# A love for cookbooks: An Epicurean MMP **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** mmp\ **Created:** [November 10, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971 "2008-11-10T01:49:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/41 "2008-11-10T12:16:32Z")
The only cookbooks I have with me are my mom’s compilations of recipes in notebooks. One fine day I’ll go through them and actually make some of them other than the old standbys I’ve been relying on through College Days. Especially now that I’m trying to eat better. (Since those recipes were collected through the 1970s and 1980s I’m not sure how _better_ they are, but they’re more balanced than what I’ve got right now. I hope). I’m thinking about stealing one of my friend’s vegetarian cookbooks for the summer. I need creative ideas on what to do for veggies besides “eat them raw/cook them and eat them on the side.” **Nava** , there’s an old cookbook at my dad’s house that explains how to boil water (the American equivalent of “can’t fry an egg”). It also has one of the best shortbread recipes ever. Easy, too–only three ingredients! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/42 "2008-11-10T12:45:49Z")
> [@Noone\_Special](#): > > Getting all hot ‘n’ bothered **without** another person’s help is… non-optimal, shall we say… The problem there is the cooling-off, though. I have some minibottles of white wine (two cups each) I bought for the dinner I gave a couple weeks back which never got opened, and I understand white wine should be cool… you got the key to _that_ room, right? **Spaz** , mind giving that recipe? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/43 "2008-11-10T12:54:31Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The problem there is the cooling-off, though. I have some minibottles of white wine (two cups each) I bought for the dinner I gave a couple weeks back which never got opened, and I understand white wine should be cool… you got the key to _that_ room, right? Sounds like a plan. 🙂 Ice cubes are said to work, too… (Hey, that’s what they showed in the movies, way back when… ;)) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/44 "2008-11-10T13:29:13Z")
Hey! What’s all this flirting doing in my MMP? **Nava… Nooner** I’m looking at you both, hmmm. 😃 Well, I’m so glad y’all like the OP! I could have listed so many more of mine, including Sundays at Moosewood which has one of my favorite recipes. Welcome to all the new MMPers. Sorry, once you post you belong to us. That’s what happened to me… ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/45 "2008-11-10T13:45:07Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > **Spaz** , mind giving that recipe? 🙂 I’ll see if I can find it when I go to my dad’s place for Thanksgiving. All I can remember is that it calls for flour, sugar and butter, but I don’t remember the proportions or what kind of sugar. ---
**Author:** ![SpecialAgentJem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@SpecialAgentJem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpecialAgentJem)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/46 "2008-11-10T13:46:42Z")
I really missed you guys!!! My favourite cookbook is… a students guide to cooking. Simple food that can be made in a hurry which is all I need. I tried one of the more difficult receipes and made myselg gag! I tend to stick to the more simple things - stick with what you know. I have many allergies but I think the two that bother me the most are nuts and eggs. Its really difficult to find a nice pudding where you can omit these two ingredients! grrr! ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/47 "2008-11-10T14:06:21Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Hey! What’s all this flirting doing in my MMP? **Nava… Nooner** I’m looking at you both, hmmm. 😃 Jealous…? 😛 > [@SpecialAgentJem](#): > > I really missed you guys!!! This guy missed you, too 🙂 Hmmm… there must be \*\*something \*\*about the lasses living in Scotland (whether permanently or temporarily) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/48 "2008-11-10T14:18:21Z")
Monring all! My favorite cookbooks are **Bell’s Best 1 + 2** put out by what was called at the time South Central Bell (then Southern Bell then Bellsouth then ATT then Bellsouth then Auntie Wilma’s Down Home Phone Company then AT&T again). I also like my grandmother’s Better Homes and Garden’s cookbook from the 50’s (red checkered cover) and I absolutely love my mom’s 1963 Good Housekeeping. Almost all of my (my mom’s really) cookbook are centered around southern cooking and theme cooking - Roll Tide Cook and stuff like that. I can make a tailgate snack for 50 people blindfolded and with one hand tied behind my back!! ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/49 "2008-11-10T14:39:15Z")
Boy, is this an MMP I can relate to or what? 🙂 I collect vintage cookbooks as a hobby. I don’t cook from all of them, since a lot of the books that fascinate me sprang from the 1950-1960 obsession with convenience cooking… they’re great fun to read, but I have no intention of ever making ham baked in Dr Pepper, or tuna surprise casserole. I do use some of my books, though: **Joy of Cooking** , (1970s edition): yes, I do have the new edition from the 1990s, but it just doesn’t hold a candle to the original edition. I learned to cook from the two-volume paperback set that’s in my collection, and my mom gave it to me when I moved into residence 12 years ago. I will love it and use it until it finally falls apart (vol 2 is already being held together with a rubber band). **The Breakfast Book** by Marion Cunningham: Marion is the furthest thing from food snob - her recipes are simple, homey, and completely unpretentious. I also have a copy of The Supper Book that I use on occasion. **Baking with Julia** by Dorie Greenspan: an absolute classic from two of the grand dames of all things baking-related. I have no idea how I lived without this book - it’s so clearly written that even challenges like wedding cakes seem achievable. **Fear of Frying** by James Barber: I grew up watching The Urban Peasant on CBC every afternoon after school, so James had as much to do with teaching me to cook as my parents did. This little book is full of sketches and stories and recipes by James (I’ll scan some pages to show off when I get home… it’s undescribably wonderful). James passed away a couple of years ago - he was found sitting at his kitchen table, where he had been reading a book, with a pot of chicken soup simmering on the stovetop. That’s how I’d like to go, when my time comes. **The Perfect Scoop** by David Lebovitz: The ice cream book to end all ice cream books (as well as the sorbet book to end all sorbet books, and the gelato book to end all gelato books). His recipe for fresh fig gelato is beyond description. …and there are probably a half-dozen others that get pulled out every 3-4 months when I realise they’re being neglected, but I’d be here all day if I started listing those too. 🙂 My newest acquisition is **Eat Me** by Kenny Shopsin. I bought the book a couple of weeks ago after eating at Shopsin’s during my NYC trip… I just had to see if his book would be as random, insane and cheerfully rude as the man himself actually is. Now that I’ve read the book and look back on our visit, I’m completely amazed that we weren’t kicked out (something Kenny does with alarming frequency, apparently). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/50 "2008-11-10T14:39:44Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Hey! What’s all this flirting doing in my MMP? **Nava… Nooner** I’m looking at you both, hmmm. 😃 Well, so come on in and bring some munchies to accompany the wine! ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/51 "2008-11-10T14:49:44Z")
Great OP, **soapy**! I have many cookbooks. My foundation book is a very old Betty Crocker that belonged to Mr. Anachi’s mom. I also like it for the temp tables and descriptions of cooking techniques. It’s also where I go for traditional recipes like Hollandaise sauce and Caesar Salad from scratch. I also have a healthy foods cookbook, a church lady cookbook, a party food cookbook, a baking cookbook, and multitudes of printouts and clipping recipes. **Soul Brother** , does your name imply you might have some _faaaaabulous_ soul food recipes??? Hmmmm, I need to go search for a new dessert for Thanksgiving. Holy Moly! First on two and it’s not even 10 ayem EST. Tupug ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/52 "2008-11-10T14:52:30Z")
Morning, everyone! Thanks for such a great idea for the OP, **Soapy**!🙂 There’s only one lunch today so I’m just now getting to work. It’s a bit chilly in here because I haven’t turned the heat on yet. But I’m going to try to hold out as long as I can because I just turned the a/c off about 2 weeks ago. I’m going to limit myself to 5 or so cookbooks that I always use. (Not really in any particular order.) 1. **Betty Crocker Cookbook**. I have both a 1970s version and 1990s version. This is how I learned to cook. 2. **The Joy of Cooking**. I started leaning towards this one when I started taking all of my culinary classes. It is my standard reference book. 3. **Rosie’s Bakery, All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No-Holds-Barred Baking Book**. This book has some great recipes and it is also fun to read her little anecdotes. It includes a great recipe for chocolate cream cheese brownies. 4. \*\* Death by Chocolate \*\*and all the other similar books by Marcel Desaulniers. These books are amazingly beautiful. I’ll admit that I’ve only tried a few of the recipes because most of them seem fairly labor intense to me. But I just can’t help drooling over all the luscious pictures. 5. \*\*Top Secret Recipes \*\*and others in the series by Todd Wilbur. I’ve gathered quite a few tasty recipes from these books. My favorite clone is Cracker Barrel’s Chicken and Dumplings. And, also a mention for my oddest cookbook… **Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/53 "2008-11-10T15:01:44Z")
Great OP, **Soapy**! Welcome to our newest members! I can’t remember the names of most of my cookbooks, except The Joy of Cooking. I have quite a few, probably around twenty. I don’t cook from them though, except for reference. I have a Paul Prudhomme one that lists recipes for unusual Cajun ingredients that is fun to read. (Like gator and possum.) I also have an Encyclopedia for Cuisine that I got at a garage sale. Beuatiful pictures in that book. I mostly cook from my own thrown together recipe book in a binder, printed from AllRecipes and the Food Network, and torn out of magazines. I write all over these as I tweak them. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/54 "2008-11-10T15:06:47Z")
**Nava** - your local Waterstone’s/Ottakers/Blackwells might carry a book called “How to boil an egg” which was aimed at students. The instructions are very clear and well explained, and it also covers cooking in small quantities. For curry recipes, I would recommend Madhur Jaffrey’s “Curry Bible” or maybe Vicky Bhogal’s “Cooking like Mummyji” but it’s worth a look in your local library to see what they’ve got before you go and buy something. I can’t even begin to think of the number of hours I must have spent in bookstores looking at recipe books and drooling over the wonderful things I could have made if I’d got the time, patience, skill and even if I just understood the recipe! ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/55 "2008-11-10T15:33:42Z")
We have a cabinet full of cookbooks, large and small. Hands down, my favorites are the homegrown ones, published by the church ladies or the local Junior League, followed closely by the Southern Living or Taste of Home annuals. Yup, it’s definitely fall in Cottonfield County. We had our once a year fire page to the Mayberry Nursing Home for a smell of smoke. The dust in the room heater filters was a half inch think, because the maintenance guy hasn’t cleaned them since we were there for the same thing last fall. :rolleyes: Be very very quiet, I’m playing hookie from work. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/56 "2008-11-10T15:46:25Z")
I also mention **Moosewood** for their fresh garden salad, it’s thee way to build a salad. Of course many other goodies, must look up risotto there, thanks smartaleq! Encyclopedia of Food & Cookery / Margaret Fulton (seems to have disappeared from print) Chinese Regional Cooking / Lucille Lang Sunset books and Betty Crocker There is more and it all spills out of our cookbook nook and the top drawer where clippings are stuffed ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/57 "2008-11-10T15:47:43Z")
Thanks, **BooFae** , I’ll give the library a twirl when I’m back in town after Christmas! I’m leaving next Friday, so there isn’t much of a point in going now. I know I have an American Chemical Society cookbook. My favourites are books which aren’t cookbooks, but stories including recipes; one which may ring bells is Like Water For Chocolate. The pictures in most regular cookbooks tend to look irreally pretty, to me. It’s like instead of having a picture of fabada they have a picture of Plato’s Fabada. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/58 "2008-11-10T16:02:44Z")
> [@Bacon\_Salt](#): > > My favorite cookbook is Jeff Smith’s **The Frugal Gourmet**. It is obvious from reading it that it is a labor of love. Short anecdotes accompany every recipe and stories about his experiences with and philosophy of food pepper the book. Recipes appear from all over the globe, from Lebanon to Kenya to China to New England and damn near everywhere in between. Some recipes, such as the Peking Duck seem to be too much trouble to be worth making (a bicycle pump is involved), but the vivid descriptions… oh! He has lots of low fat/low sodium recipes, he advocates using meat more as a side dish or flavoring, he encourages experimentation, and he explains cooking concepts in a concise, easy-to-understand way. It’s a bit of a culinary time capsule because even though it was published less than 25 years ago, it tells you that you can find things such as tofu, sesame oil, orzo, and coconut milk at specialty markets or fancy grocery stores. I hadn’t realized that the selection in grocery stores had changed that much in the last quarter century. I completely forgot about this cookbook! My mom has it and I love getting copies of recipes from it. I’ll forget about it until I go to visit, then voraciously read it, marketing half the pages as I go. What a gem. I also love the **Breadbaker’s Apprentice**. I think I got the recommendation for it on the Dope, and it was some of the best cooking advice I’ve ever taken. ---
**Author:** ![taxi78cab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@taxi78cab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taxi78cab)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/59 "2008-11-10T16:08:50Z")
> [@Mahna\_Mahna](#): > > **Joy of Cooking** , (1970s edition): yes, I do have the new edition from the 1990s, but it just doesn’t hold a candle to the original edition. I learned to cook from the two-volume paperback set that’s in my collection, and my mom gave it to me when I moved into residence 12 years ago. I will love it and use it until it finally falls apart (vol 2 is already being held together with a rubber band). This. We have a newer edition, but the older version is the cooking bible. **Soapy** , how would you know how to skin a squirrel if you don’t have the older version?? Despite my love of cooking, I’m not particularly partial to cookbooks. They take up lots of space, and if you’re lucky you get one or two recipes from each one. I have a few like Joy for reference, but mostly I search online for recipes for whatever I want to make, print them out, try them, and if they pass, they go into a binder. Actually, it’s progressed to two binders now plus at least a dozen recipes next to the binders waiting to get holes punched so they can get filed. I prefer this method because then when I pick up my binder, I know we like every recipe in there. And we _really_ like the ones that are covered in food stains. :rolleyes: 😛 For whoever was looking for Thanksgiving dessert recipes, we make pumpkin cheesecake every year, and it’s amazing. I’ll have to find the recipe at home if anyone wants that. Or, if you want something simpler, this [pumpkin cake recipe](http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/luscious-four-layer-pumpkin-cake-65930.aspx) looks spectacular and tastes even better. I’ve had people who don’t like pumpkin say they love it. It’s surprisingly light so it’s a nice way to end a heavy dinner. If, like my husband, you’re anti-Cool Whip, just replace that in the pumpkin cake recipe with real whipped cream. And if you’re a religiously-from-scratch cook, just make a yellow cake from scratch and add in pumpkin. But even Alton says it’s ok to use box mix (I don’t know which episode of Good Eats, but he said that the box mixes already contain all the ingredients so, basically, why bother putting them all together yourself? But then again, in another episode - I think the angel food cake one - he said it’s better to make it from scratch. So… do what you want, but the pumpkin cake is amazing. Use less powdered sugar than called for in the filling if you prefer not-too-sweet desserts.) ETA: Oooh, I found the pumpkin cheesecake recipe. It’s at [Epicurious](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Bourbon-Pumpkin-Cheesecake-108770). ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971/60 "2008-11-10T16:16:32Z")
**taxi** , that was me looking for recipes and that cake looks nummy. I usually make pumpkin cheesecake, too, but am entertaining something different for this year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-for-cookbooks-an-epicurean-mmp/471971.md?page=4)