Wednesday, 08 December 2010
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My Name is ___ and I'm a Cookbookaholic
I have a few cookbooks that grace the shelves of my kitchen. In fact, I collect them from everywhere I've traveled. Some people collect spoons, some collect figurines. I collect cookbooks (amongst other things).My first cookbook was acquired as a child on the island of Guam, when I was an avid reader and loved Nancy Drew detective books. As I was perusing the shelves of the bookstore in the lone strip mall on the island, I saw the Nancy Drew Cookbook and had to have it. All the recipes were named after the various mysteries she had solved! I was thrilled. I still have that book in my kitchen.
The next books were handed down to me, possibly from my grandmother. These were a collection of Better Homes and Gardens Cookbooks, with names such as Best Buffets and So Good Meals. The descriptions within are hilarious and so indicative of the times in which they were published (somewhere in the 50s or 60s). Phrases like "no mamby pamby punch this!" to describe a punchbowl recipe or "make this stew for your man and you'll be his favorite girl". Treasures, all!
I, then got down to the basics. Knowing that anything domestic I requested from my mother for Christmas or birthdays would be granted, I asked for staple cookbooks on year shortly after I was married. Lo and behold, under my Christmas tree that year was "The Joy of Cooking" and "Betty Crocker". The pages in these have been well worn.The three cookbooks that followed suit have been well worn to the point of pages falling out and being taped and retaped. One was "The Martha Stewart Quick Cook", from my ex-sister-in-law, from which I pulled delectable dishes such as pork chops with apples sautéed in thyme, wursts and mustards served with sauerkraut, pears baked in cream and upside down apple pie.
The other two were my purchases: The 30-day cookbook, which gave instructions for cooking a months worth of meals in 2 days and freezing them so you would always be ready for sudden guests. This is where I got the best recipe for spaghetti that I've ever tasted and still use to this day in lasagnas and other Italian dishes. And, the other, "The Crock Pot Cook Book", where I learned the joys of popping food in the crock in the morning and having it ready for me in the evening.
When I began traveling all over the world, my pallet was opened up to so many new enjoyable flavors. I wanted to replicate these. I had taken a liking to collecting picture books, and this translated to cookbook collecting as well, in that, I loved cookbooks with vividly beautiful pictures of prepared dishes. These enticed me to make some of the dishes which are staple menu items in my house today.
I have books from Italy, France, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and several countries as well. They take me back to my journeys to far away places. Perhaps the other cookbooks I've acquired take me back to my childhood and then the progression of my life from there.
Still others tell of my dabbling in baking or vegetarian dishes. Stir Fry and island flavors also come to mind. For me, they are all truly collectors items. Possibly of no value to anyone but me, but they are useful souvenirs!
What kind of cookbooks do you own and what memories do they evoke?
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About the Author
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- From: chelleannette@xanga
- About Me: I'm an almost 40 mother of three teenagers, two crazy fat dogs and one husband. I live in and love New York City. In the last five years or so I've taken up French, shooting for eventual fluency and possibly picking up one day with the man after the kids are gone and moving it all to France. I also learned how to play tennis in the last few years and have, consequently become obsessed with the sport and acquired the delusion of playing on the WTA seniors tour or in a grand slam (Watch out Serena!) Living passionately, I want to see, smell, taste and feel the world through relationships, travel, food and whatever else life throws at me. Still waiting to discover what I want to be when I grow up!
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Comments (9)
rachel ray cook book is good .
I love the Pioneer Woman Cookbook
I found it funny that Nancy Drew had a cookbook, while the Hardy Boys had a detective handbook.
@chocolatescifi@xanga - haha! sign of the times, huh?
I have a Better Homes and gardens cookbook that my mother in law bought me for my birthday. I also have a family cookbook that my grandmother and her sisters and cousins and aunts put together and I have "The Worldwide Ward Cookbook" which is recipes from LDS (Mormon) families all over the world. My mother bought it for me when I was first married. I've also cooked from my grandmother's many cookbooks and I hope she leaves them to me when she passes on.
I feel so much better that I am not the only cookbook collector around here! Whew! I like old cookbooks, so I might look for them at garage sales or second hand stores. Ironically, I rarely use cookbooks to cook from, I like to read them and see how people used to eat in America or how people eat in other countries. I do use Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook, though and a baking cookbook I bought for 3.99 at Borders bargain shelf. Recently I "inherited" a collection of cookbooks that belonged to my husband's grandmother, lots of books from 60s and 70s. Also, I use a recipebook bought from the Armenian church, the ladies put together to raise funds.
@babybug329@xanga - I use the internet a lot, but LOVE the pictures in cookbooks! Sooo inspiring!
My mom is like this. She has a huuuge bookshelf absolutely filled with cookbooks. It's her favorite thing to buy (besides the food itself!), I swear.
Igot a kids cookbook when Iwas about 9 or 10 (I stll have it, in fact), but I didn't really become interested enough to start collecting until just after college. My mom bought me a couple, along with some kitchen gadgets for the last couple Christmases I lived at home before getting married. After that hubby and I discovered we really liked cooking and started regularly collecting books. I have one of the most recent editions of that red plaid Homes & Gardens cookbook. Just a basic, all encompassing cookbook, no specific theme. It's one of my favorites because it has recipes for almost anything I could ever need. My hubby found it at a store in our town that sells new books for half the cover price. Good deal! He also found an older edition of The Joy of Cooking at a yard sale for $5. His mother thought that was pricey for a yard sale book, but considering a new edition is around $40 or $50, I thought it was a darn good deal.
We like collecting cookbooks, and even cooking magazines. We have most of a bookcase full, plus the cupboards in our buffet hutch are full too. I think we have more than enough, but my hubby is constantly buying more. He's an especially big Food Network fan, so he really likes getting celebrity chef cook books. I'll admit I do like collecting Rachael Rays. I do like baking more than cooking though, and I have recently started collecting cake decorating books. I'd like to perfect my icing skills
Just about a year ago my mother in law gave me a couple of Betty Crocker
recipe boxes, full of little recipe cards from that are a few decades old. I
love them! My mother also has a huge cookbook collection, and I've already been informed that, since my sister hates cooking, I will be the one to inherit them all!
I like the idea of collecting cookbooks from places you visit. We haven't had much time or money to do any traveling, but once we do I think I will have to do that!