M ay is a busy month with graduation, communions, bridal showers and Memorial Day festivities. For the bride, cookbooks always make excellent wedding gifts.
Basics are what count for new cooks.
Several stand out among recently published cookbooks. Every cookbook library should contain at least two basic cookbooks, written simply for beginners and containing facts on measurements, substitutions, etc. It is in those basic cookbooks where you find the simplest of all recipes and the backbone to other more complicated recipes. Without basic how-to's and whys of food preparation, novice cooks will never become great impromptu meal makers. The book was written by longtime friend and Sunset editor Jerry Anne DiVecchio, recognized as one of the country's leading food authorities with degrees in food and journalism.