Favorite Cookbooks
 

I love cooking, but my family is definitely not the kind that has old recipe books or recipes to pass down to me. I would really like to have a great collection of cookbooks. but there are SO many out there. It's hard to determine which ones are any good. That being said, please feel free to share the name of cookbooks from which you have enjoyed cooking.

I have Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats, and have really enjoyed it. Rozanne Gold's Radically Simple: Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease is on its way, but it's being gifted to the BF, who also loves to cook.

You can never go wrong with Williams-Sonoma Collection. My personal favorite is the French cookbook. Trust me, everything I have made from it I have loved. I've given it as a gift plenty of times and all of my friends love it too.

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/...500_AA240_.jpg

I think, as a rule, any local Junior League cookbook is excellent. You could probably pick some up on eBay. One of my standards is "Gracious Goodness" published years ago by the Macon, GA Junior League. More recent, "When Pigs Fly" by the Cincinnati Junior League.

The Baton Rouge Jr. League has two River Roads books. They are both great. I am using one right now!!!

My gramma. :)

Celebraciones. It's one of those wonderful cookbooks with stories in between the recipes.

I have a ton, but this one got me started:
Help my Apartment has a Kitchen!
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/4...2204203200.jpg

Any discussion on cookbooks would be remiss without mentioning the two classics: The Joy of Cooking and Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Paul Prudhomme also has AMAZING cookbooks focusing on Cajun cooking- my family's copies are covered in stains and every recipe I've ever tried has been gold.

I have:
COOK by Jamie Oliver
it has most basic skills and loads of information

I have a zillion cookbooks but the two I use the most are:

The Practical Encyclopedia of Baking- I think there is a recipe for any baked good you can imagine.
http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Ency.../dp/B0006924X6

Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook
http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Ency.../dp/B0006924X6

What I like about the BH&G one is that it contains all the information about how long to cook a roast/chicken/etc. without a set recipe, has tips on cooking techniques for things like pie crust, and is all about the basics, really.

Specialty cookbooks are fun, like I have one that is all potato dishes and I have crock pot cookbooks, Southern Living cookbooks and .. shoot, all kinds of cookbooks, but I consult these two general, every day type cookbooks most often because they aren't just about recipes, they include information about techniques.

allrecipes.com is where I go for most recipes these days, honestly. I have an old favorite called Brand Name Recipes that is full of recipes that come on product containers.. like Hershey's cocoa, Bisquick, etc.

Does anyone know of a good Meat and Potatoes kind of cookbook? My bf doesn't like the fun things that I like to try.

Yes to both of these thoughts. tastykitchen.com, an off-shoot of The Pioneer Woman, often has good stuff.

My fudge recipe, which gets raves, is on the label of the marshmallow fluff jar.

For basics, I go back time and time again to my Betty Crocker Bridal Cookbook. You can tell it's good by the stains on it.

My mother bought a blank cookbook and wrote out all the family recipes for me, which I love - except she wrote it with a rollerball pen, and inevitably, the pages get wet and her writing smears. Sigh.

White Trash Cooking
 

http://www.amazon.com/White-Cooking-.../dp/0898151899

I seriously did buy it for the recipes several years ago. I think it was for cornbread or was it sweet tea;):D.

I agree with the Junior League comment. You can get them cheap on eBay. Usually they're tried and tested. You can't live in my town without a copy of "Cotton Country Cooking," published by the Decatur Junior Service League, now known as the Junior League of Morgan County.

Of course, if you're a snob who looks down on using canned soup in a recipe...well, bless your heart, you're gonna miss some fine dishes.

One of the ladies who was instrumental in "Cotton Country Cooking" has developed her own series under the Scrumptious Inc. banner. I have never tried a recipe of hers that wasn't fabulous. Except for the seafood...I hate seafood.

Depending on your taste, any "Southern Living" annual cookbook or theme cookbook, the older the better (also cheap on eBay), would be good. Prior to 1995 would be best.

I was given a basic Betty Crocker cookbook as a teenager. It was dependable - instructions from how to boil an egg to how to slice a turkey to how to set a table and plan a party, as well as explanations on terms.

I can't believe I wrote this much because I really hate to cook. My dream is to live in a sorority house as an old lady. Somebody else plans the meals, cooks 'em, serves 'em, cleans up and worries about plumbing and roof leaks.:D

My father owns that one...as well as a lot of the ones listed in this thread. I hope I inherit them some day.