The Taste of Home Cookbook

In the tradition of the church or community cookbook, this comprehensive collection of convenient, everyday recipes comes from real American kitchens. An enormous five-ring binder encompasses 1,125 recipes with color photos, blank recipe cards, and handy pockets for notes and shopping lists. Also included is complete nutritional information for each recipe. While some of the dishes seem dated, such as creamy casseroles, cheese balls, and New England Boiled Dinner, there are some fresh takes on classic combinations, and even some global surprises. A reader from Oregon offers a recipe for Mongolian fondue, for instance, while another from Binghamton, N.Y., contributes a recipe for spiedis, or Italian kabobs. Shortcuts abound with readymade supermarket ingredients simplifying Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus and Crab Lasagna Roll-Ups. A section devoted to light offerings is a welcome counterpoint to the heartier foodstuffs that make up the bulk of this book.