*Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway and for all the fantastic cookbook recommendations! Congratulations to the following winners:
#479: Summer who said “My go to is a church cookbook from 1996…it’s got a great variety of recipes!”
#1024: Jill W who said “I just have to say, first of all, that I love your blog. I have been a faithful follower for years. I have made many of your recipes, and they’ve been a huge success with my family of seven! I have MANY cookbooks, but the one that I use the most is actually a family cookbook that I was given for a wedding present. It has many wonderful recipes.I would love to win something!”
I feel like I’ve been harping on quick, simple recipes and meals lately. Sorry if that offends your gourmet spirit. I promise that fast food (I’m talking fast food like homecooked fast food, not fast food like dollar menu fast food) can taste delicious even if it is simple and quick to prepare. Because of my latest fetish with easy recipes, I was thrilled beyond thrilled when out of the blue, America’s Test Kitchen sent me their newest cookbook, The Quick Family Cookbook, because the food in here is seriously talking my language. No-fail is the word that comes to mind with ATK’s tested, tested, tested recipes and the wonder of this cookbook is that you get classically delicious America’s Test Kitchen recipes with minimal fuss, time and ingredients. Oh, I am in love with this book.
And I’m giving away TWO today! Just leave one comment on this post telling me your most used, most loved cookbook. I have a feeling this is going to be the one haunting the counters of my kitchen (uh, when we get a house) for a long time.
In honor of the giveaway, I chose a recipe from the book to make and share with you. I should have made some stellar main course fare that will save your bacon on any given Tuesday night; however, I couldn’t resist these delicious cheese Danish pastries. They are so easy, so elegant and so delicious, if you close your eyes while eating one, you might just believe you are smack dab on the bustling streets of Paris – oh wait, think of some city in Denmark! – eating an authentic pastry. Not that I ever have had that experience, but take my word for it – these babies get the job done for a no-fuss pastry. Make them and love them. And in the meantime, keep an eye out for a truly sanity-saving recipe coming Friday and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
Note: One copy of the cookbook sponsored by America’s Test Kitchen, the other giveaway copy provided by me. If you’ve been around this here blog long enough you’ll know that I don’t do product/cookbook giveaways hardly ever and trust me, I get a lot of snarky emails from companies and readers upset because I won’t accept their free food products and other “stuff” for shameless promotion on my blog. The only exception I really ever make is for America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks because I swear by their recipes and I have bought many of their cookbooks myself. I figure if I would go out of my way to buy it or own it on my own dollar then it is worth sharing with all of you!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened to room temperature
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (9 1/2 by 9-inch)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons water
Directions
- Adjust an oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla. Set aside.
- Roll the pastry into a 12 by 9-inch rectangle on a lightly floured counter, making sure it doesn't stick to the counter while rolling. Cut the rectangle into six 4 1/2 by 4-inch rectangles (cut it in half the long way and then cut each strip into thirds). Transfer the pastry rectangles to the baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart. Using the tip of a paring knife, score a 1/2-inch border around the edge of each pastry, then brush the borders with the egg wash (no fear - if you don't have a pastry brush, using your fingers works just as well!). Prick the pastry with a fork every 1 inch or so within the border (see the picture below for a visual). Place a generous 2-3 tablespoons of filling in the center of each pastry and spread it into an even layer leaving the border uncovered.
- Bake the pastries until fully puffed and golden about 12-14 minutes (watching carefully so they don't overbrown). Serve the pastries warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook
I would have to say that my favorite cookbook (currently) is Cook’s Illustrated. I picked it up after your suggestion and have been cooking/baking from it ever since! America’s Test Kitchen’s Quick Cookbook would be really beneficial during weeknights with two boys playing multiple sports/groups/clubs! Good luck on house hunting!
i love to collect cookbooks…but don’t use them very often! magazines are so full of great recipes….when i do use a cookbook the first thing that comes to mind is the peanut butter cookies in my better homes and gardens cookbook…yum….
For the past year, the cookbook i’ve used often is The Steamy Kitchen cookbook.
For years I have relied on cookbooks compiled by our church ladies and they have never failed me. I also use my collection of family recipes handed down through generations of great cooks. But, showing the “change of times”, I have more and more loved going to food blogs on the internet, like Mel’s Kitchen Cafe! Love it!
I use Dori Greenspan’s Baking: From my home to yours a lot. I also use Baking Illustrated a lot as well.
Sorry mine will not help you very much but my most used/favorite cookbook is my child’s school family favorites. I’m also a big fan of the Betty Crocker monthly little cookbooks! Thanks for the giveaway and hang in there!
I absolutely love America’s Test Kitchen recipes, and their cookbooks are my most used. In particular, The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. So, I know I would love to have The America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook. Their quick recipes never taste quick.
Mel, thanks for the giveaway! Honestly, your website is my go-to cookbook! I cook at least 75% from your recipes and when I need something specific I search for it on your site. Thank you!!
Joy of Cooking is my go-to cookbook for almost everything. It has seen me through seven years of marriage and never lets me down!
I love any cookbook from Cook’s Illustrated! They always seem to have amazing recipe and I don’t think I’ve ever made a recipe from them that didn’t turn out.
I am a cookbook fanatic! Love to just sit and read them and those with lots of pictures make me the most happy. My go to all the time for a yummy recipe cookbook is the Complete Cooking Light from 2008. I have made just about every recipe or variation there of from that book!
I pull out my old, tattered Betty Crocker cookbook when I’m feeling nostalgic and craving meals from my childhood. Nowadays I look mostly online for inspiration.
I LOVE ATK, and their Complete TV Show cookbook is our go-to.
I don’t use cookbooks nearly often enough. But my grandmother gave me one put out by King Arthurs Flour, and I love the baking recipes in it!
The cookbook i use most is the one my mother made me for Christmas one year with all her recipes over the years she uses. It’s my favorite!
An old favorite of mine is Real Soups.
The Joy of Cooking
Mine would have to be Bittmans How to Cook Everything. It is my go to. But I love reading my 1960′s Fannie Farmer…
The one book I use the most is the one I made for myself adapted from the one my mom gave me for my wedding gift 20 years ago. She took all my favorite recipes and some of her own and put them into a binder for me. Over the years I’ve taken out the recipes I didn’t really like or use that often and replaced them with ones that I’ve come to love over the years. I plan on making a recipe book for my 2 younger daughters in the next year.
I use Pillsbury Family Cookbook all the time.
I have an old cookbook put together by our church group (ward) that I have used so much it has fallen to pieces. I still use it but I have to store it in a ziplock bag.
Betty Crocker
My fave cookbook is the king arthur flour baking with whole grains book. I haven’t had any recipe that I didn’t like yet. And they’re whole grains!! I love it.
Mine is the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. Definitely my go-to!
My go-to cookbook is one put together by my church group about 10 years ago. Can’t beat it!
Well, I have to say that I go online a LOT now when looking for new recipes, but my old standby is the More-with-Less cookbook.
It’s actually a BAKING book, but my go-to is Good Housekeeping’s “BAKING.” The binding is broken and the pages are sticky; there are notes on almost every recipe. To me, that’s the mark of a GREAT cookbook!
I have two that I use the most…Hollyhocks & Radishes: Mrs. Chard’s Almanac (got this one on vacation in Michigan years ago!) and Pasta by Eric Treuille & Anna Del Conte (I am a pasta freak!). Blogs supply so many great recipes now of course. And I love the Cook’s Country magazine! Hope you find a house soon! Thanks for all the great recipes!
Ooh that recipe looks so yummy!
As for my tried and true recipe book? That would be my very used & beat up Betty Crocker book. I remember using my mom’s (from the 70′s) when growing up and when I got married she bought me my own (newest edition of course) and that is my go to book.
However, I have lately been loving the Taste of Home series of hardback cookbooks. I’m a bit of a cookbook hoarder? I love seeing new recipes & trying them out. I’m LOVING the dinning downloads website that sends me emails about free cookbooks on amazon.com daily. LOL
I love the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks – any of them!
My favorite cookbook is my oldest-The Better Homes and Garden Cookbook I’ve had for 47 years
The cookbook I use the most is an old church cookbook from the church I grew up in a small town in Nebraska. I’d love to add this to my cookbook collection!
That’s a tough one…I guess my Taste of Home Baking Book.
Joy of Cooking. I love their pancake recipe.
Otherwise, the internet is one big old cookbook to me
My go to cookbooks are Cuisine at Home series they are all fabulous. However I turn more these days to my online recipe box which has everything from my recipes to all the great blog recipes I have found and tried.
Right now, my favorite cookbook is Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda J. Amendt as I am in full-blown canning and preserving season. I also love Cook’s Country! I would love to be able to add this new cookbook to my collection.
I would love to try an ATK cookbook!
My most used, most loved cookbook is definitely the one I put together with all of my favorite recipes.
I rarely miss with “The Joy of Cooking” but love cookbooks. Newest favorite is Ten Dollar Dinners” – frugal yet elegant!
Fannie Farmer!
Being Danish, I feel that I should tell you that pastries in Denmark never ever have cheese in them. I’m not really sure how the American version came to be, but it’s pretty funny to me that they’re called Danishes when I’ve never seen that kind in Denmark. Anyway, I’m sure they are delicious!
My favorite cookbook is a Danish one called “God mad, let at lave” (Good food, easy to make). It is the most amazing basic cookbook that will help you with literally anything from how to boil an egg to how to plan a 5 course fancy dinner. Plus it has great information about nutrition values of different foods, how to store leftovers, etc.
Cheese danish are one of my weaknesses and now you’ve made my life so much easier. I will have to buy this cookbook (if I don’t win it!)
I’ve always wanted to make danish, but I’m still a little scared of dough. This seems just my speed! Anyway, my favorite cookbook is my great grandmothers old Good Housekeeping Cookbook from the 60s. I love it and some of the recipes in there are hilarious. Would anyone like some meat jello?
I use a family cookbook and the Internet for a lot of recipes. Your site is my first stop! Thanks for the giveaway!
I have always loved my Joy of Cooking cookbook. I also really like Favorites and Keeping Up from the Ivory family, but anymore I usually just turn to my favorite food blogs and pinterest for my inspiration and direction, namely right here! I can’t go wrong with anything from your site!!
Oh, sorry, my favorite cookbook is one my mother gave me from her church. She’s been gone 25 years now, and I still use that cookbook all the time.
Americas Test Kitchen has the best cookbooks. Definitely my go to cookbook. I will have to look inti this quick version.
Honestly, I’ve tried so many cookbooks but never had much luck with recipes…I’m domestically challenged (sad but true !! LOL) but I did have the best luck with a couple of recipes I tried from the America’s test kitchen best recipes book.
I would love to win this new quick family cookbook. Quick and easy recipes from America’s test kitchen would actually make me feel successful in the kitchen which is something I rarely feel
!!!
Thank you for giving me the chance to win this lovely new book Mel
Karen XO
Ive never heard of these cookbooks before. I can’t wait to see if my library has some to check out. My favorite cookbook is the one my family put together. I love having all my family recipes on hand. Because no one can cook like Grandma!
Those danishes look amazing- can’t wait to try them! If your blog doesn’t count as a cookbook, then most used paper cookbook I have is my old-school Betty Crocker, circa 1954, I think. My mom gave it to us for a wedding gift, and I use it at couple times a week.
Believe it or not, besides my Cook Country cookbook and my trusty Joy of Cooking, the most well-worn cookbook I own is a cookbook for dog treats/biscuits called Good Bites. I make them biscuits every 10 days or so and for some reason, even after all those treats, I can’t seem to remember the recipe in my head.
I read cookbooks like novels. My husband and kids will often find me with a pile of cookbooks spread around me, just looking at them for fun. My favorite has to be a Hershey’s cookbook I got over 20 years ago! I know it is only desserts, but I love it! My daughters and I love your blog! Thanks!
I have so many cookbooks, I don’t think I can narrow it down to just one!… I probably most refer to a cookbook that I put together with many of my own favorite recipes (some of which came from YOU!)
Years ago , my son wanted me to cook from a Star Trek cookbook! I guess he thought that would be so cool! His dinners actually came from the Betty Crocker book!
My mother-in-law made a cookbook for my husband when he left for college of all their family favorites. I use it all the time. It is the best!
I just subscribed online to Cook’s Illustrated and I would love to have this cookbook. It would be so useful in Rwanda, as we don’t have TV here and would love new recipe ideas!
I love cookbooks. I read cookbooks for fun. Ever since I was introduced to your website, I’ve used your methods to organize my recipes into my own cookbooks. I do have two favorites–one if The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner and the other is my mom’s. My mother has put together a cookbook with favorites from her 6 daughters, two daughters-in-law, three sisters, Church friends, and neighbors. The third edition came out this past summer. Any time I need a recipe, I look in my mom’s cookbook, your website, then consult the Food Nanny!
I’m a big “Barefoot” fan – that is how my daughters and I refer to Ina Garten. We often discuss new recipes we’ve tried or dinners that went over really well and 9 times out of 10 one of us will say: “it’s a “Barefoot” thing.” I have several of her cookbooks, but my favorite is “Back to Basics.” She includes a blurb about how she makes a grocery list…such a small thing, but it was life changing for me!
My mom gave me a copy of our church’s cookbook, with wonderful recipies from all the “old church ladies”. It’s become my go to book for those tried and true recipes!
My most used and loved cookbook is one that my grandmother’s church published. Tried and true recipes collected from all the wonderful Southern cooks in our community. Pure gold.
My most loved cook books are the set of Meta Givens’ Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking that I got from my grandmother when she passed away. My most used one is my Betty Crocker cookbook.
The book I use most is actually a notebook I put together myself from recipes I’ve found online, in magazines, and in cookbooks. Many of the reciepes came from this site.
Most used AND most loved cookbook? The tried and true collection of extended family favorites-the Nelson Family cookbook.
I am an ATK fanatic-and I get a little giddy whenever I see you reference Cooks Country or ATK in your recipes-as I know they’ll be winners. Thank you for the opportunity to win! If I don’t win at least I know what to add to my birthday wish list!
America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Illustrated are definitely my favorite/stand-by cookbooks! Great giveaway – thanks
Love their recipes! My favorite cookbook is the one I put together many years ago for my son’s school using all the mom’s recipes. The children were so proud to see their names and their mom’s names under each recipe submitted.
Love your recipes and I actually have everything to try this one today, so I am excited!
I have twin girls who turned two this past Monday, and so for me time saving is HUGE! For me, my favorite cookbook is not one you can get on a shelf…it is one that my family, church family, and friends put together for me as a shower/new mom gift. Some of the recipes are those I grew up on, others are things I had never heard of, but the fact that it was put together with love for my growing family makes it one of my favorites (And I have lots!)
Mine most loved cookbook is definitely Giada’s Everyday Pasta. Pages are ripped and food splattered, but definitely still readable!!!
I have a collection from my mom that I use most often. I also like the Ivory Family Favorites Cookbook.
My most used cookbook is G. Garvin’s Turn up the Heat.
My most used cookbooks are the pioneer woman’s and my own binders stuffed full of favorite recipes and ones that ate asking to be tried!
Um, I’m really, honestly not trying to be a brown noser, but I’d have to say YOUR BLOG is my most used cookbook! Between you and random Pinterest recipes I’ve pinned, I tend to have my laptop open on the counter while I’m cooking rather than referring to a book for a recipe
I’d love to give this cookbook a try. This is the first time I ever heard of it.
I love the Pioneer Woman cookbook, plus I follow several blogs and who can forget Pinterest!
My favorite cookbook, my ‘bible’, is the ‘New’ Good Housekeeping Cookbook (1986 edition), which my sister bought for me in the late 80′s when I wasn’t eating right and was severely under-weight. Other than some blog recipes that catch my eye, this is my go-to recipe book. Even my ex- mother-in-law had praised meals I’d made from recipes in this cookbook.
I’d have to say my mom’s really old (like orange old) Betty Crocker Cookbook. The one in the 3-ring binder.
I misquoted the name of my favorite cookbook above, sorry, it’s called DOG BITES
and here’s a picture of it:
http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/50468/2467004520025560968S200x200Q85.jpg
Sorry about that!
My favorite cookbook is a family book that I have compiled. I have recipes from my mother,grandmother,mother-in-law, and you!! These are recipes I use all the time!
I really don’t use a cookbook much–love the internet
But I do have a lot of recipes that are handed down from ward cookbooks, the best of the best–usually! And thank you too for all of your AMAZING recipes. They honestly make up over half of my recipe binder now!
I have so many cook books it’s ridiculous. My husband makes fun of me about the fact that the cook books are taking over the kitchen, but one of my favorites is “The Recipe Hall of Fame Cookbook” So many yummy recipes. Every one that I have tried in there has been excellent!
My favorite cookbook is the one I put together. I frequent 3 cooking blogs and once I try a recipe if my family gives it thumbs up, I put it in my cookbook
My favorite cookbook is my own family cookbook that I’ve been creating over the years with my daughters! It’s has all our family favorites.
This is a great give-a-way! Thanks! I love my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks and use them all the time.
My favorite cookbook is the Woman’s Day collector’s edition cookbook. It was printed in 1970, and my mom used it for recipes when I was growing up. She’s gone now, but I still have this wonderful old book to remember her by and make the foods she made for us as kids.
My favorite cookbook that haunts my kitchen is the original Americas Test Kitchen Family cookbook!
My favorite cookbook is a collection cookbook from a local church.
Uh, does a laptop on the counter with your website count? That’s the go-to lately, but if it is a hard copy book, then I have a cookbook from my hometown’s centennial (from the mid-1980′s), that has all the recipes I grew up with and is always what I fall back to.
I have an ancient cookbook passed on to me by my mother-in-law. It has some recipes that I would never try but were popular 70 years ago. The cover and many of the introductory pages are gone. The tried and true recipes rescued my newlywed self many years ago and continue to be my go-to recipes. Flaky pie crust, jam, breads, roast turkey and some interesting side dishes show up on the table week after week. Some things are timeless. And some of those recipes have come around into popularity again. Clean eating dieters are rediscovering how food used to be prepared.
Honestly, my favorite cookbook is my America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook…so I’m sure I would love this one!
I’ve been using the Now Eat This cookbook a lot after having my last baby. The weight did not just “melt off” like it does for some, so good old grandma bought me the book for my birthday. It took some thick skin to receive with a smile, but I’ve actually enjoyed the healthy recipes & I’m back to my old weight. I think I should celebrate with a cheese danish!
The cookbook I use the most is probably my old checkered Better Homes & Garden that my mom gave me, ohhhh, 22 years ago? LOL…its my favorite
My favorite is Pioneer Woman: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl! I love it, and so does the hubby
An old church cookbook of my mother-in-laws is my go-to cookbook!!
Sounds like I better check out an ATK book from the library (or win one
)! Everybody seems to love them! My most used “cookbooks” are the ones I have compiled from online recipes and recipes from collected from my mom and mother in law.
Don’t use my actual cookbooks much anymore – my binder of recipe printouts is my go-to these days! Do love our Wooden Spoon Bread Book for baking, though!
I still rely on Desperation Dinners & Cheap. Fast. Good! for quick meals with ingredients I usually have on hand. I also use Southern Living & Cooking Light cookbooks, especially the ones with quick recipe suggestions.
Thank you so much for your give away – I am a Taste of Home gal all the way. Keep up the amazing work – you truly inspire us!
I love my Betty Crocker cookbook,
I use my bettey crocker one almost every day!
Yum!! I love the precision of ATK; would love to see some of their recipes
I’m trying to remember when I last used a cookbook other than the binders I’ve compiled with recipes from family, friends and the Internet
(Don’t tell my husband–I don’t want to need to justify my collection of cookbooks. I love cookbooks–I just don’t have a favorite, apparently.)