Each of my kids got a copy of "Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?" when they truly were out on their own. Not only cooking hints and basic recipes, but also laundry, housekeeping, grocery shopping. Mostly things they admittedly had had contact with in their growing up years, but well written in one volume. There still were the phone calls, "Mom, how do I..." But that's just an excuse to keep in touch.

My grandson is a high school senior and has completed most of his requirements, so he is taking home ec as an elective. He knows a little about cooking, but not much, and will be off to college and on his own next year.

He is presently busy making an apron and came to me for a sewing lesson. He said he wished I were his home ec teacher because she doesn't demonstrate enough. I was not good at sewing until I got a little older, and my first thought was wouldn't my own home ec teacher be proud.

Elizabeth David was the greatest influence on post-WW2 cooking, in the 1950sm when food in general was scarce in the UK and anything 'fancy' was impossible to get. I had never seen garlic or pimentos, for instance, when a child and olive oil was what you put iin your ears for earache!

She travelled through France and Italy, sampling food everywhere and collecting recipes. She wrote several books which are still in print and which I still use:

French Provincial Cooking
French Country Cooking
Mediterranean Cooking
Summer Cooking
Italian Cooking

I have a few favorite cookbooks which I turn to, just for the fun of reading them. Examples include books by Elizabeth David, Jane Grigson, and perhaps my all-time favourite, Edna Staebler's Food that Really Schmecks. Staebler's book is a classic Canadian cookbook, preserving the Mennonite recipes of the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario. (She died not long ago, aged 100.) I am also a big fan of Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America and Michael and Jane Stern's offbeat and often hilarious Square Meals.

For hands-on advice, I turn time and again to my old, battered copy of The Joy of Cooking. Also the two volumes of Delia Smith's How to Cook. (Not being from England, I don't understand why so many people sneer at Smith. She seems like a straightforward, sensible lady, refreshingly free from the food-snobbery which is perhaps the most boring aspect of many contemporary English cookery writers.)

Tim, Delia is probably the most popular TV cook in the UK. As you say some 'superior' people have derided her work, but her recipes work and she gives sensible, practical advice . . . all without pouting at the camera, swearing or displaying way too much cleavage.
Do you get the UK TV chefs Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver?

Veer, well put!

I can't stand Gordon Ramsey, and will leap across the room to turn the TV off when he appears. Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson similarly leave me cold. Have you seen comedienne Ronni Ancona's impression of Nigella? It is absolutely hilarious. (You can find the clip on YouTube.)

The absolute worst "food snobs", in my opinion, are/were Clarissa Dickson Wright and the late Jennifer Paterson. They could not prepare a single dish without sneering at the food eaten by the the lower orders.

I forgot to mention Mimi Sheraton and the late Mme. Benoit among my favorite cookery writers. Whenever I am in a second hand book shop or charity book sale, I look for any Benoit books. She was an adorable fixture of Canadian television for decades: a tiny little French Canadian lady with a heavy Quebecois accent and an enormous matronly bosom. She reminded me so much of my great-aunts, many of whom were stupendous cooks.

Tim, thanks for reminding me of Delia Smith. I've made a number of her recipes. Also can't stand Ramsey et al. Oliver gets a point or two for tackling the very unglamorous school lunch program and for even getting a lad or two to cook. I doubt anyone has ever picked up a ladle because of Ramsey. Most of the TV chefs leave me cold as they throw around superlatives ad nauseaum.

I used to enjoy watching The Urban Peasant, who was I believe a Canadian named James Barber. He died a few years ago but most of his books are still available. I still make his lamb stew.

Frances, I'm glad you have discovered the divine Chef Pepin. One thing I like about him is that he also embraces shortcuts and using prepared foods at times.

I have never had any luck with Martha Stewart's recipes. They are either much too expensive and elaborate or just not very good.

While I'm throwing around my opinions, I'll toss in my defense of iceberg lettuce. It is inexpensive, pleasantly crunchy, and has a nice mild flavor that doesn't compete with other ingredients. I find it quite nice.

My favorite cookbook remains "The Vegetarian Epicure" and, now that the low-fat, fake food fad is out, I am less guilty about making its many delicious rich recipes.

Interestingly, many of Martha Stewart's recipes are either incorrect or just don't work.
A competing editor made that observation years ago and at first I thought she was a bit snarky.
Then I began to find it to be true and heard many others voice the same complaint.
Unlike Ina Garten, whose recipes are always right on.

loathe Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver I just find a bit annoying.
yoyo-I like a lot of Ina's recipes and use them over and over: except Ina's seasalt caramels-fortunately I read the ratings before I tried them-saved me from a very expensive disaster. Apparently numerous people have contacted FOOD network about it but apparently once it is up on the website it is up-cooks beware!
timallen: A few years ago, Mimi Sheraton was the speaker at an author's luncheon that is a large fundraiser for an organization to which I belong. (dreadful sentence-hope you followed all that...)
In preparation I read a couple of her books, enjoyed them and was excited to meet her. I really enjoyed her turn of phrase and the little edge she has to her prose.
Another woman and I were delegated to pick her up at the train station, drive her around, get her to her hotel, etc. She requested that we arrange a dinner in an authentic (her stress) Amish home the night before the luncheon. We did, at some trouble and expense. We told the Amish family all about this wonderful NY foodwriter, gave them her German cookbook, and they were very excited and honored to have her in their home. We should have all remembered-she left her mark as a restaurant critic all over NYC and the world. The edge turned out to be very very sharp.
It was so disappointing because she was so rude the whole time she was with us, when it was unnecessary and actually unkind-especially about the Amish dinner that she had requested. We don't know what she expected, but she didn't like the food, didn't like eating in their kitchen, didn't like having the children there, didn't like that other members of the organization were included, was offended when asked to sign her book for the family...and the next day at the luncheon she complained about it all over again to one of the main sponsors of the event! We were so glad that the Amish wife and oldest daughter had declined our invitation to come to the luncheon. Honestly, I just wanted to smack her.

ccrdmrbks, your Mimi Sheraton story is appalling yet hilarious. So often people who are at best only marginally famous are the ones who put on the most airs. It pains me to say this, but many writers are just not very nice people.

(Her German cookbook is still definitive.)

cc, I've never heard of Mimi Sheraton (obviously because of my lack of interest in food writing prior to this year) but I have never been able to understand why anyone would feel they could behave in such a manner with anyone else, especially someone doing a favor for them that they had requested. Even having a bad day couldn't explain it.

My reaction to Gordon Ramsay the one time I happened to see him on TV was just about the same -- disgust. Ugh.

My new Jacques Pepin book arrived and I was flipping through the pages yesterday, noticing recipes for such things as rabbit, tripe, calf's brains, etc., and I was thinking that it is a nice cookbook but his taste in food is certainly different than mine and then I happened on a recipe for "Cats' Tongues". Okay, thought I, he has gone way too far now. Turns out "Cats' Tongues" are cookies! Everytime I think I have learned something about cooking something happens to show me otherwise.

I've never seen Good Eats on TV but I do have two of Alton Brown's book based on the program and love the scientific explanations of food and recipes.

Wow, I haven't seen that cookbook! I'm not sure where one would procure those types of meats, at least not easily or inexpensively. I am very fond of a pork tenderloin recipe of his - much easier to obtain than calf's brain. But I know it is very fashionable to eat these sorts of things.

Good Eats is terrific, I recommend it highly, especially the early ones. Brown's sense of humor is wonderful and you will learn a lot, even if you think you already know about the topic.

timallen: I so agree-and those of us who were at the dinner still talk with hilarity of "dinner with Mimi"-I always win because I also had to sit at her table at lunch-the sponsors, Mimi, and me-joy and rapture. but seriously, it's not like she came down out of the goodness of her heart-we were paying her-a lot.

Oh Frances-when you have a couple free days, make a pot of tea and a plate of cat's tongues (I think they are like madeleines without the fancy smancy pan), settle back and click on the link below and from there just keep choosing episodes. I have learned so much about how food and cooking work-I am much more confident changing recipes because now I know why certain ingredients are in a recipe-and I know what else does the same job. Plus he takes the knowledge seriously but never himself. refreshing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Good Eats: The Egg Files

My father-in-law allowed me to borrow his tattered copy of Larousse Gastronomique. I put it aside and did not have a chance to delve into the pages. At Eastertime he said, "Vanessa, I'd love for you to make me some sweetbread." I figured a loaf of bread would be a cinch to make. Then I looked in the book. We all had such a good laugh that Easter.

In 2011 I have enjoyed using Amanda Hesser's NYT Essential Cookbook and also enjoyed reading these titles:

The Lost Art of Real Cooking by Ken Albala and Rosanna Nafziger, As Always, Julia : The Letters of Julia Child and Avis Devoto edited by Joan Reardon, The Wild Vine: A Forgotten Grape and the Untold Story of American Wine by Todd Kliman.

Thank you, cc, for that link. It was wonderful! I'm definitely going to watch more and check out my Alton Brown Good Eats books to see if the information is there and, if so, how presented. This must have been an older program because he looked much younger than he does on Iron Chef America.

Siobhan, I didn't mean to indicate that the Jacques Pepin cookbook only included such strange recipes. It actually has very many really good ones as well. It is like a "best of" cookbook, including recipes from many of his other cookbooks.

I can't help giggling, as I think sweetbread and calf's brain are delicious. Very difficult to find now when most meat comes pre-packed and there are no butchers near me. The last time I had sweetbread was in a Helsinki restaurant seven years ago, an unforgettable meal.

I started cooking daily when I was 16, first for myself when I had to leave home to go to school in the nearest city, later for husband and family, 50 years of cooking. I've collected cookbooks almost as long. My mother was a good cook but hated cooking mainly because my father was so conservative in his food taste, a true meat and potato man. She tried to serve vegetables and fish but soon gave up trying to convert him. I decided to cook differently.

I bought the exotic cookbooks I could find, not very common in bookshops in early sixties Sweden. Now there is a cooking programme every night on TV, at least on one channel. Actors cook, musicians cook, even cooks cook. I have watched only one TV chef, the first, called Tina. After a few programmes the food store chains complained that the ingredients she used one night sold out the next day and demanded that they be told well in advance what she was going to cook. I doubt that anybody now bothers to cook anything from a Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, Gordon Ramsay or Floyd show or any of the others.

My first was a secondhand book printed in 1953 with international dishes but with all exotic condiments substituted with more easily obtained ingredients. Not very exciting but a start to more adventurous cooking.

I used to buy cookbooks wherever I went and friends gave me books they had seen on their travels. The Moosewood Cookbook was a present from American friends, and I bought Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant myself later. La cuisine de Mapie by Mapie de Toulouse Lautrec was a present from a colleague, two books I still use occasionally. But I don't use my 90 odd cookbooks much but some have stayed. I ought to copy the one or two recipes I actually use into my black recipe notebook and sell most of my cookbooks.

I like cookbooks that give a sense of place. I love Indian food but I prefer the cookbook I bought in New Delhi in 1967, printed on bad quality paper and falling apart, to Madhur Jaffrey's better looking book Indian Cookery, written in Britain. I haven't cooked a single recipe from my Somali cookbook, another gift, written in bad English on bad paper but I am touched by it. I hope that Somali housewives will have peace in their country and be able to cook their traditional recipes at home again.

An old cookbook by members of a chapter of the Daughters' of the American Revolution is interesting, too. Most recipes are based on some canned food, like Campbell soup or tuna. The Wisconsin Cookbook is very different, about the traditional cooking by pioneer women who had to make everything from scratch.

Another book is compiled by a Jewish women's club in Potchefstroom, South Africa, an...

I've been going through all of the posts here, listing the books I don't have and checking the library for them. I did find one version of the Moosewood Cookbook and will pick it up tomorrow.

I love that so many people like to read cookbooks. A year ago I would have thought that was so strange and now there is nothing I would rather do. With all the cookbooks and magazines piled around me (my favorite magazines are the same as veronicae's) there is very little time for reading other books.

There are scores of informative cooking videos available on YouTube. In addition to recipes, there are many good instructional videos for preparing difficult or intimidating foods. (I realize this has nothing to do with books, but I thought I would pass this on.)

For example, there are several videos about making hardtack, a staple for soldiers during the Civil War. The Minnesota Historical Society (which has its own YouTube channel) uploaded a video about an authentic fragment of hardtack, dating from the U.S. Civil War, which is part of their collection.

I find the internet useful to find out how to cut things - herbs, vegetables, etc. Besides dicing and slicing, I was pretty much clueless, especially with what to me were not common items. Like Mangoes, leeks, fennel....and just about all the fresh herbs and spices.

Hardtack, hmmm. Not a tasty dish I ever considered wanting to prepare but then I never thought I would eat a brussels sprout, either.

Veronica, I've also researched how to cut up some items that weren't covered in my online cooking school. How did we ever live without the internet? It is even more helpful to me in learning how to do some knitting stitches (but that is a different current passion of mine).

There are some gardeners here, I know. Did anyone read William Alexander's The $64 Tomato? Hilarious! Today at the library I found his new book, 52 Loaves: One Man's Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and the Perfect Crust. I can't wait to read it.

Here is a link that might be useful: 52 Loaves

Am curious to know from you who've been cooking for decades almost daily -- Do you still like to cook? Does it ever feel like drudgery?

When Borders Books was going out of business, I found a new edition of the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook (red plaid) -- very cheaply. I already had the large paperback one -- but this is the one I'd wanted for years -- the hard cover built like a three-ring binder. When you open it to a recipe the book stays flat -- so the page you're working from doesn't flop over making you lose your place... and your patience! The only thing I have to do differently w/its recipes is hype up the amounts for spices, herbs, flavourings. Its recipes are a little bland-tasting.

When I was a stewardess (remember that term??) for TWA, Jacques Pepin created the recipes for the flight meals. For some 5 years TWA earned the distinction as Best Airline Food (I think it was awarded by some food magazine). The passengers -- as well as we flight attendants -- really enjoyed his food!

I was just thinking of Alton Brown the other day ... and I miss his show. He was a good teacher and wasn't dry or didactic. His style was cooky (as in zany). He had recurring characters on the set w/him -- like some crazy "nun" who'd show up. ... Hilarious! I miss him. Is he still around?

Am glad to hear I'm not the only one who doesn't like Martha Stewart. Give me Nigella Lawson any day. I like her easy-going personality, her glamourous style (so nice to see someone who doesn't look like a kitchen slave), and simple but delicious-looking recipes.

Elizabeth David had a renaissance here in the States in the 1990s. I think Penguin re-printed her books. They should be fairly easy to find on-line.

Ruth Reichl is such an exciting writer to me, whether she's describing food or something that happened in her own life. Her two biographic books are in my permanent collection. I've used some of her books' recipes, too ... and they've all turned out so good, I've use them over and over again. In fact, I just made one yesterday -- the ever-yummy "Potatoes w/ Parsley" (and a whoooole lot o' butter!!).

lauramarie - my husband put a small screw in the molding for the cabinets. I take the pages out of the red and white plaid book and hang it from the screw with a black clamp clip (for holding sheaths of papers. Pages stay clean, no space used on my small counter, and it's easy to read. Can't do that with the standard cookbook.

For a while, years ago, I discovered the novels of M.F.K Fisher. She led an interesting, well-traveled life, as well as being a connoisseur of gourmet cuisine. I seem to recall one of her novels is "How to Cook a Wolf" but there are several more titles. I hope they are not going out of print.

I have read quite a few of Fisher's books. She was a very interesting person who lived life to the fullest despite facing financial difficulties and a variety of personal problems for much of her life.

I am going to look for Alexander's new book; I loved The $64 Tomato. That book was instrumental in my decision to support the local farmers market instead of planting my own garden.

I have cooked since I was a small child and was able to produce a large home-cooked meal for 15 people with relative ease when I was 11. At 13 I doing the family grocery shopping and had many discussions/arguments with my mother about the food budget. I have always enjoyed cooking but cannot bear being taken for granted and am adverse to what I see as unrealistic expectations i.e. that every single meal has to be completely cooked from scratch AND not be cooked from a recipe and be some kind of creative miracle on my part. (Excuse the personal baggage here.) Now that I live alone I am becoming increasingly idiosyncratic in my cooking and often wonder if anything I make is fit to eat by anyone but myself. For one thing, I like my food a great deal spicier than most people here in Maine.

Well I am really getting off on a tangent here. I have collected a number of old cookbooks and love to look through them. I am often amazed at the amount of salt in them, as well as the lack of other seasonings. Sometimes pepper, but nary a mention of grinding it fresh.

A very nasty secret is that butter, sugar, or salt, possibly all three will improve just about any recipe, particularly pasta dishes. If you are ready to go to the table and afraid your dish is lacking zing, a bit of the aforesaid three can do wonders. Not so good for the waistline though, as diners can look at wonderful veg and not realize it is the butter on it that makes it so delicious. I remember seeing an interview with Bobby Flay talking about the creamed spinach he serves at one of his restaurants - one of the most popular items, and one that diners feel virtuous about ordering. It contains a whopping 4 Tablespoons of butter - that is half a stick of butter for a side dish no less. No wonder it tastes so good!

lauramarie, after all these years I have a large repertoire of easy dishes for days when I don't feel like anything elaborate. The worst period in my cooking life was when my children were teenagers, that was drudgery. They didn't care what they had as long as there was lots of it. They stayed at table only long enough to gobble it up and leave. Now that my husband and I are both retired we often cook together, dishes that take a long time to make. If we feel like, there are no musts any longer. We eat only one cooked meal a day and have no set meal times, at least not in summer when we are in the garden.

Cooking for grown children is fun again and the younger grandchildren are food junkies that love seafood, fish and exotic dishes their parents never used to care for at that age. My 12 year-old granddaughter came to my house a couple of weeks ago to learn how to make sushi, not her first go at it. Today I gave her a recipe from a magazine for Halloween cupcakes and some black and orange paper cups and expect a treat on Monday. Both my son and daughter are single parents so they have always let their children help with the cooking, from necessity, to save time after work. I worked part time when my children were young so I didn't teach them to cook. I regret that now but they have learnt the hard way and with the help of the same big basic cookery book I gave them, a book I have given several young people.

I never did like to cook and still don't, but I do like to eat and so have become fairly proficient at getting a decent meal on the table. Now, my husband and I are both on cholesterol meds and eat a LOT of chicken. Make that a lot of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I am constantly on the lookout for recipes that make them taste like something--anything--and don't involve Siobhan's butter, salt, and sugar.

Right now, I'm doing Dr. Dukan's low carb diet and not eating any excess fat, starch, or sugar. Lest you feel too sorry for me, I've lost ten pounds in four weeks and am pretty happy about it. Unlike Dr. Atkins, Dukan lets you have skim milk, cottage cheese, and Greek yogurt and enourages you to eat baked custard and floating island made with artificial sweetener. Desserts are my thing, so that has been a real boon for me.

I have an iron cookbook stand that tilts and has two cords with weights attached to lay over the pages to hold them open. I ordered it from one of the many catalogs that come to me unsolicited. Of course, every time I order something, I get more catalogs; but this item has been a good buy.

Low-fat, tasty chicken recipes requested. (This may be an oxymoron.)

I did not intend to read this thread, as I don't cook much these days but speaking of cooking....the Queen is visiting our city and there is a massive "sausage sizzle" BBQ being held today, so I am staying home as going to the shops is out! There will be a huge number of people dropping by for what is literally a bun-fight!
I am very glad I did come here as I have had a lot of enjoyment from reading the posts. Oddly, the foods that are now 'specialities' like lamb's brains, sweetbread etc. were part of our regular meals in my childhood during WW2 as they were 'off ration' and I loved the 'cat's tongue' story!
I did accumulate a number of cookery books because they were bundled in UK book club offers but sold them when I moved back to Australia. I did keep the Delia Smith ones, which I use for reference when I do decide to make something! It is a wonder to me that my daughter and her two children are food industry professionals, they don't get that from me!
Enjoy your meals!

1 cut-up chicken, or any chicken parts of your choice (thighs are good)
2 sage leaves
2 bay leaves
1 clove of garlic, sliced
6 cloves
2 sprigs rosemary
2 peppercorns
Salt to taste or dietary preference
1/4 tsp or more red chili flakes
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth (low sodium if you like)

Brown the chicken pieces in a pot with a lid. Add everything else. If you want to make it extra tasty, dice up a bit of prosciutto and throw it in. Cover and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes until the chicken is done. Uncover, turn up the heat and reduce sauce until you like it. You can thicken it if you like. You can strain it if you want a smooth sauce. Be sure to discard the bay leaves. Also good made with turkey.

Carolyn, all the denial and suffering will surely be worth it if only to look like the Middleton women after their 'alleged' use of the Dukan diet before the Big Day ;-)

I remember a time way back in my childhood when chicken was a real treat. We were not a poverty-stricken family by any means, but I suppose battery mass-production of tasteless birds hadn't happened then. Even eggs, unless one keep hens were not easy to come by. But, at least, my post-war generation was never fat!

I have noticed that in the several US cookery books I have (sent by American 'cousins') their is quite a lot of canned and packet goods used in the making of many dishes.
I am sure people in the UK use just as many 'ready prepared' items but it is very unusual to find them mentioned in a recipe book.
Delia Smith did a TV series for 'modern cooks in a hurry', using some 'instant' stuff and, of course, the supermarket shelves were bare within minutes, but we still are given instructions for eg to simmer a chicken carcass/2 lbs marrow bones for three hours to make stock the day before we plan to make a stew.

In this household, we are greater users of 'leftovers', very little is wasted and no edible food is ever thrown away. Our hens are at the bottom of the pecking order and scraps are boiled up for them each day. Now beat that!

Vee, your reminiscence of the chicken as a treat made me think of what might be considered a treat now. Also when did we first come across something different? I had my first oyster when I was 22! Also tropical delicacies such as passion fruit and avocado when I went to Australia, now they are quite commonplace in UK supermarkets, I believe.

annpan, I had my first (and only) caviar at a fraternity party my freshman year in college. I thought that dark looking stuff on the crackers was chocolate. Wow! Was I ever surprised. Discreetly spit out into a napkin, and I was careful for a very long time about eating anything I couldn't independently define.

Veronicae...I once read that Russian sailors gave some British sailors Beluga caviar during WW2 as a gift. The men tried it politely but grumbled among themselves that the blackberry jam tasted of fish!

I really didn't experience exotic foods until I was in my early 20's and got my first job at a large big-city bank. I especially remember someone at a party very excitedly making a great treat for me. I had no idea what it was but it was delicious. It was steak tartare - raw beef with raw egg yolk. I am, however, quite adventurous and although this dish is not served very much anymore, I still enjoy it when I have the opportunity. I developed quite a taste for caviar when I became a flight attendant a few years later. I also went through an oyster period - when I used to fly to New Orleans I would drop my luggage at the hotel and run to the oyster bar before it closed.

These days I don't get much opportunity to enjoy those types of "luxury" foods and my tastes have become simpler as I have aged. A friend dropped off a slice of chocolate cake with Bailey's Irish Cream icing yesterday - it was like manna from heaven. There was also a complicated sandwich, which I disassembled and ate in various bits - the chicken went into a pasta dish, the avocado went into a salad, the bacon got chopped into a frittatta, and the bread got toasted for breakfast. My grandmother would have approved; she never wasted anything. I try very hard to never throw away food, which requires careful shopping and also makes one very aware of how much one is eating.

I watched America's Test Kitchen this afternoon, which reminded me of the age-old small appliance debate. Two of their favorites are also my favorites - my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer and my Kitchenaid 7-speed hand mixer, both of which I love more than is proper. When one needs a good mixer, there is no substitute. I don't have an immersion blender, have always meant to get one.

Siobhan, thanks so much for the recipe. It sounds good. Do you really use 6 cloves in it?

Yes, and you will either love or hate the somewhat exotic flavor they impart.

Veronicae - Thanks for the "recipe hook" suggestion. Yes, it would save on counter space, wouldn't it? . . . I laughed out loud when you told that "chocolate" caviar story!

Mariannese + Siobhan - Both of you seem happy to cook when it's for people who enjoy eating what you've made ... and **do not take your efforts and ingenuity for granted**. My attitude exactly! Though, I *do* like helpful criticism -- "too hot for my taste"; "have you tried basel, instead of thyme for this stew?"; etc.

My first taste of caviar was on an international flight. I loved it -- especially w/ finely chopped hard-boiled egg yolk & onion...Yumm-ohh !

Garlic -- Once I started cooking w/ it, there's been no turning back. I'm talking about *fresh* garlic -- not that stuff in a jar. In winter it's really good for keeping hands and feet warm -- revs up blood flow to the extremities. The scent of fresh garlic sizzling in butter or olive oil is soooo lovely to me! ...

Garlic in History: Supposedly, lack of garlic caused the first labor strike in recorded history -- during the building of the Pharaohs' tombs in Ancient Egypt. Guess it was moving all those heavy stones -- cut off their circulation!

Making sauces w/ wine is another joy -- smell-wise and taste-wise! Also - it's very good at scraping up those gorgeous tasty bits stuck at the bottom of a skillet -- like when you fry pork, chicken, beef, etc.

Vee's comment reminded me of cookbooks printed in different countries. I have one from Australia. It took me a few seconds to translate "biocarbonate of soda" and "caster sugar" while baking. My husband and I have used this small cookbook many times to satisfy our sweetooth.

Lauramarie you are making me hungry *smiles* I concur with your opinion of garlic.

Last night I heard that repeats of all seasons of Good Eats are being aired on the Cooking Channel at 8:00 on Fridays. Since I've never seen them they will all be new for me and I'm putting reminders around the house to watch.

In my year of cooking I'm guessing that garlic is my most frequently used ingredient with chicken broth being a close second.

I think I am very strange because I can't resist cookbooks esp. the ones with beautiful pictures but I HATE to cook although I keep dreaming about cooking or cutting out recipes but never try them. Any memoir about a chef or novel involving recipes and cooking I'm your woman! falling cloudberries by Tessa Kiros is a cookbook and beautiful too. I also bought The Heirloom Tomato yrs. ago because of the pictures. I told you I'm weird

I don't know, pam, it sounds like there is a latent cook in you somewhere. Why don't you pick out a delicious-sounding recipe and give it a try? I don't want to sound like an evangelist for cooking but I would almost say it has changed my life. When I realized I could make a cream puff, wow!!

No, no, Pam. What it is, it's that you like to eat! Ask me how I know. At one time in my life, I joined a cookbook book club and bought a number of cookbooks in the hope they would inspire me to enjoy cooking. Not so.

However, just today at Dillard's I bought the 2011 Southern Living Christmas Cookbook. Old habits die hard, and I do like their beautiful pictures and presentations. Anyway, the price benefits the Ronald McDonald House so it isn't a total waste.

When I worked in libraries, borrowers would often take out cook books and when returning them would laugh and say they had hardly looked at them! I had a theory that this was a kind of "Cargo Cult" mentality. Display something and it will come to you! They all had luscious meals portrayed on the covers. Could I be right? :-)

I'm not sure...but when I start buying decent cookware and overhauling my kitchen, maybe then I'll know and yes, Carolyn-I do love to eat!!!!! Perhaps I was a chef in another life, Frances?

Speaking of Southern Living, we went to a potluck supper tonight and someone brought the new SL pumpkin-praline cheesecake. I'm not a cheesecake fan, and the pumpkin mousse was pretty thick, but the praline topping with a ton of sugared pecans on top was beyond delicious.

And here I've just been bragging about my Dr. Dukan's Diet weight loss.

I make a lot of recipes from Yankee Magazine and find them to be almost bullet-proof. Quite easy to make from easy-to-find ingredients and everyone loves them. Usually they are not health food-type recipes, often calling for lots of white flour, sugar, butter, cream, etc., but that is okay once in a while. I just made a pumpkin bisque that called for 3 TBPS butter and two cups of half and half - but I used only 1 TBSP butter and less than a cup of 1% milk and it was delicious.

We are entering into the eating season, loosen your belts! (Or maybe tighten them?)

Frances md -

Thanks for the info @ "Good Eats" w/ Alton Brown. . . . It's been a long time since I've seen him.

During a big lapse in income -- after the 2008 financial collapse -- I decided to try popping my own popcorn -- something I hadn't done in years. ... instead of buying the expensive microwave stuff. Bought a bag of "small white kernel" popcorn -- 99â -- lasted for 3 months!

Cooked it using generous amount of canola oil. When I took that first taste, I was amazed at the rich, buttery flavour ... and I was going to pour melted butter over it. But it didn't need any butter. All I added was fresh-ground sea salt. Yummmm.... There's been no turning back (to microwave) since that first bite! I know it's slow ... but the proof of the pudding is .... .

Does anyone watch American's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country? Today they featured their version of the chicken recipe above - Chicken Canzanese or Italian Braised Chicken and also a foolproof polenta preparation. As a treat I prepared these for myself this evening and I can say unequivocally that I can die happy tonight. Almost unbelievably delicious and so easy.

I've been popping my own corn in a paper bag in the microwave for a few years now. Cheap, cheap, cheap and better than any expensive microwave prepared version.

I do watch both of those programs as often as I find them on TV but have not seen those dishes prepared. With one exception, every dish I have attempted from their books, magazines, and TV programs has been excellent. I love that they give detailed instructions on what to do and why (because, like a kid, I always want to know "why").