Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Well I Have lots of cookbooks and I love the two above mentioned but I have to say my very favorite is the Better Home & Gardens from the late 70's that was my Mom's. It is always just a good place to start with anything. I have my Grandma's from the 1940's and a recent pink ribbon update version that I also bought for my daughter.
They each have a little variance between recipes included and ingredients in the recipies but the consistency throughout them is they offer good solid recipes that even the most basic cook can follow. I hardly ever follow a recipe as written (unless it is baking) so it is a usually a nice guideline for quanities. Not Gourmet just good home Cooking. For Gourmet I like to buy specialties subject type cookbooks.

I read an article recently, (I think it was in Gourmet but I'm not sure), about the stance that Wolfgang Puck is taking regarding this issue. He has made the statement that his restuarants will only serve meat that has been humanely raised. Whether it is for publicity or a strong ideals regarding this issue I'm not sure. I do know that it is difficult for the average consumer to aquire humanely treated, hormone free etc.. meat. I know that I do whenever possible but sometimes it is very difficult and much more expensive. Maybe if this issue gets more press it will become easier for us regular people trying to feed thier family and make the ethical choices they believe in.
A little off subject but in the same vein I keep looking everywhere for wild caught shrimp, in my area of the world (MI) it nearly impossible.

As a Mom I have found that kids like to be part of things, getting children involved in the preparation of thier meals is a great way to get them to try new things. There are lots of age appropriate tasks that can be performed starting as young as two with a simple stir.
This does require a bit of patience sometimes (especially after a long day at work) however the result in the long run is a kid who will eat most things. For me it has been time well spent.
I have never forced the kids to eat foods they don't like but encourage them to at least give things a try. I would not want someone to force me to eat something I despised.

I have a Lodge 8 Qt that I Love and use all the time. It is a very good value but not quite as pretty & "Cool" as the LC.
I did notice that my local Williams Sonoma had some of the LC colors on sale last week, about 25% off (still expensive though).

Raw Onions

Now I love onion. Especially Slices of nice purple onion on a Steak & Blue Cheese Salad!

As a collector of cookbooks for many years, my dislikes are anything artha Stewart or Bobby Flay. My all time favorites chefs are Julia Child and James Beard tho my really best favorites are "Two in the Kitchen" by Joe & Jeanne Anderson published in 1974; "With a Jug of Wine" by Morrison Wood published 1949. I agree with @cibercita that Laura Colwin's two books are wonderful and so sad she died so young. So many good recipes and so little time to cook.

moosewood! mollie katzen is a fave of mine. also anything by Ina Garten

@Angie_Earthy: I'm with you. My fave is Better Homes and Gardens from the 70's. So great! My mom made the mistake of letting me "borrow" it, 9 years ago. Never giving it back. She has since stopped asking for it back. I also bought the newer edition that's pink. I wanted to buy it because it supported Breast Cancer Research and to see if there were any new recipes. It's a good one as well.

Looks like I am going to invest in Joy of Cooking for myself-my mom has a copy at her house. Oddly enough, she won't let me "borrow" this one :)

The Au Pied de Cochon and Le Halles are my favorites.

World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey - she's never failed me
(but if the veg thing puts you off you can get one of her meat friendly books)