If I was only allowed one cookbook, I might just pick this one. I have given it to many new brides. No, it is not as classic as Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but it is seminal. There has been no microwave cookbook that was as throughly researched as this one. When Barbara was writing it, her friends who were chefs were baffled by why a classically trained chef would bother with a microwave. She was fearless about telling what dishes were BETTER in a microwave than cooked conventionally and equally fearless about debunking claims by manufacturers that ANYTHING could be cooked in a microwave. It is also an excellent reference book. If it can be properly cooked in a microwave, Barbara will tell you how. ( )