I am a person who gives books as presents. It's fortunate that my son loves reading as much as everyone else in my family because he's gotten many books as presents over the years. When he was here to see me this summer he expressed an interest in some cookbooks. He's living in a dorm that is set up like an apartment so cooking is a new necessity. I gave me the copy of The Joy of Cooking that my father gave me (this was probably the second or third copy - for awhile there I tended to walk away from various kinds of things, books included). For his birthday, I got him a copy of How to Cook Everything - 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman. I got myself a copy, too, since I'd heard a lot about it, but hadn't had it. Other than Joy of Cooking my family's idea of basic cookbooks was La Gastronomique and The Art of French Cooking - both wonderful and basic in their own ways, but not basic in their recipe writing.

This is a really cool cookbook. I've been working my way through it while watching junk television this Thanksgiving weekend and I'm really impressed with how it puts everything together because, honestly, if you know the cooking techniques and you know the basics of sauces, you can make anything. Cooking is full of endless variations and I really like how he explicates this.