These revised and enlarged editions are available for the first time ever in mass-market editions, the Joy of Cooking Vol 1: Main Course Dishes and Joy of Cooking Vol 2: Appetizers, Desserts, and Baked Goods feature hundreds of new recipes and cooking tips as well as enduring favorites. For the beginning cook to the seasoned chef, Joy of Cooking shows how to present food correctly and charmingly, from the simplest to the most formal service.
In 1931, a St. Louis widow named Irma von Starkloff Rombauer took her life savings and self-published a book called The Joy of Cooking. Her daughter, Marion, tested recipes and made the illustrations, and they sold their mother-daughter project from Irma's apartment.
This two volume set is the first cookbook that I bought when I moved out of my parents' house. I turn to for answers to basic (and not so basic) cooking questions. We have since replaced it with the 1975 hardcover version but have kept the paperbacks to take with us on camping trips.
The first volume (Main Course Dishes) contains many recipes, including one for chicken stock that I still use. The second volume (Appetizers, Desserts, and Baked Goods) includes the handy "know your ingredients" section as well as a great recipe for pumpkin pie. It should be noted however, that the editors suggest cooking the pumpkin on the stovetop and adding it to a baked shell. The flavour is fine but it looks pretty revolting and can only be rescued by covering the whole thing with a lot of whipped cream - not necessarily a bad thing.... We now use the ingredients for the recipe but bake it normally in the oven after pouring it into an uncooked pastry shell.
(The 1975 hardcover edition corrects this instruction for the pumpkin pie but also makes some unwanted changes to the ingredients.)