Vegetable Heaven By Mollie Katzen

Another of my favorite cookbooks; probably my favorite recipes from it are "Firecracker Red beans," "Baked Pineapple Pilaf," and a mixed grain dish I forget the name of but that we all call 'birdseed,' because it's made mostly of millet - very tasty.

The Curry Book by Nancie McDermott

If you're into expanding the flavors you try without purchasing expensive, exotic ingredients, spices are a great way to go. Spices naturally lend themselves to curries - hence this book on my shelf. This is the book that taught me to make my own curry powder (Indian) - the short or the long way; curry paste (Thai) - red, green, or yellow; some fabulous chutneys; and now-perennial favorites such as Tandoori-Style Chicken, Black-eyed pea and eggplant curry; and Thai curry - any kind. Also has recipes for chapatis and curried cashew chicken salad (possibly my favorite).

Vegeterian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

Another cookbook from early in my marriage, my copy is nearly unusable by now. The thing I love most about this book is that it includes nearly every fruit, vegetable, or plant I've ever heard of eating - and it tells you how to prepare them deliciously, giving not just recipes but basic principles of what to look for and how to fix. Quite possibly my favorites are the white bean soup; the bean and pasta dishes; and the golden caramelized tofu with peppers.

How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson

Cynical about the titles of books, it was a long time after I heard about this before I read it. Then I bought it. Because it really does what the cover says - it teaches you to cook without constant reference to a cookbook. The rhymes at the start of each chapter are probably helpful for some people; what I found most useful, though, was the explanation of what you're doing with each technique. This is one of the books I lend out frequently; I'm only on my second copy, only because I've been luckier about getting it back before people moved than with other books.

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

I have an entire shelf of cookbooks, and there are several that I use regularly. But this is the book I send my kids to for all those basic recipes I remember and use but don't remember the measurements for. Muffins, biscuits, cakes and pies; breads, roasts, cookies, soups, stews, gravies - if it's a standby, it's almost certainly in here.
Really the most basic and comprehensive of cookbooks. Not essential, but only in the way that a written addition table is not essential - because anyone who cooks regularly will soon know much of this by heart. So, really, fundamental.
Very, very good.

The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen

I acquired this book shortly after my marriage, a number of years ago, and used it frequently (to the point that my copy has now completely fallen apart - one of the hazards of actually using cookbooks). I had been using it for at least a year and a half before I realized - there's no meat in any of the recipes. Which means it was especially useful for a couple of starving students, just starting out, who loved to have people over to dinner and send them away feeling fed. -- Because, meat or no, the recipes in this book will leave you feeling well fed; also, they lend themselves very well to an attractive visual presentation (always nice, especially for entertaining).
The other surprising thing about this cookbook (well, maybe I'm the only person to be surprised by it's vegetarian nature) is that it's readable -- by which I mean, you can leaf through, enjoying the commentary and instructions for each dish, and find yourself just reading them for the pleasant, chatty style of it. Like discussing good food with a good friend, it's a happy pastime.

Food Storage for the Clueless by Clark L. and Kathy H. Kidd

This is one of the few books I have given away multiple times - I am currently in need of yet another copy. As the title suggests, it is a comprehensive overview of food storage - the whys, wherefores, and 'how-to's. Reading this for the first time, I finally understood food storage as a principle of frugality. Full of recipes and humorous anecdotes, it includes instructions on making fruit leather, yogurt, and sourdough (both bread and start).
One of my favorite arguments for/explanations of how to use food storage is from the first chapter of this book. It goes something like this: if you eat two cans of tuna a week, that's approximately 100 cans of tuna a year. Suppose that tuna normally costs $.75 a can. Now suppose that you find the tuna on sale for $.50 a can. If you buy a hundred cans now, you will save yourself $25 over the course of the next year - if the price of tuna stays the same. If, instead, it goes up to $1.00 a can, you've saved yourself $50 - so that's a guaranteed %50 return on your investment, and a possible %100 percent return. No other use of money is likely to get you such good results (especially in the current economic climate). Now, if you buy 200 cans, and you only eat 50, you have not saved yourself any money. So it's important to know what you really can and will eat. And don't neglect the expected shelf life. But with those things in mind, food storage suddenly becomes a no-brainer, obvious way to take care of yourself and your loved ones.
I don't generally give stars on reviews (I'm thinking about it, but it becomes so arbitrary) - however, if I were giving stars, this book would get my top rating.