| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| sillyfoulks |
Posted - Mar 23 2006 : 12:17:51 PM
I am curious to know what everyones favorite cookbook is, and why it is your favorite? I know that some people collect cookbooks. However, I only have 5 myself.
My all time favorite is one that belong to my mother. I have only ever seen one other like it and it belongs to my grandmother. They got them, probably in the 60's or 70's, at there grocery store. I believe it was one of the those specials, were each week you would get a new section. The whole book is at least 4 inches thick and has 1500 pages. When I married my husband 13 yrs ago, I didn't really know how to cook. My husband claims I couldn't even boil water, but that isn't true. But this cookbook is were I learned. It has everything. Tips, tricks, and instructions for baking, canning, freezing, and entertaining. It doen't matter what you want to cook, it has it. Anytime that I want to try to cook something new I can find a recipe here. Only one time has it failed to help and that was when I wanted to try my had a pumkin bloosoms, strangly it didn't have anything. I would say if you run across one of these somewhere snatch it up, it is in high demand. It is called "Mary Margaret McBride, Encyclopledia of Cooking, Homemakers Research Institute."
I would love to here if anyone else has a copy of this. My one copy is well worn and missing not only the cover but also several pages of the index. If someone has a copy of this book, I would love to get some photo copies of the index.
Elizabeth
Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.
http://livingcountrystyle.blogspot.com/ |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| koolaidqueen |
Posted - Nov 28 2006 : 10:47:19 AM
Oh, I couldn't bear to part with my cookbooks! We have several of the smaller ringbinder ones, fundraisers and lots of other ones. Mom and I have 3 large bookcases and several more to be shelved. We have some of the ones you all are talking about. I like the Marlboro ones, too. Another favorite type of cookbook that I like are the regional/international ones. We are also cookbook readers...Oh, I must tell you all...I am getting a copy of Tasha Tudor's cookbook!! I am quite excited!!
Julie...Official Farmgirl, Gardener, Stitcher, County Fair girl, and lots of other stuff!!
"I love the way libraries smell." -That Wild Berries Should Grow by Gloris Whelan |
| Horseyrider |
Posted - Nov 27 2006 : 07:55:56 AM
Jonni, my mom was an incredible cook, and she taught me a great deal. She was in a sort of book of the month club for junior league books, and now I have dozens. I have literally hundreds of cookbooks; I'm kind of a junkie for them. I figure if I get even one really satisfying recipe from one, then it's paid for itself because I didn't go out to dinner, did I? 
When the warm weather diminishes, I have such a list of books to read, and some cookbooks might as well be on that list. I'll bring out Southern Sideboards and look for the cheese pie and your other favorites, and I'll think of you. Thanks! |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Nov 27 2006 : 07:20:06 AM
Horseyrider....That's too funny that you have Southern Sideboards! It was the first cookbook I ever purchased...I didn't even have a stove yet but I was working at this great little gift shop called "The Mole Hole" and we carried a lot of junior league books. One of the older ladies I worked with was quite the cook, and she looked through it and told me she "thought it would be a good primer"...I've never been without it since. Some of my favorites are the cheese pie (like cheesecake, only a pie!), the pork chop gravy, old fashioned milk punch, "saucy green beans" and a gazillion other things. What I like the most, is that on any given night, I can open it up and find something to make with what I have in my house---whether it be a side or a main dish.
I really respond to what you've said about cookbooks--I read them like novels, and they are a real source of comfort. My mother and grandmother weren't cooks--grandma was a rosie riveter, and mom had no interest, so I really "learned" to cook by these books, and my love affair with food and it's origins happens over and over when I open a cookbook.
I have purged my collection over the years--"goodbye Martha Stewart", mainly to moving (I often make mercenary decisions), but the ones that I have, I use consistently--last count was 24. Mostly southern or coastal New England, but other favorites are the local fund raising books from churches and schools. Some of the best Monday night suppers come from those!!!
Just think of all of the roads there are...all of the things I haven't seen....yet. |
| Horseyrider |
Posted - Nov 25 2006 : 06:53:08 AM
Oh gosh, to me there's no comparison! A cookbook will never be deleted with no explanation. A cookbook can be handed down to my daughter. A cookbook works in a power outage or when I want to make notes in the margins. A cookbook stays the same year after year, and insures uniform results.
I won't say that I don't go to allrecipes.com or epicurious.com a lot; they have great ideas, and I like the search engines. But for the backbone of my cooking, I love the books. I love the way you can get a certain tone or personality from an individual book, so you can look for recipes according to your mood. I love the ones that have beautiful pictures too, and history or stories about the recipes in the margins.
I've been known to haul my laptop into the kitchen from time to time, but by far more often it's a cookbook on the counter. They're like old friends. |
| brightmeadow |
Posted - Nov 25 2006 : 06:35:26 AM
I love the Fanny Farmer cookbook too. Whenever I want to check on the basic recipe for something, that is what I turn to. It has all the classic dishes!
I have the same problem as some of you. More cookbooks than shelves to put them on. I had to take them out of the kitchen and put them into the family room. Now I am trying to decide if I can afford to have some taller shelves built instead of the old unfinished pine discount furniture outlet shelves they are on now.
Sometimes I think I should just get rid of all of them and use recipe source on the internet instead, though... But it's just not the same as a cookboook. A recipe database has information, cookbooks have a "STORY" to tell....
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my blog at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com ,web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
| koolaidqueen |
Posted - Nov 24 2006 : 10:07:12 AM
You all are killing me!! Honestly, I am joining the bazillion cookbooks club...We have a bazillion, too. I looked up the Fancy Pantry and the Better than store bought and really would like them!! Cooking from quilt country is fabulous and if you like looking at cookbooks, check out Lee Bailey. He's great, as well. I'm off for some TURKEY!!
Julie...Official Farmgirl, Gardener, Stitcher, County Fair girl, and lots of other stuff!!
"I love the way libraries smell." -That Wild Berries Should Grow by Gloris Whelan |
| Horseyrider |
Posted - Nov 22 2006 : 2:57:48 PM
LOL! Jonni, I don't quite believe this! I thought the title "Southern Sideboards" sounded familiar, so I checked my shelves and by golly, I have it! I haven't perused it much (it had belonged to my mother, a born and raised Alabama girl) but I'm going to now. Anything in particular in there you can recommend?
*Mary Ann, who is still laughing at the serendipity of it* |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Nov 22 2006 : 11:32:50 AM
Yep, I have to agree with Mumof3 in that Fannie Farmer is my old standby...taught me how to make the cream sauce that won my husband's heart. I have so many, it's hard to choose, but I LOVE the junior league cookbooks, and I gravitate towards southern cooking, so I guess I'll throw "Southern Sideboards" by the junior league of Jackson, Mississippi into the ring.
Just think of all of the roads there are...all of the things I haven't seen....yet. |
| Horseyrider |
Posted - Nov 22 2006 : 05:53:17 AM
Rebekah, I'm glad you got such a good deal! Isn't that fun?
I see since I last posted on this thread I've gotten about a dozen more cookbooks. Heavens, some of them I bought, put on the shelf, and still haven't gotten to. And that's silly, because we've certainly eaten since then! I got a couple of bread ones, a couple more Moosewood ones (good deals, second hand!), and various and sundry others, especially with a historical twist. I really like the King Arthur Cookie Companion. They go through and do variations on the basics, and came up with some Essentials--- like the Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie, the Essential Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookie, the Essential Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie, etc. Reviews have been fabulous.
I'm out of shelf space on three different bookcases, and now they're stacked on a chair! I'm going to have to do something soon.... |
| Nicie |
Posted - Nov 21 2006 : 1:37:09 PM
I love cookbooks. I haven't seen the "Cooking from Quilt County" I'll have to look for it. |
| country lawyer |
Posted - Nov 21 2006 : 1:07:12 PM
Wow, today I had such a lucky trip to the "antique store" (really a "flea market," who are they kidding? )...right there was Cooking From Quilt Country for $3.00! I remembered it was highly recommended by y'all in this thread and I scooped it up. It does look wonderful. Can't wait to spend some time with it...first on the sofa and then in the kitchen! Thanks!
"The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time."
James Taylor
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| Phils Ann |
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 07:10:14 AM
Tia, I love "A Real American Breakfast"! It's a good cookbook and the sidebars are fascinating. The Chocolate bread pudding is the first recipe I tried from this book, and it was so delicious and easy to make, an outstanding company dessert. (not breakfast dessert , but dinner.) I like to read cookbooks... and usually, like you, do my own improvising, but often meld ideas/ingredients from several recipes into something that suits our taste.
Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
| CarlaJeanne |
Posted - Jun 18 2006 : 4:48:53 PM
MaryAnn and I have exactly the same taste. I have yet to meet someone who loves or even mentions Victory Garden - it's my fav one I turn to more often than not. My most favorite recipe is the squash cornbread, I use pumpkin - it's real nice, moist and orangy - we used to serve it grilled with a southwestern omlette. I do like the Frog Commissary also - unique. |
| Boxbreaker |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 6:00:23 PM
My favorites are A Real American Breakfast (we take breakfast very seriously 'round these parts LOL) by Jamison and Jamison, The Farmhouse Cookbook (author traveled to various farms around the country), and 500 Treasured Family Recipies by Martha Storey. That last one is as close to what I'd write if I was going to sit and write one as I've seen. Usually though I've noticed I'm trying most of my new recipes from magazines like Real Simple and Southern Living. And, once I've made something from a recipe it's improv all the way after that. I don't measure! I'm so grateful for the time in years past watching cooking shows because the techniques stuck with me and they are so transferrable to all kinds of dishes.
For anyone interested in menus, I post mine on my blog weekly. They are seasonal, aim to stay local, whole foods, and ON A BUDGET. I've not found another menu source that hits all the criteria so I make my own. www.sixredheads.com
But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people because they enact their dreams into reality with eyes wide open. |
| Phils Ann |
Posted - Jun 17 2006 : 08:30:50 AM
OHH, what a great thread! I love cookbooks, and while it doesn't number 84,000, it could probably use some culling. But then, when you remember that _____Church cookbook recipe, what can you do but keep the book? I like all of Susan Branch's, for looking at and smiling as well as the recipes. My personal list of most used according to category is: Bread book: Nancy Silverton's, Breads from LaBrea. Chocolate book ( a killer):Bittersweet, by Alice Medrich. For what to do to fix broken chocolate and any thing else that mysteriously goes wrong, as well as excellent reading: Cookwise, by Shirley O. Corriher. For good meals and having fun, these: Patricia Wells, At Home in Provence, Gordon Hammersley's, Bistro Cooking At Home, and Michael Chiarello's, Casual Cooking. For the old childhood recipes I like Joy of Cooking (Mom's cookbook) and Better Homes and Gardens, which I have part of my original 1976 book and then a new one in the 90's. I also like "Putting Food By".
There is a Redeemer. |
| Mumof3 |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 1:47:03 PM
My favorite cookbook that my hand always gravitates to when I need just the right recipe is the Fanny Farmer Cookbook, originally The Boston Cooking School Cookbook. I have a few of them from different years ( 1918, 1936 to the present) and they are always the right choice!
Karin |
| CabinCreek-Kentucky |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 08:59:45 AM
Kristi .. hands-down .. still my all-time favorite cookbook are the MARLBORO cookbooks .. and they have the most fabulous photography in them too .. i literally have hundreds of cookbooks and cook-booklest .. from olde to new .. and i still find that i gravitate back to those books over and over again.
(later, i'll post some photos from them .. you can just go to e-bay and google MARLBORO under books .. and they will probably pop up. xo
True Friends, Frannie
My KENTUCKY RAMBLINGS 'blog':
http://cabincreekfarm-kentucky.blogspot.com/ |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - Jun 16 2006 : 08:40:57 AM
Every year, Southern Living produces a cookbook that includes all the recipes that have been in the magazine the past year. They group them by the month, of course, and have complete menus, and lots of tips for serving for special occasions. I love these books, have purchased about 5 since 1987 and use them all the time. If I got one every year, I would have to have a kitchen library, because they are big, but they really have lots of healthy recipes using fresh veggies. And the photos are nice. I love them.
I also got a complimentary cookbook once when we stayed in a place at Seaside, Florida. The onwers of the cottage actually leave a signed cookbook for every guest! I have made some great things from that little hardback cookbook from the oceanside. It is called Seaside Pastels and Pickets - A compendium of Recipes.
My most tattered and stained cookbook is called Talk About Good! and is from the Lafayette, Louisiana Junior League. It has the best chili recipe I ever found. It was first published in the 1967 and has had several reprints.
Better Homes and Gardens is still the cookbook I use to teach myself stuff - about canning, making a pie crust, etc. The photos in my copy have women in shirtwaist dresses. But it still is my bible of cooking.
Peace |
| shellybien0319 |
Posted - Jun 15 2006 : 4:56:06 PM
I have almost 100 cookbooks. I, too, am drawn to impulsively buy ANY cookbooks that looks even the slightest bit useful (and they all are, usually). The one that I have used the most, poor thing, with it's raggedy cover and binding attched to the pages anymore, is called Blue Ribbon cooking (I'm not posiitive that is the title, it's packed in storage right now... I just know, it's very fat and blue like a ribbon--and falling apart!) It's food focuses mostly on Mid-western cooking. Different, but not too much, from what I was raised on. I kind of take these recipes and use them as is or tweek them a little to suit my own taste. I also have another booklet, I got for free from Wild Oats, and it's more of a reference guide for buying in bulk (Flours, legumes, pastas, grains, etc) It is very help ful. I have exposed myself to the wonderful world of cous cous through this little Gem. |
| rabbithorns |
Posted - Jun 13 2006 : 4:34:44 PM
Well, being someone who hates to cook but needs to, I use the Joy of Cooking which I made my husband get me a few years ago for Christmas. He thought it was a weird gift but now he's sees the wisdom of the choice. It has saved many a doomed meal!
My next favorite cookbook is the Farm Vegetarian Cookbook (although I think it's called "New" Farm etc. It was written by some amazing hippies who were vegan before the word existed. It's not that I love veganism so much but the recipes actually have taste and don't rely on modern packaged vegan grainburgers from the freezer. It's make it yourself. Amd it's not necessarily all whole wheat so even I like it. I was at the Farm in 1978 and the food was g-o-o-o-o-d!
http://www.rabbithorns.etsy.com |
| santa_gertrudis_gal |
Posted - Jun 13 2006 : 2:40:45 PM
Another older post, but I JUST LOVE TO COOK AND LOVE COOKBOOKS!
Must have's for any kitchen are the Joy of Cooking and Fannie Farmer and I have both. My reference books.
Other books favorites:
Too Many Tomatoes, Squash, Beans, and Other Good Things
Love Yourself Cookbook, Delicious Receipes for One or Two
I love cookbooks that are for fund raisers. You always get family favorites. I find one of those at a garage sale and it's mine. My favorites are:
M.D. Anderson Volunteers Cooking for Fun
Ladies of Harley, Brazosport, Texas - Savor Our Flavor (some strange odd receipes but fun to read)
Air Force 4th SOS and 16th SOS Spouces Group - Gunship Grub (regional receipes from all over the country - wonderful) given to me by my SIL.
Finally, one little book with the same binding as the books that are for fund raisers that is my bible when it comes to unbelieveably great muffins is:
Muffin Mania by Cathy Prange and Joan Pauli and published Liberty Publishing Company, Inc. One my grandmother gave me 13 years before she passed away.
I have quite a few books, not yet in the kitchen, still packed in boxes from my grandmother's massive collection. In the 40's and 50's she was equipment editor for the now defunct American Home Magazine and received cookbooks all of the time. This summer DD and I are redoing the kitchen. Taking down old wallpaper and painting so new bookcase will be purchased and my now 200 plus books will be on display.
Final note - read every post on thread and ordered Canadian Living and Cooking from Quilt Country. Now to find all the others listed and purchase, that each of you have recommended.
From one who loves to cook....with passion.
Kim
Heaven is a day at the ranch with my Santa Gertrudis! |
| Nancy Gartenman |
Posted - Apr 04 2006 : 4:33:45 PM
OK, Now I'am real excited to get the cookbook, thanks for the imput.
NANCY JO |
| lonestargal |
Posted - Apr 04 2006 : 12:21:20 PM
Nancy, the pictures are breathtaking!! The picures of the little kids are precious and I tell you, some of the women in that book are gorgeous. It shows pictures of the insides of the houses, women in the garden, men with the animals, and little ones helping with the cooking. I love them all. |
| Destiny~ |
Posted - Apr 04 2006 : 11:20:23 AM
Mary Ann, that's not a bad idea. I guess I've just been so FRUSTRATED with him picking up the bag of cheese crackers and eating until supper is ready that I never thought about how to take control of it another way. I'll have to come up with some ideas and then stock up on the supplies. Thanks. |
| Horseyrider |
Posted - Apr 04 2006 : 10:29:30 AM
Nancy Jo, The cookbook pictures are so beautiful! Little slices of life, like laundry on the line against a high summer sky, a handful of fresh eggs, the buggies at the auction downtown, etc. I don't recall who did the photography, but it's a tremendous nostalgia rush for me. Sometimes I get it down just to look at the pictures.
Funny that my hubby's not the only inarticulate one!
Destiny, I don't know why my hubby lets me tell him, but I usually just tell him I'm making a big dinner and to save on the snacks. And he does. I suppose he wants to enjoy the food I'm making, too. Is there any way you could set up a little snack for him? If he comes home famished, and wants something right away, maybe some good homemade bread and butter and a glass of milk will hold him without making him too full. And if you do the setup, then you control the size.
Funny you'd mention leftovers. I really dislike most leftover meats, and hubby enjoys them. I like the veggies better, and he's the reverse. We throw away far more food than I'm comfortable with; I need to do better on that. |
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