Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday - My Favorite Cookbooks

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl is a Thanksgiving freebie.  Since for Thanksgiving is all about the food I thought I'd list my favorite cookbooks.  To change things up a bit I thought I'd do 8 I love and 2 I'm currently testing out.

1.  The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It! Simple Scrumptious Recipes for Crazy Busy Lives by Ree Drummond - These aren't the healthiest recipes but they're reliable, always tasty, and use a minimum of processed ingredients.  I've really enjoyed this newest cookbook which has recipes that come together quickly.

2.  Southern Living: 30 Years of Our Best Recipes - Southern Living cookbooks have always been a fixture in my life and this 30 year cookbook is one of the best.  Weirdly enough the 40 year cookbook isn't nearly as good.  This one has some interesting pages about food trends through the years and really good recipes.

3.  The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Best Little Bakery in the South by Cheryl Day, Griffith Day, and Amy Paige Condon - This isn't my most used cookbook but when I need some kind yummy baked good.  The Mexican Chocolate Shortbread Cookies alone are worth the price of the cookbook.

4.  The Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated - Cooks Illustrated always has crazy long descriptions which are entertaining and their recipes are always reliable and so many have become family staples.
5.  Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home by Nigella Lawson - I love Nigella Lawson's recipe  and this cookbook is the best it has so many recipes!

6.  Cooking with Mary Berry by Mary Berry - I love Mary Berry and while I have adjusted to her no longer being on The Great British Bake-Off I still miss her.  So it makes it better that I can use her recipes.  It doesn't hurt that they're simple, easy to follow, and always tasty.

7.  Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again by Ina Garten - I love the Barefoot Contessa recipes but sometimes they can be a little complicated.  These are slightly more simple and incredibly delicious.

8.  Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries and Shakes by Bobby Flay - Another book that isn't exactly healthy but is so so good.  I love all the different burger combinations and it makes burger night a lot more fun.

And the 2 I'm testing:


1.  The New Midwestern Table by Amy Thielen - So I'm not midwestern at all but I'm not really a huge southern food fan and this cookbook jumped out at me at the library.  The recipes are all family friendly but don't involve a lot of processed ingredients (I'm not a fan of cream of anything soup) and it isn't casserole heavy (my husband has some 70s childhood related trauma when it comes to casseroles).  The Corn Soup with Maple-Lacquered Bacon and the Rosemary-Infused Brown Butter Chicken Breasts are especially calling my name.

2.  Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines - To be honest I wasn't 100% sure who Joanna Gaines was until shortly before this cookbook came out.  I've watched their show a few times and enjoy it but I can't say I'm a huge fan - it's not like I don't like her but I'm not obsessed.  I am obsessed with the chocolate chip cookies in this book though.  I had serious misgivings as the recipes was light on butter and heavy on sugar but they're so good!  So now I want to try some of the savory recipes.  There's a White Cheddar Bisque recipe and a Chicken Spaghetti recipe that I'm hoping to try soon.

What are some of your favorite cookbooks?

10 comments:

  1. I don't have any as I'm not much of a cook! The microwave is my best friend and soup is my speciality!

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  2. One of ny favorite cookbooks is Nigella Express, we use it all the time. Also a Curtis Stone cookbook, you just can`t go wrong with his recipes. I haven’t looked over the latest Pioneer Woman but I do like her books. They are laid out well and great step by step.

    Oooo, I like that Mary Berry cookbook and YOU are one who told me about her. Thank you! Disadvantages of not having TV feed is I don’t see the shows. Cooks Illustrated books are always consistently good!

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  3. I love looking at cookbooks. The Best Recipe looks especially good to me.

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  4. My favorite cookbooks are the ones from Skinnytaste for sure. Her recipes are fairly healthy, mostly easy and super yummy. I'll have d to check out your favorites now!

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  5. I love looking through cookbooks but I seem to only actually use the recipes from Gluten Free on a Shoestring's cookbooks. Food allergies can make mainstream cookbooks harder to use. I do sometimes take something online and adapt it for our use as well.

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  6. I’m not a very good cook but I’m always on the hunt for new recipes to try and make. Sometimes my family likes them and other times not so much lol. I have a cookbook on hold at the library right now but I can’t think of the exact name. Something to do with crockpot dinners though - that’s cooking I can get behind :)

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  7. I'm a cookbook collector, so I adore this post. I have Ree Drummond, Southern Living and Bobby Flay too, and have really been enjoying them. I recently picked up Southern Living: What Can I Bring, and whole bunch of cookbooks from the 70's. It's always neat to see the differences in cooking styles and ingredients over the years. Hugs and hope you're feeling better these days. RO

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  8. Ina and Ree are on my go-to list. I really want to get Mary Berry's cookbook.

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  9. I used to watch The Barefoot Contessa faithfully! 📺 I used to go over to the library and look through the cookbooks all the time. It was stress busting. I need to do that again. 🍰

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