It's been a long time since you had to ask your kitchen-accomplished relatives to hand down great recipes or spend hours sifting through books looking for gems. Here's a look at five of the best tools ...

A few months ago, I found myself in possession of a bag of apples and craving an apple pie, of the archetypal cooling-on-the-window-ledge variety. I pictured a double-crust flaky pastry around apple ...