My Cookbook Collection, Part I
I have a problem friends.
It’s just that I have this dirty little secret. An obsession, really, is what it is.
You know how I am semi-obsessed with cooking? Ok, and eating? Oh and remember how I started a Book Club page to track my obsessive reading?
I think you know where this is going.
Well my obsessions don’t end there. In fact, take those 2 things and put them together and you’ll get a reading-cooking-eating obsessed lady. Me. Surrounded by literature about cooking...and eating.
It’s my cookbook collection.
Nerd Alert!
But seriously you guys, I love...no, wait...I LOVE my cookbooks. I love that I have my own little collection of kitchen friends. A resource to always turn to (well them, and my mom). That I can decide which ones I want to serve as my own personal go-to’s (kind of like any collection of friends). That when I want to learn tried-and-true tricks in the old kitch, they’ll be there. That if I have a bowl of bordering-on-rotten ripened bananas, they will be there for me.
Banana Bread Redux
If I want to do a series of apple pie taste tests, they will be there for me.
Two Girls, Two Guys, Four Pies
When I want to whip up a mean plate of meat and potatoes for my man, they will be there for me.
Skillet Roasted Chicken + Potato Wedges
And when I’m in need of a quick, emergency batch of sweets (you know that it happens), they will most definitely be there for me in my desperate, ravaging time of need.
Loaded Butterscotch Blondies + Salted Chocolate Glaze
I’m not crazy.
Since I don’t really have a place to keep my collection in the kitchen (yet), my cookbooks and other recipe materials are scatted throughout our home. Shaun loves this. Almost as much as he loves seeing my shoes scattered under the coffee table and kitchen table, peeking out of my side of the bed and taking up any free corner in our home. That’s a story for another time.
Anyhow, at present I keep my cookbooks in 2 separate places and my magazines (like Food Network and Real Simple) in a basket in our TV console. First up is the butcher block, which also plays home to our fresh popcorn machine (and 2nd love of my life).
These are my most recent acquisitions from over the last few months.
Dutch Cooking Today
A sweet and thoughtful gift from my sister Kimberly and her boyfriend Nick, brought back from their trip to Holland. I cannot WAIT to break this open and get cooking. I love exploring local cuisine, so I am so excited to get my Dutch cooking on.
Rocco DiSpirito's Now Eat This!
I love this cookbook. No wait...did you get that? I LOVE THIS COOKBOOK!
Penne Alla No Vodka
I love everything about it and every recipe that I've tried from it. It's delicious and healthy, using mostly natural ingredients to eat healthier. I use this as my go-to when I'm stumped on planning dinner. I can always find something from Rocco. Next up, I need (NEED!) to get his follow up, Now Eat This Diet.
Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That?
What can I say? She’s my girl. She's brought me so many delicious eats.
Roasted Shrimp with Feta + FennelThough my love for her certainly dwindled significantly since her snubbing incident, you can’t deny her rockage in the kitchen or her flawless Hamptons style. Oh Ina, why can’t you just be a nice person too? And prove that one really CAN have it all and also be nice?
Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book
It’s Bets’ original cookie book and I hear it rocks. I just made my first cookie from this book and can’t wait to share it with you tomorrow!
This book just makes me happy. It reminds me of my mother (since Bets is the only one she trusts) and holiday baking.
Williams-Sonoma Pie + Tart
My best friend Lindsey gifted me with this for Christmas along with a sweet pie plate, baking cups and other baking tools. With recipes like Strawberry Rubarb pie, Sweet Potato Pie, Mint Chocolate Truffle Tart, and Deep Dish Plum Pie, I cannot wait to break into this guy.
Bobby Flay’s Throwdown Cookbook
A Christmas gift from my parents (one that Mom insisted she almost kept for herself), the book includes a sampling of Bobby’s throwdowns - his own recipes and those of his competitors. Yum. I hope there's some brunch items on the menu...
Brunch at Mesa GrillLaurent Tourondel's Fresh From the Market
I purchased this on a whim. Do I ever plan to roast a whole suckling pig? Not so much. Especially once I found out what a suckling pig was. But I feel cultured owning this one, and sometimes that is enough in life.
Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef
Also ordered on a whim when I thought I wanted to try going gluten-free. I’m still not opposed to it and I’m sure that this is a fantastic book. I just haven’t been particularly inspired to make anything from it just yet.
The America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook 2010-2011
This is one of Shaun’s favorite cooking shows (it’s that Alton Brown-ness that he’s got going on) and his aunt gifted me with this book for Christmas. So far, I’m in love.
Loaded Butterscotch Blondies + Salted Chocolate GlazeIt’s become a fantastic go-to in my avid kitchen and I can’t wait to keep trying new dishes from it.
50 smoothies ‘zine via Food Network Magazine
I tore this out of a recent FN Magazine and have been loving it. Some of them are wacky (adding a crumbled cupcake to your smoothie?!) and some of them eye-opening (peanut butter-apple smoothie, circa third grade after school snack? Um yes please!).
So there you have it. Part 1 of my cookbook collection. I have lots more, but realized that this post was growing a bit out of control. I'll be back next week with Part 2! So what do you think? What are your favorite cookbooks? What are your go-to's?
This post is part of my What About Me Wednesday series. If you have a question for me, please send it along and I'll try to answer it in a future post! For more WAMW posts and other general tidbits, check out my FAQ page or About page!
7 Comments | April 19, 2011 | Share Article | Email Article | tagged cookbooks | in What About Me Wednesday Print Article | Permalink
Reader Comments (7)
wait! you have a popcorn machine?!?!? that is AWESOME. i want one.
I, like Lindsay, think its awesome that you have a popcorn machine. If you can believe it I do not own a single cookbook. I have a collection of recipes but I cannot decide on one. I have issues.
My # 1 go to cookbook is the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook that's about 1,000 years old. It has a little bit of everything in it and I love it.
P.S. I love that cherry bathing suit!
My all-time favorite cookbook is the original Good Housekeeping cookbook from the 60's. Most of my "comfort" foods are in there - and I've just learned how to make them healthier or vegetarian! I think I'm going to try to make a vegetarian stroganoff from it tonight!
I also love the Stir-Fry cookbook I received for Christmas and I can always find the recipe I'm looking for in the Joy of Cooking GIANT book!
I definitely have a cookbook buying addiction too! Well, just a book-buying addiction in general!
I think crumbling a cupcake into a smoothie sounds like a champion idea!! :D
I just had to get a new bookshelf because I outgrew the old one!
People are always amazed that almost all of my books are about food/nutrition/etc. but that is what I'm interested in reading about!
LOVE barefoot contessa! her cookbooks are gorgeous..just love looking at her photos!