The Pillsbury Cookbook (ISBN 0553575341)

A Must Have for Every Homemaker!!!:
I bought this cookbook (the huge one in the binder) in September of 1989 for my 18th birthday. I had just moved out two months before after graduating from high school and gotten my own apartment. (This is back when kids didn't live at home until they were 28 - we wanted to be on our own!!) I didn't have any cookbooks and I grew up with a mother who cooked from scratch and large Italian grandmothers and aunts who made all the classics that I wanted to know how to make, in case I ever got married and needed to impress people with my cooking and domestic skills. Needless to say, I did get married, and I have used this book more than any other in the 15 years since I bought it. I can't believe I am that far away from 18 years old - holy cow!! My cookbook cover has been taped and many of my hole-punched pages have the little reinforcers on them now, so I know it has been a long time! It gives you wonderful, reliable classic recipes for everything you could need made from scratch (basic meatloaf, lemon bars, German potato salad, Christmas punch, how to decorate cakes...even a simple wedding cake is in here!!) so you don't have to call your mother or mother-in-law and sound like a bubbly airhead (or get online like we do now to look for recipes but I hate printing and wasting paper and ink because I am a frugal kinda gal). The most wonderful part is that it shows you how to set a table for formal and informal occassions, how to fold napkins, what do goblets look like and what do you serve in what kind of glass, how to select cuts of meat, every single cut of beef that their is, how to debone chicken breasts, how long to cook each type of vegetable be it oven, stovetop, or microwave, how many pounds of food to serve for how many guests (of course, I double it in my family), how to properly word invitations, how to set up a buffet, where do the plates, the rolls, etc. go, and on and on. It is basically a manual on how to be Donna Reed, June Cleaver, Marian Cunningham and Martha Stewart all rolled into one!! The lemon bars taste like my mothers, the pot roast, potatoes and carrots come out like my mothers, the chicken cacciatore and Swiss Steak taste like my mothers...her name is Sharon and she will enjoy hearing this...The oven temps and times are correct and the pictures accompanying the recipes are huge and beautiful (this is for the binder edition...I would recommend buying only this as it lays flat on my table as I make my mess). I use this book with my daughter who is now 14 so that she too can learn to be a domestic diva. It is a Kitchen Bible. Now, don't get me wrong, I hold a Bachelor's and run a business out of my house so I am not a 1950's housewife whose world ends at the front yard, but since I am married to a balding, slightly overweight, 39 y/o Italian man who also likes to eat and have a home cooked meal on Sunday, and we are too cheap to eat takeout, this book stays right on top of my fridge where anyone in the house can easily get to it. Being the married, slightly overweight Italians that we are with kids and parents, holiday gatherings and parties are a big part of our lives because it is an excuse to get together and eat and be loud whether it is the Christmas Vigil or a backyard barbecue with the husband at the grill and the women making all the side dishes but he gets all the compliments. This cookbook will never fail you. You can have Donna Reed Syndrome and be the envy of your neighbors with this book. The good thing is that this book offers substitions if you are snowbound. However, this is basic goodness...you will not need to drive two hours to get Extract of Marbled Orange Radicchio for any recipe as all recipes have things you can buy in any regular grocery store. If you come across a copy of this in a binder, shame on you if you don't buy it! You should give this to every young person in your family starting out, and every older person in your family who's cooking is Blow-Torch City! As for me, I intend to buy more plastic sleeve protectors and each page is going in one before it goes back in the binder, that is how priceless it is!

Reliable usually, but in other ways lackluster:
This little book is pretty handy, it contains most of the classic American recipes in simple to follow directions. Generally speaking, I use the baking section of this the most. Pros: lighweight, portable. The recipes contain familiar classics. The stuff I've made from the breads and morning pastries section have been pretty delicious. There's an informative handling/storage preface for many recipes. Cons: the small format makes it difficult for the book to prop open, and its width makes it too small for most recipe bookstands, quite annoying when cooking and reading at the same time. There are no pics, though it's not a major problem with a book like this. Many of the baking recipes will need more milk than the recipe suggests, and the muffin recipes often don't contain enough batter to fill the 12 cups it says. The other recipes are reliable, but nothing here can be considered innovative or even modern in taste. There's definitely a preponderance of meat-and-bread recipes here, with the vegetables stucked all the way in the back, and most of recipes call more for sauce than vegetables themselves. Overall, I think this could be a handy reference for a very occasional cook. Personally I think with the overwhelming number of cookbooks in the market today, there is no real reason to pick this book (I got mine for free, so can't complain). For those seeking traditional American dishes, the William-Sonoma series have far better book recipes and pictures, and anyone slighty more serious about cooking will find excellent companion in Joy of cooking.

The best cookbook ever!:
I have had the hardcover version of this cookbook for many years now, and it is a favorite of mine and my mothers (and my mother is a great cook!) She is always turning to it to look up a recipe for something or another that we can't find in another book. We have used my book so much that it is falling apart and I am going to have to get another one. I would recommend this to any cook, beginner or advanced.

Great Cookbook for the Old Fashioned Recipes:
Although I am a vegetarian and also do a lot of ethnic and gourmet cooking, this is the cookbook I turn to when I am making an old-fashioned, American meal and need a basic recipe - dishes like scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, bread stuffing with sausage (I substitute vegetarian sausage to accompany my Tofurkey at Thanksgiving). All the old-fashioned classics are in this book and always turn out great. Just yesterday I had company coming for a birthday celebration and they wanted a plain chocolate cake, so I was able to open this book up and get a recipe for a basic devil's food cake and another recipe for chocolate buttercream frosting. Nothing fancy, but delicious and exactly what I needed. I highly recommend this cookbook as a staple in any cook's collection.

Gift giving:
Purchased this as a gift for my aunt, and she absolutely loved it. Pages are simple to read this pictures through out and worth the money.