Favorite Cookbook?

Mary
Posts: 673
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:53 am

Favorite Cookbook?

Post by Mary » Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:49 pm

Some members (the young-uns among us) may have started cooking from internet sites and by watching cooking shows on TV, but most of us started with a cookbook or two.

My first cookbooks were very basic, but I still refer to them for simple recipes, clear instructions, and information that many experienced cooks take for granted.

James Beard, The James Beard Cookbook
Betty Crocker, The Betty Crocker Cookbook
Betty Crocker, Cooking for Two

What are your favorites?

Misa
Posts: 554
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2011 11:01 am

Re: Favorite Cookbook?

Post by Misa » Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:30 pm

Oh, gosh, this is a toughy. I didn't really learn to cook to cook until I was married, but I was passionate about learning since I was 10. My grandmother didn't want me messing up her kitchen. :lol: But I devoured her Taste of Home magazines and at the ripe ol' age of 12, I begged for a set of paperback cookbooks that was in a coupon insert. She ordered it for me, and I still have them; it was a set that had Fannie Farmer Cookbook (1990 edition), Better Homes and Gardens (10th edition), and a Pilsbury cookbook. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Current top favorites include:
Better Homes and Gardens Cook for the Cure Edition
Cooking with the Noonday Chef Vol. 1-4
Good Eats Vol 1-3

I have lots more that I just love, but those would be the ones I'd grab if the kitchen caught fire! Cooking with the Noonday Chef is a local news feature; Walter Lambert does a segment, many of the recipes from viewers, local restaurants and chefs, or the state fair. Always easy and turn out well. And his lovely wife (who passed this year) did floral arrangements for the set and Walter has a section in each of his cookbooks set aside for her. Anne's chapters featured vegetable and fruit carving directions and various garnishes. The Good Eats are the recipes from Alton Brown's show of the same name, complete with all the science lessons.

Marion_in_Savannah
Posts: 267
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2011 4:25 pm

Re: Favorite Cookbook?

Post by Marion_in_Savannah » Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:52 pm

I'll try this again. The first time I tried the reply vanished...

A tough question! I've got enough cookbooks that I've got a small bookcase in my small kitchen, and the overflow have a shelf (or 2...) in the bedroom bookcases. Yes, I read cookbooks like novels before bed, and I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one here who does that!

When I have a specific recipe in mind I'll find a specific cookbook. I love Julia Child for reminders about things like classic sauces and proportions for custards, and the like. However, I have a basic "go-to" cookbook for when I either don't know how to do something or have forgotten the temperature a roast should be cooked to. Actually, I have 2...

My version is the 1990 edition of "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook," by Marion Cunningham. I've found it invaluable (for me, at least) for the very extensive vegetable section. Curious about salsify? Find out here. I had spent 40 years steaming large globe artichokes for 45 minutes to an hour. Turns out I can nuke them, with very little decrease in quality... Thanks to that I've saved HOURS and HOURS and HOURS, to say nothing of my electric bill... I'd strongly advise anyone to take a look at this cookbook.

My second version is my grandmother's ancestor of the same book. I have her copy of "The Boston Cooking School Cookbook" by Fannie Farmer from 1937, replete with margin notes in her handwriting. This is where I'll go for "old" recipes like a classic custard. It's even got the recipe for Melba Toast that my mother and I enjoyed for years:
Cut stale bread into VERY thin slices. Arrange one layer deep on a cookie sheet. Bake in a very slow oven (300 to 325 F) until thoroughly dry and delicately brown.
Couldn't possibly be easier. Couldn't possibly be better with VERY soft butter. Unfortunately, it didn't make it to the new version. You can't go wrong with Fannie Farmer, whichever version you can get your hands on!

Ninner
Posts: 1239
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:55 am

Re: Favorite Cookbook?

Post by Ninner » Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:39 am

I am by no means a young-in. I started to learn to cook in the late 90's over the Internet. My Mother & Mil were great cooks but I only seemed interested in eating their meals then learning.I did try to have them teach me a couple of their recipes that I enjoyed but they did not measure anything. This made it difficult for me to learn & frustrating when I wanted to measure "everything" they put in a dish.

Then being close to being married 15yrs I decided I could not stand eating my prepared meals. The family didn't seem to have a problem which surprised me. So I set out to learn on the Internet by women who could cook & help me. Over the years I feel that I have become a very good cook & receive many compliments. The most important things for me is that I do need a recipe to follow. I will never be a free hand cook.

I have a massive amount of cookbooks probably more then 1,000. This has grown due to the inheritance of Mother's & Mil's cookbooks. Many were duplicates & many I have given away over the years.

"Betty Crocker" is used often by Dh but I have never felt the love for it.

Dd has just started to learn & her favorites are "Simple Everyday Foods, Ten Dollar Meals & 5 Ingredients". These cookbooks fit her skills & her budget.

For me at the moment it is anything "Jamie Oliver". I like the simplicity of the meals plus the punch up in taste with condiments I have on hand.

Dissie
Posts: 9065
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:15 pm

Re: Favorite Cookbook?

Post by Dissie » Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:07 am

I never really had a favorite one until this past summer when I went home for an extended visit. (the whole summer) I was going through all my mothers recipes, cookbooks, etc.... I found her 1956 edition of Betty Crocker. I had such a great time perusing that book. In the front were tips on how to be a good homemaker. One of the tips said: "If you are tired, lay down and take a nap." You have to just love how different the times were in the 50's. I asked her if I could have it and she said, "heavens, no!, I use that all the time." Maybe she will, will it to me! I already told my sisters that was going to be mine one day! :lol: I know I can find it on ebay and all of that, but I want her cookbook! Just not as much as I want her to be here with me! (But I can quietly envy her cookbook from afar!) :D

Ninner
Posts: 1239
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:55 am

Re: Favorite Cookbook?

Post by Ninner » Tue Oct 25, 2011 6:42 pm

Dissie went & looked up my Betty Crocker, printed in 1970. I think there might have been one I inherited that was well loved so I let that one go?

"Better Homes" was also popular with Mother & Mil.

Dissie
Posts: 9065
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:15 pm

Re: Favorite Cookbook?

Post by Dissie » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:10 pm

It's just nostalgia for me. The recipes weren't wonderful, but there were lots of different sauces that I had never seen or heard of.

Ninner
Posts: 1239
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:55 am

Re: Favorite Cookbook?

Post by Ninner » Wed Oct 26, 2011 6:22 am

Dissie, sauces are always nice. Helps to kick up a veg. or meat dish.

So how many cookbooks do you think you own?

Dissie
Posts: 9065
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:15 pm

Re: Favorite Cookbook?

Post by Dissie » Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:54 pm

I am not even sure how many. I have some that are bound and some that are those little ones you get at the checkout. Some that I have gotten over the years from various groups of ladies, some I have made myself from various recipes that I love....Lots is all I know!

Ninner
Posts: 1239
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:55 am

Re: Favorite Cookbook?

Post by Ninner » Thu Oct 27, 2011 6:08 am

I am in the "lots" category too. In fact I feel like a hoarder with the amount I have. Also can't seem to stay away from the used book sales at the Church.

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