred) in the book The Scottish Buddhist Cookbook.   
Manic depression, free sex, beer, drugs, a dog and even a nod to the band The Butthole Surfers.  How can you go wrong?  Not to mention a nice sprinkling of Crockpot recipes- sure to help ones soul when served with a nice Redhook ESB. 
Heck, the proposal letters written by Sean Patrick Xxxxxxxxx to the FBI and Ted Turner are more than worth the price of admission, add one Huggy Jesus and Maggie and you have pure literary gold, well, at least in my mind.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever been single or even knew a single person growing up in this screwed up world we call Earth. 

Tom Aurand

From the Internet-

I enjoyed this book! Read it as I enjoyed a Seattle summer day in my backyard in Ballard. I have yet to try the recipes but know I will as I love a good crock pot meal. Speaking of crock pots (or is that crackpots), Mr.Craig's writing brought me back to the time I couldn't read enough Bukowski. The women, the boozing, the self loathing then self loving, the desire for a new set of rules to live by just to break them. He scratches the surface of emotional situations that I would have liked him to dig a little deeper into. Nonetheless, I'll read anything he writes in the future while enjoying a monstrosity at Mike's, made by Steve on a weeknight.
P.S. How do I get one of them Huggy Jesus dolls?


I'm not exactly sure what to make of this book. But I loved reading it, and that's why it earns my 5 star review.


It's full of crazy crockpot recipes, including one only a Scotsman (like me) could love: hard boiled eggs wrapped in a sort of hamburger shell (he offered me one at a Book Slam once). But the constantly simmering crockpot in the corner represents something stable and dependable for the bachelor-narrator as he deals with manic depression, the deaths of friends, and ridiculous get-rich-quick schemes that will have you laughing out loud.


This book has the feeling of an uncut diamond, foreshadowing great things to come from this author. I enjoyed every minute I spent with this book.


I have been a fan of this book since I first reviewed an earlier version for a local weekly. The author particularly liked my quote, "It's not really even a book." Jay Craig is very funny writer and having this book on the coffee table is guaranteed cool. A twenty-something who picks it up and starts reading (he read it twice) tends to look at the host with new eyes, evidently not believing that someone who never swears, uses a crockpot or brawls in bars would be able to relate to this humor. It's good to be cool, that's why I'm going to order a spare copy.


A strange, quick read that brings to mind biting Gonzo-esque essays mixed with tasty sounding crockpot recipes. There's only a glimpse of the title's "Scottish Buddhism", presented with a Discordian style irreverence, but there's a hint of a deeper philosophy beneath. Recommended for those with a dark or twisted sense of humor, but don't bother if you're easily offended.


I guarantee you that this book will someday be a cult classic. So read it now and be one the hippest people of your generation, whatever your generation may be. Someday you will have serious clout when you mention casually at a party, "Oh, yeah, I was one of the first people to read that book, way before it became a bestseller. I have a first edition somewhere." Irreverent, bawdy, definitely not recommended for the prude (or perhaps should be required reading for the prude). I say all this with the full disclosure that I haven't finished it, yet, because, like a decadent Scotch egg, a little goes a long way with this one, and I intend to make it last (I still haven't finished Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, either, and I've been working on that one for years). One sad thing about the Kindle version is that you won't realize that there are purposefully no page numbers in the book, except for page eleven. Which is kind of like Spinal Tap and the speakers set to eleven or "one more," which is exactly what you will want from Jay Craig: one more book. That doesn't always happen after a cult classic, but we can only hope.


I LOVED this book. Read it cover to cover in one sitting. The voice and humor reminds me so much of David Sedaris --only Jay Craig is a kilt-wearing, beer-guzzling womanizer...with a conscience and a heart. A great gift for guys, and for any woman with a sense of humor.


Post-adolescent adolescence is sometimes (but not always) fun to read about. The newly divorced, kilt-wearing Jay has some recipes for crockpot bachelor food mixed with various stories, mostly about him getting laid. many of the stories are cute and fun.


The recipes were interesting and so were the stories,but I definitely could have done without the foul language. I could have enjoyed ALL of the book without the vulgarity and slander of Christianity.

"Osama has promised a horrible death to the infidel who sent him a Huggy Jesus doll."