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I have heard really great things about Cook's Illustrated "The Best Light Recipe". http://www.cooksillustrated.com/bookstore_detail.asp?PID=309

I have their "New Best Recipe" book and it is excellent. I am really impressed by it, and out of my hundred's of cookbooks, it has become one of my favorites. I usually prefer specialty cookbooks because I feel that plain old standard cookbooks don't have that much to teach me. Boy, was I wrong here. Even if I make something from another book, I always refer to the New Best Recipe book to see what they have to say.

Cook's Illustrated's m.o. is too test every possible way of making a dish to come up with the very best version and then explaining the science behind it. That way you have the knowledge to tweak the recipes. I read somewhere that there were a few obvious recipes missing from The New Best Recipe book, but it was because they could not come up with a light version that met their standards. The New Best Recipe book will be the next one I get.

It completely depends on who I am trying to impress. For example, while my Grandmother taught me to make pretty much the best roast beef ever, my vegan friends would NOT be impressed.

I make something I know is good and that I can make well, but most importantly, I make something I know my guest will love. Thoughtfulness, especially if it tastes great, can be pretty impressive.

Neapolitan Mushroom Soup, Spaghetti Puttanesca and Roast Prime Rib au Poivre ('specially the soup...with homemade crusty bread...). Also some pretty good Venison Medallions with Blueberry / Juniper Berry Sauce...living in northern Minnesota we can shoot and process the venison ourselves and pick the blueberries.

I make a great dish with chickpeas and apricots. It's exotic and delicious and people always ask for the recipe. I also make wonderful stuffed aubergines with currants and pinenuts.

Like Mel, my memory is stuffed cabbage--"prachas" (sp?--I've never seen it written)--made not by my own grandmother but by Grandma Schwartz, the grandmother of the kids across the street and the worst driver any of us had ever seen.

Not that any restaurant would make it, but "Depression Stew"...dating back to the...well, you get the picture. A can of Veg-All (scary stuff), a can of tomato sauce, ground beef, onions and seasonings on pasta or rice (with Parmesan cheese on top). Sounds terrible, but to this day I can't recreate it quite like mom made it.

I really like the Eating Well cookbooks. They seem to be simpler than Cooking Light recipes--more ordinary food. They also have recipes marked according to what dietary needs they fit: weight loss, low sugar, etc.