I’ve always loved cookbooks. If you’ve visited my house, you know I have a floor to ceiling bookshelf that is FULL of cookbooks – and I still have some in boxes that won’t fit on the shelf. I need to pare these down, and will do that at a yard sale this spring – I’ll only hang on to my very favorites. I know Barry is very relieved – he probably feels like the cookbooks are about to take over. Today I’ll share with you my top 5 favorite cookbooks.
I LOVE this set of cookbooks – it’s from Berea Christian Church, where my Mamaw used to attend. I got the white one when she died, and my mom bought the other two for me. I treasure this set….and I use it all the time. They’re full of awesome family recipes (a lot of my family attend this church) and awesome WHOLE FOOD recipes. Since the white one is fairly old, it has recipes in it like lard, salt risen bread, and fried squirrel. While I won’t be making fried squirrel any time soon (it is entirely too greasy for me), I do like that there are older recipes in there. For the most part, any time you can buy an older church cookbook – DO IT. They are the best, in my humble opinion – full of treasure and cultural recipes. Be warned though – some recipes might make you want to scream. “Add flour until it looks right. Pour into pan. Bake in a moderate oven until done.” HUH?! I need specifics here, people!
This was my very first cookbook, given to me by my Grandmaw Miller – Alpha Bakery. I still use it on a regular basis – altering the recipes for our whole foods diet. There’s a recipe in the book for every letter of the alphabet. My favorite banana bread recipe of all time is found in here. There are also other fun recipes like Elephant Ears and Turtle Bread. They do kinda stretch the idea a bit with Xtra Special Birthday cake. If their point was to teach letters and words – they sorta messed it up on that one. To this day I still have issues spelling “xtra.” 😉
Barry bought this Holiday Celebrations cookbook for me right after we got married – if memory serves correctly, for our first Christmas (I can’t really rely on memory – I have Momnesia). I use it all year long, not just at Christmas. I love the bread recipes in there. There are great traditional holiday meals inside, along with meals that are quick because we all know the holidays can be sorta crazy. I will NOT be parting with this cookbook. Some of my favorite recipes of all time are in here. My goal is to eventually make everything in the book – of course I also have the goal to dust my house, but we know how THAT is going down.
If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve most likely picked up on my love (okay, okay – over obsession) with Pioneer Woman. When her cookbook came out, I HAD to have it. There wasn’t any hesitation on my part. It. Is. Awesome!!! You should have this cookbook. I use it all the time. When I tell Barry I’m making a Pioneer Woman dish for dinner, he looks forward to it all day. She has NEVER disappointed. Her Chicken Spaghetti will knock your socks off. They are delicious, easy recipes. It’s good, down home cooking – our favorite kind. The pictures included are just amazing…I love up close shots of cows. Yes, I realize I’m odd. She’s coming out with another one in 2012…and you can be sure it will also be a part of my collection.
My mom gave me the Betty Crocker Bridal Cookbook when I got married. This cookbook ranks right up there with my church cookbook collection. It has great, basic recipes in it. If I don’t know what to cook, I just grab this cookbook. I know I’ll have the ingredients and I’ll be able to follow the recipes – no Bouillabaisse in here! It was my favorite wedding gift….and it might be one of the very few I still have around. 😀 This is an excellent cookbook for a new bride who doesn’t know how to cook – lots of explanations. I also like the substitution chart in the very back. Golden information!
So, what’s YOUR favorite cookbook of all time?
Hey, we have the AlphaBakery cookbook, too! It’s my favorite kids’ cookbook. My daughter also has the Pioneer Woman’s first cookbook. I think my most used are a 25-cent ancient Betty Crocker my hubs and I got at a garage sale when we were first married, my Jan Karon Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader which fits perfectly with the novel series, and my first edition, autographed copy of Crock On: A Semi-Real Food Slow Cooker Cookbook. Maybe you’ve heard of it. 🙂
Sounds like it’s right up my alley. 😉 The Alpha Bakery was my FIRST cookbook. It’s very special to me.
Anything Pioneer Woman is awesome!!! The new cookbook is amazing and well worth the money!
YES! Barry bought it for me! Can’t wait to try her Chicken Parmesan!
One of my favorites is Whole Foods for the Whole Family put out by the La Leche League in 1981, I think. Cheap, easy, basics with variations. The other is one I put together myself from magazine clippings and online sources. It’s just a binder with stuff in sheet protectors. I call it “Yuck, Eeuww Gross and I’m not Eating That”.
LOL That’s a hoot Karen! I have a notebook like that too…..but we like the stuff in it. Ha, ha!
We do actually like the stuff in Y, EG & INET, it is just that those were always the comments whenever something new and unrecognized was served but not yet tried when the kids were little. I first started reciting the comments back, whenever a kid asked, usually with some odd facial expression, “What’s THAT?!?” Eventually it became the response to “What’s for supper?”, especially when it was obvious.
🙂 So cute! And something they’ll remember forever.
I have that one too!
My all-time favorite is a vintage Fannie Farmer cookbook, because it has recipes for everything from the mundane (a pot of coffee) to the gourmet (never tried one, so I don’t have an example) and everything in between. It also has tips for everything sprinkled throughout, like how to frost cakes. And it has some basic information on preservation.
Anne…..the goal of this post was for me to GET RID of some cookbooks….and now you’re making me want another one. 😉
My favourite cookbooks are More-with-Less Cookbook: suggestions by Mennonites on how to eat better and consume less of the world’s limited food resources by Doris Janzen Longacre, 1976, for quick, simple, frugal meals; Joy of Cooking, 1962 edition, for how to cook anything; and Laurel’s Kitchen by Laurel Robertson, 1976, for all things vegetarian.
Ooohhhhh, I love Mennonite cookbooks!
Granddaughter Inglenook! Do you have THAT cookbook? If not you should add to your collection.
Noooooooooooooo. Must now I’m intrigued. Do tell?
My mom just gave me a cookbook of my grandmother’s. It is a church cookbook from 1917. I loved looking through it and trying many of the recipes. You are so right about the “cook in moderatley hot oven” type instructions. More details needed. FIngers crossed my best guesses turn out ok! 🙂
1917? I’m SO jealous!
I love my Jamie Oliver Food Revolution cookbook. I’ve had so much fun making “fancy” dishes. 🙂
🙂 I like being fancy…..except fancy sometimes means yucky around my house. LOL
I was just talking with my mother this morning how ridiculous we are about recipes and cookbooks! Even if I were to choose a different recipe a day from all the cookbooks I have and the massive amount of recipes pulled from magazines and now the internet (thanks Stacy) it would take more than my lifetime I’m sure! Plus, the sad thing is I still will resort to tacos or salmon patties for dinner because I didn’t plan anything out even with those wonderful recipes at my disposal. Sigh. What I go to a lot is a cookbook I bought and used when I was in college and then stored it in my hopechest until I got married. It’s the Complete Step by Step Cookbook by Better Homes and Gardens. I use it for my cherry pie, apple pie and deviled eggs recipes. It has great pictures with (you guessed it) step by step instructions for really basic things like browning meats, making sauces, and the like. I also use a classic BH&G New Cookbook for old stand-bys like beef stew. Rose Levy’s Rose’s Christmas Cookies cookbook is well-used this time of year.
I know….I have WAY too many. I need to pair them down – I think I’ll do that next week. 🙂
Nourishing Traditions!!!
Very popular one. 🙂
I have a church cookbook that I use often… I grew up with it. Also, Nourishing Traditions has been one that I’m trying to use more often. 🙂
Church cookbooks are the BEST!
The 1952? Better homes and garden cookbook. It has the best pastry recipes.
I also have some Berea cookbooks!! My mom and dad went to Berea college in the 60s, she has given me all kinds of old ones she bought while there. The best church ones I have are from Grundy Baptist church (1960s) and Kingsley UMC.
My absolute favorite is homemade though. After my grandmother past my mom and aunt compiled all her recipes for the family. I use it all the time!
Yum, pastries! Any cookbook with pastries is a winner. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! I really like the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook from the 50’s–I use it a lot. I also enjoy the Moosewood Cookbooks when I’m looking for something vegetarian. For Appalachian recipes, I like the Old Timey Recipes book I picked up at the Cave House for a few dollars.
Old cookbooks are always best. 🙂
I learned to cook with a Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook of about 1950 vintage. I literally wore it out. I have bought 2 more recent versions over the years, only 1 still survives. I consider it the final authority.
Ahhh, I have the 1950s version too – from my Grandmother. But it doesn’t get any use. 🙂 It’s decoration in my kitchen because I’m afraid of ruining it – but I do like to look through the pictures sometimes. 🙂 I have the newer version for using and you’re right – it’s great. For some reason, I seem to prefer the Betty Crocker one……it’s likely just sentimental.