I am currently a transcendent cook with a spatula and a member of the Tahtetso that said I have been seriously considering a change to something else. So I figured I would solicit advice, so what do you guys think? Should I stay cook or is there something else that would be better at either a. making money or b. just plain usefulness or c. something that is really needed at the moment.

C is going to depend on Celest.

Cooking is not for making money. It's just not. Cooking is for leadership. Cooking draws crowds, either with alcohol or herofetes.

Tailoring is also not for making money. It's just not. Tailoring is for staying alive.

Poisons is also not for making money. It's just not. Poisons is also for staying alive.

If you're really after money, you want jewelry or herbs. Herbs is better money but lots more effort. Jewelry and herbs are not for staying alive or leadership, though.

What Xavius said.

Tailoring, herbs, poisons. Those tend to be favored monk tradeskills in terms of overall benefit.

Herbs and poisons are both hard to get at times, and those times vary by the RL week.

I gave up long ago on t he idea of making money as a cook. Now I just use it as a means to produce alcohol and an excuse not to have to buy food

Eh? Last time I checked you can use the herbs you harvest. (Sparkleberry/Horehound/Pennyroyal/etc.) So Herbs is a win-win situation: make money and benefit personally.

Don't forget 20 puffs in a pipe and level one herb balance bonus!

And superior sparkleberry effects.

I really need to come up with ideas to boost the other tradeskills to be comparable.

Sorry to slightly derail the thread, but is enchantment a good tradeskill to make money?

The Artisan clockwork idea is lovely.
Probably Jewellers/Tailors are able to have criticals when Influencing.
Cooks don't have to eat as much.

These are just random ideas floating around my head, of course.

Depends on if you set up the business right. Best ways to make money as an enchanter are 1) Have a shop and keep it well stocked with competitive prices, and 2) forge a business relationship with a group of guild.

This has very little comparison to: Fullplate, splendors, sip bonus... in terms of combat / hunting ability.

Don't forget 3) Have the enchanting gloves, get people to give you powerstones for certain tasks, and you get a free half-powerstone for every job.