"Fannie Farmer" by Marion Cunningham

[lmarshal1]

If you own the Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham, I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Any good? Favorite recipes? Easy to use? Recipes well-explained? Worth owning? Thanks. lkm

[sharding]

It's my favorite "everyday" cookbook. However, that could be largely because it was my mom's primary cookbook when I was growing up, so I sort of grew up cooking from it. I've found most of the recipes to be reliable and good, if fairly simple. Fannie Farmer is usually the first book I pick up when I want a recipe for something basic. When I want something new or adventurous, I tend to look elsewhere.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I have only ever used the quiche recipe -- but it is now my only quiche recipe (Rose Levy Beranbaum's crust recipe, though).

[hjshorter]

I grew up using the 1965 edition, and have the one edited by Marion Cunningham and published in the late 80's. It is to me what Joy of Cooking is to a lot of others - my everyday, fallback, tried and true cookbook. It's not adventurous, or "gourmet" but I have never had a recipe fail. The baking recipes are particularly good.

Edited December 30, 2004 by hjshorter (log)

[crinoidgirl]

I grew up using the 1965 edition, and have the one edited by Marion Cunningham and published in the late 80's.  It is to me what Joy of Cooking is to a lot of others - my everyday, fallback, tried and true cookbook.  It's not adventurous, or "gourmet" but I have never had a recipe fail.  The baking recipes are particularly good.

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Amen to that - also used the 1965 edition. It was my first "real" cookbook when I was little, and taught me a lot.

[trillium]

I like my Fanny Farmer book. I like my super old edition Joy of Cooking better, but I still like the Fanny Farmer book. Some of the recipes in Joy look like they were taken directly from FF. I find that when I'm in search of quick information (how long do I fry a hamburger on each side so it's medium rare?) the FF book is a nice reference.

Some of my favorite recipes from FF ....the raised waffles..everyone in the waffle eating free world has to eat these at least once.

The blue cheese dressing (on quartered iceburg lettuce).

The chow-chow and other pickle recipes.

regards,

trillium

[tamiam]

I have a used 1990 edition that I picked up for about six bucks. I don't use it much, and I was trying to figure out why. Looking through it, I see lots of tasty and creative flavorings, and simple preparations. One of the things I love about cookbooks is the author's quirks and personality, bits of history and culture, and anecdotes. You don't get that with Fanny, but you do get a good cookbook. Worth way more than I paid...if you buy used be sure to get an updated edition.

My favorite all-around book of everything is Mark Bittman, How To Cook Everything. I like his style, the recipes are up to date and have lots of variations, and there are some darn good ones. Good ilustrations and instructions too. Fanny is 3 recipes per page, so not a lot of room for that. Now that you've brought it back to my attention, I will make a point of cooking out of Fanny in January to see what I think.

[ghostrider]

I found Fannie very useful when I was learning my way around a kitchen some 35 years ago. More as a reference than a guide, I learned a lot of my basic cooking by trial & error. Lots of error!

I still find it handy for details I've forgotten of things I don't do often (roasts, baking). And it's a good basis for tweaking my own approaches to things like cornbread & BBQ sauce.

[lmarshal1]

Thanks for the comments about the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I ended up getting one as a gift. It sounds like it's right up my alley. I'm certainly no gourmet. lkm