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All the Hazan cookbooks (I have Marcella's Cucina, both Classic and the first one, her Italian Kitchen; Bugiali's comprehensive tome, Giuliano Hazan's wonderful pasta cookbook, James Beard's American Cooking, Olney's Simple French Cooking.

I would have to go with either the first Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (her bbq sauce and her scones are always hits around here), Bold American Food by Bobby Flay (his sauces) and The Silver Palate Cookbook (their recipe for Spaghetti with Oil & Garlic has been used more than anything else in there). I just adore the flavor of the chicken broth in that recipe! So creative.

Two cookbooks from Margaret Fox, the Cafe Beaujolais Cb and Morning Food are certainly among the worst-looking. I have bought multiple copies of each as gifts, and when I am sure they won't be returned for store credit, I copy my own notes on each recipe into them. The first two Silver Palates are also valuable, but I found nothing but disaster in the recipes I tried from New Basics so sent that one a-packing. I have three and a half tall bookcases full, plus more stacked nearby, and there are probably too many that I only use one recipe from. But some books are too much fun to re-read to send off to the Book Fair.

Lately, I've been bespattering "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone", Deborah Madison, too but I also like to read the late Laurie Colwin's "Home Cooking" and "More Home Cooking". Her enthusiasm and quirkiness are infectious and there are many easy, practical and delicious recipes in both volumes. Katherine Hepburn's "Brownies" are exceptional! I use Joy of Cooking's "Know Your Ingredients" chapter for weights, substitutions, etc. These pages are fused together. The first cookbook I used is "Three Meals A Day", Jessie Read, Musson Publishing, Toronto:1946. I love its post-war economies, its basic recipes, my grandmother's entries on the blank pages and entries I made as an eleven year old learning to cook. I have TOO many favourite cookbooks - I collect cookbooks but I also use them.

I have to say Betty Crocker. It has been the "ole" stand by for many years
(I hate to say how many years). It's basic, but that's what I like about it, nothing fancy just old fashioned comfort food. I have altered many recipes to suit todays lifestyle, lower in fats etc. and use it more as a reference. I have collected cook books for 40+ years. Joy of Cooking being one but I have always loved local cookbooks, garden clubs, Junior League and several restaurant cookbooks. I love cajun cooking and "Don's seafood and steak house" is one of the best and I must say it finally bit the dust and I had to break down and buy a new one. Betty's binding is loose and a bit floopy ( but then, so am I ) but I don't need to replace her yet !

For me, Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 1 has nearly come apart at the seems, and Rick Stein's English Fish Cookery and Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories, Gammon and Spinach and The Prawn Cocktail Years are positively soggy by now. Marcella Hazan also suffers at my hands...... And the Moro books, partricularly Volume 2, with their practical North African dishes. I am, of course, writing from the UK so some of these will not be relevant in the US so much. I have also recently started cooking from the super "Simple Indian" by Atul Kohchar - a chef who has a 2 Michelin starred restaurant in London where the dishes are extraordinary, with a lightness of touch and use of spices that is divine. That's getting stickier by the day.

My 3x5 recipe cards (that I started in junior high...and I'm in my 50's now) look like hell - dogeared, stained and fading. But they're family favorites, some passed down from my greatgrandmother.

Also, my Betty Crocker cookbook that I received as a wedding present back in 1979 is pitiful.

I've done some damage to my Giada DeLaurentis cookbooks as well as all of my Cooking Light compilation cookbooks.

My most cherished cookbooks are "The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook" by Jack Bishop and "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman. Both books, filled with healthy, simple, fail-safe recipes, helped transform my household into a bunch of passionate eaters and cooks. (The days of eating dinner "whenever" or in front of the tele are thankfully behind us.)

The pages of each book are well stained with the likes of balsamic vinegar residue and blueberry splatter, and even carry the smell of minced garlic. And then there are the work notes we've added to the text: This dish pairs well with this Beaujolais, served this one on this date to rave reviews...

The Silver Palate cookbook in my house is falling apart. I use it for exact recipies as well as inspiration in creating my own.

The Joy of Cooking is my old standby. My parents have a Chef Cardini cookbook- I don't know the title- that is seriously falling apart. About 10 years ago my mom found another copy, but then they bought a vacation house in the mountains, and the original copy has moved up there.

When I first started cooking (and way before I knew what a mise-en-place was) the SILVER PALATE books were my culinary bibles--consequently, these are my messiest cookbooks. However, with years of cooking behind me, I must admit that my My Mario Batali MOLTO ITALIANO cookbook is looking rather splattered.

All of my Silver Palate books are sticky, gooey and once in a while I'll find a sweet & low stuck in as a bookmark! Also, The Victory Garden and Moosewood books are ancient, abused and still wonderful!

My most stained has to be a handwritten collection I put together when my son was an infant...Buckeyes, Texas Sheet Cake, No Bake Cookies... He's almost 24 now.

Many family contributions, and others that I found along the way, with notes on the pages "Not too good", "Perfect", "Too Much Cocoa"...