A shout out to Betty Crocker

When I finally became a housewife (2 years into our marriage), I decided I needed a good basic cook book. I didn't know much about cooking and needed the help. One day I was perusing the books at Costco and came across Betty Crocker, New Edition: Everything You Need to Know to Cook Today. It wasn't lying about "everything you need to know".
It's got just about every basic recipe you can think of and then some, and they're tasty! The inside cover has "Yields and Equivalents" showing conversions from cups to ounces or lbs, etc. The back cover, which is my favorite, has a list of "Emergency Substitutions". Did you know you could add 1 Tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 c milk in place of 1 c buttermilk? Either did I, until dear ole' Betty told me. She has substitutions for tons of things I never have on hand like beer, cooked Bulgur, or plain yogurt. The back cover is a jewel in itself. She shows you how to cut up a whole chicken, shows pictures of all the different cuts of beef, timetables for storing meats, explains how to buy fresh meat, how to cook it....ANYTHING you'd ever need to know. There's a metric conversion chart, even. It has 540 pages, NOT including the index (575 pages with). It's a great book, so if you want to start with the basics, or just have a handy cookbook around, this one is an excellent choice!