Cookbook for Present?

[ceeveg]

A friend is getting married, and says that the one thing she would really like is a good cookbook. She says she doesn't know how to cook, but wants to learn how. Both she and her fiance do eat meat.

Any suggestions? I'd love to get her something really comprehensive, but easy to follow. I first thought maybe Joy of Cooking, but thought the layout might be initimdating. I was also thinking maybe one of those anniversary edition Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks, but would really like suggestions.

Thanks!!

[laohaire]

I liked "How to Cook Without a Book" by Pam Andersen. (Anderson?)

Her books don't make ANY assumptions about your skills, and give you step by step instructions without being condescending at all. But what's cool about that book is that she takes about a dozen or so dishes and teaches you how to make them in ways that don't depend on very specific ingredients. For example, steam/sauteeing vegetables. She has a framework that includes pretty much any vegetable you want (she just seperates them a bit since they have different cooking times), an aromatic (garlic or onion or both), a fat (olive oil or butter or both), and spices (with suggestions for specific pairings that work nicely with various vegetables).

So it's about real dishes that you would make on a weeknight (stir fry is another dish) and not French cooking. I love Julia Childs but I think you'd need to be comfortable with the basics first. Her audience at the time knew how to cook basics, but a generation or two later not all of us learned more than boiling pasta.

[zinemama]

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman is exactly what you are looking for. It is not intimidating and it's got pretty much any recipe you'd want to cook from chocolate pudding to the Thanksgiving turkey. It is my go-to book.

[dziejen]

I love the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. It has so many different types of recipes and there are many explanations and pictures about anything from cuts of meat to different veggies to grains and beans. It gives descriptions and pictures of how to cook most things. I use mine all the time. My friend passed this one along when she received the new edition as a gift.

[mamakah]

Six o clock scramble is great for those with little to know cooking skills. Its filled with quick meals using unprocessed (for the most part) and healthy ingredients. You can make a good dinner without spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

[Norasmomma]

Originally Posted by zinemama

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman is exactly what you are looking for. It is not intimidating and it's got pretty much any recipe you'd want to cook from chocolate pudding to the Thanksgiving turkey. It is my go-to book.

This is hands down one of the best all around cookbooks, Bittman rocks. His vegetarian version is great too. I love them both.

It shows you how to bake a chicken, make bread, make drinks, perfect rice pilaf and condiments. It's just a wonderful book in terms of a general cookbook, plus I like how he writes and it's a more rounded modern version of how to cook.

I also like that he goes into what items you need to have a decently stocked kitchen in terms of tools.

[ceeveg]

Thank you! These all sound great. I may have to put together a gift basket

[noobmom]

I'll third the recommendation for "How to Cook Everything". It's my most used cookbook.

[sewingmommy]

I have to recommend Americas test kitchen ....we have never had anything turn out bad .....and its simple

[Bokonon]

I have the original Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, and while I LMAO at the illustrations of housewives in their skirts, heels, and pearl necklaces vacuuming, I do refer to it for basic cooking instructions. I believe the new one has the same information without all the misogyny, but it's definitely geared toward people who are on their own and cooking for the first time.

But now I'm going to look up the other book suggested!

[neverdoingitagain]

Originally Posted by ceeveg

A friend is getting married, and says that the one thing she would really like is a good cookbook. She says she doesn't know how to cook, but wants to learn how. Both she and her fiance do eat meat.

Any suggestions? I'd love to get her something really comprehensive, but easy to follow. I first thought maybe Joy of Cooking, but thought the layout might be initimdating. I was also thinking maybe one of those anniversary edition Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks, but would really like suggestions.

Thanks!!

You don't happen to be Canadian, are you? If you are, I would recommend the Company's Coming cookbooks.
Either way, I looove getting cookbooks for presents! I might just pick up the recommended ones from the library

[lil_earthmomma]

Also if she doesn't know how to cook, could you show her the ropes so to speak?!? I know you're a veg, but the basic skills are the same kyim? Or you and another carnivore friend could do this together.

Buy her some cook books and put a book mark in the front of each book with a "gift certificate" for "learning to make: soup from scratch." "learning to make:_________" "learning to bake a pie." etc.

I was given this type of gift and it was so much fun to learn from friends!

[ms.shell]

i knew NOTHING about cooking when i was first married. someone gave me "Master Recipes" by Steven Schmidt and thanks to that book before long i had become a gourmet, hosting dinner parties and baking bread.
12 years later I am known as an excellent cook and now i have about 5 feet of cookbooks on the kitchen shelf, but I still nearly always turn to Master Recipes first when I want to know how to cook something.
He covers everything and gives a "master Recipe" and then gives variations (like, a "basic" meatloaf, followed by 4 or 5 other ways to make it, etc). By everything, I mean baking, broiling, roasting, sauteeing, etc meats (and talks about cuts, etc, and offers suggestions for accompaniments), fish, vegetables, stocks, sauces, breads- both quick breads and yeast breads, kitchen equipment, etc.

[kittenwhip]

Originally Posted by noobmom

I'll third the recommendation for "How to Cook Everything". It's my most used cookbook.

Fourth it! I have given this book to most of my non-cooking friends and they all love it. It's one of my favorites.

[aikigypsy]

My mother, who is a super-serious cook (cut her teeth on Julia Child) uses "How to Cook Everything" all the time these days. I still use the Silver Palate's "The New Basics Cookbook" more. It has some more interesting/frou-frou recipes, and I like the way it's arranged, and use its cooking time charts for beans and grains all the time. It has other useful charts, too.

[mamadelbosque]

I'l fourth or fifth or whatever the suggestion for "How to Cook Everything" by bittman! I have HTCE, HTCE: Vegetarian and "The Best Recipes in the World" - all by mark bittman and I use them all, ALL the time! They're great books and taught me SO. MUCH. about cooking its hard to describe. I don't actually cook out of them too much anymore (I have a lot of the recipes mostly memorized and so only need a glance at the ingredient lists most of the time, but they're great for references on how to cook X, Y or Z in a general way!!

[medicmama]

How about a recipie box filled with recipies from her friends kitchens. I got one for my wedding I love it! It has recipies the my grandmother made.

[luv-my-boys]

We have the betty crocker edition cookbook (red plaid one) that was given to us by our MIL to DH. It is awesome, I still use the book almost weekly. Although we are very good cooks it it still perfect for beginners. It has tried and true recipes WITH pictures so you know what its supposed to look like. It also gives nutritional infor on the recipe such as calories/sodium/fat content. It is in a binder style book with sections like desserts/breads /meat dishes/ and whatnot with an appendix at the back for quick reference. All the recipes have easily found items, I personally hate to get a *good* recipe to only find I need tons of exotic or hard to find items. It contains classics like mac and cheese, meatloaf and apple pie so they are some homestyle favorates as well as other recipes. Plus ours cam with a whole section on cooking tips like what type of oils to use for what, how to choose certain veggies/fruits and even how to slice/cut up things like chickens or meats even a how to cook a turkey section (i use it every thanksgiving!) Plus it gives a reference to differnt cuts of meats and what they are good for. I have given this cookbook as a wedding present before thats how much we like it because it is truly a good starting point and has a lot of reference items that even non beginners can use.

[Leenie]

I haven't heard of the Mark Bittman one, I am going to the used book store today and will see if I can find it too

I totally recommend the Betty Crocker one as well, it was my first cookbook, and there are so many recipes in there, most of which are great

You are a very thoughtful friend

[KayleeZoo]

A friend bought me America's Test Kitchen and I love it; and I do not cook at all (well, not before I got this book!) so my skills were rudimentary at best.