<p>One of my kids has, finally taken some interest in learning how to cook for herself, at least to survive. She’s away on an internship, and is calling my wife every 15 minutes about questions like:</p>
<ul>
<li>how long should she leave the eggs boil for hard boiled eggs?</li>
<li>ok she bought this unboned chicken breast, how should she spice it? cook it?</li>
</ul>
<p>We should send her a simple basic “survival” cookbook. “Joy of Cooking” is too bulky & seems to complicated & comprehensive. She’s only going to be there another month, and her attention span is short.</p>
<p>Any suggestions for a this-level short simple cookbook that might fit the bill, for this purpose?</p>
<p>Joy of Cooking is bulky, but I find I use it more than any other cookbook in my house. Not for the recipes, but for the instructions on stuff just like what you said.</p>
<p>Might as well send her something that will be of value next time she wants to cdookm, whcih will happen. I prefer Fanny Farmer to Joy of Cooking if you are sending a large book; Better Homes and Gardens basic big one–red plaid paperback–is nice and relatively simple too, and little less overwhelming. (he newest edition of Joy is very bulky, small print, and I have not used it once–seems much less accessible than the older editions.)</p>
<p>I sent both of my kids the 1964 edition of Joy of Cooking, as well, which I got used from <a href=“http://www.abebooks.com%5B/url%5D”>www.abebooks.com</a></p>
<p>This reminds me of our visit to a friend who was in grad school, studying nuclear physics. She is now a fully tenured prof at a major research university, has been commuting ever since she got married and thus lives most of the time on her own.</p>
<p>She’d just moved into her apartment after years of living in graduate student dorm. She was thus having to rely on her own cooking. Her question to us newlyweds was :“how do I know when an egg is boiled?” Which was a slight improvement on a question by another friend, then attending Harvard B-school, as we collaborated on cooking food for a party: “How do I know when the water is boiled?”</p>
<p>I don’t know that cookbooks can address such basic questions. Don’t they assume a modicum of knowledge? An easy but expensive solution is to buy ready to heat food.</p>
<p>"- how long should she leave the eggs boil for hard boiled eggs?
ok she bought this unboned chicken breast, how should she spice it? cook it?"</p>
<p>Going back to questions such as this…I gave my son a homemade “recipe” book with very simple recipes and instructions in my own handwriting.</p>
<p>Example: unboned chicken breast- Rinse and pat dry. place in zip loc bag and marinate with bottled Italian dressing. Grill. </p>
<p>Frozen breaded chicken breast- Grease a baking pan. Place breasts in pan, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and prepared spaghetti sauce. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.</p>
<p>Stuff like that…</p>
<p>Hopefully he’ll hold onto it and it will be of some sentimental value one day.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Joy of Cooking actually answers questions like “how do I know water is boiling?” It IS bulky, though. But it works pretty well.</p></li>
<li><p>I kind of relish those phone calls from my daughter. They’re practically the only times she really wants my advice.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Yes, I’d put together a book of simple recipes rather than give a large, intimidating tome. And a list of staples of keep on hand. And I’d welcome calls or emails asking for advice!</p>
<p>I really like Cooks illustrated magazines and cookbooks because they don’t only give great recipes, they test them extensively and explain why one technique works and why the other didn’t.</p>
<p>But that might be a bit much- I could also suggest a guide printed about 40 years ago by a Reed college student * Impoverished Students’ Book of Cookery, Drinkery, and Housekeepery!* & still sold at their bookstore ( as well as on Amazon et al.)
[what</a> a great smile!](<a href=“http://www.unc.edu/~jfr/]what”>http://www.unc.edu/~jfr/)</p>
<p>My son hard boiled some eggs a couple of days ago but there was no sign of eggs when he sat down to eat. I asked him what happened and he said they were too hot to peel. It never occurred to him to run them under cold water once they were cooked. </p>
<p>In another meal, he had a recipe that called for “chick peas.” He didn’t know what those were so when he went to the store he bought “young peas” reasoning that a chick was a young bird. Some things are only learned by trial and error.</p>
<p>This child was a reasonably good cook when he left for college, but seems to have regressed. Both boys like the Internet for recipes and answers to cooking questions far better than any of our cookbooks.</p>
<p>^^^LOL.
There seems to be “right of passage” mistakes when it comes to the kitchen. My mother told me repeatedly growing up, “never put liquid dishwashing soap in a automatic dishwasher.” Of course, my roommate and I just had to try this one day when we ran out of dishwasher soap! Doesn’t everyone do something stupid like this in college?</p>
<p>It’s like we were inexplicably drawn to testing our mother’s advice. What a shock all those bubbles were!</p>
<p>"Example: unboned chicken breast- Rinse and pat dry. place in zip loc bag and marinate with bottled Italian dressing. Grill. </p>
<p>Frozen breaded chicken breast- Grease a baking pan. Place breasts in pan, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and prepared spaghetti sauce. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes."</p>
<p>Yes, this is EXACTLY the level and tone she needs.</p>
<p>Someone must have made a book like this, like “subsistence cooking for dummies”, or something.</p>
<p>Another really easy recipe for college student with crockpot:</p>
<p>Beef roast (any size, cut)- Place in crockpot the NIGHT BEFORE you want to eat it. Dump a can of Cream of Celery on top. Sprinkle with a packet of Onion Soup mix. Fill can with water and dump in. Cover and cook on low overnight and throughout the next day. It will literally fall apart. Optional: add some carrots and/or potatoes. If you do this, wait until the next morning to add or they’ll turn to mush.</p>
<p>Instead of giving a college kiddo a cookbook to lug around - why not just collect some good on-line resources that they can easily access.</p>
<p>My gal could NOT boil water without burning it when she left for school - but now she is actually a pretty good cook. I too enjoy those occassional calls asking how to cook something :)</p>
<p>The absolute best cookbook that i ever had was Cooking for single girls only - by H C brown - not in print anymore - which is too bad - but it was the best one out there.</p>
<p>my favorite cookbooks were my moms with dogeared pages, oil stains and chocolate stains and her writing in the margins or finding tucked notes to herself in her handwriting. So I say spend some time writing recipes…</p>
<p>^^that is a fantabulous idea… then print it out and tuck it in their stuff for them…</p>
<p>And can also start a small notebook with tried and trues - and family favorites - that they can take with them - and doodle all over them as well when they get creative.</p>
<p>A friend did that for her guy - and when he left for school she tucked in a bunch of coupons for him to use - it had great simple stuff - family favorites - new ideas - lists of how to use/what ya need, etc… - in a little black book LOL. But he loved it and it came home with him and went off to grad school with him too - he collects them as he goes now - makes a mom’s heart feel good LOL</p>
<p>The Healthy College Cookbook: Quick. Cheap. Easy. by Alexandra Nimetz</p>
<p>The Starving Students’ Cookbook by Dede Hall </p>
<p>The Starving Students’ Vegetarian Cookbook by Dede Hall (great even for meat-eaters. most of the meals can be used as side dises or in addition to meat)</p>