Betty Crocker Cookbook: 1500 Recipes for the Way You Cook Today Spiral-bound – April 2, 2013

I have Joy and two from America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated) along with online resources as my main go-to cookbooks until now. I am new to cooking for myself and have been trying to find a cookbook that doesn't get fancy (who puts sour cream in their pancake mix ATK?) and has plenty of color pictures so I know what things should look like. Joy of Cooking missed the mark on the pictures but is very informative with tons of solid but slightly difficult to read recipes.So I purchased the Betty Crocker Cookbook for my Kindle software (PC and Android). One thing to keep in mind is that the "enhanced" stuff only works with iPad/iPod which really makes me mad. I'm sure this is about money through exclusive arrangements and not technology. However, I think most of the enhanced material is available on the associated website. I've watched a few videos on preparing pancakes and making bread.The organization of the Kindle book is outstanding. You have the typical, well laid out table of contents. Then at the beginning of each chapter you have the chapter table of contents you can click on to get to a recipe. At the end of each recipe you have links to bring you back to the book table of contents, chapter table of contents, related material, metric conversions and index. How convenient is that?The recipes display nicely on an Android tablet (Xoom) that I use in the kitchen. With the display set to timeout in 30 minutes I can keep the recipe in front of me all around the kitchen - lighter and more convenient than the book.The book contains a lot of information about food, tools, and techniques. These are the things a beginner in the kitchen absolutely needs to help gain experience. Each chapter starts out with tips applicable to the chapter and there are additional tips and information with many of the recipes. There are also plenty of pictures to guide you through techniques and to show outcomes. I especially like the 3-picture sequences of what I call "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" where they display a well prepared item (let's say biscuit), and two others that are cooked improperly. This helps to diagnose technique problems and has been invaluable to me.I've worked through a few of the recipes but I'll mention only two because they have been a problem since I started cooking.I have been terrible at making pancakes. I keep looking for simple instructions more than a recipe. Lately I've done a few things differently which have improved my pancakes but after using the heirloom recipe in this book along with watching the online video I now make pancakes I would be proud to serve to friends and family. I make them every morning.Another problem area for me has been yeast breads. I can't tell you how many breads I've tried and all have been a failure in one form or another. I've tried a bunch of different recipes, have a big Kitchen Aid stand mixer, use the best ingredients and every loaf has been a flop. Until last night. Of course I have been trying to adjust my techniques but last night I closely followed along the with the recipe for Classic White Bread in the Betty Crocker Cookbook and the outcome was a respectable loaf of bread. I have four books on making bread from authors like Reinhart and DiMuzio but not until I simplified things and followed the BC recipe did I come out with a loaf that I enjoy looking at, smelling and eating. I had a ton of fun taste testing this loaf with butter, cinnamon, honey, peanut butter and jelly and in a day or so French toast! (I enjoy eating slightly more than I enjoy cooking.)I have to say... even though Betty Crocker (General Mills) is a name associated with prepared/processed foods you can buy at the supermarket this cookbook doesn't use those foods as ingredients. For some reason I was expecting one of the ingredients for the heirloom pancakes to be Bisquick (General Mills). Nope. Just basic ingredients with no silly statements like "For best results use Betty Crocker Chocolate Frosting."Bottom line... this is the staple book. This is the one that must be in the kitchen. The recipes are simple and straight forward, just like Mom's cooking. They also form the foundation for experimenting and adding your own twists. Of all the products I have purchased from Amazon (lots) I rank this #1 for beating my expectations and immediate usefulness. No kidding. It is that good.

This cookbook is full of wonderful recipes to make for so many occasions! Most of them are simple which is why I enjoy using it so much. The book itself is durable with a nice binding in place with easy to flip through pages. The pages include colorful dishes which are enticing to make. This was well worth what I paid. It would make a great bridal shower gift! I highly recommend!

I didn’t know this book existed, it’s full of excellent advice and recipes. Lots of practical tips and some kitchen hacks. A very worthwhile addition to your cookbook library as well as an excellent first ever cookbook.

The resller described the book perfectly: clean hardback, strong spine, clean pages, dust jacket has small tears. Upon receiving the book, discovered that 'new book smell'! Betty Crocker writers include more meat/veg in this new edition compared to one written in the 70s, including more canning and do-it-yourself stuff; carbs and sweets still take up 1/3 of the book.Love the introduction to the cookbook, giving a background, hints and tips for newlyweds or those new to cooking. The book covers a little bit of everything, doesn't go into complicated or deep recipes. Keeping things simple, which as I get older, come to appreciate. And a little bit of everything, there is. The introduction takes for granted the newlywed or new cook has zero experience with a kitchen They describe what is needed then gently goes into very simple recipes throughout, finally describes table settings, , cocktails with entertainment, menus and finding farms, markets and growing vegetables.Regular contents go into more subjects than the previous cookbook I have. There are more chapters than before, covering more content but fewer recipes in each chapter. This is an introduction to cooking, not a compendium or encyclopedia, that is quite something, seeing this cookbook is just under 700 pages. This gives a good all-around education in different aspects of cooking, from breads, sweets, entertaining, grilling, all meats, describing alcohols and cheeses, salads, soups, and slow cookers.Would recommend for the new to wed and new to cook.

I just received my new cookbook and have been checking it out for the last couple hours. First I'll start out with the only reason I knocked one star off what could have been a perfect 5 star rating. The one negative I see is that there are MANY pages that are stuck together near the holes that the binder goes through. I'd estimate that due to having to pull apart stuck together pages that now there are about 50 pages that instead of neat holes many of those stuck together pages now have one or two holes that are ripped all the way to the edge of the page where the binder rings are. The problem is only with pages that have color pictures on them (not all of them but a LOT). I think the printer inserted the pages while the ink on the pictures was still slightly damp and that's why the pages with color pictures get stuck together and tear near the binder holes. There's no other way to classify this other than shoddy workmanship on the part of the printer!As far as the content of the cookbook goes I'm thrilled with it. It is everything I wanted and hoped for. One of my favorite features is one that I saw another person complain about in their review. They thought there were to many step by step directions and personally as a new cook I say I like that feature and wish there were more. For me anyways this was a very good purchase and I'd do it again even with the one minor negative I mentioned above.

I bought a Betty Crocker Cookbook like this years ago because my mother had one and I remembered how useful it was, not only for recipes, but for helpful hints and advice. When my friend became engaged I bought one for her since she loved it so much. I'm an American living in Europe and love that the recipes have both measurements.

I loved the book, it is chock full of wonderful pictures and clearly written recipes. I can't wait to cook from it.It is in wonderful condition, just a small binding bruise from packing.Thanks for great service.

Yep, it has lots of tips and recipes from scratch but the greatest feature, at least in my opinion, are the conversion tables. I'm totally into metric.

A must have, if you are interested in western cooking.Even if you don't cook, its interesting to go through.Amazing book, it covers very basic recipes. Any recipe you name it and you can find it or the variations can be built on as given in the book.I am not getting used to the spiral binding, wish it was hard bound.

Good shipping, good state of Book.Hard cover with rings, although papers are a bit thin, but if it were thicker, it would have been too big of a book.. And love the recipes.