Culinary Arts Institute

Our copy (it was originally Mom's) is in shreds. We have used it since before I can remember, perhaps before I was born. The first recipe I ever made (except for peeling and slicing the cucumbers; I was about five years old) was Pressgurka (page 16). Also recommend the meatballs, deviled eggs, and the fishballs. The fishballs are similar to are recipe I found in my Scottish Grandmother's cookbook--they were, of course, catching the same fish from opposite sides of the North Sea!

This is a terrific cookbook, second only to Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook in our family. But we do have the 1955 edition, so it reflects an older style of Scandinavian cooking. For a more modern take, check out Scandinavian Feasts.… (meer)

Dad gave this to Mom as a Christmas gift a few months before they were married. Mom didn't know how to cook (her mother disliked having other people in the kitchen) and she needed a crash course.

Mom because an excellent cook, in part by studying this book. It is truly "encyclopedic" (as the title states), covering everything from how to boil water (page 8) to building your own root cellar (opp. page 832) to formal service for a dinner party (page 940).

I rarely give five-star ratings but this book deserves it. It was truly life changing. We call it "the bible."… (meer)