"A cookbook is only as good as its poorest recipe"...Julia Child.
My criteria for a cookbook is that the recipes "work", that they offer something new to try, and they not use too many convenience foods. Myrna likes old cookbooks too, but also likes to try new techniques and ingredients.
Too many "celebrity" cookbooks, where the authors don't have access to test kitchens, have recipes that can't be made successfully by cooks with a wide range of cooking skills. That's why new cooks should look first to basic cookbooks from Betty Crocker, Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Southern Living and the like. The entire goal of these "big" cookbooks was to teach basic cooking skills and give recipes that would be successful for most cooks, no matter their background.
Many of the older cookbooks we like, especially community cookbooks, have recipes contributed by women who were very experienced cooks, who cooked many more meals in a week than most housewives today, and they expected the reader to be equally experienced. Myrna and I often simplify instructions or give extra information when we share these recipes so that you will enjoy making them too. One of us has personally made every recipe we share, making notes and taking photos as we cook.
100 Years of Downhome Cooking in Packwood
250 Breads, Biscuits and Rolls
All About Home Baking from Swansdown Flour
Bake-Off Classics II - Pillsbury 1981
Ball Canning Book, from 1937 to present
Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks
Basics and More Cook Book
Best of the Best from the Midwest
Better Homes and Gardens 75 Years of All-Time Favorites
Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorite Bread Recipes
Better Homes and Gardens Best Comfort Food
Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 1960's
Better Homes and Gardens Red Plaid Cookbook 2010
Better Homes and Gardens Fresh Summer Desserts
Better Homes and Gardens Golden Treasury of Cooking
Better Homes and Gardens Good Food on a Budget
Better Homes and Gardens Home Canning Cookbook 1973
Better Homes and Gardens Hometown favorites
Better Homes and Gardens Old Fashioned Home Baking
Better Homes and Gardens Our Best Recipes
Better Homes and Gardens Step-by-Step Cook Book
Better Homes and Gardens Tasty Timesaving Cooking
Betty Crocker Cook Book
Betty Crocker's Cooky Book 1963
Betty Crocker's Dinner for Two
Betty Crocker's Good and Easy Cook Book 1954
Betty Crocker's Perfect Baking Every Time
1971 Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library
Betty Crocker's Soups and Breads
Bon Appetit Keep It Simple
Brer Rabbit Book of Molasses Magic
Campbell's Cooking with Soup
Cooking a La Heart
Cooking From Quilt Country
The Connoisseur's Choice Newsletters
Crisco Cooking
Delicious Desserts Made Easy
Deseret Recipes
Duncan Hines Holiday Spectacular
Everyday Food Magazine
Fannie Farmer Baking Book
Farm Journal Bread Cookbook
Farm Journal's Country Cookbook
Farm Journal Complete Pie Book
Farm Journal Country Fair Cookbook
Farm Journal Homemade Cookies
Farm Journal Thrifty Cook Book
Fine Cooking Comfort Food
Fine Cooking Cookies Magazine
Fleischmann's "Best Ever Breads"
Gluten Free Made Simple
Gold Medal Cookies and Bars 2005
The Golden Treasury of Cooking 1973
Good Housekeeping's Book of Delectable Desserts
Grandma's Sunday Suppers
Home Baking with Robin Hood Flour
Iowa Power Holiday Cookbooks
Joy of Cooking
Kerr Kitchen Cook Book
Land O Lakes 75th Anniversary Cookbook
Land O Lakes Comfort Food
Land O Lakes Flavors of Spring
Land O Lakes Taste of Summer
Land O Lakes Treasury of Heritage Meals and Menus
Land O Lakes Treasury of Country Cooking
Library of Family Favorites
Make a Mix Cook Book
Meta Given's Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking
More-With-Less Cookbook
Norwegian Pioneer Cook Book
Our Daily Bread
Packwood Community Cookbook
Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese Cookbook
Pillsbury Casseroles
Pillsbury Cookies, Cookies and more Cookies 1980
Pillsbury Down Home Cooking
Pillsbury Harvest Time Cookbook 1980
Pillsbury Simply From Scratch Vol 1-3
Practical Produce
Southern Living best comfort food recipes
Southern Living Big Book of Christmas Baking
Southern Living Christmas Cookbook 2008
Southern Living Our Best Recipes
Southern Living Our Best Recipes Volume 2 and 3
Southern Living Ultimate Cook Book
Taste of Home Summer's Best Recipes
Taste of Home Baking Book
Taste of Home Busy Family Favorites
Taste of Home Recipe Book 1994
Taste of Home The Simple and Delicious Cookbook
The Essential Pasta Cookbook
The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving
The Country Kitchen Cook Book from 'Farmer Magazine'
The Casserole Cookbook..CAI
Your Share ... Betty Crocker WW2
Congrats on your blog-mention from the Betty Crocker website!
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow cookbook aficionado, I very much appreciate you posting a list of favorite cookbooks. Looking at your list makes me wonder: do you know the books by Betsy Oppenneer? She has wonderful bread books. Also, a while back, I discovered a book by Mary Gubser titled America's Bread Book that I think you might really enjoy. I so agree, by the way, that the good books are those whose recipes have been well tested, and not those whose main positive is a celebrity name. I am glad to have discovered your blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips on the bread books. We are glad you found our blog also.
ReplyDeleteI wish that we could be neighbors! I also have lots of cookbooks. Notice I didn't say "too many". I wonder if it would be fun to set up a neighborhood cookbook library. I invited a small group of friends who also like to cook, to come and bring a dish that they wanted to try. It was easy to be truthful under those circumstances. They also each brought some of their favorite cookbooks along and we spent the afternoon perusing each others books. We also traded some and borrowed some. Understand why I would like to have you as neighbors? In the meantime, I enjoy your blog. Thanks....
ReplyDeletePam
ReplyDeleteYou sound like our kind of neighbor. We are glad you found our blog. At least we can share some recipes with you and you might find a cookbook or two you would like to own