Concerning cook books

So sometimes when people ask me how married life is, they ask about how I manage working full time and cooking and cleaning and all that good stuff. Honestly, I have no idea. I'm semi organized? I like cooking and I like it when the house is clean so that's fairly motivating... :) I plan meals for the week... I dunno? But anyway. Yeah, I'm not sure how/where I learned to cook and bake. Mom says I just have "the touch," whatever that means. I helped Mom some growing up, but it was never a formal, "and today we are going to make meatloaf" kind of thing. Speaking of meatloaf. Shelly and I are bad at meatloaf. I've gotten much better at it.

I don't really use recipes much since we usually just have meat, potato, vegetable, and occasionally fruit. Bob and I both like stuff fairly plain and simple. It's probably healthier that way, and recipes usually take way more time and more ingredients than I have. This is the one cookbook that I look at regularly:



It's the best. My Grandma had a copy that is held together with masking tape. My mom has a copy. My M-I-L gave me a copy (mine's spiral bound on glossy paper- woot!). I love it because it's not full of fancy recipes with tons of obscure ingredients, it's just basic cooking with lots of instructions on techniques. The section on meat has diagrams of all the cuts, and then the best way to cook each type with a few simple recipes. It has a section on sauces, which I love, because I cannot for the life of me remember the proportions for white sauce. There are pages and pages of different kinds of frosting and glazes. I love the quick breads. And the cookies. Where else can you find old fashioned gingerbread and spritz? Definitely the most comprehensive and useful cookbook that I own. :)

And then there is the most amazing pie cookbook ever. Everyone should have one of these, and use it often. :)

This one has a pie recipe for every kind of fruit and nut you can think of, plus meat pies. And custards and cremes and chocolate pies. Seriously, it's wonderful.

I do like this cook book. She makes yummy, simple food too.

Otherwise, I have a cupboard full of unopened cook books... maybe some rainy day...

Does it make me a heathen if I rarely use the church cook books? There are a few specific recipes... but I just don't use them much. Please don't faint in shock. *grin*

What's your favorite?

Blessings.