So... I confess, I am addicted to cookbooks.
Every time I go to the bookstore, I can't stop myself from buying another one. I like to buy cooking magazines and the little booklets in the supermarket checkout counter, and on occassion I have been known to buy "vintage" cookbooks at yardsales and antique shops. It all started with an idea of building myself a cookbook library. My dream was to have the ultimate cookbook collection, all of the basics of course, Joy of Cooking, Betty Crocker, Better Homes & Gardens. The classics, Joy Of Cooking, Fanny Farmer. And names, the popular cooks of the day, Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, Paula Deen. I imagined having this impressive arsenal of all the very best recipes, I would have a perfect recipe for everything under the sun I could ever need to cook or bake.
But there are only 365 days in a year, and with so many cookbooks, probably a few hundred recipes in each one... ummm... I may never need to buy another one again! I could probably cook a different recipe every day for the rest of my life and still never get through them all.
But the collection must go on! While I have definitely slowed down on amassing my library (there are many key titles that I still do not own!), I do still have a near-compulsive need to buy more cookbooks every now and then. I just can't stop myself, and I wouldn't want to!
I write little notes on the pages, commenting on if I liked the recipe or not, if I did anything to modify it. Many of the pages have the corners turned over, many recipes have food splashes and oil marks stained onto the page. I am not trying to preserve them in an immaculate state. Someday they will be passed down to my daughters and I hope they will enjoy reading my notes and remember having their favorite dishes cooked by mom.
Every time I go to the bookstore, I can't stop myself from buying another one. I like to buy cooking magazines and the little booklets in the supermarket checkout counter, and on occassion I have been known to buy "vintage" cookbooks at yardsales and antique shops. It all started with an idea of building myself a cookbook library. My dream was to have the ultimate cookbook collection, all of the basics of course, Joy of Cooking, Betty Crocker, Better Homes & Gardens. The classics, Joy Of Cooking, Fanny Farmer. And names, the popular cooks of the day, Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, Paula Deen. I imagined having this impressive arsenal of all the very best recipes, I would have a perfect recipe for everything under the sun I could ever need to cook or bake.
But there are only 365 days in a year, and with so many cookbooks, probably a few hundred recipes in each one... ummm... I may never need to buy another one again! I could probably cook a different recipe every day for the rest of my life and still never get through them all.
But the collection must go on! While I have definitely slowed down on amassing my library (there are many key titles that I still do not own!), I do still have a near-compulsive need to buy more cookbooks every now and then. I just can't stop myself, and I wouldn't want to!
I write little notes on the pages, commenting on if I liked the recipe or not, if I did anything to modify it. Many of the pages have the corners turned over, many recipes have food splashes and oil marks stained onto the page. I am not trying to preserve them in an immaculate state. Someday they will be passed down to my daughters and I hope they will enjoy reading my notes and remember having their favorite dishes cooked by mom.
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