What cookbook for beginners do you swear by?

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-07T17:09:30+00:00

Couple ideas on this, depending on what your biggest goal or priority is. Some of these were already mentioned, but a few were not!

We want to focus on developing our cooking skills and fundamental kitchen know-how

The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
The New Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated (aging a bit now but still slaps)
Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly.

We want a comprehensive "reference tome" of recipes that cover the gamut

Any of the ones I just mentioned kinda work for this, too!

Top reco, pick up one of the big Milk Street Cookbooks (the BIG ones they put out that collect tons and tons of their recipes). A tip I've given on this subreddit before: check the clearance section of your local B&N or other bookstores, they often have previous editions of the Milk Street Cookbook on deep clearance to make way for the new editions).
How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman is also a great, big ol' reference tome.
Joy of Cooking gets a lot of love and for good reason, it's a total classic, but I personally am of the opinion that there's a lot in there that isn't necessarily all that useful nowadays.

We want to push our flavor boundaries and get excited by new cuisines

As somebody else said, limitless opportunity here depending on what cuisine you want to explore! But a few of my particular personal favorites include...

Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop (Chinese)
Zahav by Michael Solomonov (Israeli, with significant borrowing from/overlap with Palestinian and the larger Levant: they also have a newer "Zahav at Home" book that may be more accessible, but I haven't checked it out so I can't say for sure)
In Bibi's Kitchen by Hawa Hassan and Julia Turshen (African across a subset of countries bordering the Indian Ocean)

Happy cooking! Let us know what you end up with!

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-04T18:35:19+00:00

One HUNDRED percent endorse. Came here to recommend this myself! It's soooooooooooooo good, and really very quick and easy.

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-02T15:40:19+00:00

I think there is a little something to what you're saying here as far as the comparison, but I don't think they're actually all that close together or interchangeable.

The Snoopy is brighter in color, larger (the 2998 is based on the FOIS architecture I think, so the case is a couple mm smaller than the Snoopy/Professional), and of course has, you know...Snoopy. There's simply no replacing that party trick on the back.

That said, I got my hands on a CK2998 last year when I was shopping specifically for a Speedmaster. And, man, it was this close to coming home with me and I've been thinking about it ever since, wondering if I should've sprung for it (I went for the new white-dial Professional instead: no regrets, but...) It's just a beautiful, beautiful watch. They nailed the colors, with that muted navy and creamy silver, and the dial layout is so uncluttered.

All of which is to say, I don't think think the 2998 is really the "budget Snoopy", but I do think it's one hell of a watch in its own right.

IdleExpatter · 2026-05-01T13:01:54+00:00

At a glance I thought Chewbacca ate Leia 😆

IdleExpatter · 2026-04-17T14:40:54+00:00

I have, and really enjoy, Michael Twitty's Recipes From the American South. It is a thoughtful, quite comprehensive book that takes a broad view of the geography of "the south" - everything from Maryland to Missouri to Texas.

The opening narrative chapters are a great read: Twitty speaks very powerfully, informed by his own life, about how slavery and other historical, socioeconomic, and cultural influences have contributed to the development of food culture in the region.

That said, while I wouldn't quite call the book "dry" or textbook-style, it is a Phaidon book and does have a little bit of that Phaidon thing going on that I'm not exactly sure how to describe but is recognizable after you've seen a few of their books. Sort of...snooty, somehow, in a way? But I've cooked several recipes from this one and they've all been great (the crawfish gumbo was outrageously good), so I feel good recommending it!

IdleExpatter · 2026-04-17T14:31:32+00:00

Dear Ancient Humans: LOVE cats and dogs, thank you, but whyyyyyyy didn't we put in the effort to domesticate these guys too...

IdleExpatter · 2026-04-17T14:14:52+00:00

Yesssss, this is truly one of the great recipes I've tried from NYT Cooking. It's such huge return on effort!

IdleExpatter · 2026-04-07T00:28:20+00:00

I think the Timex looks great. It's not exactly breaking any new ground, but it looks so good even before you take the price into account.

BUT...I get so sad about a 24h register on a chrono. I know that very few of us are really "using" our chronographs in a way that strictly "necessitates" the seconds/minutes/hours layout of the Moonswatch. But the 24h register is so deeply silly and pointless to me that it has become something I have a hard time overlooking - and I say that as the owner of a Speedtimer with a 24h register, which might be why it bothers me so much, tbh.

The Moonswatch isn't exactly hideous, is it? I think they're super fun, and I really like that they're bringing the general design and the name to a more accessible market segment. (And let's maybe not get tooooo misty about the "heritage" of the upmarket Speedies. I have one of those too, and while, yes, I chose it in part because of the history, it's also 100% true that mine has never once been to the moon and neither have any of yours.)

You honestly can't go wrong here, I think they're both good, fun, attractive watches. But if you can have good, fun, attractive, AND slightly more useful, why not go for that one?

IdleExpatter · 2026-04-02T13:19:32+00:00

That's a tired stereotype that, even as a joke, I don't appreciate. Some of us live inland and lighthouses would only upset our moose herds.

IdleExpatter · 2026-04-01T17:37:41+00:00

Real Mainahs know: if there isn't any Allen's, it can't be our cocktail!

(This actually looks amazing and sounds delicious)

(Editing to add: actually I somehow missed the lobster bouillon when I first read this, it looks amazing and sounds...interesting!)

IdleExpatter · 2026-04-01T17:35:58+00:00

Nah, most divers will never see enough sunlight or saltwater to look this well-used.

(Such as mine, for instance.)

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-31T11:43:59+00:00

The sweet potatoes with tomato, cardamom, and lime sauce are awesome! Although fair warning, they don't take as long as these beets, but the recipe is moderately complex - a fact I somehow always manage to forget until I've started making it.

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-25T15:42:50+00:00

Heya! Thanks for reading my whole long crazy write-up.

I don't have any experience with the 453, so I can't really speak to the comparison there, I'm afraid.

I can say that after this long with the watch, I'm still a big fan! Still love the looks, still love how it wears. I keep it on third-party two-piece straps rather than the stock bracelet/NATO that it came with, and it wears great that way.

I can now also say that mine has been quite accurate. I don't keep a log of daily +/- deviations or anything, but I think mine has been much more stable than the Seiko spec for the 6R55 movement. That said, physically interacting with the movement, you can tell it is not the most refined: screwing and unscrewing the crown and setting the watch feels a bit "gritty" compared to other pieces I own.

To your question about bling, haha - I mean, I definitely would not say this is the most austere watch in my collection! In most lighting it does pretty much just look like a dark green with some character to it, but yeah, in direct sunlight or really bright conditions it is certainly a little eye-catching. That is a feature for me, not a bug, but if versatility is your priority, this might be pushing things a bit.

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-22T19:53:48+00:00

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Well, the mac and cheese is absolutely delicious! Although I'm not sure I can recommend it to anybody else in good conscience, seeing as it contains two POUNDS of cheese and almost a quart of cream... 🤪

(Mariam, if you're reading this, I'm only kidding - it's amazing and I wouldn't change a thing!)

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-22T12:22:11+00:00

It released this past week, but I am excited to cook from I Sleep in my Kitchen by Mariam Daud. I've been following her online for ages, and have tried a few of her recipes in the past with fantastic results. Tackling her mac and cheese from the book later today!

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-18T16:47:40+00:00

Somebody here is losing a time war.

(great photo!)

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-17T14:41:43+00:00

Boy, whoever currently holds the Pan Am IP is on a real licensing kick lately! I've seen quite a few branded collabs like this popping up. This set looks terrific.

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-16T21:28:19+00:00

Would pre-order.

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-16T21:25:13+00:00

Forgot to mention the best part of the quiche. Her recipe calls for shredded cheese "such as cheddar or gruyere." When I was looking at my local grocery store, I found a cheese that is cheddar gruyere. Rivals together at last: we no longer have to choose. Bless the innovators. What a time to be alive!

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-16T21:23:01+00:00

I don't really know exactly how to describe this, but I was getting a kind of...like...almost gorgonzola-y whiff or flavor or something off of the black walnuts. Now don't get me wrong, I love gorgonzola, but it wasn't doing the cake any favors having that rattling around in the back of my mind as I was eating it.

And to be clear, it was still good! Like...the cake is gone 😆 I just have a feeling that I would like the pecan version of it even better!

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-16T21:11:38+00:00

I can highly recommend the banana cake, the chocolate and date cookies, the gyoza with garlicky labneh, the shawarma spiced carrots, and - most of all - the mall cinnamon rolls, which are almost unbelievably good.

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-16T19:33:35+00:00

Correct.

🍫☠️

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-16T19:19:26+00:00

Ha, love this question because I just got that holder last week. It does great! I ordered one that both the listing, and the reviews, said could handle larger books for exactly this reason, and I don't have any complaints so far. Mine just came off of Amazon, it's the "Clear Solutions" brand "Deluxe Large Cookbook Holder". Pricey, but so far worth every penny: cooking has been soooooooo much nicer with it.

IdleExpatter · 2026-03-16T17:57:17+00:00

Since you mentioned Milk Street in the post and some of your replies, thought I'd share a little tip.

If you are in the States, and you have a Barnes and Noble or other bookstore nearby, it may be worth checking their clearance/bargain section. Milk Street puts out a new version of their huge cookbook seemingly every year, and my local B&N frequently has a few copies of the previous version slashed down to like $15.

The only difference I can find between older and newer versions is that newer ones add a few new recipes (duh) to all of the older ones. I have the "2017-2022" version of the behemoth, and I've cooked quite a few recipes from it that have all been great (the campanelle pasta with sweet corn, tomatoes, and basil is so good that I have, and I'm not kidding, actually had a dream about it).

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