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

[rajsuman]

Despite my promise to myself re. not buying anymore cookbooks (the possibility of moving to another country looms), I've bought at least a dozen since my last post here. Some of the recent ones:

Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking

Prashad - Cooking with the Indian Masters by Jiggs Kalra

French Fried by Harriet Weltz

Time Life's Chinese Cooking

The Cook's Advisor

Nigella Lawson's How to Eat and Forever Summer

Others include South Indian cookbooks, books on Indian street foods etc.. So, add 12 for me please.

Suman

[beans]

I can't help myself. I recently up'ed my collection +4 with:

Mes Confitures by Christine Ferber

A Passion for Preserves by Frederica Langeland

Caprial's Bistro Style by Caprial Pence

Cold Weather Cooking by Sarah Leah Chase

Each day the mail has been quite exciting.

Anyone into putting up preserves must check out A Passion for Preserves.

[snowangel]

Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. $9.48 (new) at my local Half Price Books. Make that "Less Than Half Price Books."

This one is good reading as well as recipes. Especially for one who grew up in the area in the 60's and 70's.

[heyjude]

9 for me this week, including the oddly named Chocolate French, The Artful Cookie, Souffles,the Cindy Mushet Desserts book which has been discussed on the pastry board and a very kitschy Junior Jewish Cook Book by Aunt Fanny.

[SethG]

Two more for me:

Bittersweet, Alice Medrich; and

The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, Judy Rogers.

The first discounted, the second used.

That's a fantastic price for Hot Sour Salty Sweet, Snowangel.

[egator]

Didn't know you were still counting Maggie!

You can put me down for 58.

Wish I would've known about e-gullet/amazon thing about 30 books ago.

[maggiethecat]

My calculator had gone missing---just found it in the corner cleverly hidden under a pedicure flipflop.

That's 66, 918, including one for me: "Heartland" by the incomparable Marcia Adams, author of "Cooking From Quilt Country."

[bbq chef]

185 plus or minus 5. The oldest is "The Cookbook by "Oscar" of the Waldorf". Writen by Oscar Tschirky, Maitre d'Hotel, the Waldorf. The Copywright is 1896

[snowangel]

My calculator had gone missing---just found it in the corner cleverly hidden under a pedicure flipflop.

That's 66, 918, including one for me: "Heartland" by the incomparable Marcia Adams, author of "Cooking From Quilt Country."

twas it a birthday treat, oh diligent counter?

So, just how far are we from your house?

[SethG]

Well, two more for me again.

Italy in Small Bites, Carol Field; and

Desserts by Pierre Herme, Dorie Greenspan/Pierre Herme.

[maggiethecat]

67,105.

(Yes,Susan, it was a birthday present: now 7.95 on the remainder shelf at Borders. Nice chapter on Minnesota!)

[Anna N]

5 more (garage sale finds and remaindered books)

good food for friends (BBC)

How to Cook Book Three (Delia Smith)

The Sociable Cook (Katie Stewart)

Mexico One Plate at a Time (Rick Bayless) - I would really like to explore more Mexican dishes and this one book looks very approachable.

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Chocolate (McFadden and France)

The Chocolate book was marked $1.50 and I hesitated - I'm not the world's biggest fan of chocolate but there are now drool marks on too many of the pages!

[maggiethecat]

67, 110. And I'm off to Borders!

[Casetta]

Greetings!

Anna here - Tom and I have 167 that's just counting what we have on display in our built-in book case in the bay window of our living room. I know there are others kicking around. I also have Bon Appetites back to the 80's. Boy is it fun to look at the old ad's cars, computers (Have you ever sent a fax from the beach, you will damn them I hate technology now), cooking appliances (a wine fridge - cutting edge) Prodigy wow internet - Yuppies can book travel and so forth etc.

My favorite cookbook for fun reading is The Joy of Cooking circa 1943. Such classics as Aspic with Grapefruit, Sweetbreads & Celery, Calf's head with tongue and brain, 25 cents & the Rabbit, Hare & Squirrel category are priceless. I have actually made some of the recipies but had to call my almost 80 year old mother to ask what a Size 2 can meant in today's measurements.

Have we got to the moon and back yet Alice?

Anna in Philadelphia

[joiei]

I just added 2 more today, martha stewarts christmas cookies and a little paperback one on skewered foods.

[JennyUptown]

Can someone please PM me a link to the favorite cookbooks thread? I have a Barnes & Noble gift card that needs to be used...

[Anna N]

Another one - Nigella Lawson's "Forever Summer" in mint condition - $1.00 at a garage sale - I love this book and have borrowed it too many times from the library. The very first paragraph of her introduction serves me as an antidote for Alice Waters and Southern California living! Not that I am against either, but in January about the only thing fresh around here is the newly fallen snow.

[Abby]

Aside from having literally countless cookbooks, like everyone else, I have countless magazines--Cook's Illustrated, Bon Appetite, Gourmet, Food and Wine--dating back years! I have manila folders full to busting with recipes print outs from the web, manila folders full of recipes from other sundry sources--scrawled over the phone with my mom, ripped out of magazines in the doctor's office and the gym, the back of Land O' Lakes box--it's insane. Until I found this board, I was embarrassed about my obsession! I still ask myself, though, where does it end? When is enough, enough? And then, there are so many crappy cookbooks out there. Isn't there really is only a limited number truly worth having?

[Anna N]

... Isn't there really is only a limited number truly worth having?

Nah! What fun would that be?

[maggiethecat]

67, 580. That's rounding off Abby's "countless" at 300. Yes, totally arbitrary!

[Batuta]

284

[Abby]

OOOPS! Sorry, I didn't even realize I didn't put the number of my cookbooks in: 228.

After reading through this thread though, I've abandoned my resolve to stop collecting cookbooks. By nightfall, I'll be up to at least 235.

Abby

[maggiethecat]

67,828.

(Abby, I'll start adding yours into the total when you reach 300. )

[RSincere]

43. I'd probably have more, but I take a lot of cookbooks out of the library, copy any interesting recipes onto index cards, and return the books, because for many books there are only a couple I know I'll try.

And I have given away/lost/lent out and never got back/sold on eBay at LEAST 100 more.

Edited July 18, 2004 by RSincere (log)

[laurenmilan]

13 more....

- some "I always wanted to buy..." ones: Foster's Market Cookbook, Loaves and Fishes, Country Weekend Entertaining, and Al Forno. I feel like I'm getting ready to open a B&B or something, lots of farmer's market type recipes

- Patricia Wells' "Bistro Cooking" and Breads from La Brea Bakery, just because

- Finally broke down and invested in some classics - Joy of Cooking, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Cake Bible, King Arthur Flour

- received 3 as gifts from Mom - Aquavit, Simply Ming, and Better Homes and Gardens "red checkered classic"

The BH&G one damn near made me cry (my mom's was the first cookbook I ever read) and it is in preparation for my marriage. Mom and I sat side by side and compared the two, which was hilarious. In the new versions, they have charts for pastas, tropical fruits, grains... in the 1972 version, it was more like egg noodles, canned pineapple, and white flour.

Judging from my recent choices, I guess I'm returning to the classics myself...