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Cookbooks – How Many Do You Own? (Part 1)

maggiethecat

By maggiethecat
in Cookbooks & References

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KNorthrup

KNorthrup

Posted
Posted
It did seem to me that the more cookbooks I accumulated the less I actually used them for recipes, because, of course, you internalize so much.

Absolutely. But it's really difficult to persuade a significant other that you're not "wasting" money on yet more cookbooks "because you never cook out of them anyway."

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jsolomon

jsolomon

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Hmm, let me count:

How to cook everything

Rosies all butter, fresh cream, sugar packed cookbook

Roasting <- on permanent loan to my mother :sad:

Bread Bible

Pasta Sauces

Intercourses: an aphrodisiac cookbook <- Purchasing this one got me kicked out of BN!

Complete Joy of Homebrewing <- gathering dust due to a poorly temperature controlled living space

7

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

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marrowbone

marrowbone

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Speaking of cookbooks, in the aug/sept 2003 Saveur right at the front of the mag is a 2 page ad for Jenn-air and all the walls are lined with cookbooks. I was trying to identify all the ones I have. It would be interesting to know if its somebody's real kitchen.

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fresco

fresco

Posted
Posted
It did seem to me that the more cookbooks I accumulated the less I actually used them for recipes, because, of course, you internalize so much.

Absolutely. But it's really difficult to persuade a significant other that you're not "wasting" money on yet more cookbooks "because you never cook out of them anyway."

Isn't money spent on books of any description considered to be an investment rather than an expense? :biggrin:

Arthur Johnson, aka "fresco"
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theminx

theminx

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A mere 237 cookbooks in my collection. :smile:

I like to read 'em like novels, from cover to cover. If I find a recipe that sounds special to me, I'll put a bookmark in that page. Sometimes I'll go back to it, sometimes not. As someone else posted, I "internalize" the book and then use what I've stored to cook from memory. I usually refer directly to a book if I have a particular ingredient I've never used before, or for baking recipes, but for the most part, I make stuff up as I go along.

I like to read celebrity cookbooks that are written in the voice of the author. Nigella Lawson's recipes are nothing special, and she takes most of them from other cookbooks, but the writing is really sexy. I could hear her speaking as I was reading. Another book I liked for that reason (although it wasn't sexy) was Mario Batali's Babbo Cookbook.

Kathy

Minxeats
http://www.foodloversguidetobaltimore.com/'>Food Lovers' Guide to Baltimore

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maggiethecat

maggiethecat

Posted
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Isn't money spent on books of any description considered to be an investment rather than an expense?  :biggrin:

Well yes, except for guilty pleasures like Janet Evanovich!

42,334.

Thanks, minx! I've hit the eight mile point. Hmmm. Maybe I could hit the tapas joint in Naperville.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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fresco

fresco

Posted
Posted
Isn't money spent on books of any description considered to be an investment rather than an expense?  :biggrin:

Depends on whether you're dealing with the tax man or not. :wink:

They do tend to be more literal than literary, don't they? :sad:

Arthur Johnson, aka "fresco"
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Flocko

Flocko

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Maggie:

Add six more for me, including three recommended here on e-gullet: "French Cooking in Ten Minutes", by Edouard de Pomiane (thanks Maggie); "Through Darkest Gaul With Trencher and Tastevin" by John Whiting (thanks John); and "Best Food Writing 2002" (great essay, FG)............So many books, so little time.......... :hmmm:

Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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lex_cheapeats

lex_cheapeats

Posted
Posted

This thread REALLY makes me feel better - I get teased a lot about the number of cookbooks I have...

I only have 250 - but that's not counting the ones on loan to friends, the ones at the in-laws cottage (I started a library there), and the ones at my family cottage.

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jsolomon

jsolomon

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Whassa BN?  Barnes and Noble?  Who kicked you out?  Welcome, BTW.

Yes, BN is Barnes and Noble. Actually, it was the assistant manager who kicked us out. Something about we shouldn't be laughing so loud in the cookbooks section as we were browsing through their copies of "Intercourses"

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

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maggiethecat

maggiethecat

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Something about we shouldn't be laughing so loud in the cookbooks section as we were browsing through their copies of "Intercourses"

Oh dearie me! Bookstores are now temples?

42,635.

And Flocko: It warms my heart to see a copy of "Frech Cooking in Ten Minutes" in the hands of fellow eGull.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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madziast

madziast

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Yes, BN is Barnes and Noble.  Actually, it was the assistant manager who kicked us out.  Something about we shouldn't be laughing so loud in the cookbooks section as we were browsing through their copies of "Intercourses"

he he, reminds me of a cartoon i saw a few years ago--a little bookstore, two wiseguys coming in and the shop asst sayion to the owner in the back: Messrs Barnes & noble to see you...

Alcohol is a misunderstood vitamin.

P.G. Wodehouse

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maggiethecat

maggiethecat

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Whoops! I bought a cookbook today and forgot to add it: Tamsin Day-Lewis's "Art of the Tart."

I've been looking at it for awhile, but it seemed a little slim to shell out twenty-five bucks for.

Happened into Williams-Sonoma today...(wedding present.) It was on sale for twelve dollars. Worth every cent.

42,636.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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Al_Dente

Al_Dente

Posted
Posted

13 of em here. I really must expand the collection.

Favorites--

Paul Prudhomme's Louisianna Kitchen. The stuffed pork loin is incredible.

Michelle Scicolone-- A Fresh Taste of Italy

A couple of Pepin's books

Damn, just realized someone has my Indian cookbook by Merchant.

peak performance is predicated on proper pan preparation...

-- A.B.

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mrsadm

mrsadm

Posted
Posted
Speaking of cookbooks, in the aug/sept 2003 Saveur right at the front of the mag is a 2 page ad for Jenn-air and all the walls are lined with cookbooks. I was trying to identify all the ones I have. It would be interesting to know if its somebody's real kitchen.

I fell in love with that ad! Isn't it a wonderrful kitchen? I'm looking around my kitchen for where to put more shelves!

I have about 85 cookbooks, getting more later today.

Linda

*****

"Did you see what Julia Child did to that chicken?" ... Howard Borden on "Bob Newhart"

*****

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John W.

John W.

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I found three more (important ones too) underneath my coffee table.

Gordon Ramsey, Georges Perrier and Gray Kunz. I had windered where they went.

Firefly Restaurant

Washington, DC

Not the body of a man from earth, not the face of the one you love

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