Grex Kitchen Conference

Item 25: The Cookbook Item

Entered by arabella on Tue Feb 23 08:38:50 1993:

48 new of 85 responses total.


#38 of 85 by popcorn on Mon Nov 18 06:25:01 1996:

Cool!  Jim, go for it!  Yell if you want a volunteer to edit/proofread/
whatever.  Neat!


#39 of 85 by coyote on Wed Nov 27 15:38:37 1996:

A Grex cookbook would be a really neat project.  I'm sure we could find plenty
more volunteers in we asked.  (Hey, I'd even volunteer, but I'm not sure what
I could do.)


#40 of 85 by omni on Wed Nov 27 20:25:11 1996:

 Actually, the prohect has turned into a nightmare for me. I don't have
the appropriate software/patience for this sort of thing.


#41 of 85 by coyote on Fri Nov 29 16:33:38 1996:

Is this cookbook made up of the recipes in the Grex recipe archives, or are
there other sources, too?


#42 of 85 by omni on Fri Nov 29 19:09:18 1996:

 The ones in the archives.


#43 of 85 by chelsea on Fri Nov 29 19:43:40 1996:

Instead of going back into archives would it be any 
easier to assemble a Grex cookbook by asking everyone
who cares to to submit three (current) favorite
recipies.

I'd think the recipies might be somewhat healthier
as this has been the trend over the past 4 or 5
years.  Also, you'd tend to get only the best
recipies this way - tried and true favorites.




#44 of 85 by chelsea on Fri Nov 29 19:45:22 1996:

s/recipes/recipies.

I think I made too many pies yesterday and my typos
are a dead giveaway.


#45 of 85 by chelsea on Fri Nov 29 19:48:56 1996:

My comments above in now way suggest I'd be able
to organize this project. ;-)


#46 of 85 by denise on Sun Dec 1 14:03:36 1996:

I'm currently putting together a 'cookbook' into a 'hard copy' format
from recipes that I've gathered from online... Mostly stuff I've
gathered over the years from AOL but I also want to include stuff
from here, too [hmm, I'm going to have to go back and find the command
of how to use the archives, will also reread some of the current active
items]. 

Of course, I'll make myself a copy, too.  Depending on how this comes out,
I'd be happy to make this available to people here, if interested! The
recipes WILL all be from online sources, just not all Grex-Online stuff.
I haven't a clue yet as to how much it will cost for printing, bindings,
etc.


#47 of 85 by chelsea on Sun Dec 1 15:49:55 1996:

Ah, _The Virtual Gourmet_.  



#48 of 85 by popcorn on Tue Dec 3 14:07:20 1996:

I've been thinking to update the Grex recipe archives in January, with all
recipes posted in this conference through the end of 1996.  (If someone else
is willing to do this, that would be great too!  It would consist of doing
a "read all" on the kitchen conference and then using commands like "extract
kitchen 33 47 > veggie/tofu.burgers-robh" to add robh's tofu burger recipe
to the recipe archives.  [Disclaimer: As I understand it, robh wouldn't be
caught dead eating a tofu burger. ;) ])   Would that be helpful to a cookbook
project?


#49 of 85 by robh on Tue Dec 3 23:14:31 1996:

I'd have no problem eating a tofu burger, provided there was lots
of meat on the burger as well.  >8)


#50 of 85 by robh on Tue Dec 3 23:18:24 1996:

(Remember, you're talking to the person who actually ate a
hot-fudge-sundae burger back when Silverman's used to serve them.
Compared to that, a tofu-and-meat burger would be Nirvana.)


#51 of 85 by omni on Wed Dec 4 04:14:36 1996:

 to drift just a bit, if you want a Sander's hot fudge sundae, go to
Kerby's at Briarwood. There reasonable as well.


#52 of 85 by abchan on Wed Dec 4 05:25:52 1996:

<abchan wonders what a hot fudge sundae burger is or if she really wants to
know>


#53 of 85 by robh on Wed Dec 4 09:11:47 1996:

<robh thinks that abchan can figure it out with minimal effort,
if she tries, which she might not want to>


#54 of 85 by abchan on Thu Dec 5 03:28:17 1996:

<abchan wonders if it's a literal description in which case, she probably
didn't want to know>


#55 of 85 by robh on Thu Dec 5 17:28:13 1996:

Pretty much, yep.  Silverman's used to have several dozen varieties
of hamburger, including the dreaded icer-cream-sundae burger:
a hamburger with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce as condiments.
I had one once.  (I didn't put the pickle on the burger too, though, as
that would have been gross.  >8)


#56 of 85 by abchan on Fri Dec 6 06:29:40 1996:

<abchan makes a face>
I like burgers and I like sundaes.  But not at the same time.  Although they
do all end up in your stomach, my stomach can handle the combo.  My tastebuds
don't want to.


#57 of 85 by mary on Wed Oct 29 14:30:16 1997:

Mollie Katzen has a new cookbook out, _Vegetable Heaven_, and
she will be at Borders (Ann Arbor) on Thursday, November 6, 
7:30 p.m. to give a short talk and sign books.

Mollie wrote a number of wonderful vegetarian cookbooks, 
including some of the earliest Moosewood cookbooks.


#58 of 85 by valerie on Wed Oct 29 23:34:41 1997:

Ooo, yummy!  I will plan to be there.  Thanks for the news!


#59 of 85 by valerie on Sat Nov 8 06:40:18 1997:

Mary, John, Jan and I were there to hear Mollie Katzen speak.  But Mollie
Katzen was sick, so she only signed books and didn't speak to the group.
Ouch -- doing book tours is rough.


#60 of 85 by mary on Sat Nov 8 13:49:05 1997:

But I did take the time to look through her new coobook and
it does like like a nice one.  I'll probably buy it at some
point if the couple of recipes I wrote down come out.


#61 of 85 by i on Mon Apr 20 02:10:08 1998:

The closest thing i have to a regular cookbook is the New Doubleday
Cookbook.  Big, fairly current, and full of good information.

However....it contains *way* too many bombs.  Times for hard-boiling
eggs that would only work out in Death Valley or with a pressure cooker.
Recipes that need 3 times as much of their main ingredient (& it's clear
from context that it's NOT a typo).

What is other people's experience with this sort of thing?  Do serious
cookbooks try to pack in more recipes than they can try or proof-read?


#62 of 85 by omni on Mon Apr 20 05:15:45 1998:

   My recipe for foolproof hard boiled eggs:

   Eggs
   Water

   Add eggs to cold water. Put on heat. When liquid boils turn off the gas
and cover. Let stand for 25 mins. When timer goes off, peel under cold water.
Works every time.


#63 of 85 by keesan on Mon Apr 20 18:39:21 1998:

We don't have gas.  The timing is different with electric, might be only 15
minutes.  We soak for a few minutes in cold water to loosen the shell.  We
cover it before turning on the heat, it conserves energy and time, and keeps
the place from steaming up.  If you add purple onion skins the eggs turn
brown.


#64 of 85 by e4808mc on Fri Apr 24 01:32:24 1998:

For good basic cookbooks, stick with Joy of Cooking or Better Homes and
Gardens.  And before you buy one, borrow it from your library and actually
cook from it for a few weeks.  


#65 of 85 by mta on Fri Apr 24 14:01:12 1998:

Joy of cooking is wonderful -- but it's not really a good starter book for
a new cook.  Much of the food is exotic and the authors tend to assume your
have a maid to clean up after you and a staff of servents to serve your
guests.  ;)

Then again, I've never had a dismal failure from it.


#66 of 85 by eeyore on Sat Apr 25 12:25:51 1998:

You can never fail from Betty Crocker...but go to the library sale and buy
a copy from the 70's ...they are much better then the new ones...


#67 of 85 by valerie on Sat Apr 25 13:03:02 1998:

I agree.  Betty's recipes are exceedingly well tested.  And they are reputed
to have been tested with each ingredient doubled and halved, to make sure that
even if you mess up, the results are still likely to be edible.


#68 of 85 by danr on Sun Apr 26 15:23:34 1998:

Another one worth considering is James Beard's American Cookery.  


#69 of 85 by jaklumen on Thu May 2 09:01:54 2002:

resp:64 resp:68 agreed and agreed but resp:65 not agreed.

I had a friend tell me about the Joy of Cooking series: Ed 1, I think 
was put out by the mother, Ed 2 was the mother and daughter, and Ed 3 
was the grandson, I think.

Edition 2, from what I had been told, is the easiest to work with.  
Some of the recipes are indeed exotic, but.. if you have some very 
rudimentary skills and follow the recipes carefully, you should be 
fine.

Edition 3 assumes the reader knows nothing about cooking and goes into 
a lot of detail.  It wasn't recommended to me because apparently, it 
can't be pragmatically used on a daily basis.  May be more of a 
textbook approach.

void recommended _Help! My Apartment Has A Kitchen_ to jep in an agora 
item a while back, and since Julie and I bought the book a while back, 
I'd have to say I second the motion.  This looks like an excellent 
book for folks that have had very little exposure to cooking.


#70 of 85 by jaklumen on Thu May 2 09:01:56 2002:

This response has been erased.



#71 of 85 by jaklumen on Thu May 2 09:03:31 2002:

_Dad's Own Cook Book_ is another great cookbook primer.  Sadly, it 
came to us from my own father.  He really can't cook to save his life--
 he only does a few dishes like spaghetti and such.  Mom bought it in 
hopes he'd learn more, but it didn't work, apparently.


#72 of 85 by keesan on Thu May 2 14:43:38 2002:

Thanks for the info on the three editions.  I have not seen 3.


#73 of 85 by orinoco on Fri May 3 19:47:21 2002:

I think I've only got the second edition as well, and I didn't get mine that
long ago.  Interesting.  I'll have to take another look at it when I get home.


#74 of 85 by jaklumen on Sun May 5 11:00:43 2002:

Hmmm, the 3rd ed. was very, very recent.  I've seen it, but didn't 
take the good time to read through it.  It belonged to the friend of 
mine.

I think most people refer to 2nd ed.


#75 of 85 by jmsaul on Tue Jul 16 15:29:03 2002:

The 3rd edition isn't anywhere near as cool as the earlier ones.  I'd avoid
it.


#76 of 85 by orinoco on Tue Jul 16 18:29:54 2002:

What don't you like about it?  I still haven't seen a copy.


#77 of 85 by jmsaul on Tue Jul 16 18:41:51 2002:

It isn't as quirky, and it focuses on modern trends.  They've taken out (or
modified for the low fat, high carb crowd) a lot of the classic recipes,
supposedly, as well as some of the obscure stuff -- stuff I'll probably never
use, like how to prepare a grouse, but that I'd be glad I have somewhere if
it ever comes up.  I've only glanced at it, but the reviews I've read are
pretty universally negative when compared to the original.


#78 of 85 by jmsaul on Tue Jul 16 18:50:46 2002:

I just checked it out on Amazon -- it's got its supporters, too.  You might
look at the reviews.


#79 of 85 by jaklumen on Wed Jul 17 01:34:31 2002:

From what my friend told me, 3rd ed. assumes you know nothing about 
cooking and gets very elaborate from there.  He recommended 2nd ed. 
just because of that-- if you can follow a recipe, it will have most of 
what you need.


#80 of 85 by jmsaul on Wed Jul 17 02:47:47 2002:

The reviews on Amazon are pretty interesting.  It really sounds like the 3rd
ed. isn't a substitute for the 2nd, but it's a good supplement.


#81 of 85 by jaklumen on Wed Jul 17 05:35:21 2002:

That may well be.


#82 of 85 by orinoco on Fri Jul 19 03:28:39 2002:

I'm definitely a big fan of the obscure game recipes in the 2nd ed.  It's
always good to know that I remember how to cook beaver tail properly.  But
realistically, I don't think I'll ever need to know that.

But I do like the focus in the 2nd ed. on "ordinary" recipes.  I can find out
all I need to know about trendy ingredients or exotic food from magazines and
whatnot.  

Now I'm really curious.


#83 of 85 by jmsaul on Fri Jul 19 15:31:32 2002:

That's kind of my feeling.  It sounds like they added a lot of trendy stuff
at the expense of depth on the classic material.  I certainly don't mind
recipes for Thai or Mexican food -- but when I want them, I'd prefer to go
to a specialist cookbook that will have the depth I want on those specific
cuisines.  I wouldn't go to Joy of Cooking for that.


#84 of 85 by gelinas on Sun Nov 24 01:08:55 2002:

Yesterday, I got _The_Magic_of_Fire_, even though I don't have a fireplace,
after hearing about it on "The Splendid Table" on WUOM a few weeks back.
I don't know when I'll get to try the recipes, so far it's been fun to read.


#85 of 85 by jaklumen on Tue Aug 2 11:00:25 2005:

mentioned somewhat in another item, thinking about buying a Frugal
Gourmet cookbook, but not sure which one?


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