The New «Chatelaine» Cookbook

Lisa Arsenault is a public-school teacher in Ajax, Ontario.

Every cook should possess a copy of this book. The recipes are
practical, using ingredients that are readily available (where to find
the odd unusual item is stated) and within budget requirements, simple
(often starting with a canned or packaged product that everyone has in
the kitchen as base), and not time-consuming. Many can be prepared ahead
and reheated, one-dish meals have their own section, nutritional
concerns are addressed with less-fat/more-fibre twists on traditional
recipes, and the recipes have all been triple-tested. Above all, they
are uniformly delicious. I know because I have tried most of them.

Two other factors raise this book above the calibre of other cookbooks.
The first is Rosenberg’s snappy, witty, upbeat remarks in the
introduction and at the beginning of each section. The other is the
tips, extra snippets of valuable information and mini-recipes located in
the margins in red ink.

If a cook could have only one cookbook, this would be the one to have.