My Favorite Cookbooks

     I love to cook. I started as a kid when my mom told me to start the baked potatoes and chicken when I got home from school. I learned from her, my friend Joe who's step-dad had a chinese restaurant and I read cookbooks. My wife can cook from scratch and I can in a pinch but I love a good recipe to follow.
     The first cookbook that I remember using was the Kitchen Wizard Cookbook by Deborah Jarvis. You might remember the artist Arthur Robins from the great books "Where did I come from" and "What is happening to me."  It is out of print. The recipes are easy and the illustrations fun. There is a section on basic kitchen ABCs that anyone should remember.

     Five years ago the family stayed in a little house in the Tuscan country side near Siena. I won't go into details in this post but the food was fantastic. I studied the Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan before hand and made a few really good meals that we are looking over a grapevine covered valley. Upon our return I mastered he gelato recipe (seen other posts).
     Flavors by Donna Hay was a favorite for a while and is a very beautiful cookbook. It is also simple and good for beginners.
     She-Smoke: A Backyard Barbecue Book by Julie Reinhardt has great BBQ and grilling ideas and a couple of great charts that I use almost every time I grill for perfectly done meat. The author is a Seattle local and owner of Ballard's Smokin Pete's BBQ.
     I am working my way through many different cuisines and I frequently return to Thai food. It is not nearly as hard as it looks although I have been stymied by rice noodles. Thailand: the Beautiful Cookbook by Panurat Poladitmontri is my favorite one and has a great fish cakes recipe that everyone loves. Never however have a made the dishes as pretty as a Thai restaurant 
     Pasta and Co. Encore by Marcella Rosene is by far my wife's and my most used and most loved cookbook. We met the author at her cooking class in 1999. Every recipe is great. Most notable are second skin chicken. apple cake I have given it as a gift many times 
     The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1000 Recipes -Ruth Reichl, John Willoughby, Zanne Early Stewart. WIth 1000 recipes I have barely scratched the surface. It also has great cooking advice. Be mindful however that some of the recipes are quite involved and take a long time. To my detriment I have started recipes at 5 for dinner tonight and realize that it will be for dinner tomorrow night, usually worth it but still a long time.
     Better Homes and Gardens: Cookies and Candies -Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen. This is a holdover from a distant past. My mom looked for a copy for years after loosing her's. I have tried a couple of recipes but I really only have it for the "best peanut brittle in the world." -Poppop
     Urban Pantry -Amy Pennington. Amy Pennington is a NW cook and I frequently read her blog about cooking in Seattle. This book is really for a beginner and talks about many ideas for creating food wonderful in a small space.
     Macrina Bakery and Cafe Cookbook -Leslie Mackie. This is from the best bakery in Seattle and has many great recipes. My wife has used it more as she is the baker.

     I could go I but I must post sometime. It took me forever to find the Kitchen Wizard Cookbook to start this blog.