I was listening to a Splendid Table podcast a while back and she had a guest on who was talking about her cookbook collection. She was a caterer and had accumulated quite a collection of cookbooks, but when she decided to move, she realized there wasn't enough room to take them all. The thing is, how do you choose which ones to keep and which ones to get rid of? She came up with a system where the one you just can't live without goes in the center, then you build it out on either side based on criteria that goes from broad to narrow. So something like joy of cooking would be on the inside, but something about cupcakes would go on the outside. Anyways, that was a bit of a long introduction to basically say, I cleaned my pantry. And that included organizing my cookbooks and weeding out a few old magazines and such. But it also made me sit back and think about my little cookbook collection and the ones I really rely on.
I have this cookbook that is like my heart. It's actually my first cookbook, one that my mother hand wrote all her favorite recipes along with the recipes she knew I loved. You can bet it was smack in the center of all my cookbooks. When she gave it to me, I was in college, living in my first apartment and quite frankly not that into cooking. I'd refer to it every once in awhile, but it wasn't until a few years later that I really began to look at it and try some of the recipes. Over the years I've added a few recipes to it, ones that have stood the test of time and deserve to be remembered. Now it's my go-to book when I want something comforting or something that will come out just right. What cookbook would be in the middle of your stack?
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favorite cookbook
I was listening to a Splendid Table podcast a while back and she had a guest on who was talking about her cookbook collection. She was a caterer and had accumulated quite a collection of cookbooks, but when she decided to move, she realized there wasn't enough room to take them all. The thing is, how do you choose which ones to keep and which ones to get rid of? She came up with a system where the one you just can't live without goes in the center, then you build it out on either side based on criteria that goes from broad to narrow. So something like joy of cooking would be on the inside, but something about cupcakes would go on the outside. Anyways, that was a bit of a long introduction to basically say, I cleaned my pantry. And that included organizing my cookbooks and weeding out a few old magazines and such. But it also made me sit back and think about my little cookbook collection and the ones I really rely on.
I have this cookbook that is like my heart. It's actually my first cookbook, one that my mother hand wrote all her favorite recipes along with the recipes she knew I loved. You can bet it was smack in the center of all my cookbooks. When she gave it to me, I was in college, living in my first apartment and quite frankly not that into cooking. I'd refer to it every once in awhile, but it wasn't until a few years later that I really began to look at it and try some of the recipes. Over the years I've added a few recipes to it, ones that have stood the test of time and deserve to be remembered. Now it's my go-to book when I want something comforting or something that will come out just right. What cookbook would be in the middle of your stack?
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September 25th, 2008 at 8:19 am
My Joy of Cooking. I have 3, but the one I snuck out of my mothers house when she wasnt looking, which falls open to the page on peanut butter cookies if you let it, with a few notes in the margin and some pages are translucent with grease, that’s my favorite. It’s the 50s edition. It’s falling apart. I love it.
September 25th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
hi kelly! that cookbook is so adorable! what is your email address?
-maya
September 27th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I love your blog! You have such great recipes, and you get around much more in this little town than I do. I’m going to follow some of your recommendations, though! I’ll be checking back, definitely.
September 27th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
jill- ahhh, joy of cooking is high on my list too! I reference mine often.
maya- my email address is kelly(at)carambula.com let’s get together soon!
andre- glad you like my blog!