I think I’ve joined, completed my membership obligation, quit, then joined again the cookbook book of the month club five or six times. I’ve had subscriptions to four or five cooking magazines at a time. I’ve sought out regional cookbooks while on vacation. I always stop in the cookbook section at Borders.

 

Obviously, I like the kitchen stuff. What else would you expect from a woman who waxes poetic about kitchen gadgets and sings the praises of novelty bakeware?

Of the cookbooks lining my kitchen bookcase - and yes, I do have a pretty good sized bookcase in my kitchen - there are recipes in each and every one that I consider core, can’t live without recipes. When I am looking for a new recipe, I have a strategy for how I look through existing cookbooks, too.

For general how-to, you can’t beat The Joy of Cooking. It’s a classic for a reason.

For appetizers, I have a few Junior League cookbooks from around the country. There’s always something good to be found in one of those. And the Silver Palate books.

If it’s pasta I crave, I go straight to The Silver Spoon. It’s a recently translated Italian cookbook with some really interesting meal options. Only look through the “Variety Meats” chapter if you are feeling adventurous and open-minded. You’re going to look anyway? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

For meats that need to be done perfectly and presented, I go to Julia Child’s The Way to Cook first, and I’m Just Here for the Food by Alton Brown second. Sometimes I sit with both of them and compare. Nothing beats the “critter maps” in Alton Brown, though, for knowing exactly where to find a cut of meat. Awesome Food Network show, too.

For vegetable side dishes, it’s The New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne, the books by Sara Foster of Foster’s Market (a former haunt), or an old Victory Garden cookbook by Marian Morash.

I have Moosewood cookbooks for vegetarian cooking, of course, and a couple of books focused on cooking with the kids.

For general desserts, I go to The Martha Stewart Cookbook. For more specific desserts, I go to Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible and The Pie and Pasty Bible. There are great basic cake and buttercream recipes in the Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No Holds Barred Baking Book. Rosie’s Bakery made my wedding cake, so I tend to trust them on the subject. The Rosie’s Bakery cookie cookbook is the source of my favorite holiday cookie, the Chocolate Snowball.

There are several restaurant cookbooks in there. I love that I have the recipes for specific favorite dishes, particularly the White Chocolate Challah Pudding with Bourbon Sauce from Figs.

If I’m trying to find something kid-friendly, I start with a cookbook called One Bite Won’t Kill You. It’s reassuring that my kids are not the only ones who refuse Brussels sprouts.

We have a couple of cookbook collections. Years ago Williams-Sonoma had a bunch of single topic short cookbooks. I could probably weed out a few, but the pasta books and the chicken books have yielded some good dinners.

We have a larger collection of recipe annuals from Sunset magazine, and were so disappointed when Sunset stopped producing these several years ago. When I need general inspiration, I go here first, and Sunset magazine continues to be a regular recipe source for me.

Eating Well is gaining on my list, too. Sometimes the ingredients are a little obscure, especially when considering the kids, but they often sound really, really good – healthy, too.

Then there are the passed down recipes. We have a few longtime family favorites from generations past.

It’s an eclectic grouping on my shelf. It helps me maintain a variety of options for meals, though some might say too many options. The books are like my old friends. When I look through them, I often find notes on recipes I tried once or twice and think to myself, “Oh, yeah, those corn fritters were pretty tasty.” I do clear the bookcases every now and again, sending mostly unused books to the swap shack at the transfer station. It can be hard to say goodbye to some old friends, but if someone else in town can make more complete use of them, then that’s better.

I hope you have built a cookbook and recipe collection that feels that way to you.

PointsandPrizes.com Keyword: SPOON worth 50 points good through 04/20/08.
Not a member? Join Points and Prizes now for more free stuff!