favorite cookbook?

[SETH885315]

so, what's yours? right now my shelf is bare except for an old fannie farmer cookbook i picked up at a book sale last summer, and my back issues of cooking light (no lie there!).
also, i find i really like to just READ cookbooks. i find them relaxing and interesting. anyone else have this compulsion, or am i a freak of nature? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

seth

[sneezles]

Seth,
I'm afraid you'll have to get in line...I have 12 book boxes of cookbooks and while they are in storage I have bought 25 more books (not counting my copies of CL). Once you're hooked there is no way out! I love my copy of Fannie Farmer and The Joy of Cooking.

[kwormann]

I am also a collector of cookbooks....to read...and to collect dust on the shelf...There arent enough hours in the day to cook form all of them!

My fav right now is Neuvo Tex Mex...BTW...if anyone has a recommendation for a good southwest cookbook, Im in the market!

Kim

[AD]

I may sound old fashioned and boring, but my favorite is "Better Homes and Gardens." Pillsbury cookbooks have the most beautiful pictures and illustrations. "Joy of Cooking" has the best tips and instructions of all. That's one I'm obsessed with reading for fun! "Good Housekeeping" is also excellent. "Eating Well" magazine (before it was discontinued in '98), put out 2 wonderful books. I've also gotten some good recipes from Betty Crocker. Fannie Farmer has really disappointed me most of the time.

[Karenf]

I am also a cookbook collector. I like trendy, colorful, cookbooks with pictures of what you're making. I read them, earmark good recipes, and put them on my shelf. I now have half of my cookbooks, the best looking mostly! on display in my new kitchen They look great. I agree with one of the other postings, it would be difficult to make every good recipe you find. But I try! Mostly the cookbooks collect dust and I cook from Cooking Light & Bon Appetite. They are always there a good resource.

[AndreaU]

I seem to remember this topic several months ago, but it's still a good one. And with so many new members joining in, it bears repeating. My personal favorites are The Ultimate Vegetarian Cookbook by Roz Denney and Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax. Seth, by no way are you a freak of nature due to your cookbook compulsion... I often find myself at home on a weekend day (like today, as a matter of fact) simply perusing the pages of dozens of cookbooks, surrounded by my dogs!

[Leonard]

Normally, I am not a big fan of cookbooks. I think magazines are a much better option. Having a subscription is like getting a new cookbook each month. Buying the book is buying that particular person's style of taste and cooking. A magazine is a combinations of ideas and people. Much more interesting. However, I do have one cookbook that I love. I just purchase it recently. It is "The Cake Mix Doctor". Anne Byrn uses boxed mixed and "doctors" them up to create wonderful desserts. No one will suspect you've "cheated"!!

[MPHenderson]

I find that I like some cookbooks for cooking, some for reference and some for pure reading enjoyment.

I have four Elizabeth David cookbooks--I've read all four a number of times and will probably NEVER cook from them. She's like M.F.K. Fisher but with more recipes (and not as gifted a writer). Elizabeth David was the person who "started" the Mediterranean foods trend about 40 years ago.

I use Jane Brody's Good Food Book mostly for reference, same with Bert Greene's Greene on Greens. I have two Charlie Trotter cookbooks; I fervently hope to have the time to cook from them some day! And Martha Rose Shulman's Mediterranean Light and Patricia Wells' Trattoria have each supplied good recipes.

Hmmm...interesting question. Another book that came to mind is Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone which is not a cookbook at all. It's a wonderful story of how Reichl (former NYT food editor/now editor of Gourmet) grew up to become such a "foodie."

Melissa

Originally posted by SETH885315:
so, what's yours? right now my shelf is bare except for an old fannie farmer cookbook i picked up at a book sale last summer, and my back issues of cooking light (no lie there!).
also, i find i really like to just READ cookbooks. i find them relaxing and interesting. anyone else have this compulsion, or am i a freak of nature? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

seth

[RobinC]

Some of my favorite cookbooks on my cramped and too small bookshelf are:

*The Joy of Cooking - A good all around reference

*The Cake Bible and The Pie & Pastry Bible, both by Rose Levy Beranbaum - Rose includes a lot of theory with her recipes. Thanks to The Pastry Bible, I was finally able to conquer pie crusts.

*The Cooks' Illustrated Complete Book of Poultry - More chicken recipes than you can shake a stick at. Cooks' Illustrated goes to a lot of effort to test recipes and report not only what works, but what doesn't work.

[cdm]

Somehow, I do seem to "collect" cookbooks. Im a nut. If I see a cookbook I want or know of one, I'll check out the auction on line. Sometimes. I take a chance after going to some book store online to check the reviews. The ones I use most often are from Evelyn Tribole especially her 1st cookbook. I picked her book up off the auction, then about a year later discovered another copy "put away".

[Jessica]

I have a shelf full of cookbooks, but the ones I use the most are Steven Raichlen's High-Flavor, Low-Fat Cooking and the Eating Well Rush Hour cookbook. The latter is out of print but sometimes the bookstore has a copy anyway. I also use my Moosewood and Vegetable Heaven often.

[claire]

I too have a shelf full of cookbooks and also enjoy checking them out of the library to read. One of my favorites is Jane Brody's Good Food Cookbook.

[SETH885315]

well, i was glad to hear from one poster that they were disappointed in the fannie farmer cookbook. i, too, was disappointed, and continue to be whenever i actually cook something from it. it IS very old, and seems to be written in a time when people had tons of time to cook, since most of the recipes are elaborate in their ingredients and time-consuming in their preparation. i find that i usually get recipes off the net (like here), from cooking light magazine (love the pictures and stories), or from good ole mom and dad (i make a great lasagna thanks to mom). one cookbook now out of print and on my wish list: dinner and a movie. i LOVE that show, and wish i had bought the book when i saw it in a store a few years ago. and speaking of that, i think i'll start a new string about that idea and see who else has used a movie as a cooking inspiration...

seth.

[Don]

Hi Seth,

My favorite is definitely Yupa Holzner's Great Thai Cooking for My American Friends. It is loaded with delicious, simple to make Thai dishes. I have given copies to some friends who have told me that they use that book more than any other in their collection. The book was clearly produced at home using a word processor, and there are no pictures. It almost looks like a vanity press item. But the treasures within! I occasionally see a copy of it here or there, but it's fairly difficult to find since it wasn't published by one of the big houses.

[JLS]

I too, love reading cookbooks !

Two of my favorite cookbooks are:

WW New Complete Cookbook (This book is excellent...)

500 Fat Free Recipes Sarah Schlesiinger

*My other favorite is "A Painters Kitchen: Recipes from the kitchen of Georgia O'Keeffe" I love this book b/c for every recipe the author has a short paragraph sharing a special memory about the artist.

One of Georgia O'Keeffe's great passions was healthy cooking and she too poured over cookbooks for pleasure reading. So, we all are in great company ! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[CAROL ANN]

I also like to read and collect cookbooks. I don't have a favorite cookbook. Most of my recipes come from CL magazine. Right now I am into tea and am always searching for books with recipes and ideas for teas. I am also addicted to cooking magazines. They are so hard to pass up.

[Deedy]

I usually refer to Evelyn Tribole's cookbooks. I have all four - they are hard to find. Her recipes are usually fail safe; easy to follow and many of them are good enough for company - she makes valuable suggestions and all in all, other than my CL cookbooks, I could probably do only with these. However, I too am a cookbook junkie. If I see that I'm no longer using it I donate to a booksale because I just can't stand the clutter in my house - besides, I get mixed up as to which book had which recipe that we really loved!! Nevertheless, if I hear of a good one, especially on this board, I'm out shopping again!

[Jessica]

I have a recent version of the Fannie Farmer cookbook. Although I don't use it for everyday cooking, it is a good resource when I want instructions on how to cook something basic. None of the recipes have ever disappointed, and the banana bread is the best I have tasted (and the easiest). Just another perspective on the "old school."

[cryskie]

I also collect cookbooks, and I know I will never use them all. One of my favorites is Mexico: One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless. Kim, this isn't Tex-Mex, it's real Mexican--but I love it. After seeing his show on PBS, I had to have the book, and it's wonderful!

I also turn to Joy of Cooking for basics. I borrowed the Vegetarian Express Lane cookbook from our public library and loved it--that may be my next purchase. And of course, my CL annuals!

Crystal

[electrons]

I love cookbooks too! It is a compulsion. If I see one I like, I need to get it . It gets expensive. But I love reading them, and hope to someday have the time to prepare a lot of the recipes. I have picky eaters here, so to try something new is sometimes a waste for me.

[emilycat]

My new favorite is The Complete Vegetarian Italian Cookbook, and I adore Diane Lee's The Occasional Vegetarian, but I must sing abundant praises for all of Mollie Katzen's books and the Moosewood Restaurant Books (okay, I have seven, but they're all my favorite http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif )

[Gina O]

Favorite cookbook... that would be almost like a parent trying to choose a favorite child (not that I have any experience with that, but it would seem to be as difficult). They are each unique and special for different reasons.

I too share the compulsion for collecting and reading cookbooks like any other book, from cover to cover (I also read magazines in the same fashion... my ex always thought that strange).

There is one book that comes to mind that has been used many times if not most: Creme de Colorado by a Junior League, Denver I think. I have had it for many years and use it a lot for entertaining. But, they really all are my favorites! Gina

[lsdesign]

The Nathalie Dupree cookbooks and the Silver Palates are my bibles.

[Leslie w]

I love history and books on historical cooking. Right now I'm reading Saltwater Foodways by Sandra Oliver. It's a fantastic book about cooking during the colonial times in New England. I also like to collect cookbooks when I travel. My current favorite is The Black Dog cookbook I bought in Nantucket. They have some great seafood recipes.

[sneezles]

My mother cooked from Fannie Farmer and I remember that it has the best brownie recipe!

[sal]

I enjoy Susan Branch's cookbooks, esp. her illustrations and the quotations and little anecdotes she includes. sally

[Curleytop]

Guess I have turned into a complete techi!
I also have a lot of cookbooks, (before the internet). On rainy days (and we don't have many here in So.Cal.) I look thru all the old cookbooks, enter the ones I want into my Mastercook Cooking Light. I do the same thing with all my Cooking Light magazines.
Then, when I want to cook something, I just do a SEARCH all cookbooks in Mastercook, and I get all the answers! I also downloaded all the cookbooks that came with Mastercook Deluxe. Then when push comes to shove, I look for help on the Joy of Cooking CD. I got it for $5. a year ago, and to tell the truth, that is all that it is worth. I do have an old hardcover "JOY". Also, I checkout the recipes in the LA Times on Wednesdays for ideas.

[ewatkins]

My favorite (and everyone here in Denver)is anything from the Junior League. There are 3 of them, and the 1st is a little oudated, but the others are Creme de Colorado and Colorado Collage. Many cooking stores and good bookstores have the JL books from all over. It doesn't matter what recipe you pick, you know it will be great --no need to practice on anyone first!