what is your favorite cookbook?

[nathansmommy]

i would like to get a few new cookbooks with some money i got for christmas. what are some that are your favorites.

[beejayw1]

My absolute favorite is the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook from ~ 1950. This was the best, and after I moved Heaven and earth to find one, what do they do but republish the original? Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...581372-0279104

That's my favorite. Now, as to what you want to get yourself...

What do you like? Ethnic - Asian? Any cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey is just wonderful, and she writes them like travelogues. Lots of photos, and the recipes are wonderful.

Here's the search I did for her books:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...581372-0279104

I also like the ...the Beautiful cookbooks (Tuscany The Beautiful, e.g.) There are links to other books in the series at the bottom of the page:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

I'm interested to see what others recommend.

[wallycat]

I LOVE THEM ALL!!!!!

If you've done a search, you will see my name pop up with a collection of 400+ There have been quite a few threads on cookbooks and which ones to buy.

If I had to select one, I'd probably buy the Joy of Cooking first.

Have fun shopping!!!

[MrsReber]

Ditto on the Joy of Cooking. I find that this is an endless source of information for me. I'm always looking things up in addition to making some great recipes!

I also really enjoy the Cooking Light Complete cookbook. There are lots of good recipes in that one.

[adoty]

The 1965 Betty Crocker Cooky Book. Which they just reissued this year.

[Gilgamesh37]

Well, to state the obvious, it depends on what you're interested in, what "holes" in your collection you want to fill.

Joy of Cooking is imo the best, basic, ground-level cookbook. It's the one I always buy for friends who say "I really want to start cooking more." I think I've bought a copy for almost every boyfriend I've ever had.

Ethnic stuff? Beejay's right, Madhur Jaffrey is excellent for indian (I prefer her to Julie Sahni, though both are good), Marcella Hazen for Italian, Rick Bayless for Mexican, Julie Child for classic French. I have a number of different chinese/thai/japanese cookbooks, but haven't identified a "go-to" author in that area yet.

I have 5 or 6 of "the Beautiful" cookbooks, and they are gorgeous, but I find I never use them. They're large format, which I find difficult to work with, and they're so beautiful that I hesitate to have them in kitchen where they may get splashed, stained, mussed up.

I just got all 3 Nigella Lawson books and love them--How to Eat is now available in paperback, so relatively inexpensively. I also have a Retro Desserts cookbook that just cracks me up--I gain weight just looking at it. If you're a purist, a copy of Larousse's Gastronomique is always good, or the CIA Professional Chef book (which frankly is so heavy I almost never take it off the shelf).

My dark horse entry is The Oxford Companion to Food . I never would have guessed how much I'd use this, but it seems we're always getting in discussions (is napa cabbage actually a cabbage? is it in the same family as boy choy? What the difference between a chowder, a bisque, and a cream soup?) and the Oxford is not only a great reference, but wonderful fun as well.

[memartha]

The cookbooks I use most often from my collection are:
Heart of the Home by Susan Branch
Better Homes and Gardens "New Cookbook" (it's not new anymore... this was the first cookbook I bought, about 15 years ago)
The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten
Sunset's Fresh Ways with Pasta
Sunset's Quick Cuisine

The Sunset books were recommended by a friend who is a professional chef. They look kind of corny, but the recipes are very good!

I'm thinking about getting Sara Moulton Cooks at Home (or whatever the title is?) with my Christmas $$.

Good luck. Martha

[d_ferrero]

I'm not Wallycat but my cookbook collection is large enough that I divide my favorites into categories

for reference/basic information, I turn to The Joy of Cooking and Bittman's How to Cook Anything the most often.

on the light/lowfat shelf, I tend to reach for Cooking Light Complete and the Annuals. If I'm in the mood for light and ethnic, Weight Watchers' Take Out Tonight is excellent.

In the celebrity chef category, I like Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food and anything by Julia and/or Jacques. My personal opinion: unless you want to spend 4 hours getting mis en place, skip Emeril. No, it's not rocket science, but it takes almost as much time.

For classic/homestyle/crowd-pleasing menus, I rely on my Better Homes and Gardens Complete Cookbook

Gina just introduced me to what she calls "destination" cookbooks, so I don't have enough knowledge there to make a recommendation. (BTW, thanks Gina... I really NEEDED another obsession. ).

[lorilei]

Don't overlook Michael Chiarello's books either -- both Tra Vigneand his new one (Casual Cooking, I think) are excellent -- and there are some wonderful basic recipes which you can use as building blocks for other projects.

If you're into vegetarian food, I'd recommend a couple more:
[list=a][*]Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (Deborah Madison)[*]The New Vegetarian Epicure (Anna Thomas) -- this book has excellent menu ideas[*]The Occasional Vegetarian (Lee and Porter) -- great option for those who don't eat veggie ALL the time[/list=a]

[LauraBL]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by beejayw1
My absolute favorite is the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook from ~ 1950. This was the best, and after I moved Heaven and earth to find one, what do they do but republish the original?

This is off the subject but one of my friends just e-mailed me that they used the appetizer recipes from the Betty Crocker 50's cookbook for her grandparents wedding anniversary party. She said everything was either pickled or dried!

Laura

[cherylopal]

hi nathansmommy!

my number one fave with just about every single recipe being a 10 is even more special by the junior league of durham, nc.

and i also love vegetarian cooking for everyone and i'm not a vegetarian.

try this thread and try to get of the bookstore with less than at least 5 of these!!!

http://community.cookinglight.com/sh...207#post355207

i just received in the sweet kitchen and absoluteley love it!


cheryl

[beejayw1]

Originally posted by LauraBL
This is off the subject but one of my friends just e-mailed me that they used the appetizer recipes from the Betty Crocker 50's cookbook for her grandparents wedding anniversary party. She said everything was either pickled or dried!

Hm. I wonder what cookbook your friend meant. Or whether she was making a good story a little better (in which case I suspect she's one of my relatives.) Here's the index page (from Amazon's display) that shows appetizers:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...35#reader-link

Not a lot of pickled/dried stuff. They do tend toward the 'savory', but not unusually so.

'cocktails' (as in shrimp)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...29#reader-link

Canapes:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...31#reader-link

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...32#reader-link

[Gina O]

Another vote for The Joy of Cooking as a great reference book. For basic questions, it is always my first choice.

Originally posted by d_ferrero


Gina just introduced me to what she calls "destination" cookbooks, so I don't have enough knowledge there to make a recommendation. (BTW, thanks Gina... I really NEEDED another obsession. ).

This is by far the largest section of my collection, cookbooks that I purchase when I travel that in some way reflect part of the trip, and are as local as regional as possible. My only caveat is to avoid spiral binding as much as possible, initially I tried to get only Junior League cookbooks. Some are simple beautiful, other purely regional food, others great cookbooks.

This all started with a wedding gift of Creme de Colorado from the Denver Junior League, which is a great cookbook, along with a newer one, Colorado Cache.

My latest cookbook love is the Williams Sonoma "Savoring... " (France, Mexico, India, ect) series. These are beautiful books with tons of background on the regions or countries they are featuring. They are often available at Sams for about half the price of WS.

Have fun shopping, Gina

[green1]

I am really hooked on the Jamie Oliver and Donna Hay cookbooks. I have made several recipes and they have all turned out fantastic. Appetite by Nigel Slater is also good.

[LauraBL]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by beejayw1


Hm. I wonder what cookbook your friend meant. Or whether she was making a good story a little better (in which case I suspect she's one of my relatives.) Here's the index page (from Amazon's display) that shows appetizers:


She might have been making a good story a little better. This is one of my friends who used to have "white trash" dinner parties with me, afterall. I think she might have been talking more about funny 50's presentations. Something about a toothpick with a gherkin pickle, a cherry tomato, inserted into a grapefruit half on a bed of iceberg lettuce. Oh so elegante!

Laura

[Linda in MO]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LauraBL
[B]

Originally posted by beejayw1
This is one of my friends who used to have "white trash" dinner parties with me, afterall.

Please tell us more about "white trash" dinner parties! This sounds interesting.

[claire797]

Originally posted by Linda in MO


Please tell us more about "white trash" dinner parties! This sounds interesting.

Just go to www.kraft.com, plan a menu and you're set!

Just kidding.

I am eating a Miracle Whip sandwich right now so I can make jokes like that.

[pattyp.]

I have a huge collection of cook books and if I needed to pick a favorite or two, I think Joy of Cooking would be 1st. for basic information, I also like the Better Homes of which I have 2 of them , DH trashed my original when "helping with the cleaning" probably couldn't fit it on the shelf. New York Times is good too and Weight Watchers "Favorite Recipes", the old one have some really good low-fat recipes.