Rating: 
Summary: The best of its type...
Review: I think this book tops what i would consider other contenders for this type of all-in-one cookbook (joy of cooking and fannie farmer) I love that this book has pictures...missing from the other two books I mentioned. It's a nice LARGE general, basic cook book. A perfect gift for a person setting up an apartment for the first time, learning how to cook, going off to college (altho sometimes cooking options in college are limited). I love the extra help sections...how to do things... techniques... examples etc. All around books tend to be at a disadvantage when they try to be all things to all people. While I dont think there is any substitute for regional and specific food type/cooking method/ ethnic cuisine cook books, I also think there is an important place in everyones home for a general all purpose cook book. ( For times when you want to know the *basics*...how long to cook something, for example.) I have been dissapointed with the fannie farmer cookbook and the joy of cooking... this book would be my number 1 choice for a favorite general cook book for everyones kitchen
Rating: 
Summary: The Best Cookbook for Novice and Experienced Cooks Alike
Review: If I had to cut my extensive (over fifty) cookbook collection back to just one book this would be the "keeper!" When my beloved twelve-year old copy of this cookbook finally fell apart I purchased the 11th edition thinking I would mostly be replacing what I already had and knew well. There was so much new and useful information included in the eleventh edition I wished I'd let go of my old copy earlier. I am especially fond of the nutrition analysis included with each recipe and the tips for making recipes lower in fat. The prep-times included with each recipe were also a new, and very useful, feature to me. Plus the editors upgraded the book to reflect the wider availability of formerly "exotic" fruits and vegetables now in the everyday market. The fledgling cook will find everything needed to confidently accomplish any task from hard-boiling an egg to properly setting the table for a family meal or a buffet-style party. Pesky, but common, cooking terms like "al dente" and "crisp-tender" are explained in a straight forward manner in the cooking basics section where you will also find great tips for stocking a pantry or purchasing the basic cooking equipment you might need when just starting out. Useful features for all levels of cook are scattered throughout the text. For example, there is a full-page photograph of different pastas with the name under each (finally! I now know the difference between Gemelli and Fusilli!). Also very useful are the extensive illustrative photos of retail cuts of meat cross-referenced to the wholesale cut and listing the best way to cook each cut. One of my favorite things about the hardcover cookbook is the three-ring binder format. This makes it possible to lay the book flat on the counter or prop it up nearby with, or without, a cookbook stand. It also makes it easier to add your own notes right alongside your favorite recipes. I love to give this cookbook as a gift to a young person just starting out -- inside a big crockpot or tied together with some fun kitchen tools.
Rating:
Summary: Should be a staple in the kitchen
Review: Regarding the recipes, this is the one cookbook that contains recipes that many people ask me for. They are that good! The Chicken Marsala, Roasted Corn and Crab Soup and Coq au vin are restaurant quality and easy to make. Unlike other cookbooks where you hope to find a few dishes the family will like, *every* dish in BH&G is a hit. I have no hesitation trying new recipes now ~ I just jump right in! :o)
Rating:
Summary: New to Cooking, or Prefer Traditional Meals?
Review: You need a basic cookbook. This is it. No frills. No essays about the enduring history of kumquats, and how they saved Milwaukee 1,000 years ago. None of that. Just a cookbook with lots of helpful tips, to be used by ordinary people. What do you get? A good old fashioned cookbook filled recipes you'll actually use, with ingredients you've seen before. From this cookbook, I've made yeast donuts, breads, BBQ ribs, various sauces, and more. My copy has a few stains on it; good eating makes small messes. I like to think of the stains as battle scars. Buy if you can the ring-bound version, as it will nicely open as you cook. I have the paperback edition, and use a bag of sugar to keep it open (place the sugar at the top of the open spine). Helpfully included are photos of meat cuts, so you know pork ribs from beef ribs. There is a similar chart of grains and pastas. Also, there are general instructions for preparing fruit-pie fillings, methods for cooking meat, and how to can produce. There's shopping tips, nutritional charts, measuring techniques. Ever wonder the difference between cubing and dicing is? That, and many more great tips are explained here. I fully recommend "Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book" for any basic kitchen cooking need you have. However, I am sorry, but detailed kumquat information will need to be found elsewhere. Anthony Trendl
Rating:
Summary: A must for the "newlywed" !
Review: My mother gave me an earlier edition of this book thirty-two years ago for my bridal shower. The recipes and instructions, along with the illustrations, are very clear and easy to follow. I have accumulated many cook books through the years, but my Better Homes and Garden is, by far, my favorite for all kinds of references I need to make. From where to properly place a fork at the table to making and canning strawberry jam, I still refer to BH&G, solely, several times a week for all my cooking and baking needs. My BH&G cook book is tattered and worn, but as far as I'm concerned, it was the most useful gift I ever received. Most importantly, the recipes contain ingredients that are usually found in your home or can easily be obtained. I'm an excellent cook and baker and I attribute that to my BH&G cook book, every novice cook should own one !
Rating:
Summary: Perfect beginners book!
Review: This book has become my recipe staple! I cannot think of any recipe that turned out bad!
It has several "dictionaries" for those new to cooking, each recipe has an approx. time from start to finish, and lots and lots of recipes! my only suggestion is to get a book holder; The size and binding of this book make it difficult to hold the page open.
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Modernist Cookbook
Review: I read my first cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook, in 1959. There are some similarities: portions are often, but not always, tiny (Fettuccine Alfredo, p. 396, allots a mere 6 oz. dry pasta for four; Chicken Fried Steak, p. 336, has 16 oz. beef for four -- and most recipes are for just 4 small servings, though many are for 6 and some are for more). Yet, my Junior Cookbook allowed fresh raw eggs for the Egg Nog, but not here: even the Caesar Salad, p. 457, calls only for 'hard cooked' eggs, warning 'Traditional Caesar Salad contains raw eggs, which may be unsafe to eat.' Even the Mayonnaise, p. 467, requires only 'refridgerated or frozen egg product, thawed' -- with no information to convert recipes to natural eggs (one would need already to know that either egg yolks or whole eggs will work). Steak Tartar? No,not in this book; see Julia Child's The Way to Cook or Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything or Jacques Pepin. Eating raw hamburger from earliest childhood in rural New England, I cannot accept these dire but foolish American modernist caveats -- though the cleanliness principle being "accentuated" is valid. The Chinese-bound 5-ring book is well-made, but there are no spare pages to insert recipes -- one need cut his own in this unconvential page size and have a hole puncher. The glossed pages wrinkle easily with splashed liquid but remain strong enough. If one has this book already, there are plenty of reasons not to complain: Scones, p.121, are the real thing, but one must observe the photo to note that the coating sugar used is coarse, the excellent C&H Washed Raw Cane possibly. The book's strong points are superb photographic illustration of finished recipes, all requisite techniques, utensils, place settings, ingredients; and a sturdy place to insert recipes cut from other books or written on paper -- I suggest using 40 lb. paper with inexpensive hand hole puncher. All recipes are U.S. measurement only; howbeit the last page is an handy, rough metric converter.
Rating:
Summary: Ain't what it used to be
Review: My 1970s edition of this cookbook was a surefire guide to simple, straightforward homecooking. The current edition has lost the charm -- and many of the best recipes -- of the original without gaining compensatory sophistication. Take, for instance, biscuits: old editions had the best basic biscuit recipe. The new biscuits require a special trip to the market for ingredients. Yet the cookbook held onto horrors like chop suey! The recipes over-emphasize canned and packaged ingredients and under-emphasize basic cooking techniques that might allow the aspiring cook to figure out how to substitute convenience ingredients for more complicated recipes. It's very much a cookbook for people who want to reproduce the food at the local supermarket deli, at twice the cost. That said, there aren't many basic, put-food-on-the-table-every-night cookbooks out there. If you need to smack some chicken and rice on the dinner table every night of your life, you could do worse.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best learner's book
Review: I learned the basics of cooking with this book, on a tight budget. Anybody can make these recipes and they'll consistantly turn out well, helping you build confidence to move on to more complicated things. I still use my (second copy!) hardbound Better Homes and Gardens red n white book to search out simple meals to make after work or when I want a nice dinner but don't really feel like being in the kitchen all day. This book is not to be mistaken for anything gourmet, but for those of us raised on Kraft, Campbell's and Green Giant this book is a great place to find hassle free recipes without the obscure and expensive ingredients and wierd equipment those of us who don't lie in the lap of luxury don't have. I'd recommend a copy of this to anybody, especially for those just learning to cook, who lack confidence in the kitchen, or who just want to make something without taking it all so seriously. It has nice pictures to help you pick something out, and all the recipes are easy to understand. Hope you're all as impressed with it as I am!
Rating:
Summary: The be-all-and-end-all of basic cookbooks!
Review: No kitchen should be without this book. Even my very experienced and experimental mother found some new ideas and approaches in this new addition. A must-have for every new household...I always give this along with any other housewarming gift.
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