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


maggiethecat

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Finally got around to counting mine...

26 countable , but I know I have 3 more in various locations around the house since they're not on the shelf. So, a total of 29. The theory is that if I don't have any more shelf space I won't buy any more cookbooks. :hmmm:

"Tea and cake or death! Tea and cake or death! Little Red Cookbook! Little Red Cookbook!" --Eddie Izzard
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sadly i left all my books behind with my ex and so am down to 23.

i think we should be told, maggie, what is the average per member and then we can just multiply it by the number of members and hey presto we have a universal estimate. but seriously an average would be interesting if you have the numbers to hand...

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seriously an average would be interesting if you have the numbers to hand...

Me too. Let me try to crunch some numbers later today.

44, 668

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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41 here. Several were borrowed over a year ago from a friend who cooks at Restaurant Indigo, here in New Orleans.

Then, of course, there are the ones in storage at my parents' house, the crappy, ancient quasi-Chinese cookbooks I picked up at yard sales. I can't bear to part with any of them. I've probably only cooked from half of these books, or less, but they've all got some kind of nostalgic value for me.

There are lots of historical cookbooks, which are interesting, but god forbid I should ever try to whip up some barley and fish pottage. Has anyone here ever cooked from Apicius?

The one I use most is Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking. She's got a recipe for everything in there, every kind of bean, grain, or strange vegetable. But lately I'm branching out, and I cook a lot from magazines.

You should see my mother's cookbook collection. She must have at least 500 or 600. The whole collection speaks for the evolution of the American Housewife over the past 40 years. Joy of Cooking, Better Homes and Gardens, Betty Crocker (the old one and the new one form the 80's), Time-Life's Foods of the World, New York Times, Vegetarian Epicure, Tassajara, Moosewood, countless Junior League compendia, Debra Madison and all the latest from Mollie Katzen and the like.

Okay, so that is more a reflection of my mother's personal evolution from good Midwestern girl to serious hippie. But it says something that she still has the 35-year-old, missing-its-covers and falling apart Betty Crocker- and she still consults it. Joy of Cooking still gets plenty of play, too.

So, 41, not counting ten or so back home (I'm sorry, Mom, I left the vegan, sugar-free dessert book :hmmm: ). And I'm looking forward to inheriting at least 300 or so.

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Just had a thought: assuming that there are some books in our collections that we would be happy to part with (unbelievable as that sounds), and there are others that we crave, perhaps we can arrange a sort of swap meet, kind of an eGullet eBay without any money. This is just the preliminary thought, details are nonexistent as yet -- but would anyone else be interested?

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Just had a thought: assuming that there are some books in our collections that we would be happy to part with (unbelievable as that sounds), and there are others that we crave, perhaps we can arrange a sort of swap meet, kind of an eGullet eBay without any money.  This is just the preliminary thought, details are nonexistent as yet -- but would anyone else be interested?

Yes! It's a great idea.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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Wooo hoooo!

Up the collection to +1

I've just returned from a lovely trip to Sam's Club and found only one copy of Gordon Ramsay's just desserts for a song.  bourdain wrote the Foreward.  :wub:

It's my evening's worth of reading.  :smile:

I'm jealous. I'm thinking of picking up it up. His stuff looks great.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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About 120, including a few I pinched off of the boss.....

Welcome to eGullet, robkhoo--we won't tell the boss.

44, 830. 8.49 miles.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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:blush:  Add 3 more for me.  Damn that Strand!!!  :angry:  :laugh:

But think of all the money you saved. You got two books for the price of one, and then an extra.

(at least that's the rationale I use :laugh: )

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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I'm a late bloomer. 51 for me, unless we're counting the Cook's Illustrated Anathologies all together as 1 book, in which case, 41. I count them as seperate books, personally.

I'm glad I found this thread... I get teased over my collection which I thought was a lot. Now I can add more to it guilt free.

Most used: I use the Cook's Illustrated Anathologies the most.

Is there a thread on "how did you get into cooking" that someone could point me to? This board is huge and I'm curious to hear how people got started.

". . . if waters are still, then they can't run at all, deep or shallow."

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Is there a thread on "how did you get into cooking" that someone could point me to?  This board is huge and I'm curious to hear how people got started.

Megaira welcome to egullet!

One of the best threads is called How we ate growing up.....

While not exactly how we all got into cooking, it is probably one of the best threads here.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...9&hl=growing+up

Good luck reading it all!

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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4 more yesterday: The New York Times Jewish Cookbook by Linda Amster(no relation), The Vineyard Kitchen by Maria Helm Sinskey, A Passion for Desserts by Emily Luchetti (whose previous books are selling for a huge amount) and The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. I'll keep all of these at least until I run out of shelf space, again.

Judy Amster

Cookbook Specialist and Consultant

amsterjudy@gmail.com

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Thanks Torakris & Maggie ... and thanks Torakris for the link to the thread!

Good luck reading it all!

You're not kidding. I have about 10 windows open and all of them start with "egullet.com."

". . . if waters are still, then they can't run at all, deep or shallow."

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