Cookbooks A Gour-Maybe Can't Live Without - The Silver Palate (all of them!)

note the spine of the book and miscellaneous spots - these books gets lots of love

Let's talk about The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and its friend, The Silver Palate: Good Times Cookbook: These were some of the first books I ever cooked from - which is pretty strange considering things like "Veal Scallops in Mustard Cream Sauce" and "Brie Souffle" don't really make most 10 year old children's "favorite food" lists - but hey, I've been a Gour-Maybe all my life! My dad used to let me make chocolate souffles, cakes, cookies and more from this book as a child, probably because the recipes were so long and detailed, it would completely occupy me for the entire afternoon. When I got older, I graduated to meats and soups and the vegetable sides.  The best thing about these books is that not only do they have recipes, but also menus and entertaining insight. From pasta and pheasant, to lobster and lamb, it really helps you wrap your head around options for ingredients, and why they work. The pages of my books are covered with notes, and several are falling out. It's hard to let go of your original copy though (but if anyone wants to send me a new back up, I won't turn it down!)

My favorite recipes are the Brie Souffle, the Gingerbread Souffle (get ready for a souffle post coming soon), the Sour Cream Apple Pie, the Vichyssoise, and Ginger Carrot Soup.