I'm not a cook. I'm not a foodie. I enjoy a good meal, and I love a great dessert (or a mediocre one, or just pretty much anything sweet or frosted), but I would never claim to be a whiz in the kitchen. I also don't watch any cooking shows. However, I do own a few cookbooks and have used all but one. The "one", well, I've never cracked its binding. I haven't browsed it, placed a marker in it, or even looked in it for how long to boil an egg...
When we married four years ago, I registered for it. I received two copies! People must really like this book. As for me, when I want to give cooking a try, I tend to go on-line or ask a friend for a recipe. It's rare, but it does happen.
So this book just sits on my counter. Normally if I had something for four years and didn't use it, I'd donate it. But I can't seem to do so with this one.
I have many questions for you this week:
Do you own this book?
Do you use it?
Should I keep it?
Do you have any books that have turned out to be "just for show?"
13 comments:
I love cookbooks in my kitchen, even if I rarely use them b/c like you I use the internet.
What I found that helped a lot to get me to use them. I go through it & pick a couple recipes I want to try & copy them to loose leaf paper.
If I like it - then I'll keep it, if not - I pitch it after we eat.
Wow, that's actually quite an old cookbook - originally from the 30s, but made a resurgence in the early 70s. Don't know which printing you have. I love recipe books with more photos than I remember this one to have. With everything one could want online now, I hardly ever crack open a cook book. Next shower - gift it - if it's still new - don't thank me - I'm practical like that, lol!!
I don't have this book. I have the classic red and white checked Betty Crocker cook book rec'd over 30 years ago and use it fairly often. Most of my favorite recipes are on 3x5 cards in a metal 3x5 box ,,, favorites not only because they're really good ones but also because they're in my mom's handwriting. They are stained with worcetshire sauce and gravy (and some with red wine!) but they will never be thrown out. I have about 10 cook books, all but one I have used many times for several recipes. The one is a book on classic English cooking that I've never used but was a gift from my penpal of 47 years (actually from her mother who has since passed away) so that is a keeper as well. I LOVE to cook and I am a foodie, as noted by my collection of recipes AND my waistline! :)
I should have written "Lee and Perrins" sauce 'cuz that whole "W" sauce thing came out just wrong from my fingers! haha
I have a cabinet full of cookbooks. Not this one though. :) And most of my recipes (on the rare occasions that I follow one) come from online!
I have a lot of cookbooks that I don't use as often as I should. Most of them I'll cook one or two things out of and then ignore for years. Occasionally though I do get inspired and I've found it's kind of fun when I have a free weekend evening to take a cookbook with me to the grocery store and plan out a meal or two while I shop (so I know I'll have all the ingredients). Usually I just whip up meals from whatever I have on hand, but every now and then it is fun to try to be a bit fancier and actually use a cookbook.
Hmm... I have this one too and have barely ever used it (can't even remember what for). I have a re-published copy of an old Betty Crocker that I use a lot more. I think my mom uses this one quite a bit though, which is probably why I thought I needed it.
My friend is having a yard sale next month to raise money to adopt a baby from Haiti.
I think this book is headed there...
Like Karin pointed out, pictures are helpful!
I think my mom has this one, but I don't remember her ever using it. My grandmother gave me the Betty Crocker cookbook when I was in jr. high and I used that until it fell apart. When we cleared out her house I claimed her copy, which is older but has more pictures than mine did. I collect cookbooks and have quite a few. Betty, Gooseberry Patch cookbooks, and Taste of Home are the ones I always go back to.
Oh, my goodness. I have used that cookbook so much it's falling apart. You'll have to go visit my blog to see pictures! :)
I don't own this one, but I do love my cookbooks, even if I don't use them that often... I go in spurts.
In my own defense, I have cooked from scratch my entire married life. We just couldn't afford not to. Up until the last few years, I never used packaged or frozen dinners and we seldom go out to eat unless we're on vacation or for breakfast a couple times a month. So in the days before the internet, my cookbooks were my lifeline to what to fix for dinner each night. They've become a habit I am reluctant to give up. When my son-in-law first started dating my daughter, he said I was like Betty Crocker or something. He'd never eaten so much homemade food. :)
I have lots of cookbooks. I use the family ones (2) and go on-line. My friend recently shared foodgawker.com, which culls the most popular recipes from all over the internet--It's a great site!
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