COFFEE POT QUESTION OF THE DAY (January 18th, 2010)

"The Coffee Pot Question of the Day" is: What is your favorite cookbook? This is a very hard question for me because I have more cookbooks than I have good sense, but I decided on the one that was the most worn out from use and that is 'Cooking With Class' by The Parents' Council of Charlotte Latin Schools, Charlotte, ...NC. I've been cooking from it for 28 years since I started cooking for the Dicksons.

I also have 5 more that I am calling Honorable Mentions...will share them over the day, according to how I am feeling....under the weather today

There were 3 printings of 'Cooking With Class' from 1982 to 1990. This awesome collection contains over 1200 recipes from the kitchens of parents, teachers, friends and relatives. It can be used by the novice as well as the most accomplished cook.

Jeffrey Weeks i've got so many!! a bunch of them are piled around me on Jenn's floor right now as I work! :)

Adele Daniels Forbes Wait until you see my collection, literally in everyone in the house but the pantry and laundry room...crazy...I started your book last night...just got 3 pages read but I am going to read so many a day...liking it

Sherry Fletcher The Joy of Cooking is mine because of the wealth of practical instruction on technique, not necessarily the recipes. A must, i think, for new cooks.

Adele Daniels Forbes I agree Sherry, I wore out one of those years ago!

Maresa Gibson Stahl I like Barbara's Top Recipes by Barbara McKay. But my favorite place to find recipes is the foodnetwork web site.

Stan Bracey I think everyone starting out should have the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Not for the recipes but for the basic practical instructions on measuring, suggested cooking temps, etc.

Jennifer Waldrop Wahab Mine is the "Big Old Nasty Blue Cookbook" It is my Mom's full of recipes she collected on bits and pieces of paper and typed on note cards, cut out of magazines, written in margins and a church cookbook she always used. For chirstmas one year my sister organized it and made three copies, one for me, her and my mom. Best book around!

Deanna Daniels Phillips "Heart of The Mountains" it's a cookbook made by ladies of the cooperative extension in Buncombe County around 18p20 yrs ago; my sister got it for me when I was about 14 years old and I have written other favorite recipes in every empty space in the cook book.
I have cooked almost everything in it and there's not been one bad recipe.

Adele Daniels Forbes Honorable Mention #1 is 'Come On In!', by the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi; copyright 1991. I have owned this book since 1993 and it stands out as one of my very favorite Jr. League books which I collect with a fury. It is a beautiful book and has side bars on every page of additional recipes, Southern quotes, and tips.
"Our door is always open, so don't bother to knock; just come on it!'

Sylvia Souza Moore Its an old one "Searchlight Recipe Book" copyright 1931,1937. It was a cook book that belonged to my mama, She used it all the time. After she passed away, a friends wife asked to borrow it. Big mistake. I never saw it, or her again. Several years ago I searched Amazon and found a nice copy. I know it isn't Mamas, but just looking at it makes me feel good.... I dont cook anything out of it, just look through it from time to time, remembering my sweet mama. Another one I love is "Mama Dips Kitchen" by Mildred Council. Its full of great recipes, and great family stories of Mama Dip's family. I have cooked out of it, and I just love her family stories.S he has a restaurant in Chapel Hill,N.C. and Im aiming to go there one day.

Adele Daniels Forbes Honorable Mention #2 is 'Heaven's Banquet', Vegetarian Cooking For Lifelong Health the Ayurveda Way; The Maharishi Ayur-veda Cookbook, by Miriam Kasin Hospodar.
I studied Ayurveda Medicine when I had my Herb & Vitamin shop and it fascinated me for many years.The object is to match your diet to your mind-body type. This book is an invaluable guide ... See Moreto a holistic lifestyle that will enhance your entire life as it balances your mind, body, and soul.
"Next to eating good dinners, a healthy man with a benevolent turn of mind must like, I think, to read about them."-William Makepiece Thackeray

Jo Carpenter 'Gastronomique' hands down, the best. My daughter agrees, too

Marty Smith Sharpe I'm with Sherry on The Joy of Cooking. Good basic instruction for those with little experience.

Adele Daniels Forbes Honarable Mention # 3 is 'Screen Doors and Sweet Tea', copyright 2008, by Martha Hall Foose, executive chef of the Viking Cooking School.
"Martha Foose's 'Screen Doors and Sweet Tea' is a treasure chest of superb recipes like Green Chile Rice, Lady Pea Salad, and Sweet Tea Pie. And her stories of growing up in Mississippi have the unmistakably Southern cadence of tales swapped across the dinner table. The book has given us a new appreciation for the genius of Delta cuisine and, even better, it has a yearning to cook, gather friends, and tell stories."-Matt & Ted Lee, authors of The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

Jeri Bracey Joy of Cooking plus my motley collection of recipes from friends, magazine, online printouts. I've got a bunch of other cookbooks I never use. There is one book on eating as raw as possible. Can't remember name but I have several recipes from it. When I was juicing I was the healthiest ever. Got a lot of exercise cleaning the juicer. Ha!

Jo Carpenter I just realized my suggestion wasn't as much of a cookbook as it was a chemistry of food book...the one cookbook I keep going back to is the one I bought from the Women's League of Mississippi...amazing deep South food, but I don't cook much. My daughter is the cook, although she has a culinary arts degree, she doesn't cook nearly as much as I wish she would :o)

Adele Daniels Forbes Jo, I have had the 'Gastronomique' book for years and would never part with it..I dissect it on a regular basis....and Womens League cookbooks are my most favorite!

Jo Carpenter I know, those ladies really do put out some good books. We got our 'Gastronomique' at a used book store for cheap. I would love to have a new version. It's so interesting!