Heritage of America Cookbook

If I could only keep one cookbook, this would be it. I find myself going to this book time after time for both classic and unique recipes. It has given me a much richer sense of the history of the nation as a whole, and even of my own geographic region. The recipes are wonderful, but the explanations of how and why the dishes were used...well, they're what makes this book truly special! I have the original and the book jacket is pretty worn, but it will always have the most prominent place on my shelf.

I have been using this book since I received as a gift, original print (approx. 1976). Even received notice in my local newspaper many years ago when I submitted the "Joe Frogger Molasses Cookie" recipe with history, to a request for molasses cookies that had shelf life. I think they loved the history attached to it.I am a Culinary Arts graduate and I find this book to be a "back to" favorite. One of my favorites. Many cooks in my family use it, and another is searching for it. Buying used...wish me luck.

Absolutely beautiful...and imminently useable (the recipes, not the oversized hardback format). Every recipe that I expected in an all-American book was in here--Key lime pie, lemon chess pie, posole, Parker House rolls--it's really wonderful and complete. I would love to see this in a trade paperback edition, so more people could afford and use this beautiful book of delicious recipes and regional cooking history. A great gift for your foreign friends, or someone going to live abroad (permanently, if you're going to lug somethin of this size around!).

This is my favorite cookbook of all times. Each recipe includes a picture, nutritional components and a few sentences as to its origins. For example, gumbo is the African name for okra. The recipes are unusually delicious and I have the confidence to experiment on company! Plus, they use familiar ingredients. I can't believe this book is out of print! I am looking for copies as gifts.