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The first cookbook that I used regularly was the Good Housekeeping American Cookbook.

a Rumford cookbook from the 1940's that was my Mothers.she was a fantastic cook and seldom used a cookbook ,it was the only one i ever saw her use when i was a kid. i eventualy ended up with my own copy but it was actualy older than hers. it is great for basics ,& sometimes for a laugh. the first i ever bought for myself was The Encyclapedia of American Cooking in 1982. the cover is gone ,i taped it back on a bunch of times,but finally lost it,many pages are stained. i still go to it for lots of things.since then i have bought & been given many others ,i really love old ones.i have a 1927 first edition of Good Meals and How to Prepare Them put out by the Good Housekeeping Institute. Inside it says you can't buy it but you should tell your friends they can get thier own copy by ordering Good Housekeeping for two years for $4.50.what a bargain , i use it fairly often ,some things never change &those that have are quite often very amusing . peticook

I grew up with a copy of THE JOY OF COOKING that my mother left on a hot electric burner, so it had black coil marks on the cover. Eventually, the book split in two, then into six parts which had to be held together with a rubber band. Something prevented us from simply replacing the book. I've never been so attached to a book! I knew every stain by the time I was 15.

It would have to be the Joy of Cooking. My husband got it for me as a gift years ago before we were married and it's been a go-to reference book ever since.