Cooking with Roz
STORY - I Love Cookbooks
It is hard for me to resist buying a cookbook that I think has some good recipes. Although I have been cooking for a long time and can certainly prepare a meal without consulting a cookbook, I just love trying new dishes. Besides that, reading and trying new recipes will broaden your culinary skills and give you the confidence to experiment on your own by modifying existing recipes and creating your very own recipes.
I cannot tell you how many cookbooks I actually have, perhaps a hundred, but there is one specific cookbook that I rely on more than any other. Southern Living Magazine published a cookbook in 1987 titled "The Southern Living Cookbook" that could very well be the only cookbook you will ever need. However, you will want to have at least a half-dozen or so cookbooks at your disposal. If you especially like Mexican or Chinese food, you will definitely want to have a cookbook for each of those cuisines. It just depends on what you are interested in. But for a good, basic cookbook, "The Southern Living Cookbook" contains everything you need to know about cooking in general. This cookbook also has a section on canning, which I have actually found to be very valuable.
I went so far as buying Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" but I have never used this set of cookbooks that cost me over $100 a few years ago. However, I just might give that Cassoulet recipe a try one day, which is what I was interested in when I purchased the books. I do not find the books very interesting because there are no photos, only a few black and white illustrations. But I suppose the purpose of these books was not to tantalize the eyes and appetite with food photographs, rather to teach the art of cooking.
You can find "The Southern Living Cookbook" at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Living-Cookbook-Ed/dp/0848707095