>I'm just curious here. I have both JC and NJC. Am I the only one who has
>consistent bad results with their recipes and techniques? I mean I fancy
>myself an able cook, not a chef by any means, yet I always seem to have to
>make a JC recipe a couple of times and make changes to it to get it to come
>out right. I have so much better success with other cookbooks it seems.
>
>Paul
>
That book basically taught me how to cook. When I went to college I moved into
a co-op where you had to do weekly chores. I was 18 and chose to be the dinner
cook for 50 one day a week. Before this, I'd mainly done some desserts and
some breakfast meals and that's it. The stewards who ordered the food assigned
an entree and then you could decide on the sides and dessert. Without Joy, I
would have been so lost, as it explained how to do every step so well, and I
was making recipes I'd never had before, let alone had to cook. Yeah, shrimp
souffle! At the time I wouldn't even eat shrimp and never tasted the souffle I
made. Some of the people who lived there and boarded there told me that they
made it a point to be around for meals on the days I cooked.
Better than that one poor girl who served raw chicken one day.

My husband bought me a copy as a wedding gift in 1977 but the thing fell apart
so I had to get the newer edition.
I tried to make Yorkshire pudding, which I had never seen in my life, and I
still use that recipe. I made croissants from JOC and they turned out great,
but it was one of those things I'll only do once. About the only recipe that I
tried that didn't work was for their chocolate mousse. Mine didn't set up.