You are not alone!!

I absolutely love cookbooks. I have a bunch and I'm constantly looking through either one I own or one I've got out from the library. I usually have at least three checked out from the library for perusing at my leisure. Plus I buy them used all the time from book sales and garage sales.

I think it's a "love to cook" kind of thing. People who really like to cook like to look at cookbooks. People who see cooking as a chore or maybe just don't get that into it are just looking for a recipe and don't need to browse through a whole book. So the internet serves their purpose better.

Sometimes I'm just looking for a recipe. But looking through cookbooks is fun beyond just searching for a recipe.

As many of you know, my girlfriends and I go to the chef's table at a local restaurant every year in December. After a few years of going, we've become well acquainted with the chef and our regular waiter. Last year we wanted to give them a gift so we called the restaurant and asked what they could recommend. Guess what they said the chef would like: a cookbook. That's exactly what we got him and he LOVED it.

I recently heard 2 Cookbook writers state the same thing, cookbooks are a thing of the past, you can find anything on the internet. Sales are way down for cookbooks. My mom collected them and I did enjoy going through them but now days I come here and a couple of other sites for recipes.

Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but I still love and use my old cookbooks like Grandma's old Farm Journal. I refer to "Charcuterie" regularly for smoking canadian bacon or making sausage and the Ball Blue Book is indispensible this time of year.

Many things can be found on the internet, if you want to take the time to search for them. Then what? If you have a laptop or a computer in your kitchen, it's great. I don't, so I would have to copy and paste into a document, save the document, print it out. Then what? Throw it away when I'm done, wasting paper and toner/ink? Save them all in a binder which is really a cookbook anyway?

When I build at the farm, they don't even have DSL, it'll be dial up or satellite internet connections, unless things change a lot in a couple of years.

So I still use my cookbooks and I'm not giving them up. I think maybe one of the reasons sales are down is because they all cost $35 or $40 or $50. It appears that while sales are going down, prices are simultaneously going up. Hmmmmm.....

Annie

If you check out the features that computer cookbook software offer, you may want to think about buying a few.

130,000 recipes, breakfast, dinner, drinks, baking, dieting, meal planning, budgeting, nutrition, ---- pictures ----- recipe scaling ------- shopping list, printable recipes -------

dcarch

I love to sit and browse my cookbooks when I am stumped for a meal idea or just want to try something new.

Personally, I find the internet a tad overwhelming. If I know exactly what I am looking for it's fine, but just browsing for ideas takes forever, even with high-speed.

Nope....not getting rid of my cookbooks any time soon!

Linda

Cookbooks out of style...hog wash! I just purchased one on appetizers last week. I love sitting down on the sofa, beverage of choice next to me and reading recipes from cookbooks. I still use the "Good Housekeeping Illustrated cookbook" I received as a wedding present in 1981. It's pages may be falling out and the cover hanging on by a thread or two but it is my favorite starting point. I like books in general. Nothing takes the place of that "book smell" or the sound of a turning page. I won't be buying a Kindle(sp?) anytime soon. lol NancyLouise

I keep a few relics, but more and more often I am turning to the net even if it is just for inspiration so I can certainly believe that printed cookbooks are going the same way as all other printed material.

Now if I can just get Mastering the Art of French Cooking for my kindle..... but no - how would I dog ear the pages!!!

Alexa

I prefer reading a book over reading online. Although I will admit I do look up recipes frequently on the Internet.

I love my cookbooks but I'll admit I don't use them as much as I did before I got hooked on the computer. Still, for someone new to cooking, I think good cookbooks are indispensable. Sure, you can find recipes on the net, but it takes years of experience to discern the good from the bad. We see that evidence on here all the time.

Dcarch, I bough one of those cooking programs, total waste of money. IMO, put together by someone that isn't a cook. The recipes were junk...all 130,000 of them. Many were overly simplified and very basic ingredients and forget learning any techniques.

NancyLouise (did you know I'm a Louise also?) I have a Kindle and hardly ever use it. I thought it would be good for cookbooks but it's too slow and awkward.

OTOH, I would be interested in trying a web cookbook, where you buy it and have access to the site for just that complete cookbook for life, complete with pictures.
Oh wait, I have one, by our own AnnT and it doesn't get any better than that.

Nancy

Interesting responses so far. I have owned a Kindle for a couple years and love it for a number of reasons - cost of books, easy size for travel, and can program in a big font for times when I don't have my reading glasses.

But I don't buy any cookbooks on Kindle. Cooking/baking are such visual and tactile experiences for me that I want to have the big book open in front of me with all the colored pictures. I know how much I like a recipe by seeing all the splatters on the well-used pages.

When I'm at the lake & don't have a cookbook with a particular recipe I can sometimes find it online but I really hate following a recipe from the screen. Seems I'm always having to scroll up or down when my hands are floured or messy. Priting out the recipes is a pain & a waste (like Annie said).

I read cookbooks like most people read novels...HA! I love them. I get tired of looking at stuff on line and after a while it hurts my eyes to read from my monitor. Of course I use on line recipes too. But she probably is right that her kid wouldn't much want a cookbook. If it were a girl I'd say yes but for a guy...nah...unless you know he's into cooking. I find my OLD Betty Crocker cookbook to be a wealth of cooking information! A must have for any new cook IMHO.

Personally I don't want my computer in the kitchen, too risky. I say this after having spilled coffee on my old laptop and ruining part of the keyboard, which was not replacable at that point. I only use my computer to play music on Pandora while I'm cooking, sometimes, if I can clear a dry space out of the way, which is at a premium in my kitchen. When I use an online recipe, I print it out and I do have a notebook of recipes I've copied from here, online and magazines. I would actually PREFER a cookbook but can't afford one so do go online a lot. I agree that cooking is tactile and a cookbook can be a very fun part of that. But then again, I love magazines and books too, but lately cannot afford many. But I just bought another cookbook this week by Anna Del Conte after tasting my friend's kick butt rissotto recipe from one of her books. BTW, who wants to peruse the Internet before dinner, ugh! Not all college students are creitans and I find a lot of my students get computer overload during the day at school and like to sit back with some R&R. On the other hand, I'll bet recipe aps would be a hit with some of my students who are addicted to their cell phone.

Amck:
Buy your nephew the Cookbook. He will appreciate it.
LOU

I also love to sit and read a cookbook. Even though I'm not an Oprah fan I did pick up her cookbook on sale last week and really like it. A good variety of recipes from many different chefs and friends of her. Even though I sat with it 4-5 times I haven't made anything from it yet but have a lot of things tagged. Oh yeah, a tv show where they rate recipe books also swayed me into the purchase. I usually go through the cookbooks I have once a month and rent them from the library often enough.

Couldn't live without my books!

As said, cookbooks are for people who like food and cooking, and thus enjoy reading, musing, imagining about the dishes they might make.

But a good basic cookbook also simplifies things for a beginning cook. Easy to consult - rather than googling the dish then figuring out which of the 1,000 results to use, just turn to page 53. Consistent level of complexity - if it's cooking for dummies, every recipe will be simple enough for a dummy. Gives you ideas - online, what happens when you can't think of anything to type into the search box?

I would figure out his favorite type of food - Mexican? Standard Americana? Chinese? Italian? - and get him a simple cookbook for that. Plus a standard like ''Joy Of Cooking''.

Back to Internet recipes - one problem is, many of them are not very good. But I check Cooks.com and also bought a subscription to CooksIllustrated's site.

If the cookbook idea gets firmly nixed, then what about a good chefs' knife and a sharpening tool?

Well, with all due respect to our forum members, I would guess the demographic here is not 20-something and tech savvy. I'm not saying we don't manage quite nicely with cell phones, lap tops, net books, i-whatevers, etc but they are not things we have grown up with. Books are familiar to us because that is all we had for a significant part of our lives.

The trend has definitely been toweard electronic media. Amazon announced a few months ago that the sales of electronic books had surpassed printed books. Many newpapers have a wider subscription base for the electronic version than the printed one and magazine publishers used to maintain a web site to supplement their magazines, now it is often the first place I (and other friends) look.

Personally, I am finding more and more apps to download, which are immediately available, the latest is from Cooks Illustrated, and since I always have my cell phone the apps as well as the internet are always with me. I can pull up a recipe while I am at the grocry store to double check if I have all the ingredients.

And as for teaching basics, it is likely there is a youtube video that will demonstrate anything and everything you could ever want to do in the kitchen. Oh yea, and I can stream videos from my phone too.

Good luck with your decision

Alexa

Nancy, no I did not know that! There were/are so many Nancys on GW that I use my middle name to tell us all apart. lol I was named after my mom's favorite aunt.

Amck, I would do as suggested. Find out what type of cooking he likes to eat and get a cookbook for that. You may be giving him his first cookbook, but I'm sure it won't be his last. NancyLouise

I often consult my ipad in the grocery store to check ingredients for a recipe. The epicurious app is nice, and I'll check out the Cook's Illustrated one as well.

I still consult the cookbooks I have, but of the 100+books, I probably have only looked at 12 of them in the past year. When I'm looking for a quick recipe I usually go online and then adjust from there.

Because of DH's work we're on the comp list for dozens of magazines, including Saveur, Fine Cooking, Food and Wine, not to mentional travel and leisure mags that also have recipes. I now read those at night the way I used to read cookbooks, and I can carry them with me as well. I just have to organize all the recipes I've cut out and thrown in a binder.

Could you make your nephew a cookbook? Download a dozen or so recipes you think he'd like and put them in a 3ring binder with clear plastic sleeves. I have one like that that I got in a swap years ago (thanks to gina!) and I still use it all the time.

AM

Caliloo's point is well taken. Since I teach college, I can say that in general, how much a young person relies on electronic media varies greatly by the individual. Yes, some of my young students are chained to a small electronic pad for the bulk of their life, OTH, some of my young students are remarkably computer illiterate and do not use technology all that much, and everything in between. So to know what is best to buy for your nephew, you have to know his electronic style. Having said that, there are gads of young, male chef's out there who might appeal to a young guy and probably have not only cookbooks but computer interface systems that go along with the books. In fact, I would say that probably any good cookbook these days has some type of concurrent Internet or application presence. Still, I don't want electronic gadgets in my kitchen!! You need a cookbook you can spill marinara sauce on and it will still function, in fact it will be MORE functional after that, providing you spill the sauce on the right spot! Internet for recipes, maybe OK, but cookbooks are still for COOKING. I have yet to find a person chained to an electronic pad that actually cooks, lol! You might try a TV chef's cookbook, something like Tyler Florence or Jamie Leiberman.

My plan is to go into Boston to treat my nephew to lunch. I'll ask him if there's anything he wishes he had for his kitchen since he's had a couple weeks in there. He doesn't have much space/storage, so I don't want to give him something he doesn't need.

I'll float the idea of a cookbook, too. The one I had in mind is Molly Katzen's (of Moosewood fame.)"get cooking." It has 150 simple recipes to get you started in the kitchen. It covers many of the basics & is not big & bulky. Like johnliu mentioned, it offers a starting point for searching out other recipes.

When my DS went to CA for grad school he became very adept in the kitchen. It was a way to enjoy delicious, healthy meals on a budget. The skill has served him well. It's a shared interest he has with his new bride and they enjoy cooking together.

My nephew has seen how food brings people together and has already cooked brunch for his girlfriend (at another Boston college) and last Sunday he made chili for his buddies who were at his place to watch the Patriots game.

I know he has a real interest in honing his cooking skills, but I admit I'm a bit out of the loop with current technology and was really interested in your thoughts.

Caliloo confirms what seems to be the trend. I still think a cookbook (or two) might be appreciated, though.

Many moons ago I belonged to a cookbook club and still have all my favorite cookbooks. I have lots of the Farm Journal books and still use all of them. Most of my pie recipes came from the Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook. The cover is tattered and has been taped in many places but I love that book.

I am still working my way through "The Complete Book of Breads" by Bernard Clayton, Jr.

And my recent purchases are "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman, "Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals" by Sara Moulton and "The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook" by Nancy Harmon Jenkins; all from Goodwill and all for less than $10.00!

The last cookbooks I paid full price for were two of Julia's books; "Baking with Julia" and "The Way to Cook".

Sometimes I just like to sit down with a cup of tea and a good cookbook and read about the next new recipe to try.

I do like being able to get recipes from here and the internet. I love Fine Cooking magazine and used to subscribe to it; but I wasn't always into everything in each issue. Now I can browse their website and I only buy the holiday issues. I just picked up the Oct/Nov issue last night. I scanned it in the store and found a lot to interest me. The Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake pictured on the cover has been added at the top of my to try list!
Kat

"I would figure out his favorite type of food - Mexican? Standard Americana? Chinese? Italian? - and get him a simple cookbook for that. Plus a standard like 'Joy Of Cooking'."

I think John has exactly the right idea. The nephew, who plans to do a lot of cooking, needs just one or two basic books which can become his familiar, go to sources. The *standard* cookbook will be very important to him. It should be carefully chosen to have instructions for making all the familiar dishes in a user-friendly format. There are several good ones.

I say this having had the same experience he is about to have, albeit prior to the Internet. Undoubtedly, he will use the Internet too. But, with all the quirky variations in Internet recipes, it is difficult to know which to use. A reliable cookbook is the foundation he needs.

Jim

BTW, I need to emphasize that the *standard* cookbook for the nephew should be one of classics. Avoid cutesy ones with titles like "Easy Recipes for the Beginning Cook" or "Cooking in the College Apartment". Get one which will serve him solidly for a life time.

Jim

Ahh... maybe I read the question wrong. It was more along the lines of "Is a cookbook a good gift for my nephew or not?" I thought it was, "is there anyone out there who still loves cookbooks?".

amck, I like the idea of just asking him what he needs for his kitchen. Both of my boys are living in apartments at college where they do their own cooking. I gave them each some pots & plates & utensils, etc. And both had additional needs. Since it's his second year, I'm sure he'll have some ideas of things he wishes he had.

I'm definitely going to ask both of my boys if they have any interest in cookbooks. Now I'm really curious!

That's Jamie Oliver and Dave Lieberman, lol! Although actually they are both kind of the same in my book and I'm not sure about their appeal.

As for Mollie Katzen, lol, I learned to cook from her "Enchanted Broccoli Forest" cookbook when I was in college! But I'm not sure of her appeal to the current crowd. Is she still focusing primarly on vegetarian dishes. That's a consideration.

Man, I love using my dog eared cookbooks that got me started in college. And Jim is right, the one I never used was the specialty "Apartment Vegetarian" cookbook. Not that it wasn't good with instructions, the recipes were just not good!

One cookbook you might consider is "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman. The book has been revised several times since the one I got at Goodwill was published in 1998.

It has a 4-1/2 star reviewer rating and the price has been reduced and qualifies for the free shipping from Amazon.com.

I consider myself a fairly experienced cook but I have learned some new things from the older copy that I found.

Wish this book had been available when I was learning to cook!
Might have prevented a few of my disasters!

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Cook Everything, Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food

Except for this website I'm not really a huge fan of internet recipes. At Gardenweb I know they've been tried by you guys. On other sites I have no idea if they're good or not. I love cookbooks and I get a lot of inspiration from them. I rarely cook any recipe from a book exactly as written but I'm inspired by recipes and cookbooks to cook things the way I like them.

I think you have a great idea to see what he needs and also to see how he feels about cookbooks. Personally I'd get him at least one anyway. Long live the printed word! It may be going out of style but I still feel like we should promote books whenever we can. Sure, you want something basic or classic and something with techniques is a good idea, but I also like a cookbook that I can enjoy how it's written. I like some humor with my cookbooks. My very favorite cookbook is James Beards American Cookery, which I've had since it came out about a million years ago. I just love the way he writes about cooking and there are some great basic recipes in that book. It has my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, for instance. Smiles.

If you have the opportunity to ask him what he wants, definitely ask him.

As for the new generation and technology, it depends on the person. I'm computer literate because I use computers every day, with at least half a dozen different programs for different applications. I hate most of them, but I can use them. I refuse to use the cell phone other than for emergencies because I fail to see why we need to be "connected" constantly, and so a cooking "app" would be wasted on me.

Amanda is 28 and also just hates computers and cell phones. She has them, she can use them, but she hates them. Makayla uses them far more than she does. Amanda cooks meals daily for her family and uses cookbooks or calls me. she has probably 25 cookbooks and uses 3 or 4 of them regularly.

Ashley is 22 and has a laptop that she seldom turns on because she has internet access through her iphone. The phone is in constant use for texting, calling, playing music or showing me a "cute" video on YouTube. She doesn't use it for cooking at all and doesn't really like to cook. Her specialty is Velveeta Shells and Cheese, LOL, but she does have my Betty crocker cookbook that I got as a wedding present in 1974 because she wanted the peanut butter cookie recipe, the peach cobbler recipe and the shepherd's pie recipe. She couldn't find any of them on the internet and she wanted those specific recipes for that dish.

Nikki is Elery's daughter, she's 25. she has a computer which she seldom uses and cookbooks which she uses less. She eats out and works as a server at a restaurant so that's where she eats. If she does want to cook something, she calls Elery.

So, all three of those very computer literate girls in their 20s have cookbooks and none of them use their computers or phones for recipes. They mostly use Elery and I. and, if they have any problems with their computers, they also call Elery or I. Ashley's latest is her resume. Funny how she can't print from her iPhone....

Anyway, I agree, if you do decide to get a cookbook, make it a good basic cookbook, not one of those "5 can supper" books or something similar. The single cookbook I owned that Ashley wanted to borrow was the Betty Crocker book.

Annie

This is such an interesting topic!! It's hard to guess what kind of cookbook a particular person will like, because it depends on the person and their lifestyle. I like cookbooks where the personality of the author comes through (that is if I like the author), and when there's some exposition about things other than just what ingredients to put into the dish and how to mix them, like how to choose a good cauliflower, how to improvise with herbs, the pros and cons of various types of chilis, some history for the dish, menu ideas, wine pairings, etc. And it also depends on how you eat. Julia Child, Joy of Cooking, etc. are just a huge yawn for me since I don't eat that way. On the other hand, I love "Laurel's Kitchen" which has extensive chapters on vegetarian nutrition and ethics that would be just a yawn to a meat eater. And while I LOVE photos, some of my best cookbooks don't have them.

Oddly, the book that taught me to cook and one I still come back to for various recipes, was "The Alice's Restaurant Cookbook" by Alice May Brock, long out of print. She just had a fun personality, she obviously had a kitchen full of love and joy of cooking for friends, and most importantly she gave me confidence to cook creatively and wing it. The book just had basic recipes, but I make them often--marinara, eggplant parm., potato pancakes, glog (spiced wine), etc. And she copies the old "Spice Islands" chart about what kinds of herbs and spices go with what kinds of foods, that was a revalation. An illustrated guide with funny pics to the various cuts of meat. Plus instructions on how to jazz up a boxed cake mix, etc. Lots of really practical stuff for a beginning cook. I'm not sure who does that kind of thing well today. I have Bitterman's cookbook and I enjoy perusing it but I find it a little hard to use, since his variations are like: "Instead of nuts and rice and onions, omit the onions, use 2/3 cup broccoli and substitute barley." I can't do that much re-arranging in my head! But again, your mileage may vary.

I also like Martha Stewart's Everyday Foods books. I have rarely gone wrong with one of her recipes from that show, and the videos are great for people with no background in the basics.

But anyway, I think the point is that when the book fits the cooking style of the person, yes, absolutely cookbooks rule and will be treasured for years to come . . . STILL!

Just the other day, I was contemplating this very subject. The internet most certainly opened doors to me and gave access to other people's recipe successes and failures as well as immediate information without searching through pages and pages, sometimes unsuccessfully. When I first married, in 1975, the first cookbook I received was The Cotton Country Collection and I still love that book! I, also, read them like novels, and I'm positive that "hunger" for learning to cook forced me to try new things. After all, the worst that could happen was that it went into the trash and I'd try again! My favorites were books with menus in them, usually from club groups and churches, but Martha has been extremely helpful to me, too, as well as Southern Living. Never would I be able to spare my books! The pictures and guides are irreplaceable to me to this day, especially if trying something new. I love giving cookbooks as part of a shower or wedding gift, also, even if they are not on the gift list of the bride and groom. They are always appreciated!

I'm with gigi7. I love all kinds of cookbooks but do really enjoy some of the ones that clubs or schools put out. I think they are T&T as they are usually the person's favorite recipe. I enjoy just sitting and looking through cookbooks also. Since I've retired, I'm trying to make something new each week from one of the cookbooks or magazine's I have.
I use the internet also to look up recipes mainly when I'm in a hurry and can't take the time to look for it in one of the cookbooks. No, not me....I will never get rid of my cookbooks.

As a mother who sent six kids to college well-equipped to prepare meals, I say skip the cookbooks and the good tools. None of my kids or their friends "cooked" the way they were used to eating or cooking at home, or the way we did when we went to school.

They need a microwave and a few cheap tools like a battered frying pan, a pot, a pancake turner, measuring cups & spoons and a cake pan. Everything else just collects dust.

I've written before about my kids eating habits - raised on healthy, natural, whole, fresh foods prepared at home. The minute they got out the door, they reveled in eating junk food on the fly. Oh, they all knew how to cook good, nutritious meals and were all well-intentioned about preparing food in college, but they had other interests in college, and cooking wasn't one of them. They are all good cooks now, though, raising their kids pretty much as they were raised, but I have no idea how they survived their college diets!

As for cookbooks, I have dozens. But I'll not be buying any more. The internet is too easy.

Sherry

Sounds like someone generalized that because a male college student might prefer online recipes to a cookbook that "everyone" does. Seems pretty inevitable that a lot of things are going to be paperless and that younger generation is farther down that path than older generations.

I like looking at cookbooks and I buy a new one every now and then but I get far more recipes from the internet. I like the ease of searching for specific combinations of things I'm looking for and getting reviews from others who have already used the recipe.

If owning over 500 at last count counts....

Sherry, I sent ds off to college this year with The Pioneer Woman Cooks new cookbook and a slew of pots, pans and casserole dishes. He was lucky enough to even have a LC casserole in there.

This was a kid who complained bitterly whenever he had to make so much as a piece of toast!

Now he is cooking one meal a week, from her book, he likes the pictures that show each step. And he's enjoying the compliments. We may make a decent chef of him yet :)

And on the kindle BTW you CAN dog ear pages.

A while back they had Not your Mother's Slowcooker recipe book as a freebie. I'm always good for a freebie so I "bought" it from Amazon.

LOL, I still pull out my paper slow cooker books. I always forget about the one on my Kindle

Sherry, had to chuckle reading about your kids' eating habits in college.

DS, the one whose cooking/baking skills now rival my own(which I've been working at for more than 3 decades...)was nicknamed "Mowgli" by his sister because when left to his own devices for meal prep during HS/undergrad yrs. he would only eat fruit. If the fruit bowl was empty, he just wouldn't eat. Even when I'd leave delicious leftovers for him to warm in the microwave he wouldn't go near them. Wouldn't even make toast.

But when the switch was turned on he really embraced cooking. Last year in Copenhagen, where he now lives, he & his then-fiancee, now wife, put on an American Thanksgiving feast for a dozen people. Many of the staples that we take for granted here weren't available and he had to start from scratch and improvise a lot. He even cooked and pureed pumpkins for his pies. This, from a guy who once wouldn't boil water for pasta!

Annie, your girls sound like my DD - very capable & tech savvy when she needs to be, but still enjoys cooking with a paper book.

Arabellamiller, In addition to a good book that covers the basics, I love the idea of putting together a binder of my T&T recipes for my nephew. My own kids have been asking me to compile something like that for years. Maybe I can make both online & paper copies. That would cover all the bases!

The internet is a wonderful tool for a cook. I use it frequently, much the same way as I use cookbooks, for ideas mostly. I get itchy just following a recipe, though I will if it is a dish I've never tasted or one using ingredients I'm totally unfamiliar with.

I prefer my cookbooks, because I can take them into any room of the house, including the kitchen, without having to print out recipes. Plus, you get to know a cookbook. You know which ones mesh with your cooking style and your taste. You get to know which ones you can trust too.

However, sometimes I want a recipe I don't have in any book, or one I know I have but I can't remember in which...I have lots of cookbooks! Or, I get on a roll with something and want more recipes for it than I have. I do this when I'm teaching myself unfamiliar dishes from other cuisines. I want to capture the essence of a dish, and learn to just make it, the way I just make the American foods I grew up with. So I will cook the same dish many times using many different recipes, and eventually I end up feeling comfortable just winging it.

For a kid going away to college, I have to agree, they probably won't be bothering too much about cooking. For one, if they're living in dorms, their ability to cook is generally pretty limited. If they live off campus, sharing an apartment or house with friends, they may cook sometimes for parties etc, but most will not break out the cookbook to cook an omelet for breakfast, they'll just grab something out of the microwave or eat a slice of last night's pizza.

But, on the occasion they DO decide to cook, a tried and true, basic cookbook (my pic is Fannie Farmer's) with simple, easy to follow recipes is something they'll likely use from time to time and then keep for the rest of their life. I still use my FF, when I can't remember how many minutes to cook this or that at what temperature or want to refresh my memory about some basic dish I don't often make...like meatloaf. I don't make it often, and when I do I'll check on the proportions of meat, bread & egg, as well as oven temp & cooking time. What the heck temp need I cook this meat to? How long for a baked potato? Things like that.

Anyhow, maybe buying the kid a cookbook might just start something, who knows?

My daughter Ariel is now a Senior in college. She has cooked at school since she was a Freshman there. We set her up with a set of pots and pans, utensils,etc. The majority of colleges have kitchens in the dorms, usually on the main floor for their students that choose to do cooking in addition to any meal plan they offer. She loves to cook and does very well at it. She has about 5 cookbooks now. One we gave her, the others she bought herself. She also uses the internet for some recipes but mostly she cooks from books and what we have taught her at home. She even sends me new recipes she has tried so that I can make it also.
I had to laugh when she told me the first night she cooked at her dorm 2 "starving" guy students asked if they could eat her leftovers. The food they were serving at the dinning hall was crap they said. They loved Ariel's cooking and ate all she had! They treated Ariel to a take out pizza the following week because they don't cook. I thought that was very nice of them to do.
So as far as cookbooks go I guess it depends on the person. As in our family's case both girls were raised with computers, cellphones, internet,etc., and they still love reading and using actual books. NancyLouise

I like the idea of cookbooks, but I have to admit mine mostly gather dust. It is so much easier to look something up online really quickly and, like Gibby mentioned above, it is nice to read instant reviews from people who've actually made the recipes.

My daughter's days at university were different. Her first year she lived at home, I did the cooking.

Her second year she roomed with 5 girls in a big house that became "party central", at that age that means lots of food. Probably after the first necessity (but I don't want to think about that)!

She became the cook, and really started to take an interest in making food for all the regulars, mostly simple easy to make food for a crowd. She got better at it and the roomies started buying the ingredients for her if she would do the cooking. Every year she had different room mates but she was the one who did the cooking. She even asked for a rolling pin as a gift once!

She has turned into a really good cook now. I have bought her a couple of cookbooks for the basics, but she is very health conscious now and I think gets most of her recipes at sites on the web.

Di

I love cookbooks, but kids use the internet. Get him a cookbook as an ebook.

I see cookbooks and the internet as complementary, not mutually exclusive, but it really does depend upon the individual. I don't necessarily think it's an age thing.

I see it as any other issue. The internet offers scope and cookbooks offer depth. There's lots of "junk" in both mediums.

I treasure my old cookbooks. My 1952 Joy of Cooking almost reads like a novel with its opinionated and eccentric headers. My old Farm Journal cookbooks are much-loved go-to's.

A lot of those old recipes just aren't online. They are the heritage of a generation that was print-oriented and their children or grandchildren will post no more than a few of the hundreds.

Some of my very favorite cookbook authors are also protective of copyright. I'm not saying Marcy Goldman is my favorite, but she's an example of someone who exerts a lot of energy monitoring sites to make sure her recipes aren't posted. I've seen her on the breadbaking digest requesting that very thing.

If I really like a particular author and want to pursue his/her work in more depth, I buy the book. Recipes online are often abbreviated without the instructions and helpful tips a book will include.

Cookbooks are also a wonderful way to pursue a particular interest whether it's Cajun cooking, Sephardic Jewish Mediterranean, or historical recipes. I have several local old cookbooks.

I still use the internet. After all, I'm online discussing them right now. If I have some ingredients I'm trying to use up then the internet is the speediest way to find out what will come up in a search. Or if someone mentions a particular recipe they really enjoyed, I'll definitely go to the link.

But I don't know how many times on Harvest someone has asked about preserving or here about baking and it's The Jamlady Cookbook table of pectin and acid levels in fruits or McGee's On Food and Cooking I'm checking.

Carol

I don't have all that many cookbooks (just one bookcase shelf of them), and I used to use the internet a lot for recipes. However, lately I find myself going back to cookbooks, and I recently bought three sort of vintage ones by Justin Wilson. Because of the internet, cookbooks are now a lot cheaper than they used to be. I bought all of Justin's books from Amazon, and some were one penney plus shipping, and so the shipping was the essential cost. I really enjoy his books and trust using his recipes more than something random found on line. There are cerain authors that I like and trust, and I will use them instead of internet whenever possible. I also prefer they way things are grouped in books.

The main exception I find is the abundance of YouTube cooking demonstrations, which I find more helpful than a cookbook. I get more inspired by watching someone than just reading them.

If you buy a cookbook for your son, make sure it is entertaining to read and written by someone whose recipes he likes.

Lars

I love the idea of a GC to Trader Joes but as far as a cookbook goes maybe you should consider putting together a spiral flip book of family comfort recipes? All you need is a couple index cards, some laminate inserts, and a key ring. And if you're putting together a package for him include a nested bunch of tupperware. He'll be perplexed at first but he'll remember the whole thing as the most thoughtful bon voyage gift when he's on his own.

I've made many an "Off to College" gift bucket/basket so let me know if you want to veer off the path I have a great "Holy Crap, I never knew I'd need _that_ to put my dorm room together" bucket. :)

Ooo I forgot I love love love cookbooks but mostly the kind that highlight a region and have information on the local ingredients, how to use them, pictures, and regional recipes. Most of my cookbooks double as gorgeous coffee table books :)

My most recent: "Island Thyme" from Bermuda published by the Junior Service League. I bought it to make an authentic dinner for my parents next anniversary (we all (3 kids and spousese) renewed our vows this past October in Astwood Park Bermuda) which is coming up next month. I'm even making a wedding cake from the book with gold powder and silver foil. Its gonna be fun- and unexpected since its their 51st