In my years of cooking, one of the things I’ve found is that most everyone has a foundational cookbook to which they are most loyal. Some of us come from households that held Better Homes and Gardens dear, while others preferred Betty Crocker and its patterned red and white cover. Whether your mother or grandmother consulted Fannie Farmer, Southern Living or the Farm Journal cookbook, up until recently, most homes had at least one of these much-loved, comprehensive volumes in residence near the kitchen.
Me, I come from a Joy of Cooking
The copy of JOY that I was raised with was a gift from my grandma Bunny to her new daughter-in-law, soon after my parents got married. My mother was a touch insulted at first (the implication being that she was not an able cook), but rapidly came to appreciate the utility of such a gift.
Like many things that have lived and been loved for more than 40 years, it doesn’t look the way it once did. The dust jacket is long since gone. The front cover fell off sometime in the mid-ninties and was reattached with a wide strip of silver tape (this repair is reinforced every decade or so). Many of the pages have been enhanced with splashes of water or oil or gravy and don’t behave entirely like paper anymore.
In recent years, I’ve become something of a Joy of Cooking collector. I have six editions, which represent the changing food culture over the last eight and a half decades. Most often, I turn to the one that matches the copy I grew up with (happily, it was a hand-me-down from my great-Aunt Anne. It came with complete with a few of her annotations). I regularly use the recipe for Quick Banana Bread and have made the Cornbread on page 578 so many times that I could probably stir it together without ever once glancing at the page.
Recently, I’ve found myself in correspondence with Megan Scott. She and her husband (congratulations on your recent wedding, you two!), John Becker are the latest members of the Rombauer/Becker family to be working on the JOY legacy. They’ve redesigned the website and are regularly posting useful, thoughtful food writing and recipes. It’s a delight to see such a beloved institution in such capable hands.
Earlier this summer, as Megan and I exchanged emails and talked about the possibility of me contributing a guest post to their site, she offered to send me a copy of the 75th anniversary JOY. It was at that moment that I confessed my ridiculous affection for the Joy of Cooking
If you’d like a chance to win a copy of the 75th anniversary edition of the Joy of Cooking and the 2013 desk calendar, here’s what you do.
- Leave a comment on this post. Tell me which cookbook was your family’s favorite. If you have a beloved recipe, please share that too.
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm east coast time on Friday, October 5, 2012. Winner will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog over the weekend.
- Giveaway is open to US residents.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog, I cannot accept submissions via email.
Disclosure: This copy of the 75th anniversary edition of the Joy of Cooking and the 2013 desk calendar have been provided to me at no cost. However, I’ve not been compensated for this post and my opinions are entirely my own.
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My mom never used cookbooks. I guess you could say my grandmother was her cookbook. I though, have always loved cookbooks. I read them in bed as my culinary novels. I’ve always wanted one of The Joy of Cooking books. I often look through the tables of streetside book vendors hoping to find a vintage copy…lol. Thank you for this giveaway opportunity!
The Joy of Cooking! I received it as a wedding gift and use it almost weekly.
Most of the cooking my family did was based on unwritten recipes. Cooking by eye and hand. Forcing my grandmother and mum to write down always resulted in hilarious recipes involving ‘temperature that is just right’ and specific yogurt glasses as measuring cups’. But alas it has made me a fairly independent cook and baker. I’d love a more structured approach as a basis though, thus Joy of Cooking would be great.
When I was little there was a radio show that came on every afternoon where listeners called in and shared their favorite recipes. I believe it was WSM in SE Iowa where we lived. My mom listened and wrote down those recipes in little black journals from my Grandpa’s insurance agency and those books are by far the ones you’ll see opened up most often on my mom’s counter while she is cooking, baking, or canning. I use a Southern Living cookbook, BHG, or Joy of Cooking most often when I don’t want to rely on the internet. Thanks!
growing up, our house was a Better Homes cookbook house for almost everything. Just before I was married, my future sister in law bought me the most recent version. I was delighted, but totally shocked when I saw that the chocolate cream pie recipe had changed since the original I had grown up with. I made a few quick notes in the margin after a call home to mom.
Joy was the staple cookbook for a couple of very specific recipes. 1 of those recipes was the pie crust recipe. I don’t currently have the Cookbook, but you can be sure the pie crust recipe is written on a scrap of paper and talked in side the Better Homes. Sure would be nice to have the official.
“out of vermont kitchens”
Grew up with and still refer to Betty Crocker. But I met Joy of Cooking in my 30′s (mid 50′s now) and fell in love, even without color photos. It’s my true reference book. I became a joc evangelist, giving copies to my nearest and dearest’s. Love the recipe for fish w/ white wine sauce and capers.
Growing up my mom did all the cooking without my help. It wasn’t until I got married that I started cooking. I was given the Joy of Cooking as a wedding gift and used it for many recipes. My oldest daughter has it now.
Interesting, I never knew that “Joy of Cooking” was the american version of my canadian “L’encyclopedie de la cuisine de Jeane Benoit”! It’s not really the canadian version, more Quebec version, it’s in french. I don’t open it too often, but it’s the nostalgia on my bookshelf, my mom has one, every french canadian household owns that book. With that said, I don’t have a Joy of Cooking on my bookshelf, and would love to own a piece of american kitchen history. By the way, I just discovered Julia Child! Well, when the movie came out, I had NO idea who she was!!
Ooo let’s see. I have only been cooking for the last few of my 26 years, but I rely on America’s Test Kitchen books, as well as Martha Stewart Baking School and Martha Stewart Cooking School books. Love them!!!!
Thanks for the giveaway Marisa!
My go to cookbook is the Better Homes and Garden ,circa 1971, we got as a wedding present.I am sad to say I have never owned A JOy of Cooking cookbook so I would love to join in your drawing.Thank You
I use a gingham-covered one. Did you say it’s Betty Crocker? Mine is a 1950s version and has wonderful tips and old-fashoined instructions for oven cooking like, “cook on medium.” We use it regularly, as evidenced by all the pages that just sort of hang out in the binder, no longer able to be attached.
My mother was an excellent cook and hardly ever used a cookbook. Her specialty was Greek food and she learned Lithuanian cooking from my father’s mom. However, when she needed to cook something more American, she went to The American Family Cookbook. When she passed, I inherited that book, published date, 1955.
It has been used so much that I have to keep it in a ziploc bag so that I don’t lose any of the pages. It even has a section for cooking wild game; very interesting.
My favorite recipe from it? Any of the many wonderful desserts! And of course, all of my mother’s wonderful Greek dishes which she taught me to cook.
Sadly, I don’t think we had a family cookbook. There were recipes from my maternal grandmother that were often consulted, but neither my mom or my dad (who did cook!) really used a cookbook. However, upon moving out on my own, I got myself a copy of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, and while I don’t use it as much anymore, it was instrumental in helping me learn to cook.
My favorite cookbook is Simply in Season by Cathleen Hockman-Wert and Mary Beth Lind. It’s my favorite for canning tomato sauce, grape juice, and preparing fresh local food. Thanks for the giveaway!
My mother’s go to cookbook was a church cookbook from our town. Literally everything came from there. She did own a better homes and gardens, but it did not get nearly the use. I have coveted a copy of joy for a long time.
Ours was Betty Crocker. My mom was awarded the Homemaker of tomorrow when she was in High School and I think the book we used was what she was awarded with in the early ’70s.
I would love the “Joy” cookbook. I have the Betty Crocker cookbook my mother used, and I have handed off my own copy of it (wedding gift 50 years ago) to my daughter. This would be a lovely addition to my evergrowing collection of great “reads.”
We definitely had the Betty Crocker cookbook in our kitchen. And if the recipe said ‘casserole’, we were all about it!!
We were a Joy of Cooking family too! I’m not sure how old my mom’s edition is, but it’s certainly very recent!
We grew up with a battered copy of Joy of Cooking. I am not sure which edition, but it is falling apart from all the use.
I love the Joy of Cooking… but my favorite cookbook is actually my husband’s grandmother’s church contributed cookbook. It has a fantastic recipe for savory pork chops. The thing I love about cookbooks compiled from different contributors is that you know each and every recipe is someone’s favorite.
My mother didn’t use cookbooks but cooked from memory what her mother made. Now I also cook from memory but I also like to use my family as guinea pigs to try new recipes. Although it’s not a ‘cookbook’, I love the recipes from the Cooking Light magazine. I love cookbooks and this new edition would fit in nicely!
The only cook book I saw growing up was Cocina Criolla. My mom swore by it. Unfortunately she’s misplaced it and it’s $230 on amazon?!?!
My favorite is a 1950s Better Homes and Garden from my mother’s collection. I have used the brownie recipe in this cookbook for many, many years. I have never owned a Joy of Cooking but have always wanted one.
My most referred to cookbook is the orange/pie pictorial covered Betty Crocker 1970 edition. It is my go to for poultry cooking times and for pie crust.
I also love to pic up copies of Rombauer’s JOY. My latest coveted version, picked up at a flea market, is the 1946 edition! Would love to have a chance at the latest version. These old cookbooks are a great foundation to build off of, and the basic foundation to many of the recipes that are popular today. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Love to see the JOY tradition carrying on…
My mother has given me many cookbooks that at first I wasn’t too excited about–I keep vegan and I couldn’t figure out much I could possibly make from the ones she had provided. However, it’s turned into a wonderful family activity to collaborate to “veganize” all of the familiar dishes my family ate growing up. I guess we’re kind of creating our own cookbook to pass down…
My favorite cookbook has to be my grandmother’s old Better Home’s and Garden cookbook which I received after she passed away. But I think my favorite part of it are the drawings in the front of the 50′s era dainty little housewife and family. But for cooking my favorite is the Silver Spoon which is an Italian cookbook that I received for Christmas back in 2005 or 2006 when it was first translated to english. My favorite recipe is the Italian Pot Roast (I think that’s the name I have a sticky on the page so that I don’t have to go searching for it anymore)!
I don’t remember what cook book it was from, but I loved the corn fritters my mom made. When I finally had a kitchen in my dorm room at college I copied the recipe down onto a piece of paper and still go to that recipe when I get a hankering for something indulgent for breakfast.
I come from a Joy of Cooking family, but the real cornerstone of my mom’s cookbook collection were the early Moosewood cookbooks!
What a wonderful giveaway!! We weren’t really a cookbook family, my Grandmother wrote down many of her recipes, and must have pulled thousands of recipes out of magazines and newspapers. We are still working our way through them (though many of the ’50′s Jello concoctions might not be made anytime soon…)
My mother owned, and I grew up with, the Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book and the Joy of Cooking. I own copies of them (from 1950 and 1946, respectively). My go-to cookbook as an adult has always been the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.
My family cookbook is hands down The Settlement Cookbook. I would always consult my mother’s (or ask her to do it over the phone), and when I finally picked up and moved to NY in my early 20s, I received a copy of my own that Christmas. Now that my oldest is 20, I wish that book was in print so I could continue the tradition, as she is finding herself in the kitchen more and more. I can’t say we have a favorite family recipe, but my 2 favorite food memories that I love to recreate are my mother’s chicken corn chowder and my grandfathers stuffed cabbage, which we adamantly refer to as pigs in a blanket, no matter how many times I have to explain to NYers that no I do NOT mean cocktail weenies wrapped in biscuit dough!
My stepmom was the cook in the family and I remember both Betty Crocker and Joy on her shelf – but what I really remember was this brown-cloth covered blank book that she’s had forever and probably doesn’t even need to use anymore because she’s got all the recipes memorized. It’s full of newspaper clipped and old family recipes and covered in butter and flour – that was the one I knew to go to for the really good stuff.
I grew up with the red and white checked Betty Crocker. My mom still has that copy but I found the same cookbook at a garage sale many years later. I am continually surprised when I open my book to the brownie recipe I’ve been making since I was a kid and don’t see all the chocolate and flour smears all over the page.
I come from a Fannie Farmer family. My mom’s was a paperback copy, and I don’t even know how hold it was, but I suspect it was from the 60′s. It had lost its cover by the time I came along, and the pages were very, very thin. The whole thing was browned from the acids in the paper. We used it all the time though! My favorite recipe is a cinnamon roll recipe that doesn’t involve any rolling or frosting – just sweet rolls with a lot of cinnamon in them, and exactly what I prefer!
It was the gingham-covered Betty Crocker book at my house. It must have been a late 60s or early 70s edition. I wish I had it, but I think it must have gotten thrown out a long time ago.
There was a recipe in there called (I think) Potluck Potato Salad which I loved as a kid. I don’t remember it exactly but it called for french dressing (the orange kind) and letting the cooked potatoes marinate in it before mixing in with the mayo. I just loved this. It sounds kind of revolting to my adult self today.
My family didn’t use cookbooks except for holidays. My Mom would pull out a Better Homes and Gardens she received as a wedding gift, I think. It’s interesting to think many people will never consult a cookbook, referring to family recipes and the internet for a quick go-to.
Although I do most ‘free hand’ cooking – Our ‘go to’ cookbook has always been the Fannie Farmer. We use it for reference and reminders on the basics. I would LOVE to have a “JOY” cookbook – I’ve never even leafed through one!!
Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone!
Our favorite cookbook was the Cookie Book (I should say MY favorite, lol)…but mom always had the Betty Crocker cookbook…
thanks for an opportunity to WIN.! Melissa from WA
My mom has a Betty Crocker Cookbook on her shelf and I have a Better Homes and Gardens one on mine. I think that Joy of Cooking is the only one we don’t have.
Our go-to cookbook was an old Good Housekeeping cookbook that must have been a wedding present. The yellowed pages fell out whenever my mom opened the book. It had lots of tips for wartime cooking – recipes that were suited to sugar rations, etc. Mom is 86 and still has that book.
My mom had the tried and true plaid Better Homes and Gardens, and when I moved in to my first apartment, it was a must for my kitchen.
I too collect cookbooks. and have 4 copies of the “Joy” series. I was trying to collect one that I might have received from family as my mom passed away when I was 9. found and purchased one on ebay and the lady sent me the nicest story about HER book (1958 ) and photos of her mom/grandmother, etc and marked the best recipes. I think of it as “my family” heirloom…lol. it is old and very well used, also. This one is a keeper. I enjoy Old ones and the Settlement cookbook is a great one for that.
Thanks for the contest
My mom always had a well-used copy of JOY and Better Homes and Gardens, but I really loved Pillsbury’s BAKING book, and I even managed to land an original copy a few months ago, since my dad threw mine out one year during spring cleaning. It’s missing my original annotations, but it will have new ones soon enough
The go to cookbook in our house growing up was Better Homes and Garden. I would love a copy of Joy.
We were (and still are) a Betty Crocker family. I was most disappointed when I bought my first one that it wasn’t exactly the same as my mother’s. Now, I find myself using mostly church cookbooks.
This is a great give away! Thanks.
My parents were both cooks by profession and they didn’t use cookbooks at home so, sadly, I don’t have memories of a family cookbook. My first cookbook would be How to Cook Everything which I’ve returned to over and over again for the vegetable chapter whenever I bring something strange home from the farmer’s market.
We always had lots of Southern Living cookbooks around my house. Some of them had really inventive takes on souther classics like shrimp and grits, black eyed peas salad, and buttermilk biscuits.