Here's another foodie topic.
When you want to make something and want to see a recipe...what is the cookbook that you look at first (other than asking Jose)
I have a ton of cookbooks, but I always start with Betty Crocker. If that recipe doesn't look interesting, I move on to something else
Well... I have a ton of cookbooks too, but...
For "basics", "The Joy of Cooking" - whichever edition happens to be handy. Then I will move on to Mark Bittman's "The Minimalist Cooks Everything". Then, if I'm feeling particularly curious, I'll check out one of Christopher Kimball's books based on his very detailed - and sometime overly-fussy - Cook's Illustrated approach.
For baking, "The Joy of Cooking"... then "Baking with Julia"... Then Nick Malgieri's cake cookbook.
For Italian - Marcella Hazan and Lidia Biastanich
For Indian - Madhur Jaffrey
Etc., etc., etc.