Great first cook book. Menus for every month of the year with explanation of how to use the menus. Table of contents include all kinds of foods, each chapter has a description about the food with recipes. There is a wealth of information about food, glossary, stretching the food dollar, canned foods, freezing and care of food once you get it home. 21 Tables that will assist when there are multiple pieces of information about cuts of meat, fish, substitutions, roasting turkey, home canning of fruits and vegetables. There is a great section on Altitude Cookery, this is great for baking. There's a whole section for cake making, yum. This is a great cook book for someone who is a novice and for the experienced cook alike. I highly recommend the cook book. I have used it for about 20 years. ( )