Hey there book lovers, we’re giving away two TASTE Passes to the Austin Food & Wine Festival, happening this weekend, April 26 & 27, out at Butler Park!
The TASTE Pass delivers an indulgent experience that’s perfect for every palate. This year’s expanded Grand Tastings feature over 100 food, wine, and spirits purveyors. Learn the art of each chef’s craft with over 40 cooking demos and informative wine seminars. You’ll get a chance to taste hundreds of bites, beverages and gourmet delights while interacting with participating chefs and winemakers at dedicated stations around the park. Tyson Cole, Tim Love, Andrew Zimmern, Rick Bayless, Paul Qui, and Georgia Pellegrini are only a few of the chefs who will be at the festival! Mesmerize your taste buds! BookPeople is excited to once again be the official bookseller for the Austin Food & Wine Festival. More about the Austin Food & Wine Festival.
Sound good? To enter, tell us your all time favorite cookbook in the comments below.
Enter by 12pm on April 24 to be eligible!
Note: An email address must be provided in order to enter. Comments submitted without valid email addresses will not be eligible. Winner will be drawn at random and notified via the email address provided.
GOOD LUCK!
BookPeople 
The silver spoon
VB6 by Mark Bittman
It’s a tossup between Baked and Smitten Kitchen.
John Besh: My Family Table…. And I got it signed at BookPeople! I love it!
The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone!
We are vegetarians, but the food should be enjoyed by meat lovers also! Forks Over Knives-The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-Based Eating All Through the Year
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Childs – A class that my grandmother passed down to me, complete with her notes, additions and deletions in the margins!
The good ol’ Better Homes & Garden plaid cover
My new favorite cookbook is Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. Everything I’ve made from it so far has been excellent.
This is a hard question. I have a lot of favorite cookbooks. If I have to pick one, I’ll say Sunday Suppers at Lucques.
My favorite cookbook would be the Joy of Cooking. Can’t go wrong with a classic! ana.gonzalezponcedeleon@gmail.com
Charlie Trotter’s CHARLIE TROTTER’S
Stop and Smell the Rosemary
My favorite cookbook of all time is How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. I received it as a gift several years ago and didn’t imagine it could add much to much collection of dozens of cookbooks, but it has turned out to be indispensable when I need good, solid, clear advice on a dish or technique with which I’m not familiar.
If I were ever forced to part with the many dear friends that line the bookshelves in my kitchen and keep just one, this would be it.
Modern Pioneering by Georgia Pellegrini
Paula Wolfert’s Cooking of Southwest France…the cassoulet! texanaka at yahoo
Chef Secrets by Ramsay, Gordon
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. caitcoll@gmail.com
I have two: How To Cook Everything Vegetarian (by Mark Bittman), and Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables.
my favorite cookbook is Plenty by Yotam Ottelenghi! Everything in it is delicious and the pictures are beautiful!
the new book of middle estern food by Roden, Claudia
Crazy Sexy Kitchen by Kris Carr
Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan. I eat a non-paleo diet, but this book is full of amazing and healthy recipes that anyone can enjoy.
The Austin Food Blogger Alliance Cookbook
Mastering the art of French Cooking by Julia Childs
Can’t go wrong with Betty Crocker
Engine # 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn AND he is an Austin Firefighter!! dawnskez@gmail.com
Vegan Delights
I always loved “Julia Child & Company”. One of the first books I remember cooking out of!
Art of French Cooking by Julia Childs of course!
Julia Child’s ‘The Way to Cook’, it taught me how to sauté chicken correctly in college and is still my go to.
Austin Chef’s Table
Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson
My favorite cookbook is Chad Robertson’s bread cookbook Tartine.
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
Henry Chung’s Hunan Style Chinese Cookbook. The spicy hot and sour dressing is great on noodles!
Modern cookbook-wise, I really love Smitten Kitchen. My favorite classic cookbook is probably Larousee Gastronomique.
inbedwithbooks AT yahoo DOT com
The ‘Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook’ by Tiffany Harelik is great.
“Talk About Good” – Lafayette Junior League for Southern Comfort Food and “How to Cook Everything, Vegetarian” – Mark Bittman for everything else!
Quick Cuisine : Easy and Elegant Recipes for Every Occasion Ann Clark
Cooking for Geeks is the best.
Joy of Cooking
My favorite cookbook is Like Water for Chocolate. I love how the recipes are integrated into a beautiful story full of amazing cooking and kitchen imagery.
Cooking with Master Chefs
Joy of Cooking
Married in 1966 with the original Betty Crocker cookbook in hand, I have kept my husband of 47 years fed (and our four children), thanks to to learning the basics of culinary art on-the-job. A college degree did not prepare me to prepare meals…
Dorothy De La Garza dorothyinaustin@yahoo.com
My mother gave me a basic Betty Crocker cookbook when I moved away from home, way back in 1977!! I had never learned to cook anything as a child, so this gift was invaluable. Unbelievably, I still flip through it when looking for an old favorite or ideas. The pages are yellow and some of the tabs are missing — but it will be with me always.
Marcella Hazan, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook is amazing.
Betty Crocker’s Cookbook! amheinen@gmail.com
If favorite means happiest to own, then the two volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking would be at the top of the list. But perhaps it could be Pushpesh Pant’s India Cookbook, which I love to read and explore. But since cookbooks are best experienced and not just owned, then perhaps favorite means most used. In that case it might be Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. Or it might be one of the many Ina Garten cookbooks I love to use (just cut the salt). Or Julia Child’s wonderful The Way to Cook. But it probably is the three ring binder of recipes I’ve collected and used. Sometimes the best book is the one we create for ourselves.
The Uchi cookbook
The Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond
“How to Cook Everything Vegetarian” by Mark Bittman (though “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” by Deborah Madison is a close second!)
How to Cook Everything
Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home! I grew up watching Julia with my grandmother and pretending to whip up culinary delights alongside her!
Fonda San Miguel, Thirty Years of Food and Art
Good Eats Vol. 1 by Alton Brown
Vefa’s Kitchen!!!
The Classic Italian Cook Book: The Art of Italian Cooking and the Italian Art of Eating by Marcella Hazan!
“How to Cook Everything” Mark Bittman
“a year in the vegetarian kitchen” by jack bishop.
Practical Paelo -great guid for health issues too and delicious easy recipes
“Cookbook” may be a loose term here but ‘Tipsy Texan: Spirits and Cocktails from the Lone Star State’ by David Alan was a great way to be introduced to local culture and life after moving here from UK! We’re working our way through each recipe, perfecting as we go!
I like Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz for consistently good recipes, but I favor several different cookbooks for different types of recipes.
The Joy of Cooking!
Austin’s Chef Table
the Smitten Kitchen by Deb Pearlman.
Yucatán: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition by David Sterling from UT Press.
For me, cooking dinner is a completely utilitarian experience, and I rely on online recipes to get me through. Baking, though, is an experience that I enjoy and savor, and it usually begins by pulling my well-loved, cake batter-tinged Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook off the shelf.
The Book Lover’s Cookbook by Shauna Kennedy Wenger! ❤
The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins of Silver Palate fame!
Ratio
How to Cook Everything (Mark Bittman)
101 homestyle favorites Love that cookbook
“Homesick Texan” by Lisa Fain..hands down, I use it every weekend 🙂 aaand she has a new one out “The Homesick Texan’s Family Table: Lone Star Cooking from My Kitchen to Yours”
The 4 ingredient Cookbook + The Betty Crocker cookbook which my mother gave me.
I have given these two books to countless middle-school aged children, nieces and nephews, godchildren, friends’ children for 3 decades. They have jump started a new generation of chefs!
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian – Mark Bittman succeeds in making cooking just vegetables a challenge!
The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook–best pesto and strawberry shortcake recipes ever!
I Like You by Amy Sedaris
Reblogged this on MARSocial Author Business Enhancement Interviews.
Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz
Momofuku by David Chang
Reblogged this on theowlladyblog.
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
“How To Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman. Great advice.
Cheryl M.
The Barefoot Contessa
All time favorite cookbook is Michael Ruhlman’s “Twenty”. Love the useful techniques.
Brendan Brazier’s Thrive Energy Cookbook.
Hope I win!!
The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook series has helped us on many occasions!
Smitten Kitchen!
Okay, this shows my age, but for pure old tried and tested I love the Joy of Cooking. This despite owning over 200 cookbooks.
Joy of cooking
My favorite cookbook is by Gordon Ramsey called “Gordon Ramsey Makes it Easy”.
I’m sorry to say I have not bought a cook in a very very long time but I’m a big fan of the food net work I watch almost all there shows from Chop to worst cooks so I hope this will be good enough for me to get a chance thanks.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
I love Smitten Kitchen and Pickles, Pigs and Whiskey!
I really enjoy The Smitten Kitchen cookbook by blogger turned author Deb Perelman!
joy of cooking
Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking!
Google. Also a book that said to grill find a scout to do it.
Moosewood Cookbook
Seven Fires (Grilling the Argentinian Way) by Francis Mallmann
Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution
William Sonoma’s Pasta series.
It’s hard to pick just one, but I have to say that my absolute favorite is How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. The recipes are fabulous and she has a nice, common-sense approach to enjoying the food preparation process that other cookbooks lack.
Lone Star Legacy!
I love Smitten Kitchen, but I go back time and again to The Joy of Cooking.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
The Herbal Kitchen by Jerry Traunfeld. Every single recipe is solid!
As a professional cookbook editor, I find it most difficult to choose just one, so I will limit my choice to two cookbook authors: James Peterson, the author of Cooking, among several other excellent books, and Ina Garten, whose recipes are all surefire and delicious.
America’s Test Kitchen – 6 ingredient cookbook is amazing. Perfect if you are really busy but you can still make super tasty meals
I have so many that it is hard to choose just one. Right now, I am working my way through Classic Rachel Ray 30 minute meals.
Americas Test Kitchen-6 Ingredient Cookbook. Perfect, simple and tasty meals!
Diana Kennedy’s The Art Of Mexican Cooking
The Moosewood Cookbook. I was brought up with a very meat heavy diet and did not know how to cook without it. The Moosewood Cookbook was my first introduction to vegetarian cooking and still has my favorite lentil soup recipe.
Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. The photos are as delicious as the recipes and makes us try everything. My husband and I can’t get enough, and our friends always appreciate our dinner parties with huge middle-eastern inspired spreads.
My all time favorite cook book is Alton Brown’s ‘Good Eats’ series!
Tara
Betty Crocker 🙂
Any of the Pioneer Woman Cooks! They are not a staple in our house due to the amount of butter, but still delicious!
I’m a novice, but I love “Deceptively Delicious” by Jessica Seinfeld.
The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
classic french cookbook
Cordon Bleu (Author), Julia Alcock (Editor), Andre Cointreau
I agree with AnaAlicia — you can’t go wrong with a classic like The Joy of Cooking. After that, I’d say my second favorite is Cooking Light.
Vegetarian Southwest
Momofuku by by David Chang & Peter Meehan
My all-time favorite cookbook is my grandmother’s. One of my cousins pulled together her recipes after she passed, then scanned them from whatever they were jotted down on and had them printed and bound for the family. Several recipes are on the back of envelopes or other such scraps of paper, but they are family recipes and dear to my heart.
Bittman – How to Cook Everything and Julia – Art of French Cooking
Fanny Farmer
Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson
Jamie Oliver Jamie’s Italy
How to Cook Everything is fantastic!
I’m Armenian, so it has to be The Complete Armenian Cookbook by Alice Bezjian.
Deborah Madison’s The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Who knew vegetables could be so good!
My old school Better Homes New Cook Book is my most-used cook book for quick references.
Joy of Cooking
Heidi Swanson’s, “Supernatural Everyday” is my go-to!
My Mom’s Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. It’s where I learned to cook when I was a girl and has been the springboard for everything I’ve tried later.
My favorite, after all these years, is the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. The recipes take me back to my childhood, when ALL our meals were prepared by my Mother, from scratch. Unfortunately, I don’t have her talent for cooking, so I always rely on my dog-eared copy of BH&G–that is when I’m not eating out!
My favorite cookbook will always be: Diet for a Small Planet. I have read it cover to cover at least 10 times. Very, very informative.
Shrimp, Collards & Grits – Recipes, Stories and Art From the Creeks and Gardens of the Lowcountry!
(kliam.cole@gmail.com)
Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. Mmmmm!
Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking
(kimberly.cole1280@yahoo.com)
Frank Stitt’s Southern Table Recipes and Gracious Traditions from Highlands Bar and Grill
Tricky, but Foundation by Isaac Asimov is definitely a favorite.
The New Low-Country Cooking: 125 Recipes for Coastal Southern Cooking with Innovative Style by Marvin Woods
(kimberly.cole7410@gmail.com)
I’ve been reading and cooking and serving and writing about food forever but my fave cookbook remains the original Joy of Cooking!
My favorite cookbook is “How to Cook Everything”. I use it all the time!
My favorite cookbook is SprinkleBakes: Dessert Recipes to Inspire Your Inner Artist. 🙂
Betty Crocker is still my all time favorite for go to.
I was recently given a copy of The Whole Enchilada: Lifestyle, Environment & the Whole-Food Recipes of Rio Caliente Spa and I am enjoying the recipes.
My fave cookbook is: The Joy of Cooking.
The Wine Lover’s Cookbook.
It’s wonderful to appreciate a glass of wine all on its own, but the perfect marriage of your favorite varietal paired with a scrumptious dish is incomparable. Wonderful photographs and straightforward instruction make this gem a delight for both the wine novice, or the expert. LOVE IT!
Mozza by Nancy Silverton! Makes me want to go back to Italy!
Grilling – a great book about a million ways to cook a million dishes on an outside grill.
Forks Over Knives
Congratulations, Jan, you’re our winner! We’ve sent you an email with details. If for some reason you don’t receive it, please email online (at) bookpeople.com.
Nourishing Traditions is my favorite!
Vegan with a Vengeance or Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Anything by Mollie Katzen, but most especially Vegetable Heaven
Moosewood Cookbook
For fabulous salad dressing recipes and ways to use home grown veggies, it’s Earthbound Cook by Myra Goodman
I have a TON of favorites…but I do really like The Wine Lover’s Cookbook…and the one we got when we were in Italy!!
Mastering The Art Of French Cooking
Homesick Texan by Lisa Fain! I love Texas, I love Texas food, and not a one of Lisa’s recipes has ever disappointed. It’s my go-to for out-of-state dinner guests.
The Foods and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas– Great, traditional Spanish recipes– Fantastic!!
I love Andrew Weil’s Truefood. The recipes are healthy, easy and kid friendly. I’ve cooked my way through the book!
Gourmet Today
The Higher Taste. It’s a Krishna vegetarian cookbook.
Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Cooking has done wonders for me.
The Joy of Cooking. Great basic advice and a great place to start.
How to Cook Everything. The baking recipes are excellent.
Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook
I’ve endlessly re-read my 1978 edition of “Old Cook Books: An Illustrated History” by Eric Quayle. Any time people roll their eyes about modern gluten free or vegan recipes, I like to show them the 1660 recipe for Custard Without Eggs or the sheer wine milkshake weirdness of an American Syllabub. For more modern purposes, I’m fond of the exceptionally useful book, “The Flavor Bible.”
Hungry Girl: To the max is great!
Smitten kitchen’s cookbook is a new favorite!
Can’t Cook Book, that is my level of ability so far
Rockport collection:fish, game, fine art–my favorite cookbook because my brother keeps trying to take it and it’s become a game between us!
The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. This was the basis for my ever having the guts to cook—-period. The unassuming, simple step-by-step method, along with the necessary glossaries, prep how-to, and the recipes…brought me to where I am today. All chefs and foodies come from somewhere, and this was my birthplace! Don’t ever forget where you come from y’all ‘n who raised ya up!
Rosso & Lukins, New Basics Cookbook – I keep going back to it for tasty ways to use whatever ingredients my farm sends me!
The Martha Stewart Cookbook, Collected Recipes for Everyday is my well-worn go-to cookbook.
It’s All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow
joy of cooking.
Terra, cooking from the heart of Napa Valley
The Kinfolk Table.
Alton Brown, Volume I
Ina Garten’s original Barefoot Contessa cookbook is my favorite cookbook.
Sundays at Moosewood
The Joy of Cooking
Eva’s Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends by Eva Longoria
Fannie farmer because it was the cook book my mother gave me, It has great memories of cooking with my mom and also my sisters
Ruhlman’s Twenty
My favorite cookbook is Peyton and Byrne British Baking. The cover is so pretty!
Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi
My Mother’s blue & white copy of “Joy of Cooking,” one of her wedding gifts in 1943. It is filled with notes from both my Mother and Dad over the years, with a few additions from my sister and me later on. The book is filled with splashes of coffee, wine and recipe spills plus cigarette burns from the smoking era! I am looking at it now. It still comforts and delights me to open it.
My Mom’s well-worn “Joy of Cooking,” a wedding gift in 1943…..with her and my Dad’s notes n comments through the years! The pages are stained with coffee, wine and recipe splashes! It comforts and delights me just to open it.
The Skinnygirl Dish by Bethenny Frankel!
The Grit Cookbook from The Grit Restaurant in Athens, GA!
It would have to be Alton Brown’s three book series: “Good Eats: The Early Years,” “Good Eats 2: The Middle Years,” and “Good Eats 3: The Later Years.”
I became a huge fan back in middle school when Good Eats first aired because he combined some of my favorite things, in his words, “Julia Child meets Mr. Wizard Meets Monty Python.”
Even if you aren’t a cook and don’t plan on ever cooking, I still highly recommend these books because you’ll not only learn something awesome about the science behind how food is made, but you’ll also have many times that you’ll have to deal with people looking at you weird for laughing so hard reading a cookbook.
The illustrations are fantastic and contribute to keeping the books light (in tone, not in weight) rather than just be boring text on white.
So far everything I’ve cooked from there came out great when I follow the directions and I’ve learned many skills that help me in creating my own dishes made from the random stuff lying around. Pantry raid anyone?
Moosewood!
I’d have to say my favorite is Robb Walsh’s Barbeque Cross roads. I love a good BBQ and it was interested to find out the roots of the dish and all the variations.
The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook
Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More by Cory Schreiber — ROCKS!!!!
I’m Just Here for the Food by the one and only, Alton Brown!
Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan
Beard on Bread
Really enjoyed Pok Pok by Ricker and Goode… Thai cooking…
Jesse Griffith’s wild game cookbook
My first choice would be ‘The Multicultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago & the Caribbean.’ It wins the award for Book Title Most In Need of Editing, and it contains recipes for many delicious meals I enjoyed growing up (I’m originally from Trinidad & Tobago).
A more recent favorite is Joyous Health, a book my holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy. I’m a very health-conscious eater, and this book makes finding healthy meal options an adventure. Joy has a very entertaining, accessible writing style, and she truly believes in the recipes and methods in the book because they have improved her own life greatly.
Is there a Ratatouille cookbook based on the movie Ratatouille? If so, I’m listing that one as well. End of unnecessarily lengthy response. Food and wine?
Shirley Corriher – Bakewise/Cookwise
The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook – it’s arranged by seasons and was ahead of its time when I received it as a gift in 1992. I had cooked very little and was interested in the recipes, but somewhat intimidated. It helped me learn to cook, learn what’s in season when, and learn to love cooking! I still use it regularly . . . .
Viva Tequila: Cocktails, Cooking and other Agave Adventures! by Lucinda Hutson because it’s informative and as bright and festive as the awesome skirts Lucinda always wears!! Not to mention, tequila! *dances to the Champs song*
How to Cook Everything
The New Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas, I love everything in this book. I keep coming back to it for recipes because the food is always wonderful.
Pepin by Jacques Pepin (which BookPeople carries, awesome)
My favorite cookbook is Julia Child’s (with Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck) Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I don’t cook a lot of French food, but it reminds me so much of my grandmother, that I keep it prominently displayed in my kitchen to remind me of her while I’m cooking.
Fix It and Forget Get, Feasting with your slow cooker.
Great time saving meals for a working parent. Nothings better than coming home to a home cooked READY to eat meal.
My Grandmother’s Fanny Farmers Cookbook.
Julia Child’s ‘The Way to Cook
My wife (Kate LeSueur) and I love “An Everlasting Meal” by Tamar Adler. It’s part cookbook + part narrative. Kate loves it because “it’s like she’s reading my mind in terms of cooking philosophy.” I love it because she reveals creative and simple ways to get as much goodness from good foods as possible.
I love many of the books listed above, but my weekly “go to” cookbook has to be Weber’s Big Book of Grilling. Delicious recipes, and great suggestions for grilling technique.
The Joy of Cooking
Spoons down it has to be Julia and Jacques Cooking At Home!! Learned to make Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia that my family loves!
The title says it all, barefoot contessa, FOOLPROOF.
A friend gave me Molly O’Neill’s “New York Cookbook”. If only for sentimental reasons, the recipes and the stories bring back beautiful memories of time spent there.
The Mystery Chef’s Own Cookbook It’s a very old cookbook with really great recipes and I’m an avid mystery reader and an eater of anything new, so it was a great find.
White Trash Cooking
My signed copy of The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life
Nigel Slater’s Appetite.
The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller
‘The Way to Cook.’ Julia Child all the way. : )
Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables and The Soup Peddler’s slow + difficult Soups by David Ansel
Joy of Cooking
Mark Bittman’s recipes in
Food Matters
The Great Aussie Barbie Cookbook by Kim Terakes
Modern French Culinary art, by Henri-Paul Pellaprat, the one book I always go back to, the most reliable consistent advise for cooks, despite the name, it has all the fundamentals on how to prepare and cook classic staple dishes, sauces, pastries, doughs, roasts and other delicacies, … My mom had it back in Italy as a wedding gift over 42 years ago and then when I moved here in the USA, I looked for it and after a long research found it and bought it from a private seller, this was for the American market, with American measurements.
Joy the Baker’s cookbook is great!
Cowgirl’s Cookbook that I actually picked up at Half Price few years ago.
Fresh by Tyler Florence! So many beautiful photos of food, he was such a pleasure to meet at BookPeople!
Diet for a Small Planet . . . the 70’s bible for vegetarians . . . opened up a world of possibilities for me.
The Naked Chef
by Jamie Oliver
Depending on the mode I am in either Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison or Well Fed 2 by Melissa Joulwan. I also love local Jesse Griffith’s Afield.
The Prudhomme Family Cookbook! Oldie but a goodie! Storytelling is authentic, charming and the recipes are delicious!
Gordon Ramsay’s Cooking for friends!
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison really jump start my eat less meat diet.
Wok Around the Clock
The book I refer to over and over again on how to make good basic food: The Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated.
The Austin Food Blogger Alliance Cookbook – a hometown original, first of its kind in the country – and an all round truly great representation of some of the greatest food favs and local ingredients we have here in Austin.
My favorite cookbook is my Mexico by Diana Kennedy
Helen Corbitt Cooks for Company–given to me my MIL–the best cook I’ve ever known. It still has the most bookmarks. (Long out of print.)
I love Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child because it is challenging. After reading her biography, I also realized how challenging it was for her. I still have not mastered the mayonnaise recipe, but it took her like 500 tries to get it right so I am not too worried.
The Big Book of Davis Family Recipes, which originated with recipes from my great grandmother, is my favorite because the dishes taste great, and it give me a sense of connection with my relatives, some of whom I never even met.
A faded blue Joy of Cooking, which I believe my grandmother passed down to my mother. Can’t beat the classics!
The definitive guide – AUSTIN BREAKFAST TACOS: The Story of the Most Important Taco of the Day by Mando Rayo and Jarod Neece!
My favorite cookbook is “The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes and Stories of My Life” It’s a combination of recipes and the stories behind them. He writes about people in his life who have taught him to cook or how the recipes relate to specific events in his life. It’s touching and wonderful and the recipes are delicious too.
Email address: Duncan.kat@gmail.com
So tough to pick just one, but I love my Chez Panisse books — especially the vegetable one and the pizza & pasta one.
The Kitchen Revolution by Rosie Sykes!
rach2414@gmail.com
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
Sandra Lee Semi-homemade 20 minute meals – for those of us on the go!! 🙂
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child!
Smitten Kitchen
Vegetarian Epicure II
Screen Doors and Sweet Tea by Martha Hall Foose
Joy of Cooking
The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young.
The Helen Corbitt Cookbook. She was the chef at the Zodiac Room in the Dallas Nieman Marcus downtown store.
A close runner up much more recent: Scot Roberts “The Salt Lick Cookbook” that I got last year at Book People. I gave copies of that book to each of our adult children, two of whom live in Minneapolis and I who lives in Healdsburg, Ca. ! Just looking at the pictures brings back wonderful memories of family style dining on their yummy bar-b-que. We all love that book – great pictures & recipes.
Optimistic email address: herself [at] oseland.net
I stick by my love for “Old Cook Books: An Illustrated History” by Eric Quayle. It’s doubly interesting to see what people in the 1970’s thought was both significant and amusing when compiling historic recipes from the previous few centuries. A good modern follow-up is William Sitwell’s “A History of Food in 100 Recipes.”
The Joy of Cooking. My mom gave me this cookbook when I left for college and I still have it today!
Cooking Up a Storm, a collection of lost recipes crowdsourced after hurricane Katrina. Each recipe is written with the story of its personal importance and its piece in the rich tapestry of New Orleans food.
The Silver Spoon is a must have in the kitchen.
The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone
My favorite cookbook is the Moosewood Collective Cookbook called Moosewood Daily Special, which contains lots of interesting soup and salad recipes (as well as my favorite “biscuits in a hurry” recipe). However, a close second would be Bubby’s Homemade Pies, which I checked out of the library at least six times before asking my dad to buy it for me for Christmas. Yes, he did order it from BookPeople. 🙂
Martha Rose Shulman “The Vegetarian Feast”, Adele Davis, “Let’s Cook it Right”, “The Fanny Farmer Cookbook”, “The Joy of Cooking”