For nearly 70 years, home cooks have been sharing treasured comfort food recipes within the pages of Family Circle Magazine. No doubt you have a few tattered clipped recipes of your own tucked away. To ease the strain on your recipe box, the editors have compiled the very best of their readers' favorites into Family Circle All-time Favorite Recipes.

Choosing only 600 from tens of thousands must have been a daunting task. The selection criteria included not only great taste, but also simplicity, quickness, and -- for the nutrition-conscious -- healthfulness. You'll find old favorites such as Corned Beef Hash, Classic Chicken Broth and Mashed Potatoes nestled in with contemporary recipes like Blue Cheese Club Steaks and Black Bean Mango Salsa.

As promised, the recipes are indeed simple to comprehend and prepare. Each recipe lists preparation and cooking times as well as nutritional information. All recipes are triple-tested in the Family Circle test kitchens. Sprinkled throughout are 200 photographs to gaze upon for inspirational menu-planning, and the print is easy on the eyes with a minimum of fancy, distracting fonts. I find a good index is a must, and this book's index is better than most.

The appendix includes some nice bonus pages. The party-planning timeline helps you plan a month ahead of time, giving incremental tips to within half an hour of serving your guests. Further guidance on selecting a dinner menu, table decorating ideas, and entertaining do's and don'ts will assure a successful party. You'll also find an herb and spice chart with usage suggestions, ingredient equivalents and substitutions, and food safety tips.

All in all, this is a fine outing by the folks at Family Circle, who always lure us with those luscious food cover photos as we exit the grocery store.