Alice Waters - The Art of Simple Food. Also Alice Waters Vegetables. Jamie Oliver's How to Cook also good.

I know many people who have used the Silver Palate Cookbook for years. Kind of dated in my mind.

Just made Bittman Beef stew and it was awful. I think Martha Stewart has a great test kitchen and her recipes always taste good but can be very complicated. I think Williams Sonoma puts out a fairly good group of cook books and have used their recipes with great success.

I use epicurious quite a bit as well as much for the reviews as the recipes.

And there is always the old standby...Julia.

I’m not a huge fan of foodnetwork recipes. Often these people are selected based more on their looks/personality than cooking ability. When you read reviews of the cookbooks some cooks are really blasted for not testing their recipes.

I once watched an episode of “Barefoot Contessa” where she stuffed goat cheese under the skin of RAW chicken breast, then --without washing her hands went on to pull off herbs from a plant in her kitchen and touch other things. Yuck!

I like epicurious.com. It’s help to sort by ratings, so you can see what worked for people.

Don’t forget your culinary heritage. “American” cuisine is so often bland, boring, and unhealthy—characterized by French fries, burgers, and pizza.

Anonymous wrote:Everyday Food cookbooks and show on PBS (Martha Stewart produces it):
http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/recipes/

Yes! This is great too, the recipes are usually quick and on the healthier side. I think you can subscribe to the magazine cheaply too.

Everyday Food cookbooks and show on PBS (Martha Stewart produces it):
http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/recipes/

Martha Stewart Great Food Fast
Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking
Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Cook's Illustrated. It's a "homey" ATK spinoff, but I've never had a failure. I like BC, but she does use egregious amounts of fat. Still, that's sometimes an easy fix. Smitten Kitchen blog. And, if you want true small-town recipes, Taste of Home, but I sometimes have to wade to find things that appeal.

Joy of Cooking cookbook - i just check it out from the library

I also recommend Bittman's How to Cook Everything.