Oh Joy!

I swear by this book. It's not glamorous. It's tried and true. With instructions on how to do just about anything with food, measurement conversions and temperature guidelines, The Joy of Cooking is my most utilized cookbook and it shows.  My copy lost it's dust jacket and gets muckier every time it's used (the cookie section has bits of cookie dough stuck to the pages). To protect it from the elements, I employed a 5th grade book cover technique using left over oil cloth from recovering my kitchen stool. Now I can wipe it off, and the cookie particles inside it can serve as bookmarks for recipes I've made.

Materials: a piece of oil cloth cut 6" longer than the height, and 6" wider than the length when wrapped around the closed book. You will need scissors, double sided tape (permanent) and a ruler for folding.

Fold the fabric so that it is the same height as the book.  

Create a crease on the fold, measure to make sure each side is the same length. Tape the underside of fold down so that it is attached to the interior of the book cover. Repeat on the other end.

Insert book into the cover.  You are ready to get cooking.