Cookbooks, magazines, and newspapers line the offices of Cooking Light. Not a day goes by without passing along an interesting article to a colleague, noting a magazine's beautiful photography, or perusing a debut cookbook. Given how plentiful our food resources are, it was no surprise that the food staff felt torn when asked, "What's your favorite cookbook?" We trust time-tested recipes given to us by friends, family and the chefs we've come to trust and admire. That said, these are our top picks. Please share yours with us, as well.

Mary Kay Culpepper, Editor
"I have every edition of CLAR (Cooking Light Annual Recipes)--starting in 1997--on my pantry shelves at home. They're the first place I turn when I plan my weekly menus. Last night, I made the Ultimate Quick and Easy Pasta Sauce from 1999. It was terrific, just as I remembered it."

Kathryn Conrad, Test Kitchens Staff
The Village Baker's Wife, Food Lover's Companion, and The Cake Bible

Tiffany Vickers, Test Kitchens Staff
Silver Palate Cookbook: Such great information on foods as well as some really tasty recipes. Joy Of Cooking: a standard. French Laundry Cookbook: Just to admire someone else's amazing talent.

Ann Pittman, Associate Food Editor
"Honestly, I most often cook from the magazine or create up my own recipes."

Tim Cebula, Associate Food Editor
French Laundry Cookbook

Jennifer Middleton Richards, Online Editor
Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything inspires me to create my own versions of classic dishes. I also use our Kitchen Assistant tool to sort by member reviews; it's the best way I've found to guarantee a good recipe choice.

	Cookbooks We Trust	Genre	Why We Love it
	Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Companion: The A to Z Guide to Everyday Cooking, Equipment and Ingredients (Oxmoor House)	Reference	Seems to have answers to everything; line drawings are simple to decipher; and great quick tips
	The Best of Cooking Light (Oxmoor House)	Compilation of recipes	Quick reference to the food staff's favorite recipes from more than a decade; beautiful book to display
	Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook (Betty Crocker)	General cookbook	Recipes reflect several generations; hundreds of black-and-white photos and drawings
	Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking (Chronicle Books)	Chef-authored cookbook featuring simple Italian- California cuisine	Clear, concise recipes and plentiful illustrations
	Baking with Julia (by Dorie Greenspan; Morrow Cookbook)	Compilation of recipes from master bakers	More than 200 recipes and numerous color photos; more than 50 pages of illustrated reference sections