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I never bought a rice cooker because I have a problem buying single use items of that size. I'm sure rice cookers can do more, but the name scares me off. I use a 1 to 2 ratio of water to rice. Cup of rice, two cups of water, bring to a boil, add salt, oil or butter if using, stir well, cover, turn heat to low and cook 20 minutes. Turn heat off, open top and quickly fluff, cover and let stand for 5 minutes. If you do the above with a clean kitchen towel over the pot before you put on the lid you'll get a drier more single grain result. By the way, if using stainless steel pots you should wait until you get a boil before adding salt. Unless completely dissolved in water the salt will pit your pot bottoms.

The anniversary chocolate sour cream bundt cake recipe from Nordic Ware is very, very good. This recipe is hard to locate. It's on the box of the Williams-Sonoma 60th anniversary Nordic Ware bundt pan. There is a similar recipe on W/S web site, but it isn't the same (not as moist). The Nordic Ware site doesn't have one even close. If you can find it do try it. I don't usually add the ganache icing; it seems like guilding the lily.

For many years my "go to" cookbook was the New York Times Cookbook. I also frequently used recipes from The Silver Palate Cookbook. I must agree with others that the Cook's Illustrated website is now my most often used reference source.

If you have a flame-tamer, put that on burner first. Put 1 part brown rice to 1 3/4 parts water and salt in a stainless steel saucepan. Without covering with a lid, bring water to a boil until bubbles appear through the rice and water is at same level as rice. (Surface will appear 'pock-marked'.) I

Immediately turn down to low, cover and cook 20-30 minutes. Check to make sure rice isn't sticking to bottom. This will NOT jinx the rice cooking technique. Fluff rice gently with a fork. Remove from burner and let sit 5-10 minutes before serving. This is an unconventional method that Bonnie Stern, Canadian culinary maven advocates and it works. I confess I most often use my rice cooker, one of my favourite appliances. I've downsized to a smaller rice cooker since my children left home.

The same method works for white rice but the ratio is 1 part rice to 2 parts water.

Sometimes you can find a good deal on your favorite spirit by checking listed sales at liquorliker.com. It might be worth a stop at a store that's a bit out of your way, if you've got several bottles to buy, and you're saving $5-6 on each bottle.

Your timing is incredible. Just today I posted about and made Dorie Greenspan's "Classic Banana Bundt Cake". Check it out..... http://www.boscoethecookiedoctor.com If by chance you don't have her book, let me know and I'll either email you the recipe or post it here.

If you are looking for a rich, moist sour cream coffee cake, may I suggest the "Geraldine." She celebrates the marriage of cranberries and oranges, draped in a strawberry robe and delicately kissed by an almond scented crown. You can find her at http://www.boscoethecookiedoctor.com

Mom's go-to book was a circa 1950-something Joy of Cooking and she used that book so much the covers fell off, half the index come loose, and random pages disappeared. I still have that book.

But for some reason, I got a brand-new Better Homes and Gardens book when I was young(er than I am now) and that became my go-to for specific recipes, and for looking up things like cooking times and temps.

I also had a more recent Joy of Cooking, and when the 75th aniversary edition came out, I was ogling that, wondering if it would be a good addition to the cookbook collection. So I started looking online. Long story short, I ended up buying one of each of the Joy of Cooking revisions that I didn't have, including a replacement for mom's old book. I think there are 7 or 8...or 6? I don't know, I'd have to check the shelf. I bought most of them for a dollar or two, with the most expensive being about $12. Once in a while, I'll look up the same recipe in each edition of the book, and depending on what it is, I might make multiple versions. I did that a year or so ago, when I was making peanut brittle for someone as a gift. I made about 4 variations form the different books.

I've got a LOT of cookbooks, and I love browsing through them looking for inspiration and for new recipes, techniques, whatever. But if I'm looking for a specific recipe, unless I know exactly which cookbook I might most easily find it in, I'll just go online and search.