My top five...cookbooks!

Thought I'd start a new topic - My Top 5 - for Sundays since I don't usually get a card posted. (Sundays are also the day the sidebar items change for those reading them :o)

I was just cooking a pot of Ham, Potato and Leek soup and remembering the awesome cookbook it came from. So here they are ... my Top 5 cookbooks at the moment:

NOTE: I am not a gourmet cook (although I very much appreciate fresh, well prepared food) and have little time and patience for kitchen duties, so you KNOW these are great, user-friendly books! (You'd think I owned stock LOL which I don't ;o)

1. HOW TO COOK WITHOUT A BOOK by Pam Anderson

~ she takes basic premises (soup, sauteing, etc.) and shows you an easy, delicious base recipe and ways to add to this for an endless list of different recipes to suit any taste. Great for those of us unable to throw items into a pan with apparent abandon and have them come out tasting like anything at all. The basic soup recipe has served me very well.

2. THE PERFECT RECIPE by Pam Anderson (okay, I feel stupid! I did not realize till just this minute that these were by the same person - no wonder they are my top two!!)

~in this book LOL she lays the book out into chapters of American favorites (Everyday Classics, Special Dinners, Be All and End All Desserts, etc.) and tells you all the different ways the test kitchen tried cooking them. It's awesome to read thru the process (her writing style is not the least bit dry or heavy). The One-Pot Chicken Pot Pie alone is worth buying the book for. (Which by the way, is a dish I've never liked till this recipe - I made it to humor my husband and then fell in love with it. It's absolutely nothing like any I've ever had.)

3. SAVING DINNER by Leanne Ely (who I found thru the Flylady site)

~this book is awesome! It's laid out in seasons, then weeks. At the beginning of the week is a shopping list, and then the recipes. Each recipe has the nutritional values and suggested sides (realistic ones - this book is all about foods your family will eat!)

4. COOKING THIN WITH CHEF KATHLEEN by Kathleen Daelemans

~ real, fresh food, easily turned into what feels like gourmet. Lots of sidebars listing shortcuts and valuable tips. Buy this book for the Pork Tenderloin with White Wine Sauce - it's so delicious!

5. SIMPLY THE BEST by WeightWatchers

~ laid out like a typical cookbook, this is full of made from scratch, full flavor dishes. Lot's of comfort foods you grew up with and love to eat. I really like that there is a little blurb about the contributor and all the nutritional info. Can't wait to try the Hot Asiago Spread!

I hope this helps revive someone's kitchen time - real food cannot be beat, and I need to make an effort to eat more of it myself :o)