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all my childhood favorites are from the Silver Palate!

It actually can be BAD health-wise to drink this much bottled water instead of tap! We are lucky enough in America to have a public initiative that puts Fluorine into our drinking water to help keep strong, healthy teeth. Because of this, my generation (kids of the baby-boomers) will be the first in US history for whom it will be the norm to die with all of our own teeth in our heads (no dentures!) Kids today drinking this much bottled water are losing these benefits and could be very affected by it later when they need to get their rotten teeth pulled!! Brita, Bur, and other filters are great for purifying other things you might not like the taste of, but keeps the fluoride in!)

well, this Mr. Blumenthal is clearly not aware of all health risks, beer or no...
http://thedartmouth.com/2007/02/05/news/water/

apparently there is more to worry about than the filth that gets on your ball (you'd do better to pour some beer on it, mr. penn)

I'm not a regular Starbucks customer (there isn't one where I live!), but recently I was on vacation and got a chocolate Vivanno. It was delicious, first of all, had enormous amounts of protein and fiber, and it was absolutely all I needed for breakfast! I tried the orange mango the next day. Also delicious. Don't know why there are all these comments about how Starbucks shouldn't be selling smoothies. Ridiculous. It's a top quality product, healthier than most people's sweet roll breakfasts, and certainly has a place on the menu of a top quality place like Starbucks. Keep up the good work, Starbucks! I'm home from vacation now, but I'll drive 30 miles to the nearest Starbucks just to get one. I did it yesterday!

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 !