My Joy of Cooking.

This is my first cooking book. I have a few recipe books & many magazines. Come to think of it, I grew up without any cook books. No wonder my mother was having cooking problems. For my mother, cooking was not a joy it was just another household chore. As long as the kid's were fed...

The book I'm referring to? It's "Joy of Cooking" the 75th edition, probably the most concise reference book every cook needs to have.

I think it's the first book to own when you move away from home. I wish I had this book when I was a college student. Because I never made a roast chicken on my own. I knew how to bake. But I was completely clueless what to do with a chicken. So, my roommate called his mother for help.

This book is a wonderful helper. Although it doesn't have any pictures, it does have a few drawings. I usually wouldn't buy a cook book without imagery. But, this book is so captivating it doesn't need it. Most importantly, you can grab a quick recipe or read about seasoning, basic techniques of cooking. There's in depth articles of everything even menu planning, what to eat with Indian cusine, and which cocktail glass to use with your Pink Lady.

I use this book often in a week. For example, yesterday I had a craving for Greek food. In a few minutes, I flipped through the book and found more than enough information for my Greek meal. I could have made an extravagant Greel banquet but the book also gave me the choice for simple recipes. It was a success. And still is. I have plenty of leftovers.

At the start I tagged all my favorite recipes. Now, I've stopped. There's far too many recipes to be tagged. I love the index. For once, I find an index that works. It's makes looking up for anything very easy. I love this book!

I want to close with this beautiful quote, located at the front of the book, by Mark Twain...

"... To receive the full value of joy you must have someone to share it with."