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

[FoodMan]

Just a drop in the bucket....15

FM

[maggiethecat]

Lily, that's

14940

including s'kat's notebooks and Marlene's pending order.

Thanks for the math, Archie dear. OK, 14955 . And counting.

So assuming that cookbook height averages 12", we have 2.83 miles of cookbooks end-to-end.

[A Scottish Chef]

including the dozen or so that are stuffed sideways into the space above the standing books.

I think you've touched on a universal book storage technique.

I only have about 40 cookery books. I never, ever thought I'd feel embarrassed about this. Until now.

[boaziko]

My humble donation is 58 books.

[maggiethecat]

I think you've touched on a universal book storage technique.

I only have about 40 cookery books. I never, ever thought I'd feel embarrassed about this. Until now.

[melkor]

Tack on another 50 or so for my house.

[maggiethecat]

15, 103.

[awbrig]

how much money could we raise if we sell them all on ebay?!?

[Suzanne F]

SELL THEM?!?!?!?!? Would you sell your children? (Oh, maybe better not to put it that way ) Anyway, the answer is NONE, because I would buy Scottish Chef's, and he would buy Maggie's, and she would buy Crumbs's, and so on around with merely a re-distribution of books and money.

Anyway, we haven't determined how many duplicates we have, taken all together. How many of us have Mastering the Art I and II? Larousse Old and/or Larousse New? How to Read a French Fry? I wouldn't take that number out of the total end-to-end, but I'll bet it would cut down some on the number of titles.

[Dana]

Add 150 to the total from me.

[HungryHoward]

A paltry 22 ...

[maggiethecat]

15, 275

And Suzanne, you're right. We'd all just be looking at each others' notes, crumbs and smears.

[Liza]

I'll do a count when I get home but I have a question about the parameters - can we count my Art Culinaires? They're hard bound and rather large AND (there's more? yes!) the only periodical we have to-have to keep.

[maggiethecat]

can we count my Art Culinaires? They're hard bound

Hmmm. The thin edge of the wedge. But ok. Hard bound. (Not that softbound cookbooks don't count.)

[tsquare]

I used to read the classics.

Such as "Mastering the Art of French Cooking?" or Larousse?

[jackal10]

Err, I've just measured them - about 75 ft of bookshelves. I reckon that s about 1000 books.

[Marlene]

SELL THEM?!?!?!?!?        Would you sell your children?

There are days!

[wingding]

300ish...plus many scraps of paper.and assorted notebooks from places that I've worked,here and there.The funny thing is,I never cook very often from recipes at this point...just use them for ideas,a sense of time and place, people &countries that I've never known,or visited a few times,a sense of the person who wrote them,...and great pictures!

[torakris]

131 plus 4 on the way.

Please don't tell my husband !!!

[ElizabethH]

About 80, but clearly I'm a neophyte.

Prominently displayed in the collection: How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson.

[indiagirl]

I have 47.

And of those two are more my cooking journals from when I was growing up - recipes in a large childish hand and collages and so on.

So maybe 45. Sigh.

I feel deprived. That's it - I'm going to the favorite cookbooks thread and ordering 5 more.

That's it. Amazon, here I come.

Excellent idea, maggiethecat.

[heyjude]

Since I've been outed by Jason and NSM, I admit to having rooms full including some that are on loan to other eGulleteers. I tried counting, but I felt a little like Rain Man. So, I did an estimate and I think there are about 3750 in my apartment. They cover 3 rooms and a hallway and I know where to find most titles. I enjoy them all, even the way they look on the shelves. Over the years, I've sold and given away hundreds more. People often ask me which I'd keep if I could only have 5 or 10 or 25. My answer changes often, but always includes my signed Julia Child's and my mother's Toll House Recipes. I know many people say that a good cookbook should be covered with stains from use in the kitchen, but I like to keep mine clean. I copy a recipe that I want to use onto a 5x8 index card to take into the kitchen. Then I can file it or toss it depending on the result. All in all, not a bad little hobby.

[maggiethecat]

All in all, not a bad little hobby.

That, Jude is an understatement. And I admire your steps to make sure your collection stays in good shape.

But, a good point. Collectors collect, whether it be bottlecaps, art or, as Sir Peter Wimsey used to say: incunabula. (Sp.? Always loved that word)

Thanks to your motherlode, we are at 20,585. 3.89 miles.

Thanks, Indiagirl!

[indiagirl]

maggiethecat - the engineer in me wonders - what average dimensions are we using for these cookbook to mile conversions?

and are we laying them end to end or stacking them like they would be in a bookshelf.

yes, I know, if the engineer in me was also not as lazy i would go figure out through some simple division but lazy i am .....

:P

[maggiethecat]

maggiethecat - the engineer in me wonders - what average dimensions are we using for these cookbook to mile conversions?

and are we laying them end to end or stacking them like they would be in a bookshelf.

yes, I know,  if the engineer in me was also not as lazy i would go figure out through some simple division but lazy i am .....

:P

I am using a totally unscientific average for height of book: 12 inches. And I am laying them out end-to-end.

But, hmm, if we averaged the thickness, and stacked them....how long to get to the moon?