# Why can't I just get the most generic recipe for something? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258 "2009-09-23T17:16:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/21 "2009-09-23T21:32:56Z")
Go to a second hand (book) shop and get a 70s or earlier generic “housewives” cookbook. And good luck 🙂 You’ll be amazed at some of the stuff in there. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/22 "2009-09-23T21:36:45Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > There’s something to be said for mom’s beat up old recipe box, with recipes cut out from the newspaper and taped on to cards, or cut from the back of a package and shoved between the cards, or yellowed, folded bits of paper that someone wrote a recipe on at a party one time… > > If I want comfort food, I know where to find it. It’s in that box! My mom just gave me her recipe box and collection of about 200 cookbooks … she can’t cook anymore because of the alzheimers and she knows we love to cook … so I just scored several generations of classic amish and farm cooking from my childhood. I forsee some good hearty cooking in the near future! ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/23 "2009-09-23T21:49:47Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I just scored several generations of classic amish and farm cooking from my childhood. Can I be adopted? I’ll help take care of your mom. ---
**Author:** ![satoridt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@satoridt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satoridt)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/24 "2009-09-23T21:50:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I bet **Strassia** rues that particular misspelling. made me smile…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/25 "2009-09-24T00:37:45Z")
I don’t like The Joy Of Cooking very much for reasons I can’t put my finger on. I greatly prefer the Better Homes and Garden, Fannie Farmer, and Pilsbury Complete cookbooks that I grew up with. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/26 "2009-09-24T01:10:40Z")
I like The New Best Recipe. It’s from the editors of Cook’s Illustrated and gives an explanation of why the recipes are the way they are. Though they do tend to be on the complicated side. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/27 "2009-09-24T01:25:35Z")
Church fundraiser cookbooks from your locale will give you the ingredients and proportions that you need, but sometimes they are light on instruction (because the submitters of the recipes assume knowledge of basics by the readers). Supplement with Fannie Farmer and Betty Crocker, but you should probably watch the first 2 or 3 seasons of Good Eats (Alton Brown). Actually seeing someone perform the task will be immensely helpful. He also gives you a lot of the science behind the recipes, so judging from your post, I think you will enjoy him. ---
**Author:** ![Countrypolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/858c86/32.png) [@Countrypolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Countrypolitan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/28 "2009-09-24T02:05:16Z")
I have a reprint of one of the Betty Crocker books from the 50s. It’s written in a style that first time cooks can understand, and has lots of illustrations and step-by-step instructions. If you want some Southern old style cooking, get a Betty Feezor cook book or _Charleston Receipts_ (the reprint of the original, not the new one). ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/29 "2009-09-24T02:50:39Z")
I don’t know if this is still in print, but I have an excellent starter cookbook. ‘Let’s Start to Cook’ - never fail recipes for beginners by the editors of Farm Journal by Nell B. Nichols copyright 1966 I am a complete lazy idiot when it comes to cooking, but whenever I try, I use this cookbook and have good results. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/30 "2009-09-24T03:33:53Z")
I’ve been teaching myself to cook lately, and a lot of great recommendations in this thread. One I loved from my mom, when my younger sister complimented BrassyMother, years ago by saying: “You need to write your recipes down, Mom! They’re so good!” BrassyMother: “Oh thank you 😃 But honey? Everything I’ve ever made is on the back of a box somewhere.” She is a good cook, though she did almost kill us a few times. (What? She was like 22 y.o. when I was a kid and she was guessing at everything.) Start with those recipes. I’ve made a few and they are good and simple. Usually too salty, but you’ll learn to get some different spices to change it. Marinate and bake chicken. Ground beef/turkey is easy and easily frozen to reuse. Once in a while try a recipe that is more complicated too. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/31 "2009-09-24T03:56:28Z")
I have to tell you that basic cooking does require some spices or it tastes very dull. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/32 "2009-09-24T10:37:19Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Can I be adopted? I’ll help take care of your mom. LOL I am going to be scanning in and cleaning up the recipes, and adding in the tiny little scribbled notes, and eventually trying to put them online somewhere. Well, except for the cookbooks, those are just run of the mill, except for some victorian ones that she found in a box bought at an antiques auction =) mrAru and I really _really_ want for his job to change him over to full time telecommute, and the price on greatgrandfathers house to drop to $200K so we can move back there [and sell the farm in connecticut] and I would have a library that would house the books comfortably … _sigh_ Better start buying those lottery tickets! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/33 "2009-09-24T12:48:35Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > What I would like (and what I was hoping the OP was about–I guess it is, to some extent) is someplace I can go to learn how to cook seriously basic food. The kind of stuff everybody just assumes everyone already knows how to cook. You know, things like how to broil a steak, or cook a chicken breast or a pork chop, or make normal, non-gourmet meatloaf. > > … > > Does anybody make a “cooking for clueless” sort of recipe book that assumes pretty much no knowledge of how to do anything beyond stick things in the microwave and hit “go”? That would be _How to Cook Everything_. It also covers how to shop for ingredients and how to tell when food is done. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/34 "2009-09-24T22:07:24Z")
> [@hobscrk777](#): > > What I do when I’m trying to get a generic version of a recipe is look for it on All Recipes, then on Epicurious, and then do a Google search. After reading about 20 different version of a particular dish, I feel like I have a much better understanding the of essence of the recipe. This is EXACTLY what I do only I use [cooks.com](http://cooks.com). I’ll have to search the others. It becomes pretty obvious what the main ingredients are when you look at 20 recipes. I usually copy 2 or 3 of them on to a sheet of paper and make notes. After that I retype it, stick a photo on it and then put it in a sheet protector. School binder’s make the best cook books because they open flat and sheet protectors let you spill stuff on them all day long. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/35 "2009-09-26T09:11:23Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I don’t like The Joy Of Cooking very much for reasons I can’t put my finger on. I greatly prefer the Better Homes and Garden, Fannie Farmer, and Pilsbury Complete cookbooks that I grew up with. Which edition of The Joy do you have/have you encountered? Some are better than others, and unfortunately the one I have (late 90s or very early '00s, I don’t recall exactly) is much less useful than editions that came before and after. It’s too restaurant-y and removed a lot of the domestic skills topics like canning. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/36 "2009-09-26T09:55:03Z")
The Fanny Farmer cookbook is full of basic recipes and it’s a cheap paperback. So I recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/37 "2009-09-26T10:15:52Z")
Another vote for **How to Cook Everything**. It’s recipes are basic but not dumbed down, and it teaches you the basic principles behind the recipes so that you learn how to be a real chef, not just a person who can follow recipes. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258/38 "2009-09-27T02:49:35Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > This is EXACTLY what I do only I use [cooks.com](http://cooks.com). I’ll have to search the others. > > It becomes pretty obvious what the main ingredients are when you look at 20 recipes. I usually copy 2 or 3 of them on to a sheet of paper and make notes. After that I retype it, stick a photo on it and then put it in a sheet protector. School binder’s make the best cook books because they open flat and sheet protectors let you spill stuff on them all day long. I thought I was the only weird one who cooked from a recipe, but didn’t. I don’t know about 20 versions, but I will definitely do 5-10, check out the techniques used, the basic flavors involved, and then just rely on my senses in the kitchen, unless it’s baking. Then I’m a total slave to the recipe. I can’t bake by instinct ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-just-get-the-most-generic-recipe-for-something/511258.md?page=1)