Reddit mentions of The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook 3rd Edition: Cookware Rating Edition

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Kitchen-Family-Cookbook-Edition/dp/1933615486/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404596627&sr=8-2&keywords=cooks+illustrated+cookbook+family

I respect your progression up to Alton Brown, and I do enjoy Alton's cooking science, but I watched his show for years and never learned as much as I did since I started watching America's Test Kitchen on PBS. Sometimes they go into some complex recipes though, ignore those and pay attention to their basics, they explain what they tried and why it failed. They have an excellent beginners cookbook that covers all the essentials without going into the complex recipes they do on the show, it's found here The show has excellent product recommendations too. It's now the only show I watch, although I still occasionally look for specific episodes of Good Eats on youtube.

I love the Test Kitchen. I have learned so many tips, techniques, and great recipes from them in the past 2 years. I think a useful pick up is The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. I use it at least once a week.

*edit for grammar

I think she would enjoy the ramblings of Christopher Kimball.

https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Test-Kitchen-Family-Cookbook/dp/1933615486

I would actually suggest the normal (not healthy) version, but either is great.

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Test-Kitchen-Family-Cookbook/dp/1933615486

America's Test Kitchen Family cookbook. They explain technique very well and the recipes are solid. Plus it comes in a ring binder which is nice since it lays open better.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1933615486/ref=pd_aw_sims_3?pi=SY115&simLd=1

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook is pretty awesome. There's a shit ton of recipes and lots of good cooking techniques in there, along with equipment tests and other good stuff. It's also ring bound so it's easy to keep it open to a certain page. This is THE #1 cookbook I always tell beginners to get. They also have a TV show on PBS that's quite good. I'd recommend avoiding signing up for the website as you'll get a lot of spam mail. But their book series are pretty great for the beginner.


Cooking for Geeks is also quite good if you're interested in the physics / chemistry aspect of cooking, although some of the stuff in there is a little too science-y for general beginners.

This cookbook: http://amzn.com/1933615486 from America's Test Kitchen.

Includes a huge variety of recipes and also includes techniques on successful completion. Tips for how to identify and choose cuts of meat, easily dice an onion, choose knives, light a grill, preheat an oven...everything a beginning cook could use.

Each recipe gives exact cooking times and are rated "easy" "quick" so you know what you're getting into before you start.

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook also comes in a binder. I used to use the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but I've been using the one I linked more often in the last few years.

My favorite cookbooks so far are

1. Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads and
   
2. The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook 3rd Edition
   
   If you are brand new and want only the basices, you should get I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking by Alton Brown which is the most basic cooking-for-dummies book!

There are a few comments suggesting that you get your kids involved in cooking, and to that end, I highly recommend the Good Eats (Alton Brown's show) episode called "Soups On", as it's about teaching a kid how to cook. They use soups in that episode, since they're so forgiving, but have tips for teaching kids (and adults) basic knife skills as well.

Good Eats is generally a great show for learning how to cook. Unlike most of the food-porn shows on tv, he actually teaches you how to cook and gives you a lot of answers to the "why" questions around cooking. Similarly, Americas Test Kitchen - still runs on PBS - is another good show. They test out recipes to give you the best versions - for taste, cost, and simplicity - and it's pretty family-friendly American foods. I highly recommend their Family Cookbook as a great collection.

It is! My wife used the recipe in America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and someone posted the recipe to their blog. Which I found looking for the recipe online...um, just to note that the Mrs. chose to use yogurt and it turned out really well. Nice, dense and moist with a crunchy exterior and not too much sweetness.

edit: Oh, and it makes a big difference to have the nuts toasted -- the toasting really brings out the flavour of the nuts and helps to maintain their crunch. We had it one time without the nuts being toasted and it took us awhile to figure out why it wasn't as good.

These are two fantastic books for beginning cooks, so much so that I've been buying them as wedding/hosewarming presents as part of my gifts to newlyweds/new homeowners just starting out.

How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen

The ATK book apparently has a new edition coming out in October. They also have a similar version if you are less interested in perhaps the best tasting versus the more healthful options.

I enjoy cookbooks that explain the process of why to do this and not that especially with ingredients and processes. This favorite has been go go to book for years..

It was a game changer for me to realize that some recipes are just not good--a lot of cookbooks and recipes online have just been churned out and not really tested, so it's not even your fault if the food doesn't work out.

Finding cookbooks and blogs that you trust every time take the stress of failure out. America's Test Kitchen is fantastic, and this cookbook has the best recipes of all of the basics: http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Test-Kitchen-Family-Cookbook/dp/1933615486

I also love Heidi Swanson of 101cookbooks.com, and trust that all of her recipes will be delicious.

Just keep trying, and you'll get better.