I always say...
I read cookbooks like romance novels. I visually and emotionally devour them!
With the wealth of on-line recipes sources, videos and and tv shows (I'm watching Barefoot Contessa right now) I often wonder, why do cookbooks still hold such a spell over me and so many others...
There is just something about holding a cookbook in your hand... and making notes in it... and reading from the culinary point of view of the author... and learning.
Pouring over them like it is finals week and you want to ace the test more than anything because you just love the topic and want to master it!
I have a small little table cart against the window in my breakfast room with some of my very favorite cookbooks. My faithful old french hen is brooding on them... keeping them warm and ready!
The most revered cookbooks in my foodie library is THE MAKING OF A COOK by Madeleine Kamman. The dust jacket has long since torn and been discarded and it sits at the bottom of the pile, homely and unassuming... just a thick white book with a big black spine. A real plain Jane!
But don't let its humble appearance fool you... this book is akin to to Julia Child's MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING.
It is a real culinary textbook and it made the art and science of cooking come alive for me!
It makes the old adage, "Don't judge a book by it's cover" so true! To new cook and seasoned ones as well it is a wealth of delicious knowledge.
I have cookbooks from well known chefs... cookbooks from my travels... seasonal cookbooks... topical cookbooks... cookbooks that have been passed down...
My favorite cookbooks are the ones my sister Lisa has given me. She is the culinary super star of the family! I can always count on those gifted cookbooks to be challenging and filled with luscious recipes!
We often say that we should do a cooking show together. Much like those two rotund British women who cook. We can by quite hysterical in the kitchen together... at least we think we are!
The bulk of my cookbooks are not in my kitchen. They live in my study... because that is where I meal plan and ponder.
They sit on a very regular little bookshelf (which reminds me, I need to slap a coat of paint on it)... very functional and not at all well staged!
But, that is how I like it. Easy access... no fuss!
The rest are in a closet in my study... and on my bedside table... or in my reading basket... or lent out to friends.
I do have a love for certain cooking magazines too! COOK'S ILLUSTRATED... FOOD NETWORK... COOKING LIGHT... FINE COOKING to name a few.
They occupy the bottom two shelves in my foodie bookshelf...
I am a reader... I really like to read ... and my favorite topic to read about is food!
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