Over the past month, my immediate family has experienced a number of dramatic changes. With all the changes, I was motivated to take on a top-to-bottom clean out of the house. Over the course of 4 days, I managed to tidy up drawers in two rooms, clean up cabinets, clean a closet, and organize last year's papers. One of the other projects was to downsize a few more cookbooks. I still consider this a work in progress (and frankly may NEVER get to a point of only having 10 cookbooks or less), but there is definitely an opportunity to continue editing down the collection. I had already decided to part with Food Network Kitchens: Making it Easy, but I took a hard look at others and came up with the following cookbooks:
Emeril's Creole Christmas. Love the idea and the perspective on a New Orleans-style holiday, but when will I ever cook a New Orleans-style Chrismas? Probably not. Beautiful book though.
Cooking with Master Chefs. I know - this was already on the chopping block. I took a hard look at it and just did not find recipes that I really wanted to make. Just not going to use the book.
Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2001. This may surprise people since I am working to cook healthier. The problem is that the way we cooked in 2001 and how we do in 2011 has changed. The style is different and CL recycles their best recipes anyway. Since I get the magazine, I generally pull current recipes to cook anyway.
The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I have to say, I bought this because it's considered a legendary cookbook. Unfortunately, it just didn't have anything remarkable that grabbed me when I took a good look. Maybe it's because I've advanced beyond where I was 10 years ago. Back then, I probably would have used it as a reference more frequently. It's probably a great book, but I love my Joy of Cooking and I turn to that as a reference instead.
It's funny - I'm really not a packrat in my personal life - I don't keep many things for sentimental value, but when it comes to cookbooks, I have a harder time letting go. I can't figure out why - it's not some obvious reason - daddy issues, mommy issues, Freudian psychoanalysis, etc. I just enjoy reading and re-reading cookbooks and I get ideas. That said, one good recipe does not equal a good one. So, in the name of change, I have to press on and keep culling my cookbooks. Onward and downward with the total number of cookbooks!
No comments:
Post a Comment