What are your favorite cookbooks?

[etwahl]

after reading sarah's yummy meal, i wanted to find out what everyone's favorite cookbooks are. i can't wait to start cooking again. i've been living on pretty much the same meals day in, day out for months, and looking forward to some variety!

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[peanut4us]

Ooh! Hand's down, throw the others away The Best Recipe. It was written by the America's Test Kitchen folks. They test lots of recipes for, say, Brownies, and then mix and match until they get the ultimate recipe. We've not tried anything from that book that hasn't been the best we've ever had. We made the lemon squares last weekend! Wow!

Also, The Cook's Bible by the same folks... the one we have we picked up at Costco and it is 2 in one... the cook's bible and the dessert bible. YUM!

[elvisfan]

Well, I have several cookbooks, but I get a lot of my recipes off the net...in particular, www.yumyum.com and www.copykat.com. The latter is chock full of restaurant recipes. Yummy!
Now, as far as my print cookbooks go..I love my Betty Crocker's New Cookbook as it teaches one about the food she is cooking as well as how to prepare it. It is great for a beginning cook.

[KathyO]

I get a lot of mileage out of the Looneyspoons and Crazyplates cookbooks, which are low-fat cookbooks by a pair of sisters called Janet and Greta Podleski. They tend to go for lively flavours, easy-to-obtain ingredients, and not-too-complex instructions. Plus they're Canajun, eh?

Cheers,

KathyO

[JustMare]

I collect cookbooks. I have all that are mentioned but honestly, the ONE that I use the most with tried and true recipes is the Better Homes and Gardens ORIGINAL red and white checkerboard three-ring book.

You can usually find it in Costco for $14.99. Mine came with a Cookies, Cookies, Cookies book attached to it that has the BEST cookie recipes!!! I just made the Jam Thumbprint cookies the other day for DH! Yum

[1ontheway]

I like Taste of Home, Quick Cooking & Light & Tasty. They have bi-monthly magazines so it's fun to get new issues and have new issues to try with doing a lot of research.

I'm interested in hearing about others myself, because I find that I have more dessert recipes than anything else.


Christina
EDD 1/12/04

[Piglet]

I love the Red and White Checker book! It is definitely the one I can't live without. The funny thing is that my parents have two copies and the recipes are different - one edition has recipes the other doesn't and vice versa, also there are different versions of some recipes and the books are only 5 years apart. They are all good, though.

On a healthier note - I like Mealleaniyumm! (All That's Missing Is the Fat) by Norene Gilletz (yes the title is pretty lousy, supposed to sound like millenium). She has a lot of vegetarian dishes and low fat alternatives to some of my higher fat favourites. She also wrote the Food Processor Bible and MicroWays (both were staples on my parents' shelves).

[Karenn]

Right now, the ones I'm using the most are Better Homes and Gardens and Six Ingredients or Less, Cooking Light and Healthy. I've also recently re-discovered recipes from Sunset Magazine. I doubt you can get it on the stands on the east coast but you might be able to find some of their cookbooks. Their recipes aren't all "light and healthy" but many of them tend to lean in that direction.

I know what you mean about being excited to start cooking again! I finally feel like I am capable of preparing "real meals" for dinner again and it's actually kind of fun.

[mamahill]

Anything with pictures! LOL, I love my Better Home and Garden's Cookbook, but also my Betty Crocker - those are my old standbys. Williams-Sonoma has some nice cookbooks - I've got their Chicken one. Also, I have the San Francisco Junior League cookbook. I don't use it a lot, but it sure looks pretty on display in the kitchen! (and what I have tried is delish!) Mostly, I refer to allrecipes.com and epicurious.com, though. DH refuses to buy any more cookbooks because of those sites.

[alleyoop]

I second the 'Best Recipe' books. We have the 'Grilling and Barbecueing' one, and even though they make you brine everything... they are always right.

I get the 'Cooks Illustrated' magazine from the same guys. Again, great great recipes and lots of cool cooking (food, recipes, products, gadgets) information.

[COElizabeth]

I'm not vegetarian, but a lot of my cookbooks are. I love Quick Vegetarian Pleasures and any of the Moosewood cookbooks. I also have a bunch of Junior League/Forum type cookbooks from various places, and I use those quite a bit, too. Of those, the Lone Star Legacy series of 3 books by the Austin Junior Forum is my favorite. Right now we are trying to sell our house, so all my cookbooks are packed away to declutter the kitchen, and we have not had anything new in months!

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02

[cilantromapuche]

The Best Recipe by far. THe chocolate chip cookies are the best. the most gourmet people who try them rave (it makes me feel like an awesome cook which i am not).
The Moosewood cooks at home and the low-fat moosewood cookbook(although we live 1/2 hour from ithaca and the moosewood and it is easier to go out to eat than cook :))
The Barefoot COntessa cookbooks are simple and elegant (and what the heck, they have pretty pictures).
Vegetarian cooking for everyone by Deborah Madison (DH Mr. Meat and Potatoes man has to have a steak after the meal or swears he will die of hunger)

[stillplayswithbarbies]

My favorite cookbooks are the little scraps of paper in my mother's, my grandmother's and my great-grandmother's handwriting.

An icing recipe on the back of an envelope in Grandma's handwriting that is still my favorite today. Lemon cookies in Nanny's (my greatgrandmother) handwriting on a yellowed piece of paper. My mom's recipe for Fruit Cocktail bars on a scrap of brown paper from a grocery sack.

I have thought about putting them all in the computer, but I just can't let go of those scraps of paper.

And now I have a daughter to hand these down to . . .

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[Annette_C]

I collect cookbooks also and I have over 100 of them! I have series of some (like, Ciao Italia series from Marianne Esposito; Cucina Amore series from Nick Stellino; the Frugal Gourmet series; Julia Child; etc) but, as you can probably tell, the majority are on Italian food.
I also have many baking cookbooks and lowfat cookbooks.
My favorite ones, though, are cookbooks that I've picked up at church sales, fund raising events and recipes that have been handed down to me by my two grandmothers.
Sorry I'm not really answering your question but I would suggest that you look at a cookbook before you buy it (amazon.com has many with sample pages to look through). It's all about the type of food you and your family enjoy most not what everyone else is eating. :)
Annette
SAHM to Sabrina 6/24/02

[barbarhow]

Oh, I have so many favorites....
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan-my bible for sauces and great entrees
Magnolia Bakery for cakes and frostings
Martha Stewarts hors'doevres cookbook-couldn't throw a party without it
Silver Palate cookbooks
The Joy of Cooking-a great reference-not that I can ever follow a recipe
My own notebook of scraps and torn out recipes that I have collected since I was a teenager.
Epicurious.com I used to subscribe to all the cooking mags-now never have time to read them Epicurious has all the Gourmet and Bon Appetit recipes-a great compromise, although someday I hope to be able to savor the pages of my favorite magazines again.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03

[kaitlinsmommy]

Hands down - The New Basics. I think it is the best. I just subscribed to Cook's Illustrated & am excited to get my first issue.

[egoldber]

I have a midling number of cookbooks (although I am envying Annette's collection right now...), but the one I use all the time is Joy of Cooking. I start with that and then improvise from there!

I also have over 10 years worth of Bon Appetit magazine, which I adore. I now use epicurious.com as my index to those magazines! I look up a recipe on epicurious and then pull out my hard copy!

HTH,

[LD92599]

Here's another vote for Light & Tasty, Quick Cooking and Taste of Home

http://www.reimanpublications.com/Magazines.asp

Light & Tasty: http://www.lightandtasty.com/

Quick Quicking: http://www.quickcooking.com/

Taste of Home: http://www.tasteofhome.com/

Tons of photos plus the recipes tend to not use "exotic" ingredients!
Laura
mom to William
3.5.2003

[Jen in Chicago]

I love Cooking Light magazine. I use the Annual editions of that often.

My most trusted cookbook is Joy of Cooking. It is full of basics and good instructions.

My second favorite is a one of a kind. When I went to college my Mom made me a cookbook of all of my favorite recipes growing up. Easy one has a little story with it.

I have 4 shelves of cookbooks that need to be used!

[bcblue]

When I first was learning how to cook I used A book called: "How To Cook Without a Book" by Pam Anderson. (not the Pam with the big boobs, just the same name) It was so helpful and I still use it. It's great for eveyday dinners. The recepies are simple, and it seems like you worked for hours. Downside: she's a bit "generous" with the butter/grease/fat. So I improvise.
Also my friend recomended a book to me called "The Kosher Pallet" (I can't spell) I don't keep kosher, and come to think of it I'm not Jewish, but it is so awesome. My friend challenged me to make a bad dish from this book, and I couldn't. The Terra Chips salad is a hit at parties. And the creme brule french toast is soooo gooooood.
Disclaimer: As a cook I really suck, but when I follow these recepies we can actually eat what I make. Before these books (and the Betty Crocker red and white book) my cat wouldn't even eat my food. Now even the cat is happy!

[MamaKath]

Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens are great classics, and my standard shower gifts usually with some kitchen stuff.

Also love "101 things to do with Cake Mix" as a great dessert book.

And any Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook that has a recipe for milk pie (also called Johnny pie, or the name of any other kid who liked it for that matter, lol) is in my absolute, absolute favorite list. ;-) According to my dad, that one recipe truly determines the validity of a PA Dutch book. It will no doubtedly have any comfort food you could want, as well as kitchen tips in it. :-)

HTH

[lizamann]

"How to Cook Everything," by Mark Bittman. Emphasis on high quality, simple ingredients. Many of the recipes are really quick and easy.

[etwahl]

do these all have pictures? i'm a big fan of cookbooks with pictures for each item. otherwise i tend to skip it for some reason!

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[etwahl]

karen, my mom has all those scraps of paper too! and they're the best recipes. i've copied them onto file cards.

what about, instead of getting rid of the pieces of paper, you did something to preserve them? kind of like a recipe scrapbooking project? maybe with some sort of clear protector over them to keep them from age or spillage in the kitchen? then you could pass them down to your daughter?

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[cinrein]

The Cook's Illustrated books and mags are awesome. No pics though. It's like a Consumer Reports for cooking.

My favorite cookbooks with pics are the Southern Living cookbooks. I have many and I like them all.

Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

[isolad]

At the moment, Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals. You can even go on foodnetwork.com and select the TV show "30 minute meals" to view her recipes. Yes, you can have infant twins and cook a meal in 30 minutes!

[elvisfan]

>karen, my mom has all those scraps of paper too! and they're
>the best recipes. i've copied them onto file cards.
>
>what about, instead of getting rid of the pieces of paper,
>you did something to preserve them? kind of like a recipe
>scrapbooking project? maybe with some sort of clear protector
>over them to keep them from age or spillage in the kitchen?
>then you could pass them down to your daughter?
>
OMG-Tammy-that's a great idea. Scrpabook the recipes now and give them to Lauren at her bridal shower someday!!!!!!
Off to figure out a scrapbooking plan for my recipes....Mary
>Tammy,
>Mom to Lauren Genevieve
>03/12/2003
>www.evantammy.com

[22tango]

I collect cookbooks. I must have more than 500 -- I love to "read" them for ideas and inspiration as well as to cook out of. I love everything by Donna Hay or any of the 1-2-3 books by Roseanne Gold! And if you cook without recipes and are looking for inspiration, I highly recommend "Culinary Artistry" by Dornenburg & Page. :)