My favorite recipe books

Well this is not the post I intended today.  I was supposed to be posting a video I made with a short tutorial.  I'll see if I can get the bugs worked out and get it posted another day.

Instead, you get to see my must own recipe books.  Excited?  You will be when you see the recipes.

I think every home should have at least one America's Test Kitchen cookbook in it.   I'm going to recommend three of them.  I love ATK recipes.  I was a pretty good cook before I discovered them but they really helped me take my cooking to another level.  Besides helping me be a better cook, they also really focus on taste without completely busting the budget.   If they do recommend an expensive product, they also have some less expensive options that still will taste good.  The vast majority of the recipes have easy to find, not expensive ingredients.  I can cook healthy, fantastic meals for my family without feeling like I need to spend a bundle on food. 


 The ATK Family Cookbook is a great compendium of recipes that just work the first time and every single time.  Their biscuit recipe is fabulous and I feel like I could hold my own at any Southern pot luck now.  Light fluffy and flavorful.  There are so many wonderful recipes that are usually easy to make and a lot of them don't take a lot of time.  It is not as comprehensive as the Better Homes and Gardens or Joy of Cooking, but it's still an essential book to have in the kitchen.  I reach for this one first and only go looking in another book if this one doesn't have the recipe I need.

If you've been trying to cook more healthy foods for your family you can try The ATK Healthy Family Cookbook.  I do not own this one but it is on my wish list.  I am almost positive it's as good as the other ATK books.

If you watch the America's Test Kitchen TV show on PBS, you'll be excited to know that they released a cookbook last year that has every recipe from their first 10 years on TV.  The Complete ATK TV Show Cookbook lives up to it's name. I love this book.  You would not believe the number of 30 minute dinner recipes in this one.  Most of them only use a single skillet.  By the way, they don't depend on convenience foods to manage the 30 minute time limit.  Great tasting, whole foods ingredients, and easy clean up.  What could be better?   We love the chicken and rice skillet meal.