[.ca] Starting Out: The Essential Guide to Cooking on Your Own (ISBN 1552857069)

Fantastic Book:
This is the perfect book for the beginning cook. It explains terms, tells you why to do certain things, or why not to. It also gives suggestions as to what to do with leftovers other than merely heat them up again; it also offers variations on the basic recipe. Best of all: the recipes themselves are scrumptious!

Can't recommend this book enough!:
I received Starting Out as a birthday present from my best friend, since she decided that it was about time I stopped being afraid of the kitchen (and my many failures) and start learning to feed myself. This book is, as the subtitle says, *Essential*. The recipes are clearly written and unambiguous, so that the beginner doesn't get confused. What I find extremely useful, are the descriptions of all kinds of fruit and vegetables and meat, including instructions on how to buy them in a grocery store, how to select fresh products, the best way to eat them, how long they last, etc. In addition to all this information, the book includes a number of *laundry tips*! It teaches you how to read the labels on clothes, how to get stains out, and how to keep clothes from fading. It's not only the "Essential Guide to Cooking on Your Own", it should be "The Essential Guide to Living on Your Own".

A 23 year old Male perspective:
My mom bought me this book as a going away present (I moved to Toronto with my girlfriend for school). I didn't realise how little I knew about cooking until I started. I had no idea how to cook meat or rice or how long to fry or steam veggies. The best part about the book are the index tabs to all the different foods with meals attached; and all the little tips from Mom (how to do laundry, get out stains, how to buy fresh produce or meat etc) If for whatever reason I lose this book, I will buy it again. Highly Recommend for people just "starting out."