 This is the fourth installment of "Eat This List" - a regularly recurring list of things chefs, farmers, writers and other food experts think you ought to know about. Nice, neat things make me nervous. I'm almost relieved the first time a pristine pair of shoes gets a scuff or there's a ding on the bumper of a new car. I'm no longer responsible for maintaining this object in a perfect state, and somehow through the rupture of it, it's finally marked as mine. Cookbooks definitely fall into that category for me. The more one speaks to me, the more I'll crack it open, weight it down to splay the relevant pages, and muck up the pages in the frenzy of cooking from it. My most beloved are my most battle-scarred. I fanned the least sodden ones over radiators and oven racks, allowed myself a few shuddering sobs upon seeing the extent of the damage, and then remembered to feel very, very grateful that the rest of my house was still intact. Blessedly, renters insurance will cover restocking of some of the essentials and I'll just have to endeavor to mess them up again, one recipe at a time. These are the most stained, shredded, dough-crusted, oil-soaked cookbooks in my collection (before the flood), and a little bit about how they got that way. 1. The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories And Recipes For Southerners And Would-Be Southerners - Matt Lee and Ted Lee There is no abuse I haven't heaped upon this compendium of Southern recipes, mostly because there aren't any that I haven't tried. With the Lee Bros.' guidance (I'm one of those "would-bes," but a very enthusiastic pupil) I've pickled peaches, watermelon rind and corn, rolled endless biscuits, braised acres of collard greens, soaked and baked half a dozen hams and fermented the smelly hell out of corncobs to make a wine that tastes like a honky-tonk Riesling. There's not a bad recipe in the bunch. The book (pictured atop the pile above) was one of the first gifts my husband ever gave me, and one of the most extensively damaged in the flooding. The authors, who are now friends of mine, saw a picture I tweeted and surprised me with a brand new copy to mess up again. Now that's Southern hospitality. 2. Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home - Mario Batali I'm half-Italian by heritage, but grew up eating boxed pasta, bottled sauce and cheese from a cardboard shaker. Mario Batali's restaurants - Babbo, Otto, Lupa and Esca - were a revelation to me when I made the move to New York City in the '90s. This cookbook - a gift from my niece and nephew - empowered me to attempt to embrace my culinary heritage at home by making fresh pasta, antipasti, meats, fish and sauces. I got my hands dirty making gnocchi, bruschetta and sauce, and the pages got caught in the crossfire. (It's at the top of the replacement list.) 3. Cocktail: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century - Paul Harrington and Laura Moorhead I wrote about this a while back in a post sharing the five cookbooks that changed the way I think about food and drinks. It's only gotten more decrepit on the outside, since then, but its contents remain essential. As I said then, I didn't drink much in college and grad school. It wasn't a matter of morality or self-restraint - just that I was intensely focused on other things, and if I was going to dive into the world of drink, I wanted to do it right. In the late '90s, Wired Magazine's now-defunct drink-centric website Cocktailtime.com became a semi-obsession for me, because they CARED. Oh, did they give a hang about the geeky details - ice cube size, glass shapes, shaking strategies and historical accuracy. I'll drink to that. Frequently, in fact. Way back when, the notion of wi-fi and web-enabled smart phones seemed like the stuff of science fiction, so I bought the associated book. I make, if I may say so, a thoroughly splendid Sidecar, Jack Rose, Do Be Careful, Pegu Club or whatever classic cocktails might wet my guests' whistles. It's all because of this book, and that's evidenced in the fact that I've had to tape and re-tape the pages in the proper order and crack apart pages glued together by spilled simple syrup. I'd go ahead and replace the darn thing if used copies didn't start at around $75 - or $150 if you'd like one untouched by any other mixologist's paws. 4. Salt to Taste: The Keys to Confident, Delicious Cooking - Marco Canora Chef Canora is at the helm of Hearth restaurant (my favorite in all of New York City) and his soulful, seasonally-attuned, "cucina povera" style of cooking draws the most possible flavor out of humble ingredients. His easy-to-follow techniques have become part of my everyday arsenal, and if there's one thing this book has taught me, it's that patience, salt, herbs and olive oil can transform just about any ingredient in your refrigerator into a satisfying meal. And did I mention the olive oil? If you buy this book, invest in a gallon jug. You'll need it. 5. The New Complete Book of Breads - Bernard Clayton Anything I know about dough, I owe to the late Bernard Clayton. When I bought this book in the late '90s in an attempt to tantalize a new boyfriend with the scent of fresh baguettes and sourdough wafting from my kitchen, it was the best thing since unsliced bread. While the relationship was only ever half-baked, Clayton's foolproof approach to quick, yeast and traditional loaves made this book a keeper. In particular, I've referred to the braided bread recipes - especially the silken, saffron-kissed challah - so many times, and been so enthusiastic with my kneading (it's a tremendous stress reliever), that I somehow managed to tear those pages out completely. 6. Staff Meals from Chanterelle - David Waltuck and Melicia Phillips The cookbook from the sadly departed Chanterelle restaurant is tucked away neatly with my pristine copies of similar cerebral feasts like the French Laundry, Alinea, Michel Bras and Ferran Adria tomes. They're stunning, inspirational and unfathomably far above my cooking level. They feed my eyes and brain, but rarely my mouth. Staff Meals is the polar opposite of that. A key point of a restaurant "family meal" is that it feeds and fuels a crowd cheaply, so I grab it from from the shelf knowing I'll likely have a good deal of the ingredients in stock, be able to execute and have enough leftovers to feed an army. The brownies, in particular, are a prime example of an easily accessible recipe, with a little bit of chef magic (in this case, black pepper) thrown in to elevate it. There's also bacon in (and on) just about everything. 7. Charleston Receipts - The Junior League of Charleston Perhaps there are people who can manage to make punch neatly. Bless their hearts. Without even sampling as I'm going, it's impossible for me to craft a high-proof punch like this, in the vast quantities that I tend to (for parties - not just personal consumption) without sloshing a little out on the counter. I consider it a gift to the party gods - if those gods happen to have names like Mrs. C. C. Calhoun and Mrs. Thomas A. Huguenin and possess a fondness for scuppernong grapes, apricot brandy and turtle meat. 8. Pie - Angela Boggiano You can't craft a proper British meat pie without getting a little bit of lard on everything. I grew up reading British kid lit with endless references to sturdy, soul-warming meat pies bringing joy to orphans and ragamuffins. There was no way I wasn't going to try for myself when Angela Boggiano's book showed up on my desk. I've crafted her pork jelly-laden Melton Mowbray pie and rich, raisin-studded, sugar-crusted Eccles cakes, and spent a shocking quantity of free time and psychic energy on mastering her puff pastry technique (to little avail). None of it's been pretty. Much of it has been delicious. All of it has been smeared across every surface in my kitchen - including this book. – Now it's your turn. Talk about and show off your greasiest, grittiest, most sauce-splattered and gravy-flecked cookbooks in the comments below or on iReport and we'll share our favorites in an upcoming feature. Previously - Eat This List: 7 deadly restaurant sins that keep customers from coming back Follow Kat Kinsman on Twitter @kittenwithawhip |
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"The New York Times Cookbook" and "Everybody Eats Well in Belgium" because my husband used to live there. There really is "Belgian" cooking–sorta French, with a twist. There's a receipe in there for Tomato Soup that is to die for. It's been a Christmas Dinner tradition in our house for years.
James Beard's American Cookbook. Everyone should own this one.
My original Joy of Cooking (1950s) had a stovetop burner burn through the cover when my Mom left it on the stove at the wrong time. I had newer editions but that one had recipes that were not included in the later ones. So I bought the original one Mom had on ebay and now have several editions of my kitchen 'Bible".
My Betty Crocker cookbook has been through the ringer. The pancake/French toast page is nearly see-through with oil and has ripped completely out of the rings. The cover is cracked and badly stained. Someone suggested that I replace it with a new copy and I nearly laughed myself sick. Give up one of my kitchen standbys? Never! And my Nigella Express has a few stains on several of the pages from splashed sauces, but otherwise, my cookbooks are in pretty good shape. I tend to keep the books on one side of the kitchen and read off the recipe as the boyfriend cooks :-)
My new favorite cook book is Fifty Shades of Chicken...it might get some drool on it though. ~_~
I don't have a cook book, I just eat at the Y every other day.
http://www.fcsla.org/cookbook.shtml my favorite!!!!
My first was The American Woman's Cook Book. It provided me my happiest cooking memory when my husband said my Ham & Scalloped Potatoes was better than his mother's. The many cookbooks I eventually collected included The Anywhere Anytime Barbeque Cookbook, bought in a batch of 6 for $1.00. Its recipe for Korean Barbequed Beef (Bul-Ko-Gi) is a family favorite.
I used the computer to compile a cookbook of many favorites and called it My Memories Are Made Like This. It is a memoir as well, telling family and personal stories about each recipe. I printed the book, placing the pages in plastic sheet protectors, and put it into binders to give as gifts to family members. Hint: sheet protectors keep the pages clean – just wipe with a damp cloth!
Joy of Cooking and the one put out by Gourmet Magazine. But nowadays, it's mostly recipes from the internet.
I have the Joy of Cooking, three Betty Crocker cookbooks from different eras, and Southern Living, among many others, but my all time favorite is the Family Circle Encyclopedia of Cooking, published back in 1991. It's about 3 inches thick, weighs about 5 pounds and its binding is cracked and pages loose and dirty from so much use. Simple, delicious food that my husband loves. His favorite dish from that book is Chicken Ragout with Peas and Mushrooms. Wonderful on a cold winter day.
1975 Better Homes and Gardens "Heritage Cook Book" "The exciting story of food in America...from ...colonial...to...modern favorites" Contains the perfect apple pie recipe ever on page 375. Makes me think about our ancestors, what traditions they brought to America, and how they managed to incorporate the 'new world' ingredients as a matter of downright survival. It also documents the changes in recipes since 1950 and how Americans viewed and used food processing more and more of it. It is very interesting and educational, and very, very dirty.
My copy of "From Julia Child's Kitchen" is splattered and is being held together at the spine with strapping tape. The other book, "The French Chef Cookbook" was so bad I finally broke down and got a new copy.
I collect cookbooks and recipes (those are under plastic). The most-used books in my collection are Fannie Farmer Cookbook (1979 ed.); Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1981 ed.), Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Soups and Stews, The New York Times Cookbook (1990), Betty Crocker's Cooky Book , James Beard Theory and Practice of Good Cooking, the Working Stiff Cookbook, Betty Crocker's Chinese Cookbook (1981), Susan Branch's Heart of the Home, The Tao of Cooking, and The American Heart Association Cookbook (3rd Ed.). I list the edition because I've learned over the years NEVER to replace a beloved cookbook with the new edition, because the new editors may have tinkered or deleted some of your favorites (Better Homes and Gardens is the worst offender - some of their editions are awful). I may add a new edition, but I'll never toss the old one, although I may have to replace it (thanks, eBay).
OOOhhhh ! You are a person I could cook with! I have an very old version of Fanny farmer. It is so old I had to recover it because the front pages ripped. It is browned, torn and bent, and has more food stains than any book should have, but , for basic recipes that are easily adapted, it has no equal. I thought I was the only one in the universe who used Fanny. Good on you !
My dirtiest cookbook is my mother's Settlement Cookbook 1946. It even has some of my scribblings inside the front cover. It was the first cookbook I learned from when I started baking and cooking way back in the late 1950s.
1971 edition of The Joy of Cooking is hands down my go-to cookbook - later editions were wrecked by professional chefs; the earlier editions retain the Rombauers' wit and wisdom. It's followed very closely by Julia Childs' epic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Both make you feel that the writers have your back and that you *can* tackle recipes you've never tried before. I also rely quite a bit on the recipes on foodtv.com - there are always several choices for what you're looking for.
I was thinking of exactly those two, or three if you count both volumes of The Art of French Cooking, myself. I taught myself to cook from The Art of French Cooking. Volume 2 is well used, and Volume 1 is literally in tatters. For many years, the 1971 Joy of Cooking was the first place I looked for everyday recipes like meatballs or dill pickles. I still consult both from time to time, although the rise of the internet has me going to my computer as often as my bookshelf. I enjoy comparing a dozen or so recipes when I want to try something new.
"I'm half-Italian by heritage, but grew up eating boxed pasta, bottled sauce and cheese from a cardboard shaker. " Well of course, because you hadn't learned to cook Italian yet! What a DUMB statement. As if just "because" you have Italian ancestry that would automatically make you some Italian Chef or something......what an arrogant, generalizing statement. I am polish and probably cook better Italian than most "Italians" simply because I learned the techniques and recipes for authentic Italian. I mean, seriously...........
valerie all this anger over a cook book article. She was just saying she never embraced her Italian heritage, wow
I was surprised that I had to scroll down so far to see Fannie Farmer mentioned. My copy is not only dirty but also the bindings are broken and pages tend to float out periodically. After making the FF banana bread recipe (no added fat, doesn't need it!) for 25+ years, I cannot believe I still need to look at the page. Plus, rediscover the joys of buttermilk. . .
Mine too! It was the first cookbook I ever owned and given to me by my mom when I got my first apartment. Twenty-seven years later it is barely hanging together - and you are right, it is that quick bread (and biscuit) section that has really fallen to bits from over use!
Me too! I actually have my Mom's old copy, but I have had it for over 40 years. Still my go-to cookbook.
You said it! I love the banana bread recipe, too. My copy falls open at the pastry section, and the apple pie recipe is probably the dirtiest in the book (I blame the cinnamon). My all-time favorite is their recipe for buttermilk chocolate cake - eggless, chocolately perfection.. I've never made a bad recipe from this book, and that's saying a lot, because I've been using it for over 20 years.
I have a sizeable collection of cookbooks. Charleston Receipts is one of my favorites (I live in Charleston so I'm probably prejudiced). I've not tried the Otranto Punch, but there are quite a few really good recipes in it – particularly the Red Rice recipe.
Fanny Farmer! Has EVERYTHING you need to know – first cookbook I ever owned. Thinking it's about 36 years old. GREAT Info on kitchen tools, each chapter has the breakdown (and pictures) of everything from cuts of beef to spices & veggies. It's finally needing that extra heavy duty tape for the binding! My mom also used to swear by her Betty Crocker cookbook – the one with the red and white checkered cover!
Awww My mom's old Betty Crocker Cookbook. I don't know which edition it is, but it's the one that shows food in pie sliced shapes in a circle on the front cover. My mom and I made many a cake and cookie from that cookbook when I was a little girl in the 70's. It's not too heavily stained, but some of the pages are a little loose, and there is a bit of tape here and there from the wear and tear. The stains that are there are courtesy of two little girls cooking with their mom in the 70's and my little girl cooking with her mom in 2012. I'm keeping that cookbook forever.
My mom's Betty Crocker book was falling apart by the time I left home. I now have a teen daughter of my own and my Betty Crocker book which was a wedding gift is on its last leg. The bread (yeast and fast) section is completely loose and the cookies are a mess.
Seriously, next time freeze the books immediately to stop black mold from growing. Get them out one by one. If you have time, interleave the pages with plastic wrap before freezing. Good luck.
Waxed paper is better and every page would make it too think. Smaller batches are better and yes, once a book gets wet, it swells. You don't want to add so much additional paper that it breaks the spine.
And my go-to is Fanny Farmer – the Clam Spaghetti is one recipe that all should know. It's wowed my son's frat bothers many times!
That would be brothers – they're never any bother :)
Oh dear- my poor Southern Living cookbook. It was gnawed on by a rabbit, it was written in by a drunken ex-boyfriend and that bit of garbled prose was painted over by myself with nail polish that didn't cover it completely, curry cream sloshed on it, oil spatters, maple syrup blops.... its a disaster poor thing.
Next time, freeze them immediately! Thaw them one by one.
They're all clean because I keep them separate from where I prepare and cook.
Cotton Country Cooking ! This has got to be about THE BEST collection of delicious traditional southern recipies ever! If you like southern cooking, you will LOVE this cookbook and its HUGE selection of recipies, originally published in 1972 by the non-profit Junior League of Morgan County, Alabama. It is still available from Amazon and most major book outlets. My copy has interesting stains throughout the entire book...
A bit of a correction to the info about a well loved cookbook of mine, too......The Cotton Country Cookbook is from Monroe, Louisianna. The Chicken Jerusalem recipe is worth buying the book for....the recipe for seafood gumbo is worth buying the book for ( even the preface notes to the recipe make it worth it.....goes something like, " Making gumbo is a two day affair. Buy everything the first day and chop all the vegetables. The second day, making the gumbo will be a happy thing." I love this book.
I am on my second edition of "Spoonbread & Strawberry Wine," by Norma Jean & Carole Darden. It is a wonderful family history and sharing of old southern recipes and 'home remedies.' The "Plum Lightening Wine" will knock your socks off!
My family has this thing about eastern european cooking and my mother, sister, brother and I each own a copy of Anya von Bremzen's _Please to the Table:The Russian Cookbook_. Stained, stuck together, and frequently used!
The Betty Crocker Cookbook...but mine has two generations of filth on it, since I adopted my parents' old copy. The biscuits and pancake recipe page is actually a little transparent from all of the cooking spray that's misted onto it over the years. The back of the book also has a tell tale spiral burn on from being set on a hot stove burner once. This spiral is so iconic for our family, that when my brother was gifted a brand new copy of the same book, he immediately went to the stove, turned the burner on, let it heat up, and then gave the book a fresh spiral brand. As it turns out, fresh brand new book cover ink is slightly combustible, because when he set the book down, there was an exciting "Whooph!" of a flash flame before he picked the book back up.
"How to Eat Supper" (Splendid Table): Curry splatters, oil stains, and one of the corners was chewed up by my Border Collie. I love it! But the absolute grittiest and stained in my collection aren't books at all; they are the recipe cards that I have collected from both sides of my family. Generations of stains and splatters!
My dirtiest cookbook is the New York Times Heritage Cookbook. Like most cookbooks I own, I found it on the discount rack at a local bookstore. I have had it for over 20 years, and have yet to make a bad meal from it. Too bad it is long out of print. This is a gem!
My dirtiest book is The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, excellent vegetarian cookbook, and I an in no way a vegetarian!
i remember the Enchanted Broccoli Forest. same author who did the Moosewood Cookbook. mine is Laurel's Kitchen
This was my comment from yesterday. Totally agree with you!
Moosewood and Enchanted Broccoli Forest; both by Molly Katzen, have remained my go to cookbooks since 1982 when they were given to me as a gift. They are fantastic cookbooks using lots of healthy ingredients. And don't be turned off that they are vegetarian cookbooks. You can always add meat or fish or whatever you prefer.
dear people wether your books are food grunged or pristine all that matters is what you slap down on the table for the guests. Do the love it? praise you? Want seconds (in one case ask for a doggy bag)? Thats all that matters. My favorite book is my traveling book, family members write down there favorite recipes for me. keepsake for life. Now thats getting dirty. I love that book.
Most definitely The Joy of Cooking. I am on my second copy in my 18-year marriage. (The first was brought to the marriage by my husband, whose mother gave it to him when he moved out of the house the first time. It had never been opened, but I soon changed that.) I love to read cookbooks, often taking them to bed at night to read before putting out the light, so they get a little more wear and tear than just being used in the kitchen. I have learned so much about ingredients from this particular book that I now often cook without a recipe or book to guide me. I've become much more intuitive about which ingredients work together, thanks to Joy. I've often said if I were stranded on a desert island, this is the one cookbook I'd want. Everything I've made from it has been great.
My "Joy of Cooking' was given to me by my mother the year I was married; 1954. It's now held together with rubber bands, the index pages are torn and worn, the covers have come off – but I still can find the recipes I want. It's not exactly the cookbook for an obese or diabetic cook which I now am but I couldn't do without it. Have several cookbooks that I have either saved in ziplok bags or held together with big rubber bands
La Bouche Creole. Pretty beat up and the cover is long gone. Though I know it by heart, I always enjoy opening it up to see my favorite gumbo recipe. Gumbo day is a good day.
I thought they were talking about Fifty Shades of Chicken
For a moment there, so did I!
" I'm almost relieved the first time a pristine pair of shoes gets a scuff or there's a ding on the bumper of a new car. I'm no longer responsible for maintaining this object in a perfect state, and somehow through the rupture of it, it's finally marked as mine."
This is an interesting philosophy of sorts. I've played guitar for nearly 50 years. I've bought a lot of Stratocaster and other guitar models during that time. Navigating odd stages in the dark and bumping into things always used to disturb me when rolling out a brand new, $2000 Strat. Decades ago, I began a ritual of finding a nice, out of the way spot, usually on the back of the body somewhere, and intentionally putting a very small "ding" in the wood... usually using the rounded edge of a guitar slide. Once it's done... it's now no longer perfect and I can get about the business of using it as a "player"... not worrying excessively about keeping it pristine. The small, crescent shape also serves as an identifier of sorts should one be stolen. Necks and serial numbers are too easily replaceable.
A dirty cookbook doesn't make you a good cook – it just means you're a slob.
that looks like mold on the pages NICE YUMMY
Or perhaps not anal retentive.
Thinking a dirty cookbook makes you a slob just makes you a snob.
LOL you've missed the point. A dirty cookbook is a beloved one that has accrued a bit of damage over the years of frequent use. It's all in fun here...describing the books we love. Try to join in.
My iPhone gets pretty stained every night... LOL – That's my cookbook these days! ;)
The Purity Flour cookbook, held together with duct tape, opens to chocolate chip cookies, and apart from the Joy of Cooking my one go to . . . only in Canada, eh? Pity . . .
If you are a fellow Canadian – how about "The Best of Bridge" Given to me years ago but my Sister and has fallen apart so finally have had to replace it – love the goody recipes especially "George" – Also refer to my Canadian Living Cookbooks frequently.
I don't understand celebrating messy cookbooks, it seems lazy and sloppy to me . Why would you take joy it destroying something that costs so much ? My Julia Child "Mastering the art of..." is 45 years old and well used and worn but it is not soaked in olive oil or stained with tomatoes or have seeds stuck to it. It is a lovely treasure created by a passionate woman , and yes a bit of a messy cook , but I doubt she would support this lazy attitude toward someones hard work. Call me perplexed. M.
Have you ever seen episodes of Julia's show? In no way did she hold neatness at the fore. Her cooking was wild and woolly and messy - much like the glorious Julia herself, and that's why she's so beloved. It was relatable and approachable.
The book as an object isn't the point of her work: her recipes, and the use thereof is. Bon appetit!
yes < I grew up watching the show and understand her joie de vivre. I lived in Paris and learned to cook there and sloppiness anywhere in American or European kitchens is not except able. I am as passionate a cook as anyone here, I pity anyone cleaning up after any of your trials.M.
So anyone using an apron or Chef's coat is unacceptable?
I think you mean "acceptable" there genius...
Bet you were the inspiration for Phil Hartman's Anal-Retentive Chef.
WOW ! I didn't realize I had hit such a nerve. Apologies to all. Regardless of the messy cookbook, it is the passion that is most important . The good food and times shared with friends and loved ones, and what we learn and share. Thanks to all here. M.
Actually, my quip was meant solely in jest. I've been cooking for some 35 years, and I happen to be pretty good at it. I rarely use a printed recipe, but when I do, I've printed something off of the internet. *My* biggest issue, ironically, is that I have to have everything in the place where it's supposed to be; my wife, despite being an intelligent woman, seems pathologically incapable of setting anything in the kitchen as well as any of "my stuff" back in the same place she got it. And she wonders why I don't cook much these days...too many times of having to track down the sesane oil, shallots, saffron, and so on, and it drives me up the wall.
BTW, if you haven't ever seen an episode of what I was commenting on (the ARC) search for an ep on YouTube.or @ NBC's site. Pretty funny stuff. My only intention here was to give folks a laugh...those who've seen it before, and possibly send a few who had not to seek it out. No offense intended, nor any taken.
Mark, I'm with you here. My cookbooks are well-used & loved. They might have a little bit of "overspray" on them, but not anything like these. I have spent too much money on them to let the pages become transparent with oils or caked in flour or tomato sauce. I have a handy little cookbook holder that folds up under my cabinet – keeps it out of my way when I'm cooking and keeps it out of the line of most of the mess...
Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Soups and Stews! My "go to" reference for informal entertaining. Priceless!
I get my recipes from the internet.
So, is your keyboard crusted with flour, spices, and liquid stains?
I made a bunch of cookies over the holidays, my keyboard and screen were covered in flour. I had to take a vacuum to it.
Agreed Steve! The interwebs are my only source for recipes because I can get my hands on anything within a matter of seconds... I have started printing the recipes and storing them in a desktop filing bin and each recipe that I complete gets messy and admittedly, I like it.
Hands down, mine is Rose Levy Barenbaum's "Rose's Heavenly Cakes" – the best cake recipes out there! Every page has been spattered and several are completely stuck together, the binding is falling apart and the cover is shredded. The best carrot cake recipe EVER!
It would break my heart to see my Edward Gorey books under water! I have a collection too – not extensive but precious to me....several signed AND four signed posters as well.
A lot of them were signed or first edition. I try not to cry when I think about it.
I have been a professional cook and baker for 30 yrs. but I have been cooking since yearly childhood. My "bible" was always an old Betty C. cookbook from the 50s. Started on it about age 5! You can imagine the stains! When I was in my 30s I lost that book. I searched for years and found one at a thrift store. (This was before amazon.com) This copy is as stained and dirty as mine! (Although the owner was into more salad making than I).
We have a 3 generations version of Fannie Farmer that is priceless!
the most battered at our house is "how to cook everything" it is very basic, but there isnt a page that doesnt have writing on it where i have tweaked the recipe. When my kids cook they use this book as well. When it opens, it opens to the most used page, where pizza dough and white bread are. I dont know what we would do if we lost this one with all the recipe modifications in it.
I LOVE the cookbooks that just open to the right place. That Bernard Clayon just flops open to challah without me having to ask.
The UCLA Whole Earth Cookbook, circa 1973
My mother's copy of The Joy of Cooking passed down to me
My copy of "Fifty Shades of Grapes" is absolutely filthy!
It's odd – I have close to 50 cookbooks, but rarely use any of them The only one I really use is an old Good Housekeeping cookbook from, oh, maybe 30-40 years ago. I've used that one so much the front cover and spine came off and the pages are barely held together by the webbing on the spine, augmented with duct tape! I got a newer copy as a gift about 10 years ago, but it was missing many of my old favorite recipes, so I almost never use it. Still love to read through the books in my collection, but with just the two of us, I rarely have an occasion to make anything that serves multiple people. About 95 times out of 100, I just make things up as I go. My husband seems to like my cooking anyhow, bless him!
That's my old favorite, too – I have my mom's copy of Good Housekeeping that must be from the 60s. There are only a few splash marks (Mom was very neat) but what I love is that it has her notes penciled into the margins.
I'm pretty much a "seat of the pants" cook, but my references are:
Good Housekeeping Cook Book, from the 1950's
Joy of Cooking – 1970's
Laurel's Kitchen
Better Than Store Bought, by Helen Witty and Elizabeth Schneider Colchie
All I can remember my Southern mother having was a Fannie Farmer Cookbook, so when I got married I bought one – it has a basic recipe for almost everything – it's been scorched and almost set a-fire by being left on an operating toaster, it's been coated with adhesive plastic and the pages are floury and buttery and chocolately – I have some others; my husband, the would-be chef has about 50 of them, but every year at Christmas the Fannie Farmer comes out to make peanut butter cookies with kisses on top – and I bought my daughter one when she got married. I think I'll will it to my granddaugher.
Joy of Cooking. It's been around for decades. We have 3 including one that has disintegrated from use.
Farm Journal's Country Cookbook, circa 1972, and The New American Cookbook, circa 1941. Both old, I know, but in spite of the many newer and more beautiful cookbooks I have, these are the two I return to time and again for basics. One even has clear packing tape holding the cover together! I will never give either of them up.
Chang and Kutscher's "An Encyclopedia of Chinese Food and Cooking" (ISBN 0-517-506610). I picked this huge volume up in 1970, when it first came out (I was 13, but had already fallen in love with Chinese Food, and was already fearless in the Kitchen). In 42 years, its spine is cracked, it's been scribbled in, dripped on, dog-eared, and more pages than I would like are stuck together with what (I think) is Hoisin Sauce.
My Mother's "Joy of Cooking" is actually in worse shape, but it was a hand-me-down.
My and my mother's, when she was alive, most beat up cookbooks is the Betty Crocker Cook Book in both hardback and paperback for the past 50 years. I also inherited several from my paternal grandmother including Escoffier, Adele Davis, Better Homes and Gardens among others. But the best recipes are the ones that are handed down or traded from relatives, DMV work mates, and friends in my mother's Recipe Box. My siblings, niece and nephew have requested copies; however, I am not going to simply type out the recipes; they are going to get the best scanned reproductions of the stained and torn originals.
I grew up in a household where my maternal (Eastern European) grandmother cooked/baked like a dream, but my mother had an arm like a baseball machine, and had no interest in cooking. So, I inherited her 1954 version of the Betty Crocker cookbook (wedding present). It had stories in it that often explained the food (why is Peach Melba named...Peach melba?). Here I learned to cook Szegedenergoulasch, which amused my friends when I moved to Europe.
My second favourite book was a Pillsbury cookie bake-off book, that I found when I was in high school. Totally sparked my interest in baking. One weekend I baked a variety of cookies (54 dz!), that my father and 4 brothers polished off in 3 days.
At the moment, I live in the US. My cookbooks, all 100+ of them, live overseas. Too many times I've reached for a recipe, only to realize that the cookbook lives elsewhere. I've been through floods and fires, yet this is the most frustrating. I do understand your grief – yet, be of good hope – you'll find replacements, or new additions.
Do keep up your spirit. And thank you for your good work.
Moosewood and Enchanted Broccoli Forest; both by Molly Katzen, have remained my go to cookbooks since 1982 when they were given to me as a gift. They are fantastic cookbooks using lots of healthy ingredients. And don't be turned off that they are vegetarian cookbooks. You can always add meat or fish or whatever you prefer.
I'm the kind of person who has to taste or see a recipe before I'm willing to try it. Most of my favorite recipes I got from family or friends after trying them. I'm not a huge cookbook fan. I have a recipe box and the contents run the gammut from pages ripped from magazines, printouts from the internet, handwritten index cards or even something typed into my phone! But, if I had to pick one book, it would be The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook. I love how they detail what makes a recipe successful, but also their explanations for what didn't work. While my kitchen goals aren't to be an award winning chef, the teaching techniques in the book allow me to educate myself and go beyond what's in the book and to come up with my own successful recipes.
Me, too! I use the America's Test Kitchen book several times a week – to look up how long to cook meat, or how to make eggplant parm (tonight – always forget oven temp/timing). I especially love their recipes for huge, chewy chocolate chip cookies which always turn out perfectly, basic tomato sauce, chicken marsala, and glazed carrots.
Nigel Slater's "The Kitchen Diaries," hands down, is the most spattered and stained cookery book we have. Oh, wait, that's not true. The book in the most disgusting condition is Susan Loomis's "French Farmhouse Cookbook." Many meals have been made from that one, as the kitchen-soiled pages can attest.
You turned me on to Nigel Slater and I will always, always be grateful.
Without you, love, I would never know about smoked salt, smoked cherries ... oh, the list goes on and on.
Oh, yes, I too like/have this book. Though I find that it only works for me in Europe. I live in an ingredient-deprived part of Pennsylvania, and long for...quality .ingredients. And local eggs that do not cost $5.00/dz.
Do you mean the Loomis cookery book or the Slater? I live (and cook) in central New York State and find the ingredients are pretty average, much of the time, and easily accessible. And if I ever have a problem, I place an order with the supermarket or order necessary spices online. Don't let location get in the way of cookery success! And you can always substitute ingredients.
I just stopped breathing for a minute. What a horrible thing to come home to. So glad the books could be dried or replaced. I hate to pick favorites since all my cookbooks are important in one way or another, but the most used ones lately are:
Breads from the La Brea Bakery, Joanne Chang's Flour, Plenty, Sunday Suppers at Lucques, Martha Stewart's Cookies, and The Fresh and Green Table.