Do you get as excited as I do when you receive a cookbook as a gift? Or get tingles when you're at BJs, Costco, the discount section at the bookstore and come upon the Cookbook Mecca? Or maybe it's just me. There's nothing better to me than the non-fiction reading of a cookbook. When I first receive or purchase a cookbook I have a ritual of sitting and going through all the pages with a sticky pad and bookmark the pages of things I would actually make. I have even been know to stack them up on my bedside table and go through them as my bedtime read.
"Actually Make" means you know you can find the ingredients, the length of the ingredient list and instructions are not so long that you would need to visit a shrink for some meds to keep you calm while scraping whole vanilla beans guts and it's something you can envision the taste to be pleasing to you, your family and your guests. It's a lot of variables, but lets face it people you're not ever going to make homemade pound cake when Sara Lee's frozen pound-cake can be purchased for half the money and you are never going to make goose. I for one are never making Sweet Breads, not even if Martha Stewart says I should.
If a cookbook only has one or two recipes in it I hold on to that cookbook for a while until I cant fit any of my new cookbooks in the bookcase. Before disposing a cookbook I go through it again and if I'm still only coming up with one or two recipes I tear out those recipe pages and donate the book. It's not worth my 2 inches of bookcase real estate and the book may be better suited with someone else's taste-buds.
Best place to donate books in Massachusetts: More Than Words in Waltham, MA. http://mtwyouth.org More Than Words is a nonprofit social enterprise that empowers youth who are in the foster care system, court involved, homeless, or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.
Not local to Massachusetts?: Find a Goodwill or Used Book store. Some used bookstores will give you credit towards the purchase of other books.
Michelle- I took a 3 hour class tonight all about cookbooks and now I have to write an analytical paper on one. What are some of your favorites?
ReplyDeleteI love Ina Garten's cookbook and Bobby Flay's Burger one. But my all time "go to" cookbook is still the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. It's a classic!
ReplyDeleteMy all time favorite is the 1978 edition I have of Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. It was my Mother's and currently being held together by packing tape for the last 15 years. It's got the basics that you need everyday such as "how many minutes for a soft boiled egg" plus the old fashion gourmet classics that are still relevant today such as Beef Bourguignon, Fondue, Crepes and Red Velvet Cake. My other Favorite is The Soup Bible. Jenni, if you need me to elaborate more on the Betty Crocker Cookbook let me know.
ReplyDeleteI think the cookbook obsession comes from your father. He can't bear to part with any. Next time you want to stay here you will have to displace about 60 cookbooks!
ReplyDelete