By Kelley | Out of the Kitchen
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!
Remember that awesome trip to Iowa I took a few weeks back? Just when I didn’t think it could get better, it did. The second day we were treated to a VIP tour of the Better Homes and Gardens Headquarters which is located in downtown Des Moines. It was a highlight of the trip for me. I loved it so much that I keep fantasizing about packing up and moving to Iowa. And more specifically, I fantasize about moving into the test kitchens themselves. I’d happily make the their “entertaining” kitchen my home. I would keep my clothes in one of the many storage nooks and sleep on the sunny bench that wraps around the large dining table.
It’s been a long week so please give me a break when I tell you the fantasy is reoccurring and does not include my husband or kids.
There wasn’t one point throughout the tour where one of the bloggers wasn’t snapping away with their camera. With all the oohing or awing, I think it’s safe to say we all loved the tour. It was so much fun to get a behind the scenes look at the day to day operations. I don’t think I could pick a favorite part if I tried. As much as I loved the entertaining kitchen, I loved the energy in the test kitchens even more. The prop room was out of control and they have a cookbook library that rivals anything I’ve ever seen.
Just talking about it makes me giddy. Excuse me for a moment while I revisit my fantasy……..
Yep, my husband and kids still aren’t a part of it.
The kind people at Meredith sent each one of us home with the latest edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. It conjured up such sweet memories for me. I grew up on the iconic book, fondly remember it being my Mom’s go-to recipe book. Brownies, pancakes, and pasta salad. All things I learned to make from my mom’s old cookbook. My mom actually gifted me with my own copy when I got married and to this day she still uses hers! Fifteen editions, this has been a best seller since 1930. We got to see a copy of the first edition and though a bit tattered it was hanging in there!
Being a food blogger, it’s all about creating and developing new recipes. I don’t spend as much time going through my hefty collections of cookbooks. A past time that I could easily waste an afternoon (or three) doing. After this trip I was inspired to go back through my trusty Better Homes and Gardens book and start cooking some of my old favorites. SOOOOOOO, because I love this book so much, and because I loved my trip to the test kitchens so much and more importantly because I love all of you so much, I’m giving away two (2) copies of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. I hope that it will inspire you in the kitchen and remind you why you love cooking. It’s definitely what it did for me.
All you have to do to enter is tell me what your favorite cookbook is in the comment section below. Winner will be choose at 8p MST on Wednesday October 31st. For an extra entry, come on over to Facebook and like me there. Just make sure to leave a separate comment below telling me!
*This is not a sponsored post. I was not compensated in anyway by Better Homes and Gardens. The giveaway is hosted by yours truly. All opinions and comments are mine. I really love the cookbook and want to share it with you!
50 Comments
JenniePermalinkI love my Silver Palate Cookbook!
ShannonPermalinkI have to say I bought a little cookie cookbook at the Corningware outlet store its called Modern Publishings Popular Brands Cookbooks COOKIES. Long name but love the Golden Nugget cookie!!!
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Heidi @foodiecrushPermalinkOh man that is a hard one! I’d have to say my go-to is America’s Test Kitchen The New Best Recipe Book but for lingering and savoring photos I just ordered Donna Hay’s Seasons cookbook and a new one called Home at 7 Dinner by 8. So jealous of your trip to BHG!
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DianaPermalinkCan’t pick a favorite cookbook, cook, blog, webite or cooking show. LOVE them all. My husband won’t even go in a bookstore with me anymore because I always come home with a cookbook. I sit down and read each one of the recipes and try to imagine the flavor combinations and what it would taste like. I know – I really need to get a life!!
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KelleyPermalinkSounds like a great life!
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HollyPermalinkMy mother had the BH & G cookbook as her go-to source, and I haven’t looked through a copy for a while now. Favorite book now? I like Jamie Oliver’s Meals in Minutes because it gives recipes for whole meals including dessert, with step-by-step directions from start to finish.
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MichellePermalinkIt’s hard to pick a favorite! I love the Barefoot Contessa’s books and cook many things from her books.
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AnnalisePermalinkSo hard to pick just one! But my favorite it probably Sky High Cakes, with Baked Explorations a close second. So jealous of your Better Homes and Gardens tour!
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KlimtPermalinkI still have my BH&G cookbook that was a wedding gift in 1970.
My favorite changes regularly. Right now: Ina’s most recent!
HeatherPermalinkHow do you pick a favorite cookbook?! I have a million and use many of them! They are like old friends. If I had to pick I would have to say my Betty Crocker Cookbook.
ReplyHeatherPermalinkLiked you on FB! 🙂
ReplyHeatherPermalinkLove the pics!
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gailPermalinkmy fave is joy of cooking
ReplygailPermalinkliked you on fb
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MaureenPermalinkI like a cookbook that was from the preschool that I went to. It was created by the mothers. The copy I have was my grandmothers. The name of the book is called Beyond Peanut Butter & Jelly.
But of the books that are not from a special project I love love my Susan Branch cookbook Heart of the Home.
Michelle BlumenthalPermalink“The Perfect Recipe” by Pam Anderson
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Judy @ A Meek PerspectivePermalinkI received a Pillsbury Cookbook as a wedding gift instead of the BHG cookbook and they are very similar. It is my most used cookbook. My favorite would have to be The Healthy Kitchen by Andrew Weil and Rosie Daley…a textbook and cookbook in one!
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MariaPermalinkWhat a fun tour! Hard question, but Baking From My Home to Yours-I adore Dorie!
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Sarah H.P.PermalinkOne of my favorite cookbooks is Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child!
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Annamaria @ Bakewell JunctionPermalinkI don’t have a favorite cookbook but I may have to change that if I win the giveaway. Hee hee.
ReplyAnnamaria @ Bakewell JunctionPermalinkI liked on Facebook.
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Becky @ Project DomesticationPermalinkCookbook collections make me so happy. It’s hard to pick a favorite. But I’ll attempt.
1- Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (I’ve actually made EVERY SINGLE RECIPE in it. It’s stellar. Beautifully written with clear instructions and her stories and connections to food are beautiful.)
2 – America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook – Foolproof, my go-to.
3 – The BAKED NYC baking cookbook series. It’s one of my favorite NYC bakeries and I love their take on American Classics.
I too have the BH&G cookbook that I was gifted on my wedding. It used it a lot in the first years of marriage and pull it out occassionally. My very favorite recipe that I make often is their Two Bean Tamale Pie! http://www.bhg.com/recipe/beans/two-bean-tamale-pie/
Such a cool trip!
Becky @ Project DomesticationPermalinkI like ya on Facebook. Fun giveaway.
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Lindsey (Cafe Johnsonia)PermalinkThis is looking choosing a favorite child! 🙂
I have a very old copy of the red and white BH&G cookbook that I really love. It’s falling apart now and being held together with tape.
I think it’s a tie between The Joy of Cooking and my old Martha Stewart Living Cookbook.
HeatherPermalinkAmerica’s Test Kitchen cookbook!
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LizPermalinkI just found your website and liked your Facebook page! So happy. I live in Mammoth Lakes, CA and am a novice baker. I would love to someday open a bakery, but need to master baking at 8,000′! Looking forward to learning from you, thanks for sharing!
ReplyLizPermalinkOh! And I mostly read blogs. I like Smitten Kitchen, Joy the baker, How Sweet It Is, etc. thanks!
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Rocky Mountain WomanPermalinkRight now, my favorite cookbook is An Everlasting Meal…
I’m consuming it bit by bit…
It’s more than a cookbook, it’s a blueprint for eating.
Kelly GuerinPermalinkI like you on FB 🙂
ReplyKelly GuerinPermalinkMy favorite cookbook of all time is Pioneer Women’s first cookbook. Probably because I can cook all of the recipes, they aren’t too hard, beautiful pics, and good people 🙂
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Sherry D.PermalinkThis could change daily, or hourly…The Pioneer Woman Cooks, Recipes From an Accidental Country Girl. It is entertaining, beautiful to look at and GREAT recipes!
ReplySherry D.PermalinkI like you on Facebook!
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MarlenaPermalinkI remember when we were roommates in Arcata, it was my first time cooking for myself, and I bought the better homes cookbook because I didn’t know how to make anything! It was a lifesaver! Anyway, it’s hard to pick a single favorite cookbook, but one I love is Cape Town Food because it reminds me of my travels and captures the unique combination of flavors of food there.
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Marissa K.PermalinkAs of right now, it’s 1000 Recipes for Simple Family Food by Eleanor Maxfield. I bought it from the “Last Chance” cart at Barnes & Noble for $10, what a steal! The thing’s 1 1/2″ thick and has a great recipe called Italian Pesto Chicken Burgers that I just made for dinner. Yum!!
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ThrouthehazePermalinkThe Pioneer Woman Cooks is my favorite
ReplyThrouthehazePermalinkliked on facebook: Rae Pavey
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Angie CenterPermalinkI really love the Our Best Bites Cookbook. There are some yummy ideas in it.
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AndreiaaaPermalinkHi 🙂
My favorite cookbook is Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights 😀
JillPermalinkI really don’t use cookbooks often anymore since I follow so many food blogs. 🙂 Ha. But I would like to check out America’s Test Kitchen since you can’t view their recipes online.
ReplyJillPermalinkI like you on FB.
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KatyPermalinkI like you on facebook.
ReplyKatyPermalinkMy favorite cookbook is Better Homes & Garden Anyone Can Cook. It really helped me when I was learning how to cook.
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Morgen TealPermalinkI collect cookbooks and I can’t imagine living without them! I read them like books and nothing beats curling up with a couple to get inspired for the month’s menu!
My favorites are the old “Church lady” type books. Compilations of favorite recipes from years gone by!
Morgen TealPermalinkAlso liked you on FB 🙂
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Juliana WaltersPermalinkThese cookbooks are my favorite! I own 2 of them. I have an anniversary edition (the one with the gold diamond on the front), and the redo/reprint of the 1953 edition. They are such great “go to” books. I would love another copy. They are all very different. Anyway, thank you, and I liked you on facebook!
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Averie @ Averie CooksPermalinkFB like you too!
ReplyAverie @ Averie CooksPermalinkfave cookbook – so hard!
I have a Taste of Home Best of Recipes book that’s 1000+ pages, same as a Cooks Illustrated one. I have some baking cookbooks from the early 90s that I love. Girl I really cannot pick just one! Needless to say, I have wayyyy too many cookbooks but use all of them! Great post!!
KelleyPermalinkMe too, I could never pick one!
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KalliopePermalinkJust discovered your blog and I first thought is, “I would like to live in this kitchen!”
I am Greek and I love cooking-baking, especially now with the crisis, I believe that psychotherapy is!
Everyday I look new – simple recipes on the Internet, from today will follow you faithfully!
KelleyPermalinkAwe, thank you! Welcome and so glad to have you here!
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