How I love Joy of Cooking!

Originally posted 1/26/06.

How I love Joy of Cooking! Throughout its various incarnations the Rombauer family and its assembly of experts collected a fabulous scope of recipes, researched socio-cultural aspects of food, and ironed out chemistry issues to make recipes turn out nicely! Joy is one cookbook that has never cut corners. I enjoy it as my finest general food reference source.

Obviously, I'm not alone. It is the best selling American cookbook. I've discoverd an artist who drew inspiration from the cookbook, who says: "this cookbook is like a Bible, a Torah or Koran of sacred already tested information for people who prepare and make food to nourish and preserve." (http://www.betsykrebs.com/joy_of_cooking.htm) Whew! Heady stuff!

The older edition covers food nowadays considered more more elaborate and time-consuming, but with its strong and basic roots, it grounds me...and I DO like those details! I like the wealth and depth of culinary history and information for reference. Many of those recipes are deceptively simple. The newer edition (1997) adds modern sensibilities of convenience and a new vocabulary of ingredients. Used together, I might need no other cookbooks!

Recently, when Mark and I felt a need to satisfy our sweet teeth, I became inspired. First, I tried a very interesting-sounding recipe from the old edition, Maple Curls. They are elegant like fancy pastry, yet take their sweetness and flavor from glorified humble native tree sap. Although this recipe didn’t make the cut into the new edition of Joy, they are so very worth trying! They’re a little elaborate, but fun to make.

I was happy with the Maple Curls, but wanted a more traditional cookie-like texture/taste experience. I turned to my Lemon Butter Cookie recipe, from the new Joy, and used the dough in different ways to make three kinds of cookie.


Which Joys am I using?

My "old" edition is a 1964 reprint, Bobs-Merrill Plume paperback edition.

My new edition is copyrighted in 1997 by Simon & Schuster Inc.