A few years ago I was gifted these two cookbooks that have by far been the best cookbooks I have ever used. Basically any and everything I even think about cooking or baking is in these books. And (the best part) they are all really foolproof recipes and tips for all levels of home cooks.
If you have never heard of Cook’s Illustrated, they are a test kitchen that creates every single recipe hundreds of different ways until they get it perfect. It really is such a good cookbook for everything from Pesto Sauce to Cream Puffs, and anything you could think of in between. (I am so jealous of the chefs that get to work there, what a fantastic job)
When I was gifted these books a few years ago, I started writing in each book the date I made the recipe and any changes or thoughts I had about the recipe. And now my daughters have started baking and cooking. So they have started adding their initials and date each time they make something from one of the cookbooks.
Our cookbooks have turned into a scrapbook, of sorts, documenting our cooking adventures in the kitchen. I already love looking through the last few years seeing that we made the same delicious lemon bundt cake for multiple 4th of July’s and how many times we have made the chicken pot pie recipe. I can’t wait to see the notes in these books in another few years. Someday my kids will no longer be living at home, but I know I will treasure these books and the time we spent together marking recipes and cooking together.
If you are looking for a great gift for someone, they also have the Cook’s Illustrated Revolutionary Recipes (which is their favorite recipes from 25 years of cooking) and Cook’s Illustrated Vegetable Cookbook.
*Cook’s Illustrated did not sponsor this post. All opinions stated are purely from my love of these cookbooks.
Be sure and check out our other posts about amazing cookbooks we’ve tried!
