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Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 2)


JAZ

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Are we up for numbers, strictly, or shelf-feet? I have been trying hard to cull my collection to keep it fitting on three 36-inch shelves--and it's crept about another foot onto other shelves at present. Estimating an a little over a inch per book, that would be in the neighborhood of 100 books.

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Maggie,

You can add another 83 to the count. :shock:

A friend of mine, who owns a LOT of cookbooks, is relocating to AZ and I went over to her place last night to cherry-pick through the ones she's planning to leave behind.

An hour and 4 file boxes later, the damage was done. :smile:

There were a lot of interesting titles but the most interesting were the 2 dozen or so Jr. League Collections from various regions of the the country. What a trove! :smile:

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

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Added 3 more today from the Friends of the Library sale. All pre 1940 editions.

Dave Valentin

Retired Explosive Detection K9 Handler

"So, what if we've got it all backwards?" asks my son.

"Got what backwards?" I ask.

"What if chicken tastes like rattlesnake?" My son, the Einstein of the family.

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I was surprised to find that I have 150. I haven't been collecting that long. Egads!

“When I was dating and the wine list was presented to my male companion, I tried to ignore this unfortunate faux pas. But this practice still goes on…Closing note to all servers and sommeliers: please include women in wine selection. Okay?”--Alpana Singh, M.S.-"Alpana Pours"

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I

Good heavens, then replace that :blink: with a :biggrin: ! How wonderful to be able to look forward to reading all those for the first time! Or even if you've read them or dipped into them before, owning them is a whole different gig. When they're yours you can gloat and savor whenever you feel like it. You'll usually feel like it. I don't have the newer ones of those, but I can't remember a time when I didn't have Mastering the Art and when it wasn't my primary bible for any question of technique or appropriateness. (I also have one of the "French Chef" collections, and that is sheer fun reading.)

This is an occasion for rejoicing. Put on your party hat! :biggrin:

I shall do so! :biggrin: They are facinating books. I've been reading them through this week, and haven't decided what to try first.

----Maggie, add another two for me this week. Collector editions of Sunset's Favorite Recipes I & II

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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(Reading of your finds, I am so jealous I could spit.)

Maggie, hurry out here to Napa. Saturday is bag day; all you can carry out in a grocery bag for a buck!

Dave Valentin

Retired Explosive Detection K9 Handler

"So, what if we've got it all backwards?" asks my son.

"Got what backwards?" I ask.

"What if chicken tastes like rattlesnake?" My son, the Einstein of the family.

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One more: Monet's Table, text by Claire Jones. I love it less for the recipes and more for the account of the foods, meals and guests at Giverny. Lovely photography, too.

"For Christmas lunches....The menu began with eggs scrambled with truffles, or monkfish cooked American-style. Traditionally, Strasbourg truffed foie gras in pastry was served before the truffled, stuffed capons were presented on a bed of chestnuts and Périgord truffles, served with a chestnut purée."

"Lunches at Giverny posed many other problems. Too many very different people encountered each other there. The times were just too loaded with explosives. There was the day, for example, when Rodin found Cézanne on his knees before him in the garden thanking him for having shaken his hand. Cézanne, with his tempermental and hypersensitive nature, was prone to bizarre, unpredictable behavior."

Amazon has it through one of its sellers as a new remainder for $4.99 + shipping here.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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I believe the Duchess of Windsor was the person who coined the phrase "One can never be too rich or too thin."

My philosophy is one can never have too many cookbooks. Especially if you keep them long enough and in good condition. Use them, enjoy then and hang onto them because some of them can become treasures and not just because of the recipes inside.

A few years ago I came across "The Narnia Cookbook" which is a fantasy type based on the foods in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia stories, published in 1998. Not a "serious" cookbook but the illustrations were lovely, which is the reason I bought it.

I paid 17.99 for it at a bookstore in Pasadena. It has increased in value exponentially.

If you can find it - not easy - it goes for $200.00 and up. A dealer in Ohio is offering one "as new" for $250.00

So, before you give away any of your unwanted cookbooks, or dump them in a recycle bin, check with Alibris or ABE books or similar list to see what they are worth.

You might be able to start a fund for a new kitchen appliance (or whatever) because you have some scarce books in your collection - and are willing to part with them.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Two new southern cookbooks for me by Damon Lee Fowler.

I previously had one of his books, Classical Southern Cooking. Love this book and it has been discussed previously a bit on e-gullet. To me it is a direct heir to Bill Neal's classic, Bill Neal's Southern Cooking (egullet credit Amazon link). Unfortunately Fowler's book is out of print and relatively difficult to get. Luckily Bill Neal's is still in print.

The two Fowler books are:

Beans, Greens and Sweet Georgia Peaches (egullet credit Amazon link).

I really love this book on inspection but haven't cooked from it yet. Looks like great recipes for Southern vegetable and fruit dishes. To me the dishes seems to be a great blend of traditional and updated. (For vegetarians: many of the veg recipes have meat in them although he usually gives subs and/or they can be omitted).

New Southern Kitchen (egullet credit Amazon link).

The subtitle is: "Traditional Flavors for Contemporary Cooks" I agree that compared to some other "new southern" cuisine books it is more based in traditional techniques and flavors--and I prefer that to less than successful combos developed for novelty's sake. There are some interesting twists though--on the cover is an asparagus shortcake that looks and sounds great. There seems to be quite a bit of overlap with his two other cookbooks above; maybe not bad for those who don't have Classical Southern Cooking though...

I'm pretty psyched to start making lots of these recipes after raiding my farmer's markets.

Stuffed Mirlitons, Creole Style; Leek Spoonbread, Grilled Okra Salad with Tomato Vinagrette, Tomato and Vidalia Onion Salad, Creamed Green Beans, Fresh Corn Relish.... you get the idea!

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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62, 975.

One more: Monet's Table, text by Claire Jones. I love it less for the recipes and more for the account of the foods, meals and guests at Giverny. Lovely photography, too.

Julia Reed's piece in today's Times mag discusses meals chez Monet. He served lunch at 11:30 sharp, so he wouldn't waste the afternoon light.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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Well, I really needed the new Lorraine Feather CD, so I had to place an order with Amazon. Besides, I've given up hoping that I'd be sent a copy of Fergus's book for having worked on it. But I'll wait until everything arrives to post the list. (What, you think I could get off just ordering those two items???)

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I got a fun one today, at a used bookstore in Brooklyn:

Alice's Restaurant Cookbook, by Alice May Brock.

A first edition hardcover, sadly without the "recorded introduction" by Arlo Guthrie.

It is full of wisdom: "A container is a container. Just because it held shoes last week doesn't mean it can't hold shrimp salad this week."

On "foreign cookery:" "Don't be intimidated by foreign cookery. Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy Sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good. Now you are an international cook."

Edited by SethG (log)

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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Add 17 for me. A few months back, we sold our beach house. I gave away a lot of cookbooks, but somehow I have managed to acquire more during the past year than I gave away when we moved. Funny how that works. :unsure:

Anyway, I bought new bookcases for my office and for my kitchen, and I finally have enough bookshelf space to see (and count) exactly what I have. Best of all, I have lots of empty space on the shelves to hold more books. :laugh: I think I will re-read this thread...

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Just got a well loved, but intact copy of "Nouvelle Cuisine Bourgeoise Pour La

Ville et Pour La Campagne" (1878) by Urbain Dubois. Not bad for £5.

Dr. Balic: what a beautiful, resonant title!

And marie-louise: Having free space on the bookshelves is one of life's unsung luxuries. Lucky you.

62,995.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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Add another for me: "50 Chowders". It arrived as a birthday present on the day it was most needed: not my birthday, which was sunny and warm, but yesterday, when spring had relapsed to late winter and the wind was howling and I was cold and grumpy and thinking of soup. Bless my friend Donna. It looks like a terrific book, and this far north it's quite timely.

Y'all are terrible for my bank account. I made the mistake of reading this thread just before opening my email from The Good Cook that offered one free book for each book ordered. I have...let's see, I think there are 8 on the way. I may well send one or two back, but I'm sure I'll be keeping some, at least.

Yours, following merrily into temptation,

Nancy

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Since my first post on May 1 when I said I had "well over a thousand" cookbooks, I have managed to find my list from the last time I catalogued my collection in 1999. The count of cookbooks, not counting the little paperbacks from companies such as Westinghouse, etc., was 1014. Since then I have bought a collection from a lady who was moving into a retirement home. (247) and 57 new books and 32 books at used book stores and 19 from a thrift store and received 5 as gifts in 2000.

In 2001 I bought 22 new books, 37 used books and 10 from the thrift store, received 2 as gifts. In 2002 I bought 41 new books, 104 used books and 16 books at the thrift store, 11 gifts. In 2003 I bought 35 new books, 54 used books and 22 from the thrift store, 8 gifts. So far this year I have bought 39 new books(3 today), 44 used books and 2 from the thrift store, 1 gift. This brings my grand total to 1822.

The center hall in my home is 52 feet long and has 4 doorways and a linen closet. All the free wall space has floor to ceiling bookcases attached to the walls. This room (family room) has two walls with floor to ceiling bookcases 18 feet on one wall, 12 on the other. One bedroom is a book room with 15 barrister's bookcases bought at auction 20 years ago very cheap. The remainder of my books are stored in metal footlockers in a storage facility. I bought 60 footlockers at a military surplus auction in 1988 for a buck each. They aren't pretty but they are certainly sturdy. And even better they can be stacked and a rod run down through the handles at each end which stabilizes the stack and makes it difficult to steal them.

The newest cookbooks and the ones to which I refer on a regular basis are in a smaller bookcase next to my desk which has at one end a swing out book rest that holds a book at a good angle for reading. I bought it at an auction, it was called a "librarian's bookcase" in the auction catalog. I would like to find another but have never seen one. I have run out of room in it and now have books stacked on the floor at each end of my desk. On the settee behind me and on top of my paper shredder. One stack is teetering a bit too close to one of the dog beds and poor Teafer keeps eyeing it with distrust. She has been "attacked" by books in the past, one falling off the arm of a chair, sliding off the end of the desk when something else was pushed into it. No wonder she doesn't trust them. She has been known to nap on top of books too.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Bought on the weekend at garage sales:

Julia Child's "The Way to Cook", hardcover, in mint condition, for 25c (Cdn!)

along with a half dozen other cookbooks.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

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I thought not reading this list any more world curb my cookbook buying but it didn't work.

Add 7 more (all in Japanese) to the list! :shock:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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63,719.

andiesenjie:Forgot who said it but "Books do furnish a room."

That is exactly how I feel. I come from a long line of book collectors and grew up in a house with a real library (my grandfather's) but books could be found throughout the house. No wonder I became a bookworm. Fortunately I am a rapid reader.

I have been questioned many times by people who ask why I have so many cookbooks because, "You couldn't possibly use recipes from all of them."

Perhaps not, but my philosophy is that if there comes a time that I need a particular recipe I will certainly have a source in which to look.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I have been questioned many times by people who ask why I have so many cookbooks because, "You couldn't possibly use recipes from all of them." 

Perhaps not, but my philosophy is that if there comes a time that I need a particular recipe I will certainly have a source in which to look.

People ask me this all the time as well. I don't think they realize the comfort they give my soul, as well as the wealth of inspiration.

I have been thinking of this lately, as I have been packing up to get on the road again to another assignment. I started out with 3 full book boxes of cookbooks a year ago. Somehow it has multiplied to over 4 boxes now. I am having to start to make choices as to what else to take with me when I travel.

And I find myself reluctant to pack up my cookbooks until the very last minute, just so I can pull one out and browse it. Today, they are all going into the car, and I won't see them again until I take them out at the next assignment. I am already starting to feel like I am in withdrawal.

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