So I joined the Betty Crocker website because I know the recipes are reliable. I've been using my Mom's cookbook (which was a gift to her in 1986, I think, when she married my Dad). and come to think of it, I think she said it was even older than twenty-five years old...

Anyways, I went on the site to get a recipe that the book does not have (we have been meaning to replace it). So the recipe I made was great so I looked at the others on the site and many of the cake recipes include short cuts, like, using the cake mix for the cake part instead of making the cake from scratch.

Call me old fashion, but if I'm looking for a cake recipe, I expect to find an actual recipe not a short cut with other ingredients.

Thankfully they have an actual recipe for some of the base cake mixes.

Does that bother anyone else?

I'm the same. I don't think that it is any quicker using a bought cake mix and takes away half the fun. After all a cake mix is just a lot of preweighed dry ingredients. Any good recipe supplies this and is certainly a lot cheaper.

That's exactly my point!

Granted I had to run to the grocery to get eggs and a few other things... but it was due to being out... I love baking things from scratch. Somethings are just not the same unless done from scratch.

My cheesecake being one of them.

The Betty Crocker 1st edition is still the best for the basics. I learned from my Mom's and the book was so well used that it was almost falling apart. I finally found a replacement after many years of looking that was somewhat better in shape than mine that I now use.

I'm like you. Instant foods don't need recipes.

The book we have is dilapidated not to mention missing a few recipes because a two year old who I won't name, me, decided to rip them out...

We want to update the book due to some of the recipes never coming out...

I've got the BC book, and also the Better Homes book --- both great for basics. Have you ever trolled through the Food Network website for recipes? They don't just have the ones that are shown on-air. You can search by chef, show, ingredient, course, etc. You can print, or save to your recipe box. The recipes are rated by people who made them on degree of difficulty, taste, etc. And, it's a free site. I use it a lot for Paula Deen dishes --- you gotta love her all-butter style!

I've tried a few recipes from there... but never used it full time, I'll be sure to check it out, thanks!

Funny thing but when I left home and started teaching, Mom said what did I want for my b'day (Aug'72) said a cookbook, Betty Crocker, the red one. Still tattered with the spine off but is the BEST cookbook. Updated versions are not an improvement, except for more photos! So glad there are more people out there like me! Real Cooks!!

My BC cookbook was a wedding gift to us in 1975! I have used the pudding out of it! So for Christmas last year I gave my dil and soon to be dil a BC book. They both loved it and use it! Great book.
Of course, the print & the book is much smaller these days. That is what bugs me the most, everything is cheaper made but cost us more. Pay more to get less.

I agree, cook from scratch.

Several years ago when Reader's Digest used to have a recipe section, I noticed that in the US edition, the recipes were all, open a can of this, add a package of that. But in the Canadian edition they had real recipes!! Says something about us here in the US (a little lazy maybe?)