STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

luckyclover · Dooney & Bourke

good cookbooks?

relrel · Marc Jacobs

well, for all the vegetarians out there...or for those carnivores who like a little green once in a while, i really love the moosewood cookbook. i don't cook all that much, but i love the recipies in this book.

Book Cover

scarlett · Marc Jacobs

Two cookbooks I use a lot are "The Joy of Cooking" and "How To Cook Everything." They both have an incredible amount of recipes spanning all types of cuisines. I also love "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan, and I just got "Everyday Italian," the first cookbook from Giada DeLaurentiis.

NCshopper · Hermes

My hands down, all-time, what-I'd-want-if-I-were-stranded-on-a-desert-island cookbook is "The Best Recipe" by the editors of Cooks Illustrated. I think it's even better than the Joy of Cooking. Great for just about every recipe.

I also really like Rachel Ray's 365 No Repeats cookbook. It's got a lot of great recipes that are all really easy.

Drew · Gucci

Personally, I think Rachel Ray's cooking is kinda cruddy; I don't like almost everything of her's I've tried so stopped cooking and watching her stuff.

Not a cookbook, but I am totally addicted to Cooking Light magazine. They keep us fed pretty much year round now and the food is good, healthy, and there's a nice variety. I'm rarely disappointed with a recipe from them.

nikkib222 · BCBG

I will second the Everyday Italian. Everything I've made out of it has been really good.

Aurora · Marc Jacobs

I love rachel ray and her cookbooks. I've never made a bad recipe. I love the 365 no repeats cookbook by her the most.

The Everyday Italian cookbook is good but its not as quick and easy as some of rachel's meals are.

laken1 · Hermes

Honestly, the one I use the most is my Betty Crocker's New Cookbook: Everything you need to know to cook. It gives more basics than any other cookbook that I own (I have about 50) & I refer to it often. It's the common sense stuff that you should know but might not. Like how long to bake potatoes & how to make a cheese sauce. Plus it has yummy recipes.

calico · Kenneth Cole

I like every recipe that I have made from this cookbook, and they are really easy recipes too. Apparently it's Canadian though-- which I didn't know --so I don't know where you can get it in the States. It's called Best of the Best Vol. 1-- the best recipes from the "Best of Bridge" series.

I also like it because my mom gave it to me, so it's kinda of like a passing of the torch kinda of thing

Lilykind · Hermes

laken1 wrote:

Honestly, the one I use the most is my Betty Crocker's New Cookbook: Everything you need to know to cook. It gives more basics than any other cookbook that I own (I have about 50) & I refer to it often. It's the common sense stuff that you should know but might not. Like how long to bake potatoes & how to make a cheese sauce. Plus it has yummy recipes.

ITA. I learned to cook using a Betty Crocker cookbook from 1967. It's so funny how you think you know how to make everything but then the recipe in the cookbook manages to make it greater.

Pepper · Kenneth Cole

Nigella Lawson -Feast

Barefoot Contessa - The French Cookbook (that's not the name, but it's all supereasy french dishes that all look so yummy. I've made a couple of the recipes and enjoyed each a lot)

kittenheels · Coach

Julie Child - Mastering the Art of French Cooking - I must admit I've only cooked the potato leek soup (and it is delicious). They make for good reading - and some of the recipes I would never make for lack of time or inclination. However, they are tremendously inspiring.

Anything by Nigella Lawson. She is such a good writer, and her recipes unfailingly good.

I also really like my McCall's cookbook from 1960. It was my mother's when she first started to cook as a little girl, and it's just good and old fashioned.

The Gourmet cookbook (the big yellow one) is sort of a modern all-encompassing cookbook - and has the most wonderful brownie recipe ever!

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

Marion Burros, "The New Elegant But Easy Cookbook" and another one that I think is called "Cooking for Comfort" by Burros as well. The recipes are super reliable, but still impressive. I don't know how much you cook, but if you're into learning new ethnic cuisines, my favorite book right now is "Simply Thai Cooking" by Wendee Young and Byron Ayanoglu

mirbear · BCBG

I like Cooking with Faith Ford. Awesome southern recipes. I bought it because it had Lousiana Meat Pie & I've been missing those since highschool. However, I still can't cook. How does anyone find the time & how not to turn things are books I need? And I'm single for goodness sake, so what's up with that? It's hard to cook for one.

I love this one, too, as it gives lots of interesting info on veggies & great recipes.

My parent's use the Nigella Lawson one a lot & I also like the Joy of Cooking or an old Betty Crocker. The old Joy of Cooking, too, has good info.