Books
- The Healthy College Cookbook - Alexandra Nimitz, Jason Stanley, Emmeline Starr, and Rachel Holcomb: This is such a must-have! This book is such a godsend. It's full of recipes that are tasty yet only require a few ingredients and a little bit of time - perfect for a busy college student like me (or anyone else who's busy, for that matter!). There are sections for breakfast, appetizers, snacks, desserts, and all sorts of main courses. Plus, the front has a nice guide for kitchen essentials and the basics of cooking with meats and veggies. It's a great first recipe book.
- Gooseberry Patch Family Favorites : When I want comfort food, I reach for this cookbook. It has a ton of recipes for a variety of needs. One of my favorite section is the bread and roll section, but this book hasn't steered me wrong. :)
- Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey - Jill O'Connor: This is the first dessert cookbook I got for myself, and I love it - still my favorite! It's full of decadent treats and lots of eye candy - the cookbook itself is gorgeous, so sometimes it's just fun to look at all the pictures! I have yet to find a recipe I didn't like out of the book, so I highly recommend it! All of the recipes are pretty decadent, so be warned! Sugar comas are imminent. :)
- The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook - Tarek Malouf: This book is full of recipes from London's famous Hummingbird Bakery. I love it for 2 reasons! First, it has a bunch of different cupcake recipes. I like baking cupcakes and this book has lots of variety! Second, the book supplies from-scratch recipes for baked goods you'd normally make out of a box, like lemon bars and blueberry muffins. I like boxed brownies as much as the next girl, but sometimes I feel like it's cheating to just mix in a few eggs and some oil. Now, you can make them yourself! Delicious.
- Sweet Nothings - Jill O'Connor: When I saw that my favorite cookbook's author also made a low-fat, low-calorie dessert cookbook, I had to check it out. It's great! Rather than using low-fat ingredients that change the flavor of desserts, she substitutes ingredients that preserve the flavor but are a bit healthier. She also provides tips for making other desserts low-fat.
Most of these are pretty heavy on the desserts - oh darn! Expect recipes from these lovely food bloggers to pop up every now and then. :)
- Aarti Paarti
- Bakingdom
- Closet Cooking
- Confabulation in the Kitchen
- Eat Live Run
- Happy Home Baking
- How Sweet It Is
- Not So Humble Pie
- The Cilantropist
- The Pioneer Woman Cooks
- The Way the Cookie Crumbles
Websites
When I know what I want to make, but not how I want to make it, I turn to these and just type in what I want! I like them all for different reasons. :)
- Cooks: Probably the most extensive of the three. The site is probably the simplest to use, too. You can search by title or keyword; all recipes are searched all the way through!
- All Recipes: I like this one because it has pictures and ratings! Stick with a 4- or 5- star and you're bound to have good results. Members will post their comments on how you can tweak recipes to improve them, too! If you get an account you also get a recipe box to save your favorites in.
- Food Network: I watch the channel so much that I had to bookmark this one! Watching cooking shows for inspiration is a great way to go, and then you can go straight online for the recipe. This site also has recipe boxes, photos and user comments.
