 | The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
Buy new: $25.20 / Used from: $14.98 My copy is falling apart, but I won't part with it. I use this book at least once a week. Great discussions on the science of baking. May be a bit itimidating for the novice baker, but great for those who want to delve deeper into baking techniques.
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 | The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook by King Arthur Flour
Buy new: $23.10 / Used from: $17.00 My favorite cookie cookbook. Chapters are arranged according to the type of cookie, with the first few chapters covering the basics (chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, peanut butter, etc). The brownie recipes are wonderful, with recipes for cake-like brownies, fudgy brownies, and "on-the-fence" brownies. Would make a good gift for a beginning baker.
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 | The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook by King Arthur Flour
Buy new: $23.10 / Used from: $17.34 An excellent all-purpose baking book, with just enough food tech to make a cut above the usual baking cookbook, yet not quite as detailed as The Cake Bible.
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 | Sweet Serendipity: Delightful Desserts and Devilish Dish by Stephen Bruce
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $3.75 A fun read, and my favorite cheesecake recipe.
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 | The Whimsical Bakehouse: Fun-to-Make Cakes That Taste as Good as They Look! by Kaye Hansen
Buy new: $18.15 / Used from: $12.16 Good variety of recipes that have always turned out well for me. Best shortening-based "buttercream" I have ever had (great for when you don't feel like making the real thing). Fun decorating techniques using melted candy coatings.
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 | Southern Heritage Cakes Cookbook (The Southern heritage cookbook library)
Buy used from: $0.01 This out-of-print book is a real treat. If you can get hold of a copy, do so. Many regional, old-fashioned recipes such as Lane Cake, Lady Baltimore cake, Confederate Soldiers and real Gingerbread. Interesting sidebars and vintage photos make this a worthy addition to your cookbook library.
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 | The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook by Cathy A. Wesler
Buy used from: $1.73 This is my favorite of the Cooking Light series. It is an older book, but I find the recipes less pretentious than those in some of the later editions.
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 | Top Secret Restaurant Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones from America's Favorite Restaurant Chains by Todd Wilbur
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $3.93 Both Volumes 1&2. Another fun read, with do-able and close clones of favorite restaurant dishes. While I have no desire to re-create a Big Mac, I have used the recipes from the Olive Garden, Applebees and other chain bistros to satisfying results. Tongue-in-cheek "diagrams" of constructing the dishes accompany each recipe, as well as some background info on the restaurants.
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 | Desperation Dinners by Beverly Mills
Buy new: $11.16 / Used from: $0.30 Working-mom friendly. Using a combination of fresh and prepared foods, you really can get dinner on the table in 20 minutes (but you must be able to multi-task). A lot of one-dish, pasta, Tex-Mex, Italian and Asian-inspired meals, so if that's not your thing, this may not be for you. But if you're sick of take-out and want to know how to dress up a deli rotisserie chicken, then give it a try.
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 | The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet: A Month of Meals Made Easy by Nanci Slagle
Buy used from: $5.85 This was the first OAMC (once-a-month cooking) cookbook that I bought, and it's a good introduction to buying, cooking and storing meals for a month. I've been doing my own version of bulk cooking for quite some time, and it really does help keep the food budget down. Not a glamorous book by any means, but very useful.
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 | Make-a-mix by Eliason
Buy used from: $3.38 If you are into once-a-month-cooking, get this book. The title pretty much says it all.
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 | Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes by Giada De Laurentiis
Buy new: $20.47 / Used from: $18.99 One of my favorite Food Network stars. I find this to be a very user-friendly book.
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