To: anglican@list.stsams.org Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 Subject: cookbook? From: sr.cyndy.ambrose If you only were able to have only one cookbook which one would it be? Why? I'll wait for some others to answer before I say what leaps to mind for me. I have 2 nieces who will shortly be setting up their first real apartments (not college) and I'd like to gift them with a cookbook but one that covers lots. Would maybe answer their questions? That's what I'm thinking anyway. I'm willing to get out-of-print if necessary. I can't wait for your answers. I might just be buying some (probably unneeded) cookbooks for myself, who knows?!? I do, I say more than likely. Sr. Cyndy --------------------------------------------------- From: Donald Boyd The old "Joy of Cooking" before the most recent revision was a good book for inexperienced cooks. Recipes were well tested, instructions were clear and complete. Years ago I learned a lot from it. But the reason I wrote is, Sr. Cyndy, if there are family favorite recipes the neatest gift you can give them is a collection of such recipes, adapted so far as possible for the inexperienced cook. Don in Austin --------------------------------------------------- From: Scott Knitter Mark Bitman: How to Cook Everything (big yellow tome...er, white tome with yellow dust cover) --------------------------------------------------- From: mary jane anderson Don said: > The old "Joy of Cooking" before the most recent revision was a good book > for inexperienced cooks. I vote with Don, because this is the gift I give to new brides. I have done so since I was given it when I was married. I have never wanted to cook anything that I couldn't find there (and my tastes are not limited). It helped me learn the cuts of meat, about the veggies I was cooking... My daughter has one on her shelf and uses it regularly. Mary Jane, who once was gifted with a cardboard box of Apalachicola oysters, from the corner gas station (Well they looked like a really good deal, and I didn't want to pass them up), and no way to open them.Until she remembered the Joy provided answers to everything and went to the index. --------------------------------------------------- From: Kate Murphy Joy of Cooking, hands down. Even after years and years of cooking and shelves worn down with cookbooks, if I need something basic, I go back to my tattered and splattered J of C. Another book I like a lot for the comfort food basics is Ceil Dyer's Best Recipes from the Backs of Bottles, Cans, and Jars but not for my only! Kate --------------------------------------------------- From: Jeffry P. Barnes Joy of Cooking is good. Whether it is better than any of the other general cookbooks, I don't know; it may be telling the inexperienced cook more than he/she wants to know. What I wanted to point out is that all the Joys currently published are not the same. The big white volume is the newest edition, and it drops some of the basic recipes of the older editions and adds some new stuff. We've got it at our house. It was falling apart and so when I saw an edition with a spiral binding so it could lie flat on the counter, I bought it. Turns out it was the older edition (which we preferred). So be sure and check what's inside the edition you buy. It's not always obvious from the cover. Peace, Jeffry --------------------------------------------------- From: leelemmon As a new cook, my very favorite *save my life* cookbooks were *The "I Never Cooked Before" Cookbook, a paperback, long out of print (I got mine in 1956) and the *I Hate to Cook Cookbook*. Only after I'd mastered those two did I figure out how to navigate around *The Joy of Cooking*. Once one has gained some confidence it's the best there is, but a small amount of confidence is essential. All that information can be intimidating. confident- Lee --------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Knitter" I have a neato cookbook for men, A MAN, A CAN, A PLAN by David Joachim. It's printed on boards like a baby's book, and it's full of recipes the ingredients for which come from cans. The instructions consist mostly of "Dump the contents of the cans into a bowl...mix well with a large, sturdy spoon...dump into a glass baking dish"...etc. I've done only one recipe, and it turned out good. Something with tuna, as I recall. And I'm sure there are women who could use this book too. :) --------------------------------------------------- From: "Scott Knitter" > So be sure and check what's inside the edition you buy. I like the older light-blue hardcover, which tells about dinner parties ancient and modern, and which gives you something to do with a squirrel should you sadly see one fall off a wire and land on your driveway. (Actually, I got two bin bags and a very long stick, bagged the carcass, and took it to a dumpster far away.) Seriously, there is a squirrel recipe. --------------------------------------------------- From: Douglas Palmer I have a nice recipe for squirrel stew somewhere (they got some squirrel in at a local grocery store and I wrote my aunt asking for it). Delicious. As a kid in Indiana, we used to go out and hunt up three or four for dinner along with a few pounds of morel mushrooms we would collect along the way. Great food, great times. -- Douglas --------------------------------------------------- From: Ellen Rains Harris Cross Creek Cookery by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Recipes for whatever dies in your driveway, protected species, and the best pecan pie recipe known to mankind. And a Cuban Black Bean Soup recipe from the mayor of Tampa's wife in 1939. --------------------------------------------------- From: Ellen Rains Harris Actually, one of the most fun ones I have is the Betty Crocker International Cookbook. It has relatively simple methods of making relatively exotic cuisines. Like how to make streudel (or baklava) from scratch. Or spanikopita. Or cock-a-leekie (okay, not exotic, but good). Or a chicken curry. --------------------------------------------------- From: mary jane anderson > Cross Creek Cookery by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. I'll say amen to that. And add that it also contains the best strawberry shortcake recipe known to mankind. It sits next to my JofC. --------------------------------------------------- From: Ann Markle "At 09:12 PM 3/9/2004, Douglas Palmer wrote: " < snip > with a few pounds of morel mushrooms we would collect along the way. Yum on the morels. Squirrel is not my favorite. As a kid, we had a guy just down the alley who caught and skinned them -- I was fascinated by the skins nailed to his garage to tan. But my family was great at morel hunting. I miss them. You can get them in Buffalo, shriveled and having been frozen, at fancy restaurants, and called "wild mushrooms." But I miss them, dredged in cornmeal and fried in lots of shortening, then served on buttered white bread. YUM. Ann --------------------------------------------------- From: Ann Markle > Joy of Cooking is good. < snip > Turns out it was the older edition (which we preferred). The one before was also white. I now have 2, but refer primarily to the new one. It has EVERYTHING one generally wants to cook (I haven't checked squirrels, but I've never wanted to cook them). Even foreign dishes, prepared well. If one had only one cookbook, or was buying one for newlyweds -- or what is the "paper" anniversary -- is it the first? -- I'd recommend this one. But yes, a spiral binding would be lovely. Still, there are ribbon bookmarks and also baking dishes to use. Ann --------------------------------------------------- From: Sibyl Smirl leelemmon wrote: > As a new cook, my very favorite *save my life* cookbooks were *The "I Never Cooked Before" Cookbook, a paperback, long out of print (I got mine in 1956) and the *I Hate to Cook Cookbook*. < snip > Amen on all of it. Peg Bracken and Jo Coudert, I love you, wherever you are! (They take less time and energy for a working wife than trying to follow "Joy", too.) -- Love in Christ, Sibyl Smirl --------------------------------------------------- From: "Ken Peck" I don't think anyone has mentioned the one that got me started 44 years ago: The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I recently picked up a new one because it has a section on microwaving. I've ended up with two microwaves -- the one I bought a couple of years ago before I moved and the built-in in the new apartment. --------------------------------------------------- From: sr.cyndy.ambrose My leaning is toward Fannie Farmer's The Boston School of Cooking Book (usually just called Fannie Farmer. I have many versions the original has great recipes but also has cooking for sick people, housekeeping, what's what in pots, pans, silverware and dishes, explains everything from cuts to vocabulary, basic to very advanced recipes. I love my mother's that she got in the late 40's when she got married. It has all the recipes I grew up with, great - basic bread dressing/stuffing, meat loaf, french vanilla custard ice cream to die for, etc. Sr. Cyndy --------------------------------------------------- From: "David Barton" Sr. Cyndy writes: > If you only were able to have only one cookbook which one would it be? Why? There is only one answer: The Joy of Cooking. No other cookbook has more recipes, more basic information, and more different interesting tidbits. I have lots of other cookbooks, but this is the one I haul out first if I need a question answered. It is my staple. Dave Barton --------------------------------------------------- From: "Chef Paul II" > It has EVERYTHING one generally wants to cook (I haven't checked > squirrels, but I've never wanted to cook them). There are recipes for bison/buffalo, boar, emu/ostrich, rabbit/hare, pheasant, or qual, etc. in my JoC under "Game", but no rodents (squirrel?). I sometime see prepared pheasant or quail at the supermarket, and I have had Cape Breton moose, but the others I assume would only be found "in season". What I would like to try is duck, but it's too dear right now; I could get more out of the usual chicken thighs I buy. Chef Paul --------------------------------------------------- From: "Kate Conant" >Joy of Cooking is good. Whether it is better than any of the other general >cookbooks, I don't know; it may be telling the inexperienced cook more >than he/she wants to know. My 1943 version of Joy of Cooking does tell how to corn beef (it says to open the can!). It also has a lot of recipes to deal with WWII rationing. I use if often however, but I don't think I'll ever make an aspic. I also use Better Homes and Gardens (circa 1999) and a number of ethnic cookbooks. Kate --------------------------------------------------- From: Glenn Hammett Fanny Farmer! although the last edition I looked at was not, IMO, as good as the previous editions. The second choice would be Joy of Cooking. Both would be nice. I collect recipes and put them in a three ring notebook. If you have some family recipes that could be handed down, creating a copy of what you have would be priceless. +Glenn --------------------------------------------------- From: FlyingFish224 Jame's Beard's American Cookery. or Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking I and II (the techniques, while hard to master, have stood by me for 30 years.) Renee --------------------------------------------------- From: Andrew Auld My first (and only) wife couldn't really cook. I bought her Fannie Farmer and Joy of Cooking. She enjoyed reading JOC, but when she attempted something in the kitchen, she by and large opted for Fannie Farmer. What made Fannie Farmer's cookbook unique originally, other than the fact that it was pretty much the first time that all the necessary recipes were collected together in one place, was that she used, and described, standard measurements. I have a copy of the Facsimile edition of the first printing - it's really interesting, seeing as how it was written for turn-of-the century cooks and kitchens. Amazon offers it. The most recent editions of JOC, IMO, don't make as interesting readings as the edition I have from the late 60's...I don't recall off hand which one that was. As for me, personally - the two sets I rely on are a large 2 volume set published by Gourmet Magazine in the 60's which were my stepfather's and the River Road Series - three volumes published by the Junior League of Baton Rouge, which I wouldn't be without. They have two interesting sections, particularly: "Cooking for 50" and "How Men Cook". The 3rd and most recent in the series has "healthy" recipes, but it's still usable, just not as good (tasty). - pax - Andrew H. Auld --------------------------------------------------- From: "Ellen Rains Harris" Okay, if we're going there, the River Road cookbooks are great, as is "Tea-time at the Masters" by the Augusta Junior League. Excellent party fare. And the Silver Palate books, for variety. And the Antoinette Pope School cookbook for cakes, even wedding cakes. Mrs Harris, who really should cook more --------------------------------------------------- From: Glenn Hammett The 1918 edition of the Boston School of Cooking-School Cook Book which is the first edition that Fannie Merrit Farmer was the sole editor can be found at: http://www.bartleby.com/87/ Suggstion: Print the whole thing out using wide margins on both sides of the paper and put it in a three ring note book. OR just save it to your hard drive and print out recipes as needed. Just be aware that because of the date this book is going to be very outdated and more of a novelty than a truly helpful cook book. If you can find a used edition from around 1970 or so it will be much more helpful. +Glenn --------------------------------------------------- From: pineden I started out as a fairly young kid (9 or 10, I think) with a cookbook of my mother's which she still has. It's a fat green-covered book which I can't remember the name of. I want to say "Woman's Home Companion Cookbook," but I don't think that's it. That's the book I learned from. When I married my first husband, my grandmother gave me a BH&G cookbook which served me well for a number of years but was sorely lacking in anything ethnic (well, it *was* 1966, after all, and the cookbook was published before that). Later on I got a Joy of Cooking, the edition prior to the current one, and I often refer to it but rarely cook from it. Go figure. I have a huge collection of cookbooks but can't say any one is my favorite at the moment, though I do like Sue Spitler's "1,001 Recipes" series and use the low-fat one a good deal. When my daughter wanted a basic cookbook I perused a number of them and finally opted for the new Betty Crocker, which is quite good for the way she cooks and gives a lot of basic information besides. I will probably inherit my mother's green cookbook someday. She is still using it :-) Jay --------------------------------------------------- From: Andrew Auld The question was: If'n you had only one, which one would it be. Mine remain, one of the two sets listed. I just don't know which one. Probably the Gourmet Magazine set. I don't really use cook books to cook, rather to refresh this old fart's memory (Did that just have bell pepper & onyon, or did it have the whole Trinity?), or to get ideas of how to do something diff'runt. - pax - Andrew H. Auld; who does cook, and thus is fully capable of living on his own now that he's found the wash 'n fold place..... --------------------------------------------------- From: Scott Knitter Andrew brings up an interesting angle: cookbooks that make good reading, even when one is not in a kitchen. What are some of the best-reading cookbooks? Scott Knitter, Chicago USA --------------------------------------------------- From: "Ellen Rains Harris" I guess I'm feeling a little guilty about not cooking because we just hired a personal chef. Not a private chef, mind you, but a chef who comes in every two or three weeks, prepares three to five entrees with four servings each, freezes them in individual containers so that we can either take them out and heat them for dinner, or throw them in a briefcase and have them for lunch. We're both working 12 hour days regularly, and in the last three weeks, Hooper has been in Peru and Belgium and here, which means that I have all his chores to do as well as all mine, so dinner has become peanut butter, or cold cereal, or something processed to death and frozen. It's better and healthier than what we can order in (Chinese, Italian, Thai) in that it suits our nutritional needs more closely, and we can come home without the dread of "What awful thing are we going to do to our digestive systems tonight?" But it's not without guilt. --------------------------------------------------- From: Andrew Auld But, the question is, is it ...... .............. .............. .............. .........................tax deductible? -- "Ellen Rains Harris" wrote: > I guess I'm feeling a little guilty about not > cooking because we just hired a personal chef. .......I mean, it seems properly Republican and all.... Andrew H. Auld; who's last live-in maid couldn't cook a lick. --------------------------------------------------- From: "SallyM" > If you only were able to have only one cookbook which one would it be? Why? Delia Smith. Either her complete cookery course book or her 3 set How to Cook books, all excellent, with basic instructions adn ingredients and no recipes that call for ridiculously complicated techniques! SallyM --------------------------------------------------- From: "Ellen Rains Harris" > What are some of the best-reading cookbooks? How to be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the art of Comfort Cooking by Nigella Lawson Her descriptions of the food are so sexy. Even if you can't hear her voice. A great read. --------------------------------------------------- From: "mary jane anderson" > What are some of the best-reading cookbooks? Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' Cross Creek Cookery Rex Stout's The Nero Wolfe Cookbook The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook Mary Jane --------------------------------------------------- From: Greekfire You don't deserve to carry this guilt, dear Mrs. Harris. Your schedules are oppressive, and it's hard enough to find ways to relax under such circumstances. Betty --------------------------------------------------- From: "Ellen Rains Harris" Betty, Wanna come down off the mountain for dinner some time? Sincerely, The Newly Oppressed Mrs H. --------------------------------------------------- From: "chlime" > we just hired a personal chef. The husband of my NAPT(National Association for Poetry Therapy) mentor does exactly this. He used to be a big time lawyer -which he hated. Went to chief school and goes to folks' houses and does this cook and freeze gig. We eat out too much. What Peter does may be cheaper and is almost cetainly better for you. Ann Capers --------------------------------------------------- From: EZTAMPA We have a really big collection of cookbooks. My mother loved cookbooks and so did Charlene's mother and grandmother. My favorite book was Charlene's mother's and it was published in 1915. The recipes are far different than modern recipes....the ingredients are not as exact and all the recipes make enormous quantities of food... you have to cut them down.... and, in particular cut down the sugar.... and make substitutes for lard. Anyone know what a "pinch" is? My mother was addicted to Southren Living and had a whole lot of cookbooks from Southren Living... my favorite book is from Southren Living and is called "Company's Coming"...... Another of my mother's well used books was from the New York Times, and, of course Julia Child's French cookbook. Charlene and I go to estate sales here in Sun City. We furnished two rental properties from the estate sales and we have picked up many interesting cookbooks at the estate sales. The real cache though are a couple of 3X5 card files from both Charlene's mother and mine where recipes which were commonly used by them are stored. Junior League cookbooks are always interesting. Barnes and Noble carry them. There are a lot of really great Tampa cookbooks. Tampa is a real culinary treasure... the Spanish/Italian influence of Ybor City......... Charlie --------------------------------------------------- From: "Chuck Cole" > There are a lot of really great Tampa cookbooks. Tampa is a real culinary > treasure... the Spanish/Italian influence of Ybor City......... I found an old Gasparilla cookbook up here in MN (am originally from FL and know the areas well). Two of the used bookstores in Stlllwater, MN near here have truly excellent cookbook sections (very little on "Minnesota cuisine" for obvious reasons :-). One of them also has an old church converted into his theological book store. Chuck --------------------------------------------------- From: sr.cyndy.ambrose@juno.com Best Junior League type - -La Bonne Cuisine: Cooking New Orleans Style- compiled by The Women of All Saints' Episcopal Church, New Orleans lovely recipes and some great tips sprinkled throughout -Seafood Cookbook: Volume 1- by Maine Fishermen's Wives Association amazing collection of recipes, I have never seen such a book. Usually you might get say, at most, 4-5 ways to cook swordfish, in this book 14. Along with 14 for Monkfish, 13 Mussels, 18 Hake, etc it has many of many many types just amazing. > What are some of the best-reading cookbooks? -Shaker Your Plate: of Shaker Cooks and Cooking- by Sister Frances A. Carr -Spies, Black Ties, & Mango Pies: Stories and Recipes from CIA Families All Over the World- created by the CIA's Family Advisory Board -Let the Good Times Roll- and -Home on the Range- both by "Nun Other Than Sister Karol Jackowski -I Hate to Cook Book- and -Appendix to the I Hate to Cook Book- by Peg Bracken Sr. Cyndy Anderson --------------------------------------------------- From: Carol Marsh Glenn Hammett wrote: > The 1918 edition of the Boston School of Cooking-School Cook Book which is the first > edition that Fannie Merrit Farmer was the sole editor can be found at: > http://www.bartleby.com/87/ That's the edition my grandmother had and used, Glenn. I passed it along to my daughter who's the cookbook collector and user in my family. Going through some of the boxes that I've carted around through many moves since we disposed of the contents of my grandparents' house after my grandfather died in 1962, I found my great-grandmother's cookbook with all sorts of notes and additional recipes she had collected. It dates from sometime in the 1870s. The cover is long gone, so I have no idea what the title was. I've already given Jackie (my daughter) all the card files, etc. of family recipes dating back several generations, so when I found Great-grandma Williams' cookbook the other evening, her immediate response was, "I WANT THAT!!!!!" You could probably hear her all around the world. :-) BTW, it includes recipes for such things as rabbit, squirrel and 'coon and lots of things to do with venison. Me, I have my original Fanny Farmer and Joy of Cooking from the 1950s and a couple of Slovak cookbooks as well as a copy of our parish cookbook. (That's the one I sent you, Paul.) I only cook out of necessity when I have to come up with a "covered dish." I really don't enjoy cooking and eating by myself, so I either eat out or dine on TV dinners -- not nearly so much waste that way, and in the long run cheaper. Carol -- definitely a Phyllis Diller when it comes to cooking --------------------------------------------------- From: Scott Knitter Carol, I'm not big on cooking for myself, either. My problem is mainly one of overeating, since most recipes are for several servings, and I'm personally more prone to eat some or all of the extra servings rather than put them away. Or I'll put them in the fridge only to have them call my name within minutes. At least when I eat out, I typically order and receive one serving (but then there's the problem of excessive portions...the popular Grand Lux Cafe in downtown Chicago serves "crispy caramel chicken" which takes up half the table and gives you about a chicken and a half on a mountain of rice...or so it seems). Scott Knitter, Chicago USA ---------------------------------------------------