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A cookbook that I remember using a lot as a child, but that my mom only recently "officially" gave me, is Betty Crocker's Cookie Book. It's full of our family favorites through the years, and my mom must have decided that she had enough committed to memory that she could finally give me the old thing. It's from the mid-70s and has some really awesome photography.

My first cookbook was the orange Betty Crocker cookbook. I still love the photos of the cakes and cookies, but leafing through it this past weekend, I cannot imagine making any of the recipes apart from the baked goods.

When I turned 18 I was given a copy of the Betty Crocker Cookbook (with the red checkered cover) as a birthday gift. I almost never used it. The first cookbook I bought myself was Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef Returns or something, which I was smitten with because of the lovely pictures, but which I also hardly ever use. But my very first cookbook? At age 8 I got the Klutz Press Kid's Cookbook, which I've used a million times and still lives on my shelf today. It came with measuring spoons that I only wish I still had.

mine is a hershey's cookbook on desserts, of course, featuring hershey products.

My first cookbook was from my godmother and was a fundraiser "church lady" book. There were lots of good, simple recipes and it had conversions and substitutions listed which was helpful to a new cook.

My confession for the week -- I always passed by the Joy of Cooking at the bookstore, but I hated how drab it seemed. Thankfully, my husband changed my mind when he purchased a copy for me. It has been amazing, not only for the handy tips, but also for learning the basics in certain dishes. That teaches me never to judge a (cook)book by its cover!

My first cookbook was a gift from my Mom when I moved into my first apartment. At the time I didn't know how to cook and wasn't too interested in it, but with dorm food no longer available (thank goodness), she gave me a cookbook called "Recipes with Four Ingredients." It helped me survive the year (along with frequent "how do I do this..." phone calls to Mom), and I didn't even starve! I think she was pretty excited when last year for Christmas I asked for "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" instead!

My own first cookbook (not counting the ones my mother had at home) was in Japanese. I couldn't understand the text but it had amazing photos of all the ingredients and steps. I got it when I was about 15.

My first cookbook was given to me by some friends... "eat, shrink and be merry". It's a decent low cal cookbook. But I have always used my mom's Joy of Cooking!

My first cookbook was Cocina Al Minuto, a paperback Cuban cookbook. My mom and grandmothers both had old, ear-marked and water-stained copies. Owning one was like becoming a real, live adult.

My grandmother gave me the Silver Palate cookbook as a Christmas gift when I was a little girl.

My wonderful sister-in-law gave me a copy of Sunset Basics cookbook when I moved into my first apartment. It gave me confidence to cook. I still use my battered copy today.

My first cookbook was the Joy of Cooking in paperback. I've since purchased a hard-cover copy, which I still use often. The recipe for banana bread is yummy!

My first, and still my favorite, is the early 70s edition of Betty Crocker. She's still my go-to for several staple recipes.

My first cookbook was "Simple Italian". There were maybe 40-50 recipes, and lots and lots of big pretty pictures. My mom gave it to me when I got my first apartment, and I cooked my way through that thing. It introduced me to kale, and clam sauce, and tuna and white bean salads. It's so stained now, but I still love it.

My first cookbook was one that was put out by Chatelaine magazine in the early 1970's. There are lots of really dated things in it (a lot of things with jelly and mayonaisse), but also some things that I have cooked so many times that I know the recipe by heart - their version apple crisp and butter tarts are standard in my kitchen

My very first cookbook was the Betty Crocker Kids' Cookbook. It had a number of recipes that are an integral part of my childhood. Because where would we be without the cinnamon toast log cabin and pancakes with your initials in the middle?

I remember that my mom would let me cook from the book on weekend mornings and I became adept at writing letters backwards in pancake batter so that they would show up readable when flipped! Even now, I use my mom's old Tupperware batter cup for pancakes.

I always wanted to make the fully decorated gingerbread house, but my mother refused to lend her kitchen to what I am sure would have been total destruction!

Probably of the last generation to start with "Joy." Now, it's probably Bittman.

The first real cookbook I used was a giant softcover Vegetarian cookbook full of glossy pictures that my mom got me toward the end of college (can't remember the proper name or author right now). The first section of the book is a giant glossary vegetables, fruits, spices, oils, grains, fats, etc. used in vegetarian cooking. It's been very useful to this day -- consulted it two weeks ago for info on sprouting wheat berries.

I had that lovely red checkered Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook. I almost wish we still had it because I'd love to see some of the recipes as I can't remember any!

Vegetarian Epicure. I kept it until it fell apart (it always opened to the page for German Apple Pancake, which was one of my favorite Sunday morning breakfasts).

The cookbook that my parents fed me from in my childhood was the original Moosewood, but the first cookbook I ever owned was a Gold Medal (I think) little free book called Alpha Bakery (a is for apple tart, b is for blueberry muffin, etc...) the only thing I ever remember making from it was Elephant Ears, but I made plenty of those.

I went off to college with a copy of the Starving Student's Cookbook and then quickly picked up the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook for more variety.

"The Cookie Cookbook" by Eva Moore - a kids book, a cookie for each month. My mom gave it to me in 1974, I was 8. Still have it, and because of this post I'm thinking I should try to make something out of it! I also used Joy of Cooking a lot in the beginning, as well as Betty Crocker, but the 1st one I remember buying thinking I was "all that" in the kitchen is the Cookbook of the Culinary Institute of America - a large, red intimidating tome....and I only made a few things from it (African chicken is still a favorite)!

Mine was a Betty Crocker one with cartoons and those horrible photos of food that makes everything look like something out of a jello mold. But I LOVED it and half the pages have been torn out but it just makes me so happy whenever I come across it. Perhaps I'll make some pigs in a blanket this weekend?

We had a french exchange student who gave me a copy of a french children's cookbook. Our french was not perfect, nor were our conversions from the metric system, but my mother and I had some success thanks to the illustrations.

Almost all of my cookbooks are hand-me downs, but the one that was my mother's go-to book and now my own is the Meta Given's Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking 2 volume set. Wanna cook a bear, she'll tell you how!

I think it was something like "Dorm room food / 3 ingredients or less." That or the easy bake oven cook book.

I received my first cookbook as a Christmas present from whichever cousin drew my name, back when I was twelve or thirteen. It is the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book, with the red and white checkered cover.

I've never had a real cookbook, but I'm just getting started out of college. Trader Joe's frozen meals were always my crutch into eating semi-nicely through college, but now that I'm starting to cook more for myself I use either my epicurious iPhone app or recipes from Serious Eats.

The problem with digital cookbooks is that to use them while cooking you have to get your gadgets all floury/greasy/splattered. Plus you miss those notes scribbled in the corners.

My first cookbook was the Better Homes & Garden checkerboard cookbook that I snuck out of my mom's collection. For years, it was my go-to source for basic information like at what temp is chicken properly cooked and how long to grill a steak.

My first cookbook was a local church-ladies publication. Sure it was filled with many gelatin based recipes and lots of cans of cream of something soup, but it got me started. I still have many of those and they are some of the best sources for hidden gems.

My first cookbook was a hand-me-down Betty Crocker's cookbook that was in a 3 ring binder style binding. The book was probably from the 60s (but I first got it in 2004 for my first post-college apartment). My wife and I would joke about the use of lard in the recipes and the iexpected social roles of women.

Definately the Betty Crocker cookbook along with various British Cookery books. My mother still has the original cookbook I learned to bake from. Very dog-eared and falling apart.

What is the name! Its that checkered red and white hardcover book on cooking everything. Betty Crocker, maybe?

My first cookbook was a ratty old copy of The Joy of Cooking. Did I use it? No.
The first cookbook I bought on my own (after thinking I could handle the kitchen) was The Naked Chef. Did I cook anything in that one? Also no.
The first cookbooks I ever USED were James Barber's Ginger Tea series. And I have loved Bubble & Squeak ever since.

'On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen' by Harold McGee. I figured that if I wanted to learn how to cook, I should start on a scientific basis.

Mirro cookbook from 1954.

i think it was the red & white betty crocker cookbook. i still pull it out if you want to get back to the basics.

The Betty Crocker red and white cookbook. Old recipes with interesting ingredients.

The Boxcar Children's Cookbook, based on recipes in the classic children's books. Got it when I was five. I still make my pancakes according to the recipe that's in the book. I melted a plastic bowl when I was ten trying to make the Peas & Onions recipes. And finally, my family and I got an education as to how pungent elephant garlic is. So many early cooking memories.

As a child I was given a Disney Cookbook. It had wonderful things in it like english muffin pizzas and banana splits. Unfortunately my mother wasn't much of a cook herself, so I just stared longingly at the pages. It wasn't until 20+ years later that I found myself LOVING to cook and have accumulated many books since.

My first was Rosso and Lukins' *New Basics Cookbook*. For years all my cooking came from it and it still remains a favorite.

my first cookbook was a better homes & gardens cookbook... i think! :-) my memory fails me! :-)

My mom gave me a copy of "Cooking Outside the Pizza Box: Easy Recipes for Today's College Student" when I headed off to college. With its simple (dumbed-down even) recipes, it really inspired me to branch out and try more complicated dishes.

The first cookbook that I ever used as a child and was given when I moved out on my own was a copy of "Mountain Measures." The cookbook was created and published by the Charleston, WV Junior League. Funny thing... I can't imagine my mother in the Junior League EVER! The cookbook is awesome!

Like so many others, The Joy of Cooking was gifted to me as I moved out. It didn't always get a lot of use during those years (I knew the recipe for Kraft's Spirals 'n Cheese by heart though), but it was a good inspiration to have as I began to give a shit about cooking properly!

The first cookbook I ever got was Better Homes and Gardens when I got married.

The first book I remember using was the Mrs. Fields Cookie Book, when I was still in elementary school. It had some great recipes, although I remember it was quite a revelation when I realized that most of the drop cookie recipes were pretty much the same (not counting whatever add-ins there were.)

Try as I could, I just could not get into the classic red and white Betty Crocker cookbook in the kitchen. My first that I remember cooking a lot out of and loving was The Frugal Gourmet. I used to watch Jeff Smith on public tv as a kid (along with Julia Child, Martin Yan, and Justin Wilson), and he was nerdy but cooked some really good stuff.

My first cookbook was a Collier's Junior Classics bound volume. I was about 8 years old and read the Stone Soup story. That evening, I marched into the kitchen and announced that I was going to make soup for everyone. I did everything the man in the story did, and when it didn't taste the way I thought it would, I even went outside to find a suitable stone. (I did get the whole point of the story, but figured the stone might help anyway.)

Does that count?

The first cookbook I ever owned was the Klutz book "Kids' Cooking." The first one I remember cooking a recipe out of was Nava Atlas's "Vegetariana," and the one I got when I moved out was the first revised edition of "Joy of Cooking." (The one I'd give someone moving out today, though, is Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything!")

I was armed with an accordion folder stuffed with family favorite recipes (including how to boil an egg and a basic recipe for vinaigrette). However, first official cookbook was The Silver Palette (white one) gifted to me by my parents upon graduation from college.

My first year of college, my mother sent me off with a collection of her go-to recipes, ranging from kitschy party appetizers to souffles and other sophisticated dishes gathered over her years as an enthusiastic cook. It is still one of my most-used cookbooks, although i know most of the recipes by heart by now. a kitchen legacy.

My first cookbook was tattered and brown from age. It was a book my mom had on Puerto Rican cuisine. From it at the age of 10 I learned my first recipe: how to do Banana Milkshake or "batida de guineo".

My first cook book was a kiddie cookbook full of recipes for things like Treasure Hunt cookies (jam-filled), ooey-gooey-eat-the-whole-batch brownies, and homemade Playdoh. I still have it!

"Love at First Bite" a hopelessly 70s kids cookbook that had wonderful hippie-granola kinds of recipes. I still have it.

The Betty Crocker Cookbook binder.

That would have to be the cookbook my elementary school put together. I think I was in first grade and submitted a recipe for "egg foo young" with the help of my mom.

It was an old copy of the Original Fanny Farmer cookbook I found at a flea market. I still have what's left of it, taped together.

Mine was the "American Girls Cookbook", complete with historically-appropriate meals from Kirsten's time (1854), Samantha's time (1904), and Molly's time (1944). As a 9-year-old American Girl doll fanatic, I loved making all the recipes. But I was particularly partial to the corn "oysters" from Samantha's fancy dinner menu.

My very first cookbook was The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer many, many years ago. About 1978, I had a burglary in my home in the midst of a move, and one of this things taken was my complete collection of cookbooks and recipes. I figured one of the parties involved had to be female. Without hesitation, the first thing I purchased again was another copy of The Joy of Cooking. I would not think of being without a copy of this cookbook. It is like the Bible of cooking to me. Every kitchen should have one.

I don't know what the first cookbook I ever owned was, but the first one I ever used was "Simple Vegetarian Cooking." I am no longer a vegetarian, but I still return to that not-a-classic book for its delicious peanut noodles.

My first cookbook as an adult was an "encyclopedia of food" from my mother. It's alphabetized by category like potato or egg and has extensive diagrams of meat even though I'm a vegetarian. I still use it all the time for measurement conversion and simple food.

Chef Jeff Smith's earlier(est) book was a staple in my parent's kitchen.

I would spend hours browsing it; and letting my imagination go. I was a foodie/Serious Eater since a young age.

One of my most VIVID memories of all time in my youth was watching this on PBS with my parents; and seeing his books among the home, and the VHS tapes (which I probably still have around!)

...later to find out His public career came to an end when two of his male assistant chefs brought charges of sexual harassment against him...in 1998, seven men alleged that he had sexually assaulted them in the 1970s, when they worked for him. Smith denied the accusations. He was taken off the air shortly afterward... and never returned to the airwaves.

Hm. I might be okay with that. But I miss the memories :)

I bought my first cookbook in 1969. It was the Joy of Cooking. Now a bit tattered and stained, it's still my favorite.

An old William Sonoma "Soups" cookbook :)

My first cookbook was the Betty Crocker cookbook.

Joy of Cooking -- I still use it quite often. It is probably the most used cookbook I own.

my first cookbook, wasn't mine per se but my brother and I took it to be our own since we seemed to use it every weekend whereas mom was much less frequent with her visits. and that book would have to be...the joy of cooking of course and what was it that we had to have it for well that would be pancakes of course. unfortunately with both of us in college the old pancake making days are all but over (and now that the recipe is burned into our memories there is no longer any need to consult the book) but the joy of cooking would still have to be "my first" cookbook

My first cookbook (and the thing that got me into cooking) was some scholastic book club thing. It had scary recipes for halloween, like kitty litter casserole haha. I never made anything from it, but I loved to look at it and imagine what those recipes tasted like.

My first cookbook was a class effort for parents done in pre-school. We had our parents submit a recipe and the students wrote their version of the recipe. My mom's version of Nana's PB Cookies had about 8 ingredients. Mine had about 3, which included 5 eggs. My how I have come a long in the kitchen!

My first cookbook was a children's cookbook that had been my mother's in the 1930's. I wish I still had it today! The one recipe that we pulled it out for was a drink recipe very similar to an Orange Julius. It was a real treat when Mom agreed to get out the blender.

I got a cookbook one Christmas from distant relatives because each of the kids in our family made dinner once a week. I was 12 I think (the oldest), and the youngest got a Disney cookbook that included how to "cook" hotdogs. I still have my cookbook (can't remember the name now) but I do remember making a three course meal for my parents and two of their friends. I made salmon with dill sauce as the entree and they had their dinner on the patio, while I ran back and forth from the kitchen with food. :) I'd say it was a success.

My mom's recipe box. I learned how to make family favorites from those smeared and tattered cards.

I had a huge collection of children's cookbooks, so I can't really remember which one was first. Somehow, though, I always picked out the recipes that my parents disapproved of - either because they sounded terrible, or because they had hard-to-find or expensive ingredients (who puts such things in a kids cookbook?). I distinctly remember some sort of casserole with cheese and Spam, and my dad poking at the uncanned meat to see it move...

Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook. I loved to make the Tutti-Frutti Ice Sparkle and the Baked Apples. My mother, the 70's mom who made lots of TaterTot Casseroles with the "secret" ingredient of cream of chicken soup, did not let us cook much.
I still can't use a knife and really did not do much cooking till about 10 years ago. I have to use a cookbook to pretty much cook ANYTHING. A few years ago my husband said if I spend as much time actually cooking as I did reading cookbooks we would be big as houses.
Still love to read the Junior Cookbook...going to yell up to my daughter to see if she wants to make some Chocolate Peppermint Delicious.

My first cookbook was The Joy of Cooking. It's also the most-used.

i remember watching my dad cooking from the silver palate, but the first cookbook that was just my very own was a copy of the moosewood cookbook, which went with me to college.

American Heart Association's cookbook for kids. My mom was the organizer of the annual Jump-Rope for heart event at my elementary school!

My first 'real' cookbook, and by that I mean the first one I actually cooked from, was Marcella Hazan's 'Classic Italian Cookbook'. That book along with my next door neighbor who hailed from the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, imbued me with a passion for excellent Italian food and a love for cooking that has remained undiminished for over three decades. Marcella remains my go-to expert for all things Italian. It was my pleasure to meet her about a year ago when she was promoting her memoir. I brought my original copy of 'Classic' for her to sign. It was torn, battered, splattered; a ruinous mess. I handed it to her. She looked at the book then looked up at me with a sly barely perceptible smile and said--'so, you use this?'

My mother's old copy of the Betty Crocker Cook Book--with all the right pages I grew up on dog-eared and other recipes stuck inside. It works for what I need and has some wonderful memories to go with it.

First: probably Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls. I admired the hair on the girl on the cover, but loathed the recipes, which often involved making faces or other representations with food and offended my sense of the fitness of things. It's in interesting period piece now. The first real cookbook was (and is) the Boston Cooking School Cookbook by Fannie Merritt Farmer, published 1946 and a staple in our home. I often turn to it when I want to make something that is currently out of fashion, such as plain rhubarb.

Mine was the classic red-an-white checked Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It taught me how to hard boil an egg :-) I still have it, although it's no longer my go-to.

The Kitchen Survival Guide by Lora Brody. So helpful to me when I was a college student - full of tips, tricks and definitions. And the recipes in it weren't half-bad. I still use it for the banana bread recipe, and know I can count on it if I need a simple explanation for something.

I still have my first cookbook! It was a fundraiser cookbook my elementary school put out with submissions from student families. It put me in the kitchen at a very young age baking carrot cakes and hot milk sponge cakes. I used to spend all my allowance buying ingredients to bake and it's still a passion I carry to this day!

My first cookbook was The Fun of Cooking, a lovely glossy book with amazing photos by Jill Krementz. I don't remember making anything other than the teddy bear bread, but I read it over and over.

@thehostess - I might have had that one!!!!

was it called something like "1001 Cookies" or something?

Haha it was one of those Klutz books and it came with little set of spatula's that I use to chew on (mmm plasticy rubber! almost as good as Barbie feet).

Rachel Ray. I gave it away.

Dorie Greenspan's "Baking from My Home to Yours." I wish all my subsequent buys yielded such delicious results.

My first cookbook was the "International Pantry Cookbook", I got it when I started college and never looked back!

a hand-me-down S.F. Junior League cookbook given to me by my mother

The Alpha-Bakery children's cookbook from Gold Medal Flour. A was for apple crisp, E for elephant ears, and Q was for quick cheeseburger pie.

In the mid-1960s when I was a teenager I inherited my mom's cookbooks. There was an old Betty Crocker, a Better Homes and Gardens, a Woman's Home Companion and a Searchlight cookbook. All were circa 1940. I used the Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens quite a bit. Over time, I gave away both, but now wish I had them!

A children's cookbook written for girls in the 50's- printed in teal, orange, and black and white, with sketches of smiling girls in aprons making snazzy canned tomato soup recipes. I wish I still had it!

Fannie Farmer's Junior Cookbook. I think I made an apple crisp from it.

Mine was the Care Bears' Party Cookbook, which appears to be a collectible now (a new copy goes for $80 on Amazon!). It was full of no-bake, kid-safe treats. I remember a shake involving chocolate ice cream and peanut butter that I'd love to have in my hand right now...

Unsurprisingly, the Joy of Cooking. I could do their brownies like a pro by the time I was 4.

my first cookbook was an old betty crocker collection my mother had. it had some of just about anything, and I don't think a single page was unstaind.

my first cookbook, which i got in college when i got my own apartment, i picked up at a thrift store. it was the hippie vegetarian classic, "laurel's kitchen". like many college students, i was giving vegetarianism a try (23 years later, still a veggie, so it stuck!), and that book gave me a good spectrum of basic foods to eat. i've branched out in so many directions since then... indian, japanese, thai... these days i'm making my own breads and canning, and contemplating making my own cheese. the adventure continues! i've been a subscriber of Gourmet for a decade or more, and this book would be a nice addition to my still-growing collection.

When I was 5 my aunt and uncle gave me a children's cookbook whose name I long ago forgot. I remember making string bean salad and eggs--scrambled and fried and sometimes I would accidentally pour the eggs onto the stove and have quite a mess to clean up.

My first cookbook was a collection of recipes put together by my mom as a gift.

My first cook book was a copy of the Better Homes and Gardens cook book, given to me by my mom before college. Although it doesn't get much use anymore, I did use the apple crisp crumble to top off a cake this weekend!

I left home for university with More with Less and the Art of Cooking for Two. i still have them somewhere...

The Joy of Cooking. I still have it. It's probably a bio-hazard with all the spills and stains but I don't care.

The Joy of Cooking, from my mother.

My first one was one of those cheesy ones from kindergarten where everyone in the class (meaning, of course, everyone's mother) must submit their favorite recipe and they are all copied and compiled and passed out to everyone. Kind of silly, but fun

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

I think it was named something like "A Graduate Student's Guide to Cooking". It had all of about 25 recipes, but included tips like "how to saute" and the recipes that weren't embarrassingly simple were pretty good. It's still the foundation of my chili and fajita recipes (now greatly modified so that foundation is barely recognizable, but it's there...)

First cookbook I remember reading - the Quasar Microwave Cookbook that came with our microwave. I was really fascinated by the idea that the microwave could produce a cake, though I've never actually tried it.
The first cookbook I ever chose for myself was Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French cooking - we were selecting gratuity copies of books that came with the newspaper subscription, and it was either that or a book on cars. To this day, I'm glad for the fortuitous choice - it really was her writing and descriptions that sparked my interest in food.

The first cookbook I ever remember using is my mom's copy of our elementary school PTA fundraiser cookbook. Everyone had to bring in a recipe to put in the book. We still use a banana bread recipe from that book 20 years later. But the first book I ever received was a Jewish cookbook for my bat mitzvah. It was more interesting reading than for cooking but every once in a while I can make some comfort food.

My first cookbook was The Joy of Cooking. My mother gave it to me when I left for college. I honestly don't think I ever used it.

My mom is a great cook and I should have learned from watching her, but I didn't develop an interest in cooking until I moved in with my boyfriend last year. The first book I purchased was Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian," (an invaluable resource, of course). Since then, my mom has given me the Fannie Farmer. She learned how to cook from Fannie Farmer once upon a time and my Grandmother is also a big fan so its almost like a family recipe box at this point.

ina gartens"the barefoot contessa" (the original). ina does everything, and does it all with a stick of butter. i

My first cookbook is Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Very handy, all-purpose.

The Betty Crocker red cookbook, purchased while learning to cook for myself in college. Spinach artichoke dip, mac n cheese and banana bread were my reliable stand-bys.

My first cookbook was Fannie Farmer - followed by Betty Crocker 'Cooking for Two' - but I later inherited my mother's American Woman's Cook Book - filled with wartime ration friendly recipes with notes in my late mother's handwriting - a real treasure!

The first book I cooked out of was a 1950s version of the Joy of Cooking that was my mother's go-to book. The first cookbook that belonged to me alone was a Better Homes and Gardens.

Still in school, I ordered a Pace Picante Sauce cookbook for about $5. I still make the chili chicken stew from that book. And I still have the little book.

The Bittman HTCE book was probably my first more serious book once I got into cooking.

The first cookbook that I ever owned (apart from the Nancy Drew Cookbook, which I received when I was a child but never cooked from!) was the red and white checked three ring binder Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. My mother gave it to me when I went away to college. My mother, who is an amazing cook now, says that when she got married she couldn't even boil water. This was the book that taught her how to cook. I still have it and consult it sometimes. It has some pretty good basic, unadorned recipes for things like pie crust. My Hispanic grandmother is also a wonderfully accomplished cook. I grew up eating her Mexican food, and she was a big inspiration to me in the kitchen. She gave me my second cookbook New Mexican Dishes by Philomena Romero (published in 1970), which I still have. It is a lovely, homespun book featuring New Mexican home cooking recipes -- nothing very fancy -- including dishes such as Poor Man's Green Chile and even Head Cheese. I have never made the Head Cheese, but a lot of the other recipes in this book are really tasty. They remind me of the tastes and aromas of my grandmother's kitchen.

it was a "sesame street" cookbook for kids. i vividly remember one recipe for a morning energy drink, which included fruit juice and a raw egg. i was horrified by the thought.

Hand me down kids recipe Betty Crocker that my older brother first used

a well-used hand-me-down from my grandma, with notes in the margins and everything.

The Betty Crocker cookbook, and I still have a copy in the kitchen drawer.

Fanny Farmer, I believe...

cdziuba@aol.com My first cookbook was that big red Betty Crocker cookbook I sent away for using Betty Crocker coupons/points. I still have it.

My very first cookbook was one I bought from the Scholastic Book Club, probably when I was in third or fourth grade. Sadly, I no longer have it, and I can't even remember the name--I think it was something along the lines of "Stone Soup"--but I do recall making a really terrific snickerdoodle recipe out of it.

My first cookbook was my mother's beaten-up, dogeared copy of The Joy of Cooking (with various bits of paper with her recipes tucked between the pages). I think the edition was from circa 1966 or so.

My mother had a set of Better and Homes and Gardens cookbooks on different themes (Main Dishes, Foreign Dishes, etc.) I think she got one a month by mail. I made an entire Chinese dinner party for her friends when I was 16. Also learned to make Chicken Cacciatore from one of the books, which I have changed over the years and developed into my signature dish.

My first cookbook was the Southern Living Cookbook. I don't cook from it very often now, but whenever I need a crowd-pleasing casserole or dessert recipe, I'll open it up.

Coming from a poor family, we didn't purchase cook books. My grandmother had a recipe drawer in the kitchen, and in that was every single free recipe she could clip and hand written recipes that were passed down from family and friends. I remember when I was very young getting to go through it and pick whatever I wanted her to make and making it together. This inevitably meant we were making that weird giant rabbit cake from some Kraft Easter recipe, covered in shaved coconut and jelly beans. She indulged me greatly with this because I NEVER wanted to eat it; I just wanted to make it :)

My first cookbook was a Muppet Cookbook, complete with accompanying pictures of the muppets cooking. The best was Gonzo's recipe for "Grilled Ice Cream" - he took scoops of vanilla ice cream and plopped them on the grill. Mom didn't let us attempt that one.

My first cookbook was a notebook filled with family recipes that my mother had.

My first cookbook was called "Alpha-licious" (or something along those lines). It contained 26 recipes, each one corresponding to a letter of the alphabet. I loved it and made my mother literally read the recipes to me before bed instead of a story book. I don't remember actually making anything from the book, but would pore over it for long stretches of time. I was doomed from the start-- my cookbook collection has grown exponentially since then and one of my favorite things to do is still look through the pictures of my favorite cookbooks.

My first cookbook was the Settlement Cookbook; a gift from my moother-in-law 38 years ago. (I think she was trying to tell my something!) It is now falling apart, and I still use it. Thanks!

My first cookbook was the Silver Palate Cookbook.

I would have to say my first cookbook was the recipes I got out of the newspaper in Los Angeles circa 1950-1970 that I started collecting when I was about 12. My favorite was Polynesian Meatballs that I finally made for my husband. My first real cookbook was one of the many Sunset cookbooks of their series. I had every one of them until I moved back East.

I asked my mother for the Joy of Cooking, she had never had a Betty Crocker cookbook so that's what I got. I quickly bought Joy on my own.

Betty was good for mac & cheese and red hued pictures. Joy was my bible and with over 12 copies in various years she is still my gal.

My first "grown-up" cookbook is an Hors D'Oeuvres. I am usually the party hostess, so I love to make all kinda of fancy finger foods! What is great about my book is it shows you pictures of EVERY item, plus tells you what you can make in advance!

a little kid's cookbook from the sixties that belonged to one of my mom's younger sisters. it illustrated techniques such as shaping white bread, american cheese & bologna sandwiches with large cookie cutters.

My dad gave me his first cookbook when I was younger - I don't recall the name but it was geared towards kids. It really explained things so you could understand at a lower level. It made me love trying out new recipes!

My first cook book was a crock-pot cook book that I bought when I was 27 years old. I am embraced to admit that I didn't do much cooking before then, since I was either working in the quick serve industry or had a boyfriend/husband to cook.

Since then, I have decided I have more fun using recipes as a guide and building off of them. The internet is very handy for that sort of thing and I have found some wonderful things. But nothing beats having a book in hand to make your own notes in.

moosewood

Good old Betty Crocker! As a wedding shower joke my mom gave me her circa 1950's BC cookbooks. I really never used them, but I still keep them as they provide huge laughs. All they talk about is throwing classy themed dinner parties (make sure everyone has enough cigarettes!!!) and how to keep a husband (by greeting him at the door with a drink, a smile, and your lipstick on and hair done!). funny stuff.

The Joy of Cooking, given to me by my brother during college.

It's called The Settlement Cookbook and I still have it. It might have been published by Hadassah but I am not sure. It is very old fashioned. It actually says on the cover: "the way to a man's heart". I can't imagine my kitchen without it on the cookbook shelf.

My first cookbook was the Silver Palate.

Better Homes... New Cook Book... any basic recipe you, need.

My first was Filipino Cooking Here and Abroad, which was given to me by a friend right after high school. There weren't nearly as many ingredients for Filipino food available in U.S. groceries then as there are now, so the substitution suggestions came in handy.

My first cookbook was a compilation of recipes for brunch items. I love brunch food items and I've always been on the hunt for recipes for yummy french toast and frittatas.

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse cookbook - it has a lot of very simple recipes, but I remember loving have my own cookbook as a child!

An early 70s kids paperback called something like 50 great recipes for kids or Cooking for Kids with a cheap (2-color) groovy cover. My first recipe from it was the two-ingredient Peanut Butter and Catsup Dip, which was GREAT! Lol.

My first cookbooks were included in a Winnie the Pooh boxed set I had as a child (and still have) -- The Pooh Cookbook and the Pooh Party Book.

The Joy of Cooking, dogeared and purchased at a yard sale for 25 cents

a folder of clippings from the weekly food section in the papers & magazines

My first real cookbook was the New Basics when I was just out of college. It really wasn't basic enough for me (although I did attempt the coq au vin).

My first real one was the NY Times Cookbook, but I will always have an appreciation for the awesome graphics and knowledge I got from My First Cookbook back when I was 7!

My first cookbook was a Betty Crocker one aimed at kids. It had things like that infamous "candle" salad, where a half banana is stuck into a pineapple ring, with a maraschino cherry "flame", and "ants on a log" which is celey sticks filled with peanut butter and decorated with raisins.

Looking back, I'm amazed that I became a dedicated cook despite this...!

The first cookbook I bought myself was Joy of Cooking, a scant two and a half years ago when I had my first apartment. I made sure to buy the older edition, because that was the one I'd grown up on, and the thought of an update frightened me. In my first independent kitchen, many of my recipes were culled from that volume, although now I find myself inspired by Serious Eats and epicurious more than any of my dozens of cookbooks.

Mine was my mom's frail but unused Better Homes and Gardens, the one with the red and white cover. I made the peanut butter criss-crosses, over and over again, with crunchy peanut butter. I still use it when I need to check on substitutions (standard to metric) or when I can't remember how to make sour milk. And I love looking at the meat maps of the cow and pig.

My first cookbook was 'Taste' by David Rosengarten. I got it as a gift because someone knew I liked the show. Not many recipes, but the info and writing is top notch.

Oh my gosh, the first cookbook was the red cover of Betty Crocker and still use it today....it is so worn out, pages pasted back in the spines lol
My Mother had the same cookbook and used the yeast bread recipes all the time we were children growing up.... mmmmm.... yeasty memories
Pam

"In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy". Still have it. Still a favorite.

My first cookbook was Better Homes & Gardens"How to Cook Cookbook" When I moved into my first apartment I knew I wanted to cook more than eat out and this was a great starter cookbook. I still reference it when I need substitution info or measurement equivalents, or a good recipe as a springboard to my creativity.
Carey

Gramma's recipe box was my first cookbook. I could read her cursive before I was taught how to write it on my own.

My first cookbook was a gift from my Mother when I got married. It was 'The Joy of Cooking' which was a staple in the kitchen as a 'how-to' on almost everything. I am now compiling a cookbook of family recipes as a wedding gift gift to my own daughter.

some kids cookbook Junior kidds cookin? hard telling.

My first cookbook was Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I don't actually love his recipes - but I constantly use the book as a reference for basics, like how to cook certain grains or store fruits and vegetables.

My first one was a slow cooker cook book. The first one I used was one of my Mom's Southern Living cookbooks.

Joy of Cooking

my mom never cooked a real meal while i was growing up so my first cookbook in college was a betty crocker 5 ingredient cookbook! but i still have it!

I bought my first cookbook in high school. it was one of those giant brand ingredient sponsored cook books . I can even tell you its name anymore since the the covers came off somewhere in my Junior year in college. The spine is cracked, pages from casserole and side dishes have come unglued and intermixed. Most of the candy section has stuck to itself. But it has a good batch of recipes that Ive gone back to over and over for inspiration.

First I remember was one of the Moosewood cookbooks. Interesting stuff, but I never cook for 6-8 people at a time!

My first cookbook was a gift from a friend. It was the "New York Times Cookbook" by Craig Claiborne. It is a wonderful cookbook, a classic, that I still use today.

The ancient Betty Crocker cookbook - I still love reading it and being amused by the housewife references

Sunset's Easy Basics for Good Cooking. My college roommate gave it to me when we graduated! The inscription reads, "Now that you're entering the real world, you need to learn basics."

My first cookbook came directly from my mother - The I Hate To Cook Cookbook by Peg Bracken - how ironic that I now have over a thousand cookbooks and I Love To Cook!

The Five Roses Flour cookbook was the cookbook that my grandmother and then my mother used to try and teach me how to cook. The first cookbook I ever bought was Joy of Cooking. It sits in my pantry, its spine and backcover are now a generous covering of duct tape. I found a Five Roses Flour cookbook at a garage sale years back, but it differs significantly from my Mother's. Still, I use both regularly.

I received a Betty Crocker cookbook for my wedding shower.

My first cookbook was an Australian chocolate cookbook. I bought it because the recipes looked delicious, but I didn't realize everything was in grams until I actually made something. I had to find a conversation chart to finish.

Upon moving to NYC, we were determined to not to use our oven as storage and got the Joy of Cooking as our first official published book (wasn't sure if the collection of photo-copied, spiral bound made in grade school cookbook counted!)

Mine was "The Frugal Gourmet." It's somewhere in my cellar, gathering dust right now!

My first cookbook was a kid's cookbook. It had awesome pictures and came with different colored measuring spoons. I don't remember the name of it. I made lots of the recipes from it though. Even the play-dough :)

I still have it -- a local Junior League cookbook "Southern Accent"

The earliest cookbook i remember was a Disney Cooking for Kids book that probably came from a garage sale and printed in the late 70s. I clearly remember a recipe for a cheese dog with a picture of Pluto eating hot dogs

The Way to Cook (Julia Child), and boy did it save me the first time I had to cook Thanksgiving Dinner all by myself in a foreign country right after college!

A paperback Joy of Cooking which I wore out, I am now on my second hard-cover copy. I still refer to it today, even with a huge collection of other cookbooks it still is handy for a lot of little details and basics.

My first cook book was a volume of the Pillsbury cook-off contest winners. I was 9 years old and I baked my first cake: it was a banana cake for a bake-off in my brownie troop. (or was I a girl scout by then?) The girl who won made a castle whose walls and ramparts were pasted together with fluffy white marshmallow frosting. I thought it was unfair because her parents helped her! But I really did love the way it looked -- especially the sugary spice drop candies and mini-marshmallows that made up the garden and the moat. There was also a toothpick flag! My banana cake did not have any of that. But there *was* frosting, so I was extremely proud to have made it. I remember standing on a chair to use the hand beater.

It was a kids cookbook that I grew tired of, so I commandeered my mother's red and white plaid Better Homes and Garden book and started making mac and cheese at twelve or so. Still have a soft spot for that book.

My first cookbook that I bought for myself when I was 19 was a CIA cookbook that I bought from a traveling salesman. It was a huge book and I thought it was a huge bargain because the guy was only selling it for $5.00! I used it a few times, but every recipe turned out pretty bad. It turns out the book was a misprint! The guy had probably picked up a case of them for next to nothing and sold them to unsuspecting ladies. That was about 25 years ago and I still have nightmares about the "Meatloaf Incased in Mashed Potatoes" that called for 4 tablespoons of salt!. Bleck.

My first cookbook was actually an "arts and crafts" book from the 1950s. I'm fairly certain it was from the days when my grandfather was a school official for the Chicago Public school system. In addition to learning how to make your own play doh, I learned how to make powdered sugar candy. Powdered sugar, water, flavoring (cinnamon), and food coloring (red) Heat, stir, pour small amounts on wax paper until cooled, enjoy.

betty crocker cookbook for boys and girls! i still have, it's still falling apart.

The first cookbook I ever received is The Joy of Cooking. Oddlly, I still use it 25 years later. It's not flashy, but it will teach you just about anything. However, I wish I had my mom's copy. Her edition has a whole section on cocktails. Too cool!

it was a cookie book, but i can't remember the name for the life of me

My first cookbook was one snagged by college roomates as we were moving out. Something about healthy eating...

It was a really old and reliable Betty Crocker cookbook!

My mother gave me my fiirst--The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. I don't use it much for the recipes anymore, but the definitions and conversion tables are perfect.

The first cookbook I used was my mother's Betty Crocker red cookbook. It was smeared, falling apart, and had a number of cigarette burns. My favorite section was the one described the sophisticated coffee drinks (my parents drank Folgers with non-dairy creamer) for dinner parties (which my parents never had). I haven't looked at this cookbook in years, and I don't think I would use it now even for the sake of nostalgia. However - a friend of mine uses their cookie recipes to make Christmas gifts that everyone loves - so maybe I should give it another chance.

The first cookbook I bought for myself was The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, which taught me how to make bread, quiche, and some really excellent soups.

I was given some kid's cooking book with things like vanilla milk and I loved it. My first real cookbook was Joy of Cooking, of course.

My very first cookbook was Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls (copyrighted in 1957). This cookbook was well used by my sisters and me and I still have it. We often made a Candle Salad that consisted of a pineapple ring on lettuce with half a banana standing in the ring and topped with a cherry. There was a Bunny Salad that was half a pear (canned, of course) on lettuce with raisins for eyes, almonds for ears, etc. We made an Igloo Cake and a Drum Cake that had peppermint sticks as the strings on the side of the drum. I have many, many cookbooks now and rarely use a canned anything. I take 4 cooking magazines, read numerous recipe blogs, and most of my recipes are now on the computer but I cannot part with my cookbooks.

my first book is the 1969 Betty Crocker book. Pages are dark mustard yellow due to age and use. Still use the pumpkin bread recipe every winter.

It was a soft cover Sunset book that someone gave my mother...the only cookbook she owned until after I was an adult. I think it was on baking...I still use that cheesecake recipe.

Dad's Own Cookbook, even though I'm not a dad... but it did teach a guy to cook!

Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe. Part cookbook, part vegetarian manifesto. I can't say that any of the recipes wowed me, but I haven't eaten meat since I read it 7 years ago!

My first cookbook was a Christmas gift from my mother the year. I had stopped eating meat that year, so she got me a vegetarian cookbook. I have since began to eat meat again after many years, but I still find the cookbook to be particularly useful.

My grandfather's Maria Esposito cookbook. I still have it -- I taught my youngest sister to make manicotti out of it a few months ago.

A Betty Crocker cookbook in a gingham cover with all kinds of fun illustrations from the 50's and 60's. I cooked many many things from it, before eventually starting to cook from Silver Palate when I was a teen ager.

My first cookbook was the Betty Crocker cookbook. It's since been joined by about 40 others. Some people read science fiction other read romance novels. I read cookbooks :)

My first cookbook was the Good Housekeeping Cookbook with the blue cover. My mother hated to cook and did not own a cookbook. She cooked recipes she found on the backs of packages and soup cans. After a few months with the Good House book to gain some confidence, I jumped to Julia Child's book, The Art Of French Cooking, and boy was I thrilled! I had so much fun cooking things I had never heard of much less eaten! By the way, I am a MUCH better cook than my mother. I'm just sayin.......

Martha Stewart Cookbook for Everyday. It was my first book without pictures. :)

My first cookbook was the Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian. I was 7 and hijacked it from my parents' cupboard before picking out a recipe that involved chicken thighs, white wine, cream, and capers. It was delicious and I still make the dish!

my first was a 3 ring binder given to me by my aunt ofmy grandfather's recipes...... some times family is more important than gourmet cooking

"The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook" -- a gift from my mother that I frequently return to.

When I was about eight, I made a cake following a recipe in one of my mom's cookbooks (she had them but never used them). It was some kind of encyclopedia of cooking, kind of like a generic version of The Joy of Cooking. I have no idea what happened to that book. The first cookbook I owned was a wedding shower gift in 1970, the red plaid Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, and I still use it. The first cookbook I bought for myself is the New England Yankee Cookbook. It's going on 40 years, but the recipes are timeless.

My first cookbook was my mother's copy of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook. Still a huge resource for me today.

i also received a fannie farmer as my first cookbook - the junior cookbook! i still use some of those recipes today!

My first cookbook was from the Miss America Pageant. It had recipes from former contestants and winners. They wrote little stories with their recipes that I thought were the best! I only made one thing out of it..."Alabama Ambrosia" for my 5th grade state project. It was a funky fruit salad in a lot of juice, and I never made anything from it again!

At age 13, I received "Clueless in the Kitchen," written for teeny-boppers hopelessly lost among the pots and pans when parents weren't home. My younger brother and I made one meal a year from its pages, and always prepared exactly the same menu: 40-clove garlic chicken followed by a chocolate cake. Both were always, always burnt. Six years later, I'm in my second year at college, slightly less clueless in the kitchen, but just as passionate about feasting.

My first cookbook was my mom's copy of the Good Housekeeping Cookbook. She and I used to get up early, early, early on Thanksgiving morning so I could "help" her make the pumpkin pie. I love that cookbook.

My first was one that I picked up on whim off a library resale bookshelf during high school: Alfred Portale's Twelve Seasons Cookbook. I don't think I'd ever attempted more than painfully simple dishes before that(cinnamon toast, popcorn) and recipes always seemed like more miniscule gibberish than was worth following, but as I looked at the recipes in this book something in my brain clicked and the instructions suddenly seemed more than manageable (if the ingredients were sometimes moderately obscure and the photo presentation mildly intimidating).
And the rest, as they say...

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, the big yellow version! My mom gave it to me when I went to college and it's still a great resource!

Joy of Cooking

The Vegetarian Epicure was the first cookbook I ever bought, on the advice of a friend. I still use it!

Betty Crocker for kids - I loved to cook from the start.

The Little Handbood of Chocolate

It was the Betty Crocker Kids' Cookbook....I got it as a Christmas gift.......I also used my mother's adult version.....and I liked baking cakes.

The first cookbook I bought for myself was the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. It was useful for a college student with not a lot of access to fancy ingredients.

My first cookbook was the Betty Crocker cookbook. It's the only one my mom owned when I was a kid. I used to love looking at the foods and I even got her to let me make a couple recipes.

When I was little, my mom always used the red and white check (BH&G) cookbook. I had my own cookbook as a kid - something associated with Sesame Street with really awful recipes in it - but the first thing I wanted to take with me to college was that old, crusty, stained red and white checked three-ring binder. Instead, I was given one of my own as an off-you-go-to-university gift.

I still have it and use it on a weekly basis. I'm proud to say that it's now nearly as crusty and stained as my mom's, and it serves as storage space for the innumerable photocopies my mother has sent me over the years of family and friends' recipes, along with a host of new recipes I hope to photocopy and give to my sister's children some day.

My first cookbook was one of those PTA-compliled fundraising cookbooks. As an eight-year old, I would pore over the recipes. Don't think I did too much cooking, though

the ladies home journal cookbook, circa 1961, which my brother borrowed 25 years ago and has never returned!

Joy of cooking -- I still love to use it.

My mom taught me to cook. My first few recipies were from the Betty Crocker book. I made pizza many times, but it was a sort of "pan pizza" with a crust made from Bisquick, adding canned tomatoes, sliced ham and covered with cheese. It sounds terrible today, but as a kid I didn't know any better. I also would make a "Strawberry Pie" that was a filling made with Jello and frozen strawberries, poured into a grahm-cracker crust (store-bought) and topped with Cool Whip. That doesn't sound so great either, but it actually tasted pretty good.

These days I make my own pizza dough and use fresh ingredients...I'm all grown up now.

The first cookbook I cooked from was called "Live Longer" and was originally given to my brother and signed by Charlie the Butcher (a Buffalo institution). My brother had technically given it to my mom, but I loved that book so much and tabbed it up with all of the recipes I wanted to try. My mom gifted it to me last year for Christmas, about 15 years later, tabs and all.

My first cookbook was one of those collections of best recipes using well-known convenience brands, like Swanson's Chicken Broth or Velveeta Cheese. I got it while in college and was living in a little townhouse.

A ragged Joy of Cooking handed down from my grandmother.

King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. My officemates would start counting on me bringing in "experiments" from this book - and they didn't notice the whole grain-ness of what they were eating!

I don't think I actually own any cookbooks, perhaps Gourmet Today can be my first!

haha a book called How To Cook, which I'm pretty sure I bought at some sort of garage sale when I was a kid. I loved looking at the food pictures even then.

My family and my kindergarten classmates families put together a cookbook.

The red and white hard cover Betty Crocker binder. I got it for my wedding and still use it 26 years later.

my first cookbook was a Bon Appetit dessert collection circa 1996. I can still remember I tried making a no baked cheesecake and it turn out like a jello on crack.
It's not the book's fault but entirely mine. I got the book on a used bookstore in the year 2001, I had no oven and I wanted to try my hands on baking from scratch, I was weening off boxed toaster cakes. So thought what better way to start but with a no backed cheesecake right? well, unfortunately I didn't have any lemons handy and I used lemon extract but got a heavy hand on it and had no idea how to properly use gelatin powder. It tasted horrible! and didn't go back to making no bake cheesecake until just recently I managed to overcome my phobia

That's too long ago. As far as the first cookbook I read as a child I know it would have to be a Watkins Products cookbook. My dad sold Watkins door-to-door between jobs.

My first was an old church cookbook from Greenville, MS. I got it from my neighbor's yard sale (for free!) and learned how to cook sweet potato pies and blueberry cobblers. Those "experiments" were a good escape from the traditional food that my Vietnamese parents fed us on a daily basis.

My first cookbook was the one that actually taught me to cook, Better Homes & Garden Cookbook.

i used to love reading my mom's moosewood cookbooks, and we had an apple-shaped spiral-bound book called 'the apple cook-book' that i loved. but the first cookbook i bought for myself was the magnolia bakery cookbook.

Not my first, but my favorite. Farm Journal Cookbook. It is in tatters and duct tape.

I had the Fannie Farmers Children Cookbook. The recipes were easy but delicious. I think the first recipe I ever made was for popovers.

It was the NY Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne. My husband (then suitor) at the time borrowed it in an attempt to show me he could cook. Perhaps too ambitiously, he chose to make Brunswick Stew. It came out like a deranged version of succotash that even his dog would not approach. He never cooked again - though I still do all the time - and this arrangement seems to have worked out well over the course of our now 31 year marriage!

Don't remember the exact name, but it was something like "Chinese Cooking at Home". I was allowed to pick out a special treat at the dollar store, and this was what I chose. Actually made dinner for my family out of the book, and they loved me enough to eat it. :)

My first cookbook was probably a Ladies Aid Lutheran church recipe collection, circa 1992 that my grandma bought me at our church picnic....I wonder where that is???

My first cookbook, which I still have!, was Moosewood Cookbook. It was given to me 20 years ago, when I became a vegetarian. Actually, I remember the inscription from my parents' friend who gave it to me: it said, "To a 'new' vegetarian from an 'old' vegetarian." So nice!

Betty Crocker, followed by Tassajara Bread Book

Good Housekeeping with illustrations of every dish. Oh no, no it was actually an Imperial Sugar My First Cookbook, corporate giveaway. I still make some of the cookies and cakes from that book.

My mom bought be a copy of the Lion House Cookbook when I graduated from high school. It's got lots of Mormon classics, from funeral potatoes to jello salads.

The New Basics Cookbook.

It was a New Orleans cookbook by Chef Paul Prudhomme!

Betty Crocker's New Boys and Girls Cookbook. I still like the salted peanut crisps.

My first cook book is in tatters from being so well used. It's held together by fat rubberbands. I just used it over the weekend to make peach preserves from a surprise bountious gift from a neighbor who has a tree that went crazy bearing fruit. It's Joy of Cooking.

I think it was The Winnie the Pooh Cookbook. I still use the "poohanpiglet" recipe for pancakes.

I own a ton of cookbooks, but my very first one was "The Montana Cookbook".

Unfortunately, I can not remember the name of the Cook Book Given. But I do know who gave it to me. My Aunt Sandra gave me the cook book for my Baby shower 24 years ago. She wished me a long and happy life. Aunt Sandra died 4 years ago..and although I cannot find the cookbook through many moves I do treasure the sentiment

rhondastruthers at yahoo dot ca

There was pretty much only one cookbook in the house growing up in my Chinese household (which my mother never cracked open) and it was the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. The first recipe I ever made was probably tuna casserole one Thanksgiving when my sisters and I decided to do as the Americans do and add to our standard hot pot feast. How things have changed!

We had the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book growing. Plus a binder with tons of 3x5 cards neatly written by my mother and grandmother. My favorite was cooking from recipes on my mom's index cards.

My first cookbook was the Company's Coming Kids Cooking cookbook - Company's Coming is really big where I'm from (Alberta, Canada), but even when I venture to another province, no one's heard of it! I don't think I made too much from it... there was a pretty good fudgesicle recipe though :)

When I was small, I used my mother's Betty Crocker cookbook. When I married, she gave me one of my own and I use it still, although a host of other cookbooks have joined it on the bookshelves.

My now-husband bought me the New York Cookbook when I started college, which turned me on to so many of my favorites today!

mom's ratty old Joy of Cooking!

My first cookbook was one from our church. I know, not top quality. I rarely turn to cookbooks as a new cook because of the vast information on the internet. I would enjoy having a few cookbooks in my collection, though.

My first cookbook was Betty Crocker's. It had all the basics and I still own it today.

it's actually kind of sad. My freshman year of college I worked at the corporate HQ of Fanny Farmer candy shops and for our Xmas bonus we all got a copy of the new Fanny Farmer cookbook ..... so my first cookbook was the Fanny Farmer cookbook.

my first cookbook was one i got from school...it was with all the students favorite recipes...

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