topic Re: looking at cookbooks in Kitchen

looking at cookbooks

qualitygal — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 12:06:49 GMT

Do you have a favorite?

Martha Stewart popped up on my looking around, got to wondering if anyone has any of her books and is/was it a help to you?

Re: looking at cookbooks

nyc1 — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 12:25:07 GMT

All of the INA GARTEN (Barefoot Contessa) cookbooks. I have them all. She is totally reliable. I have made SO MANY of her recipes throughout the years and love watching her series on the Food Network.

Re: looking at cookbooks

hellokitty — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 12:28:27 GMT

I like those "community" cookbooks that churches, organizations etc, put together and own quite a few.

Re: looking at cookbooks

TUBBYMUFFIN — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 13:05:58 GMT

I miss seeing Gwen McGee on QVC. I love the Best of the Best cookbooks.

Re: looking at cookbooks

LindaSal — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 13:06:05 GMT

I get most of my recipes on taste of home or from food and wine magazine.

There are many good ones. I also have several cookbooks but the ones I use the most are Andrew Lessman's and David Venable's first one.

Re: looking at cookbooks

msgb — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 13:27:55 GMT

I have quite a number of cookbooks.

I enjoy the Pioneer Woman and Ina Garten ones and they have worked well with the recipes that I have made out of them.

I have loved the recipes from Susan Branch--Heart of the Home cookbooks.

I found a new one when the pandemic began and everything I have made out of it has been wonderful--Midwest Made. I will say it is mainly a baking cookbook. It has recipes that run from cookies to bread to pretzels.

I have other cookbooks but these are the ones I have gone to for ideas and recipes --lately.

Re: looking at cookbooks

depglass — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 13:32:50 GMT

I have always collected cookbooks, and lean towards the southern comfort food ones. But when I just need a basic straight no-tweaked recipe I turn to the Better Homes and Gardens plaid cookbooks, I have three editions. The older ones are better, the newer one tries to be "healthy," sometimes just by cutting the serving size down.

Re: looking at cookbooks

okaywitheasypay — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 14:39:46 GMT

@depglass same here with the Better Homes & Garden. I have one that is showing it's age . I love the easy tabs to find what you are looking for .

I can glean through / donate / or toss most items in kitchen & wardrobes . I find it almost impossible to do with cookbooks . I do not quite understand why . I guess I fool my self into dreaming that I will actually buy the ingredients and prepare . eh- I do on a rare occasion.

I kind of whittle down whether to purchase a new one by using the public library to look through on my Kindle .

Re: looking at cookbooks

house_cat — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 15:35:53 GMT

Funny thing, I have a small collection of cookbooks, most of them are vintage. I love browsing through them, but rarely use them for recipes. When I need a recipe, I generally head right to the Internet. Still, I would never get rid of my books. They're one of my most sacred possessions.

Re: looking at cookbooks

deeva — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 16:17:00 GMT

I have a Good Housekeeping cookbook that I've used for about 25 years. I currenty own about thirty cookbooks. I've donated the rest.

I've also found great recipes thru Southern Living and Cook's Illustrated magazines.

Re: looking at cookbooks

Sooner — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 16:52:59 GMT

The Williams-Sonoma cookbooks are very good, some of America's Test Kitchen, Mark Bittman, some of Giada's.

And of course Julia Child, Jacques Pepin and Emeril are my go-to sources for so many recipes. Beth Hensperger's bread books, the Joy of Cooking (older editions), Edna Lewis, Marcella Hazan, Lidia Bastianich, Joyce Chen and Martin Yan.

Re: looking at cookbooks

ECBG — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 17:32:37 GMT

My go to is the first cook book I ever bought, Betty Crocker, 1970.

I also have my grandmother's 1950 Betty Crocker cook book.

The rest of my collection is Best Recipies of Home Economics Teachers, church cook books, and Chelsea's Tea Room which has an amazing pasta salad with dill, ranch, and lemon!

Re: looking at cookbooks

froggy — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 17:52:04 GMT

I probably have a gazillion cookbooks but my favorites are the Southern Living books. I've probably made more dishes out of those than any other books.

Re: looking at cookbooks

HLP — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 18:00:40 GMT

@qualitygal wrote:
Do you have a favorite?

Martha Stewart popped up on my looking around, got to wondering if anyone has any of her books and is/was it a help to you?

I have a lot of cookbooks,but rarely use them anymore. I go to google, put what I want in, and it's there, print it off and I'm not searching then. I donate to a church flea sale , and they tell me they can't even give them away, no one wants them, I have a feeling most are doing what I do.

Re: looking at cookbooks

RedTop — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 19:01:23 GMT

I love to “look” at cookbooks, and prefer OLD cookbooks; church ladies and women’s club, etc., are my favorites. My very favorite is a local church cookbook that has a recipe submitted by my great grandmother.

As much as I enjoy owning old cookbooks, I rarely ever cook from any of them! I use them for ideas, but because of food allergies, I pretty much eat the same things the same way. I do not have curious taste buds.

Re: looking at cookbooks

Regal Bee — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 21:05:14 GMT

I love cookbooks and read them like novels. My absolute favorites are the Gooseberry Cookbooks. The recipes are simple and absolutely delicious.

Re: looking at cookbooks

noodleann — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:18:41 GMT

@ECBG wrote:
My go to is the first cook book I ever bought, Betty Crocker, 1970.

I also have my grandmother's 1950 Betty Crocker cook book.

The rest of my collection is Best Recipies of Home Economics Teachers, church cook books, and Chelsea's Tea Room which has an amazing pasta salad with dill, ranch, and lemon!

I have the Chelsea's Kitchen cookbook as well, but have yet to make any dishes. I must do that pasta salad.

I have over 2,000 cookbooks, but if I had to whittle my shelves to a half dozen, I'd pick the big one from America's Test Kitchen because it discusses the experimentation that led to the recipe and why it works.

I'd take "No Crumbs Left" because it has some recipes I've been looking for for years.

I'd take the Betty Crocker cookbook my mother used because it has some recipes that are childhood favorites, plus Joy, because it has info and variations on everything.

"The Food Lab," by Kenji López-Alt, because it's such a rich read and has some amazing recipes.

I'd hate to say goodbye to the others, but those are what I'd take.

Re: looking at cookbooks

LilLadyNJ — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:59:00 GMT

Ina Garten is my go to for simple, flavorful recipes. I also have the America's Test Kitchen cook book on grilling which is a great resource that I use all of the time. As far as baking goes, there is only Rose Levy Berenbaum.

My go-to resource for recipe these days have been NY Times Cooking.

Re: looking at cookbooks

Sooner — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 23:12:31 GMT

@ECBG wrote:
My go to is the first cook book I ever bought, Betty Crocker, 1970.

I also have my grandmother's 1950 Betty Crocker cook book.

The rest of my collection is Best Recipies of Home Economics Teachers, church cook books, and Chelsea's Tea Room which has an amazing pasta salad with dill, ranch, and lemon!

@ECBG Oh boy that sounds good. Would you mind posting? I LOVE lemon and dill, and ranch can't be bad! LOL!!! We make a lot of pasta salads especially in summer and then throw in some canned salmon or tuna for lunch.

Re: looking at cookbooks

LilLadyNJ — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 23:20:13 GMT

@Sooner wrote:
The Williams-Sonoma cookbooks are very good, some of America's Test Kitchen, Mark Bittman, some of Giada's.

And of course Julia Child, Jacques Pepin and Emeril are my go-to sources for so many recipes. Beth Hensperger's bread books, the Joy of Cooking (older editions), Edna Lewis, Marcella Hazan, Lidia Bastianich, Joyce Chen and Martin Yan.

@Sooner What's your recommendation for a cook book on fresh pasta?