Product Description

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the famous "red-plaid" cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens editors have added a special chapter with 75 "best-of-the-best" recipes from the cookbook’s first 11 editions. This special Limited Edition pays tribute to previous generations of the cookbook that helped establish it as America’s No.1 kitchen resource.

Features

64 new pages with 75 "best-of-the-best" recipes from past editions.

Ring-bound volume lays flat for easy use.

More than 1,200 that reflect current eating habits and lifestyles.

More than 700 photos, including 60 percent more of finished food than the last edition.

Dozens of recipes offer ethnic flavors, fresh ingredients, or vegetarian appeal.

Many recipes feature make-ahead directions or quick-to-the-table meals.

Efficient, easy-to-read format, with recipes categorized into 21 chapters, each thoroughly indexed for easy reference.

Expanded chapter on cooking basics includes advice on food safety, menu planning, table setting, and make-ahead cooking, plus a thorough glossary on ingredients and techniques.

Appliance-friendly recipes help cooks save time and creatively use new kitchen tools. An entire chapter is devoted to crockery cooker recipes.

Nutrition information with each recipe, plus diabetic exchanges.

Tab dividers already in place—minimal assembly for readers.

Every recipe tested and perfected by the Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37223 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-17
• Released on: 2004-08-17
• Format: Deluxe Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Ring-bound
• 640 pages

Customer Reviews

Every Subject Has a Defining Book!! This is "THE" Cookbook!
I didn't get this at Amazon, but received a similar discount. It came to me at a book fair brought to my place of work. At the time one of my co-workers remarked, "are you buying an auto parts manual"? In some ways, he was correct. This book has many similarities to such a book. Auto parts look-up manuals are large books with many divider tabs for easy to get to sections, this book has that. They have many detailed pictorial breakdowns of the parts and the tools needed to perform repairs. This book contains detailed photos on the recipes, the utensils, and cooking equipment to prepare them.

I'm an Engineer by profession, who also has a background in chemistry, so I'm used to following a scripted set of instructions. I've rarely seen any cookbook that is as thorough as this one. There are quick references for choosing spices, performing measurements, selecting meat cuts, even the tastes and textures of various kinds of fish. In addition, anywhere a special technique of mixing, or using a special pot (like a double boiler) is necessary, they have a detailed sidebar to explain it. At the beginning of most sections, there is often a full instructional on how to prepare that type of food, or perform a certain cooking technique (like grilling, BBQ with charcoal, gas or electric).

Now I've bought a number of cookbooks in my time. I have one each for specifics like soups, pizza, crock ware cooking, BBQ, and even bread-making. Most of them cost nearly the price of this book, and though they have some special recipes of their own, this general-purpose book often has more information on the specific topic than the entire book I bought for that subject. I look at this guide as an encyclopedia of cooking and recipes. Just to reinforce the notion that this book is an American icon, the red plaid design of the cover is registered as a US Patent!

A few special features are found near the end of the book. After all the topical recipe sections, you will find an excellent index the individual recipes and other topics. There is even a 75th anniversary section after that that has a collection of near forgotten recipes divided by the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Almost to taunt you a little (that the book has not forgotten anything), they include an emergency substitution food ingredient guide, (in case you're caught short on a certain recipe) printed on the inside back cover.

The book itself is constructed in a way most books refuse to do because of the expense. It's an extremely high quality three-ring binder to allow you to remove recipe pages, and then return them to the book. Likewise, if you are inventive, you will want to include your own recipes in the appropriate sections. This type of book allows that too. In fact you can get more recipes at their website, and there's room enough to print-out, and add these to the book as well. The only thing they left out was the food, and the pots to cook it in!

A True Classic and Excellent All-Around Reference
This book comes in a very durable five-ring binder with full-color recipes. Each section has tabs with the food category (fish, cakes, cookies, meats, slow-cooker meals, etc), and in each section is another table of contents written specifically for that food category. There are also cooking tips splattered throughout the book which are very helpful for novice cooks. The meat section contains diagrams that show where each different cut of meat comes from. There are metric equivalents and emergency substituion guides. It seems to cover all the basic recipes, plus some...and the big bonus is a special section after the general index that lists all the special 75th Anniversary recipes.

I honestly think this an absolutely fabulous cookbook -- if you like the BHG style. If you are not a current BHG subscriber, check out the magazine and the Better Homes website (http://www.bhg.com) and become acquainted with their recipes and content before you make your decision. I am a subscriber to the magazine, which is one of my top two favorites, so the book (I bought it sealed and never opened it prior to purchasing it) did not disappoint me in the least. This may well become your favorite cooking reference.

My only advice is that if you are into gourmet recipes, this is definitely not the book for you. These are very simple, with a splash of elegance recipes. Nothing exotic here, just good ole down-home cooking.

A Gem
Joy be, get this cookbook! I have the Better H&G 11th edition new cookbook, and this 75-anniversary edition is so much better! The real selling point to this book is its organization, beauty, and inspiring photos. Even if you don't especially care about the special anniversary recipes, this edition is a far nicer upgrade than the eleventh edition.
The eleventh edition was not inspiring in my opinion. The photos were bland, small, and very perfunctory, like hands cutting or rolling dough. Are these photos helpful? I don't know. I was never inspired enough to try any of the recipes. The 12th/75 anniversary edition on the other hand, makes you want to cook. The recipes are not crowded on the page, recipe headings are dark read and easy to see, and the photos are nicely sized and of food you'll cook instead of how to photos. The book has plenty of info too, like big pictures of different cheeses (p278) and cooking tools (p9), and lots of other how to information in addition to the recipes.
When you open this limited edition, the cover page says 12th edition. This anniversary edition seems to be the 12th edition with a special added section at the back for the best recipes from 1930 through the 1990s. Nothing seems to be particularly anniversaryish except the cover and the section at the back, but this cover especially gives it a very traditional, homey, and special feel. The special anniversary section is small to medium sized, but nice.
Well worth getting!