Since this week’s topic on the Company Porch is Favorite Books on Homeschooling, I thought I would share a few of my favorite kitchen books with you, too. I love to read cookbooks, and there is usually a stack of them on the coffee table with little sticky notes or scraps of paper sticking out of the tops, marking the recipes that I want to try. Right now I have The Joy of Pickling and Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects bookmarked for this week’s Kitchen Adventures. I like to look through the latest cookbooks and try new recipes; but often find myself going back to my own shelf of favorites when I am planning a holiday dinner or want to make something special.
Probably my all-time favorite cookbook would be the 1996 volume of Southern Living Annual Recipes. I use many, many of the recipes from this one on a frequent basis. Southern Living publishes a book each year containing all of the recipes from their magazine. If you see a copy of this volume at a book sale or thrift store, grab it!
For basic cooking, I have used Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book for many years. It is a great resource for those who may just be starting out on their own Kitchen Adventures. This book helped me learn to make many dishes when I was newly married, and admittedly not the best of cooks! I still use the pancake recipe in this book, and now even my eldest daughter knows what page to find that one on.
For holiday cooking, Betty Crocker’s Christmas Cookbook is my choice. I always make the Deluxe Sugar Cookies and Merry Christmas Molasses Cookies from this book. This is also where I found my favorite soup recipe- Vegetable-Cheese Soup. It is quick and easy to make, and so, so good!
For whole foods cooking, I often turn to Whole Foods from the Whole World for inspiration. With healthy recipes from countries all over the world, it can also be a good resource to spice up your Geography studies. You can have fun trying new dishes with exotic sounding names like Galuska, Potet Klub, Lefse, and Auflauf.
I also have a couple of children’s cookbooks on the shelf. Kitchen Fun, A Cook Book for Children by Louise Price Bell, is a nice little book with very clear instructions. It has good illustrations to go with each recipe, done sort of in a rebus style. My girls enjoy it.
Another children’s cookbook that I used when my girls were smaller is Rod and Staff Publisher’s Mother’s Little Helper Cookbook. The recipes are divided into suggested age ranges from 2-3 years to 5-6 years of age. Each recipe has a two-page spread, with one page written to Mother and one with simple step-by-step instructions for Mother to read to her little helper. It has very easy recipes for things such as Honey Peanut Butter Balls, Little Boy Blueberry Pie, and Easy Macaroni and Cheese.
Finally, two of my own favorite homeschooling books will always be For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay and A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola. I have read these 2 books many times, and still turn to them when I am in need of a bit of encouragement in my homeschooling efforts. I highly recommend them both for anyone interested in the Charlotte Mason Philosophy of Education.
OK, now it’s your turn! Please share your own favorite cookbooks with us. I am always eager to find a new source of inspiration for my Kitchen Adventures!
Blessings,
Catherine
Catherine Love lives in the heart of Texas with her husband Carl, and their 3 daughters, Sarah, Hannah, and Cana. They enjoy cooking, gardening, and learning new things together as they pursue a lifestyle of learning. You can read Catherine's Kitchen Adventures and more on her blog- Seeds of Love.
