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Trisha Yearwood's cookbooks are surprisingly good! And all of Paula Deen's. By far, the best ones though are ones you can find at Goodwills or thrift stores that are just soft-bound books put out by churches or schools or junior leagues. These always have the BEST recipes.
The weight watchers cookbooks are great. I've made so many meals from them and they are quite delish.
I also enjoy the Kind Diet from Alicia Silverstone.
I love all Ina Garten's cookbooks (Barefoot Contessa series)
Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything
Also, my SIL gave me Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious for Christmas. I think it will come in handy when we have kids, but for now I don't use it much, because my husband will eat almost anything I put in front of him without complaint.
I like the Weight Watchers cook books as well. I just got the 2011 one which has some awesome things in it.
My least favorite are the Hungry Girl ones. Her recipes are healthy but the ingredients are just things I never have on hand. And I hate to say it, but I never ever use the Joy of Cooking. I think I am intimidated by it.
I got the Better Homes Cook Book (the red/white checked book) for Christmas and I really like it. It has a lot of "oldie but goodies" in there as well as definitions/glossary/ect. It also has pictures for almost all of the recipes which I like.
@Bostongrl25: I never use the classic cookbooks like Joy of Cooking either! That was the whole thing behind this post because I feel intimidated by a lot of cookbooks or I can't use them for basic daily cooking because they use random ingredients I rarely have. My hubs does most of the cooking, but with him working about 3 nights a week now I need to improve my cooking skills.
Yup, totally understand. Ive actually been using websites lately more than my cookbooks. I am obsessed with skinnytaste.com. Most of her recipes use normal , everyday ingredients and are easy enough to make on a weeknight.
I also agree with Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks. It has so many staples in it, from things I would cook everyday, plus appetizers and desserts if you are entertaining, and also some really good holiday recipes. And in the back it has a list of emergency substitutions if you are out of something and you've already started the recipe or whatever.
The Joy of Cooking, every kitchen should have it! Girls don't be intimidated by this book, it has great tips for the most basic skills you need in the kitchen. I also change the ingrediants around if the recipe calls for something I don't have. My family is never disappointed.
@Bostonsmom: Oh that's pretty handy that it has that situation thing!
Thanks ladies, keep 'em coming!
Anyone used The Illustrated Cook series? I saw one at Anthropologie and found several more in the series on Amazon (Quick Cook, Ingredients, Kitchen Bible, etc), but I'm wondering if it's actually worth ordering.
My favorite cookbook is one published by the junior league of my hometown like 30 years ago... it's so popular in the area they keep re-printing it :)
http://www.amazon.com/Pinata-Junior-Service-League-Mcallen/dp/0960454802
i use mark bittman's how to cook everything vegetarian alll the time--he has fantastic basic recipes, and then ideas for changing it up. there's a non-vegetarian version too
I'll put in another vote for Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything!! It's a great cookbook with every basic you could think of, variations on themes, definitions of terms and equipment, etc. Buy it!
I have a lot of cookbooks and love almost all of them, but the one I use the most often (I'd say I cook from it about once a week) is Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. You can get a lot of his recipes online, too, at jamieoliver.com, but having the cookbook is so convenient for me; from the photos to the organization to the recipes themselves, it's my very favorite!
I should actually say--I'm making 3 recipes from it tonight! One for orangey baked carrots, one for baked cod, and one for salmon fillets cooked in a pouch with pesto.
We get a CSF (community supported fishery) share, and our freezer is starting to overflow with really high quality fish, so I thought I'd cook some up for dinner and we can have good lunches tomorrow :-)
I seriously LOVE the Hungry Girl 1-2-3 cookbooks! They have everything from four ingredient recipes, to slow cooker, to appetizers, to dinner for one and two. I think it's awesome! Plus they are WW points approved meals :)
I love Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone"--even if you're not vegetarian (which I'm not), it's got a lot of great, easy recipes. It offers lots of "variation on a theme" type of recipes, too; for example, the basic buttermilk muffin recipe has variations for spice muffins, fresh fruit, dried fruit, date-nut, etc. It's also great if you occasionally pick up random vegetables at the market and need inspiration for what to do with them.
Re: Joy of Cooking, I have the copy my mother got when she got married, which is old enough that it contains a recipe for squirrel stew! I have not tried it, but their banana bread recipe is my old faithful standby.
I agree with those who said the Better Homes and Gardens one. Even though I can manage in a kitchen, it has some of those basics that I never learned, like conversions (ok, maybe I learned them...but don't remember them now ;) ).
For online receipes, I also like the Pioneer Woman. She takes pictures at every step, which is really helpful for me so I know what my dish is supposed to look like. I recently made her roasted vegetable minestrone and it was so delicious I ate it for lunch every day for a week, and I've never done that!
I love all of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks, Barefoot Contessa, The Pioneer Woman, and "The Art of Simple Food" by Alice Waters!
I like Gooseberry Patch cookbooks :) I just got Christmas in the Country and there are a lot of great recipes inside!
I almost forgot.... I also love the recipes in Southern Living magazine. I found the banana praline crunch recipe that FI LOVES and also the bacon brown sugar brussel sprouts my family loves. (Seriously, they eat like 4lbs of brussel sprouts when I make them for the holidays)
That mag is the bomb!
Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. It's very accessible, works with a lot of basic ingredients, fits well with modern understandings of healthy eating (no Julia Child-style "start with 2 sticks of butter"), and my very favorite thing about it is that many recipes have suggested variations, so that you can make the same recipe different ways for variety, or depending on what's in the kitchen.
My favorite, go-to, use every time, failproof cookbook is "Quick and Kosher" by Jamie Gellar. Even if kosher doesn't mean anything for you, the recipes are amazing and every single thing has been good!! And super easy and user friendly - it's my go-to engagement gift!
@BunnyBrideToBe: I love Jamie's Food Revolution! It's one of my favourites.
Mr CB is also slowing cooking his way through Vij's, which is a cookbook done by the man who owns an amazing restaurant in Vancouver. To do the recipes like Vij does though, you need some specialty spices. Mr CB and I went on a mission one day to find them, then we toasted and ground our own garam masala (curry spices). A bit of effort, yes, but SO. TASTY.
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What cookbook do you use most often for everyday cooking? I'm looking for a range of cookbook suggestions, from your favorite overall to the best for simple everyday cooking, to the ones to stay away from.