Some of the basic things in life, 
And Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which used to be one volume and has now grown to two volumes, is one of the best books out the for people wanting to make delicious French food at home.
Volume One is the classic cookbook, in its entirety—524 recipes. And Volume Two, the sequel, has 257 additional recipes. That’s 781 recipes! Enough for most of us!
In the first book you find main dishes and some desserts, soups, and vegetables. The second volume has more ambitious baking, and even baguettes. The pastry section is very good in both; you can learn to make a pate sable or sugar-cookie like crust that is useful for tarts.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking is valuable for both seasoned cooks and beginners who love good food. It makes it possible to start from scratch and produce at home a large number of those savory delights of the classic French cuisine, from the historic Gallic masterpieces to the seemingly artless perfection of a dish of spring-green peas. The book is also good at teaching and describing the basic techniques of French cuisine – using more than one hundred instructive illustrations. These techniques are very usable, and once learned, they can be applied to recipes in all other French cookbooks. In compiling the secrets of famous Cordon Bleu chefs, the authors produced a magnificent volume that continues to have a place of honor in American kitchens.
I have used a number of the recipes over time, and mostly I am simply stunned by the results I produce. I am not a good cook left to my own devices, but I can read and I am patient. I love sauces, but my own sauces are just utterly boring. But with this book I can produce sauces that are stunning, and which transform the whole meal from average to excellent. What is especially important to me, is that the recipes are broken down into the absolute simplest steps possible, which is exactly what I need. And following these small steps I can now produce something which is worthwhile gastronomically, can be elegantly presented and which I am proud of and even like to sometimes talk about.
And – this is a great bonus – this book has the best French Onion soup! It takes some work, a pile of onions, a few tears, but the result is outstanding.
It’s hard for me to imagine being without these books. Life would not be the same! And also, these are good looking books, very usable, and they are great to read – a wonderful reading on culinary arts. Very inspiring!
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