Cookbooks? Are you obsessed as I am?
I have about 100, give or take two. I only keep it to that number cause I purge once a year. Then I succumbed. On my way to the St. Pat's parade I passed the used bookstore. Cake Bible and Nick Magliieri's "Cookies Unlimited" were sitting outside calling to me. I don't bake, but I had to have them.
Duh? Now I have to purge 12 books minimum, instead of 10, . Any other addicts out there?
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11 Comments:
Oh Pam...I, too, have the addiction. I have been a cookbook/cooking magazine/recipe addict since I was a teen. My Christmas lists back then included things like cookbooks, recipe boxes, and subscriptions to Bon Appetit! I'm embarassed to even guess how many cookbooks I have now but since I'm in the presence of a fellow cookbook enthusiast, I'll estimate that I have maybe 400-500. I went several years during which I bought only one cookbook per year but fell off the wagon a few months ago and have added about 60 more cookbooks to my collection. I have the Cake Bible, too. Good one to have in your collection. I recently bought Nick Malgieri's "Perfect Light Desserts" and am hoping to get his "Perfect Cakes" book soon.
MelsDiner at 9:29PM on 03/17/08
Darlin, I would have 400 also, but my apartment is too small. I envy your space!
NO_Pam at 9:38PM on 03/17/08
I have two tall bookcases in one corner of a spare bedroom and I have all of the cookbooks tucked carefully in the shelves, so they don't take up too much space. I wish I had your discipline to get rid of a few every year. Two years ago, I parted with 4 or 5 and I think I would have had an easier time having teeth extracted. I am a lost cause, for sure. I don't know what my problem is.
MelsDiner at 9:57PM on 03/17/08
I really thought so, but you guys have me beat by a mile! I find myself searching the internet for recipes all the time, and yet I've purchased more cookbooks since the advent of the computer than before. I cherish each and every book and can't imagine getting rid of a single one, unless I gifted it to someone who would appreciate it as much as I. My favorites are the ones that belonged to my mother and grandmother. One may have been my great-grandmother's. Love of cooking and cookbooks has been passed down and I hope it continues.
PerkyMac at 10:24PM on 03/17/08
Hi, my name is frederika and I am a cookbook-oholic... Not just me, but my husband, also. So I am quite afraid we could go toe-to-toe with you, MelsDiner. I'm not exactly proud of our little obsession. Well, there are worse things, I suppose.
frederika at 11:56PM on 03/17/08
You bring up a sore subject.
When we moved 6 months ago, the moving company sent an agent to assess the tonage of my belongings. When the agent told me how much our move would cost, I had a mild heart attack. I was advised that books were one of the best items to purge. So I decimated my book collection, ruthlessly purging my cookbooks, summer reading, old textbooks (go figure), cooking and home magazines, in addition to getting rid of old clothes, shoes, cd's b/c everything is on iPods or computers, stuff we didn't need or use anymore.
When we arrived in Indy and I unpacked what was left of my books, I had tears in my eyes when I realized how few cookbooks I had left. I just did a quick count, I have about 30 left...I want to cry again because it took me years to collect all those books. In the grand scheme of things, the weight of the books would have been negligible.
Yeah, so I have about 30 left...(tears glisten)
wookie at 1:58AM on 03/18/08
Raising my hand...I, too, have cookbook issues. I have just under a hundred, a lot of them are out print or from foreign countries. My current cure for my obsession is the library. I check out any book that piques my interest, even slightly. I can even order them online.
By doing this, I have learned that many books are not for me for one reason or another. Of course, I did buy the Canadian cookbook that the library did not have, so I am not really cured.
LearP at 2:45AM on 03/18/08
I too was a cookbook addict, until I realized I was not using most of them. I have my favorites, which are filled with food stains, but the others sit, lonely, and unloved. I now go on line most of the time, and print out at least 4 versions of whatever I want to make. These recipes are rated and reviewed by homecooks and bakers. I still buy cookbooks, but I go the bookstore 3 times before I buy a book, so I am sure I will use it!!
Mich23 at 8:54AM on 03/18/08
I now have upwards of 300 - and that's after a purge. Yet I don't think my collection is excessive. Ah the mind games we play on ourselves...LOLOL.
chiff0nade at 10:18AM on 03/18/08
We have about 100 - not too bad. We're planning on moving ~4,000 miles away in the next 2 years, so we've stopped accumulating stuff and are slowly purging things.
Maybe half of the cookbooks I buy to own, not necessarily to use immediately, but for those times when I'll need it -- kind of like buying DVDs of old movies, more for archival purposes than for immediate consumption. I find myself lying in bed leafing through these books with no real intention of cooking some of the dishes. The books are a great source of inspiration when I can't think of what I want my husband to make.
Cassaendra at 11:41AM on 03/18/08
I've not only got the cookbook collecting affliction, but also the "white-paper-printed-off-the-internet" recipes affliction. They're organized for the most part in 3" white binders, but I just keep printing more! I just got 3 new cookbooks this month - 2 for tex-mex that I've been missing since moving from Texas about a year ago.
Hubby and I agreed at the beginning of the year that we were going to make at least one new recipe a week from said cookbooks and printed recipes and we've stuck to it so far. We've had a few things that weren't great, but some others that were really good. One of my 2008 goals is to create an online recipe site; basically an archive for myself and my friends/family (everyone's invited!) to get our favorite and family recipes quickly and easily and to share new recipe treasures. I really love www.simplyrecipes.com and want to do something similar to that.
jmoilanen at 3:24PM on 03/18/08