Starting Out: The Essential Guide to Cooking on Your Own

by Julie Van Rosendaal, Tom Bagley (Illustrator)

The survival guide for first-time cooks, with 250 super-simple recipes. Designed to help new cooks find independence, Starting Out is filled with crucial tips, basic cooking techniques, and guidelines for stocking cupboards and refrigerator with staples. A first cookbook, instruction guide, and food resource, the book includes easy-to-prepare dishes that any beginner can follow easily. There are even "first aid" tips for fixing food disasters! Some of the features in this cookbook Glossary of common cooking terms
Measurements chart
Simple menus
Party ideas
Ingredient resource guide
Shopping tips (and even tips for doing laundry). Starting Out has more than enough delicious and nutritious dishes for the university student or budding executive. Included are simple, quick and effortless recipes for cooking for one, such as Turkey Burgers, Pad Thai, and Basic Curry. There are also more impressive yet still easy-to-follow recipes for entertaining, like Chicken a la King, Chicken Parmigiana, and Curried Peanut Shrimp.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction

342 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2006

Reviews

[Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been using this book for over 15 years.

[Amphora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first cookbook almost 20 years ago. I have since gone through chef school, worked in a number of kitchens and bakeries professionally, and collected multiple shelves of cookbooks and baking books--and yet, THIS is still the book I reach for most often.

Every recipe is delicious, easy to follow, and includes a number of great suggestions for modifications. My copy is splattered with oil stains, smeared with chocolate, and has quite a bit of flour between certain pages, but I will never get rid of it because of how useful it has been.

Truly an essential for anyone new to the kitchen and the perfect gift for younger family members about to head off on their own for the first time.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book fifteen years ago and still refer to it regularly. Best chocolate cake recipe ever: you can find it on the author’s blog. I’ve made it dozens of times and it’s perfect every time.

[Brenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for the beginner cook! Ingredients used are easy to find the the directions are straight forward. I continue to return to this cookbook and many of my favourite recipes were found here.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book from my mom when I went to college and I love it. It has great recipes and instructions in it. I still have it and use it years later.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mac and Cheese recipe in this book is to die for!!!