Cookbooks are a Girl's Best Friend!

Some girls are positively addicted to chocolate. While I like it, I have to be in the mood. Supposedly diamonds are a girl's best friend. Since I don't own one, I can't give a fair assessment on that truth. The thing that I love, that I can't get enough of, is a cookbook.

Since I have been cooking full time for the family, I seem to be increasing my collection as often as my meager budget will allow. Combined with my mom's cookbooks, one whole shelf in our pantry is dedicated to the recipes of Southern cusine, family favorites, and celebrity chefs alike.

Food is a big part of who I am. In fact, I am considering adding "food" into my blog title. (Friends who know me well suggested it, and you know what, I totally see their side ;-) I get so many people asking me about cookbooks I love, what recipes I enjoy out of them...and I have decided that I should do a blog post about it. Hope it doesn't sound to boring too y'all!

Seriously, even if cooking isn't your thing (and I have several friends who dislike it), I do suggest having this book on hand. How to Break an Egg is not a cookbook. It is a tip and emergency book. Trust me, it has helped me figure out what I can use to substitute buttermilk, or baking powder, or how to make self rising flour. Now, it does not have all the answers, but it has more than enough to hopefully avoid a kitchen disaster. I turn to this book quite frequently. If I had any pride, I wouldn't admit it....but since I don't, I can say that this budding culinary girl needs help =)



I do love the standard cookbooks that have all the recipes (you know, Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Gardens). But for some reason, I seem to check my America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook before I look in those. I used to watch their show on PBS quite frequently and I loved the helping tips that they used to give. This cookbook has ever recipe I could want. Their baking cookbook has the most amazing chocolate cake recipe a body could ask for ;-)

Taste of Home's annual recipes have been a presence on our shelf for as long as I can remember. Mom seemed to get them every year and I have know "carried on the tradition." I love how homey the recipes are; I love seeing multiple recipes for one particular ingredient. I don't ever encounter "weird" foods in their cookbooks. I might love to try and enhance certain dishes, but homey is definitely my roots.


And then, there is what I love now....the world of celebrity chefs. I am a self proclaimed Food Network junkie. (Maybe there is a Food Network's Anonymous group I need to go to ;-) Paula Deen, Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, I am on a first named basis with these people. But none more so than Giada De Laurentiis. I just love her and her cooking. I am one quarter Italian, so I love her Italian cooking. I love her personality, the fact that she is petite, and so on. Almost all of her cookbooks line my shelves...and when she made a certain dish for William and Kate when they visited California, I squealed. I make it for my family quite often. (Then when she changed her mind because no one seemed to get it right, I was bummed. She should have had me on speed dial ;-)

So there you go....a little glimpse into my kitchen world. Do you have any go-to cookbooks? Have any of them been in your family for generations? Or are you finding your own interests and taste buds? I would love to hear about them!