Letters from Pemberley

I think my generation of homemakers needs help.  After all, how many of us were formally trained in the kitchen?  My mom taught me how to make a white sauce from a roux and how to knead and bake bread, but sadly, I did not pay attention much past that.  How many twentysomethings actually own and use cookbooks?  Most of my friends who bother to cook seem to use a combination of handed-down family recipes, internet printouts, and occasional specialty recipes from some fancy, thematic cookbook (often found in the Bargain section at Borders).  I use all of those, too, but the problem is that many of them are not really appropriate for the beginning cook (remember my Goodbye, Martha post?), and like it or not, that’s what most of us are when we commence housekeeping.  I don’t always know exactly what the terms mean, or why it matters to add ingredients in a certain order, and it’s so easy to get distracted with two kids running around that I need very clear directions for straightforward meals.  I’m trying to improve my cooking by going back to the cookbooks for awhile.

A good, multi-purpose cookbook such as Betty Crocker or Joy of Cooking actually teaches you those “simple” details that cooks of the past knew, like why it’s important to brown your beef before putting it in the stew, or the difference between all-purpose flour and bread flour, or how differently butter and oil and shortening might affect a recipe.  I’m realizing that cooking–like a lot of housekeeping–is a learned art.  Most of us need real cooking instruction if we want to turn out quality meals like our moms or grandmas made.

My transition to married life and homemaking was made easier by a couple of solid cookbooks–the same ones my mom had.  So, in the interest of homemaking excellence and general inspiration, here’s a short list of my most often-used cookbooks:

Betty Crocker.  It’s the standard.  I grew up using the 1978 edition, and my 2004 edition has a greatly expanded crockpot section as well as several fun “ethnic” foods that weren’t in my mom’s.  But it still provides solid, step-by-step instructions (and lots of pictures) as well as frequent troubleshooting sidebars that identify what I might have done wrong.  The recipes are well-tested–I’ve never had a flop when I’ve followed their directions.  I don’t know that it matters which basic cookbook you use (my sister in law loves the America’s Test Kitchen one), but every cook should have some standard book that walks them through the right way to make muffins, pie crust, beef stroganoff, and chicken pot pie–you know, American staples, made from scratch.  In the first year or two of marriage, I tried to go through and try as many new recipes as possible, just to expand my repertory.  I’m going back to it this week as I plan out my upcoming menu.

More With Less.  Mariel apologized when she gave this to me as a shower gift, explaining that it looked weird but had solid content.  She needn’t have; I grew up with the 70s edition of this Mennonite classic, and several of my family’s favorite recipes are from there.  Fair warning–this cookbook is full of casseroles, bean dishes, and other ways to stretch meat or cheese.  Casseroles are out of favor these days, and some friends say their husbands won’t eat meatless meals.  Mine does, especially when I tell him that the whole meal was less than $5.  In our extreme budgeting days of early marriage, More With Less and the nearby Aldi grocery store were the only way we kept to a $28/week food budget.  I don’t like every recipe in here, but there are plenty of ideas to choose from–our favorites include oatmeal bread, whole wheat pancakes, homemade refried beans, baked ziti, and hamburger-rice casserole (my dad’s favorite!).  Definitely recommended for frugal cooks.  (I must add that I’ve been disappointed with the other World Community Cookbooks–I don’t think the recipes were as rigorously tested, and they’re just weirder.)

Those are really my main two, the ones I think every cook should have on her bookshelf.  Here are some honorable mentions that I enjoy.

Beat This!  is just really fun.  I read through it for pleasure a couple times a year.  I have tried her chicken salad, chocolate chip cookies (my favorite recipe!), lime bars, and apple pie (my favorite line in that recipe goes “It took a McDonalds Baked Apple Pie, (McDonalds calls them baked so we know they aren’t fried), of all things (I say that to make it sound like I never eat at McDonalds), to show me the value of cinnamon.”  I always laugh outloud when I get there.  If you didn’t think that was funny, you might not appreciate her humor.

An Omelette and a Glass of Wine by Elizabeth David.  Again, this is a pleasure reading book.  David was one of Britain’s best-known food writers in the first half of the century, and she was partially responsible for getting British cuisine on a more healthy and tasteful footing.  (She loathed the boiled slop we associate with Dickensian Britain!)  I’d like to try some of her recipes someday, but they’re generally interspersed with stories of how the author found a little French grandma fixing this dish in a rural village somewhere, so I enjoy them now as pieces of literature.  David’s books definitely inspire me to work towards simplicity and excellence in my cooking.

So…anyone else frustrated by mediocre meal after mediocre meal?  I seriously don’t think I’ve had complete success since we’ve moved here, but I know it’s because I’ve moved away from my old standbys.  For the successful cooks out there, what cookbooks are your go-to references?