Signs and Starting Up

[browngirl]

I have two questions for whomever might like to answee:

1) I need to make a sign as in the kind one might carry in a protest, though that's not what I'm using it for. I figure a big sheet of cardboard, a thin wooden dowel, and two dowel cross struts should do it. Is there anything I'm not thinking of? With the demise of Pearl Art, where should I shop for these items?

2) I want to buy a young woman of my acquaintance (TL: the farmer girl) a very basic intro cookbook. Are there any you particularly liked, or really hated?

Comments

[gingicat]

I learned to cook out of Fannie Farmer mostly, but I presume there's a reason you're not immediately going with the Joy of Cooking. :)

The cookbook that I first owned all on my own (around age 10) was some sort of international recipe book; I made Swedish meatballs (since I didn't grow up keeping kosher) exactly following the recipe, and decided I didn't need to do that again. That certainly taught me how to follow a recipe. :)
(Hey, I found it! Yay Internets! http://www.amazon.com/Many-Friends-Cooking-International-Cookbook/dp/0399207554)

I also used the red-checkered cookbook in a binder (Better Homes & Gardens? It's still in the house...) as a twenty-something, and that was great for learning to improvise. I think I bought it because it was one of the household staples growing up. (Ditto How to Cook Like a Jewish Mother.)

[jostajam.livejournal.com]

I like Fannie Farmer for the no nonsense recipes and also the variations on a theme.