Your favorite cookbooks or manuals..

There are about 1000 in all, counting the pamphlets. Oldest is from 1894, although there may be one or two older than that. Downside is finding anything.
 
I'm all about simplicity. I don't use many cookbooks...I use my mom as my cookbook. I actually wrote her recipes down for my husband, because they're easy and don't contain any crazy ingredients, so he could cook dinner. It turned into a self-published cookbook that has sold almost 500 copies! You can check it out at XXX - spam deleted by Buzz. I have testimonials and a few sample recipes on the "Peruse" tab. It's not your typical cookbook, but I figured there were too many "typical" cookbooks out there these days. I hope you like her!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
FryBoy said:
There are about 1000 in all, counting the pamphlets. Oldest is from 1894, although there may be one or two older than that. Downside is finding anything.
Click to expand...

Wow! I'm glad someone raised this thread from the dead. I also have hundreds of cookbooks, and even more pamphlets, manuals, and magazines.

I just discovered a site called Eat Your Books. It lets you add all of your cookbooks to a 'bookshelf'. They have the entire Jessica's Biscuit index available for your bookshelf. They have over 1000 indexed already, and add more every week.

If you want to find a recipe for a dish, or find a use for an ingredient, you type it into the search and it comes up with a list of every recipe in your own cookbooks. It doesn't actually give you the recipe, since you have the book. It will just tell you that you have a recipe for this requested dish in the following 7 cookbooks: .

It even lets you flag "I want to try this" recipes. No more sticky tabs necessary.

Mostly it's newer cookbooks that are indexed, but they are adding a feature for you to add book not already on their shelf.

They offer a free 30 day trial, but after that it costs $25 per year or $50 for life. For me, anyhow, it's worth it.

Check it out!
 
Last edited:
More and more I find myself just turning to JOC. Otherwise I'll look something up on the internet, or just wing it.
 
SilverSage said:
Wow! I'm glad someone raised this thread from the dead. I also have hundreds of cookbooks, and even more pamphlets, manuals, and magazines.

I just discovered a site called Eat Your Books. It lets you add all of your cookbooks to a 'bookshelf'. They have the entire Jessica's Biscuit index available for your bookshelf. They have over 1000 indexed already, and add more every week.

If you want to find a recipe for a dish, or find a use for an ingredient, you type it into the search and it comes up with a list of every recipe in your own cookbooks. It doesn't actually give you the recipe, since you have the book. It will just tell you that you have a recipe for this requested dish in the following 7 cookbooks: .

It even lets you flag "I want to try this" recipes. No more sticky tabs necessary.

Mostly it's newer cookbooks that are indexed, but they are adding a feature for you to add book not already on their shelf.

They offer a free 30 day trial, but after that it costs $25 per year or $50 for life. For me, anyhow, it's worth it.

Check it out!
Click to expand...
Interesting idea. DW and I spend a lot of time trying to find a particular recipe that we've made before and liked, and that's difficult when you have as many cookbooks as we do. Moreover, because many if not most of our cookbooks are collectible and some quite valuable, we don't write in them. Having a comprehensive searchable index would be very helpful, particularly if you can mark particular recipes or add comments.

However, of the 16,000 cookbooks listed on Eat Your Books, at the present only 880 are indexed. That makes this good idea less useful to me, and not yet worth $50.
 
Actually, it's now over 1,000, but I agree that's still not huge. What I'm looking forward to is the feature that will let you index your own books. And the said they'll have the major food magazines coming online soon.

For me, it's just the cost of one more cookbook, and that's a drop in the bucket if it makes my existing books more useful.

Doug, have you ever tried indexing them yourself? In Access or Excel or something similar?
 
Another positively RABID cookbook collector here!! Have well over 1,000 - from rare old first editions to current stuff. I read cookbooks like others read good novels - lol!! Of course, my cookbook collection doesn't hold a candle to our other book collections of gardening books & old classics. And then there's our 1,000+ collection of DVD's & hubbies 2,000 CD collection. It's like living in the Library of Congress here - lol!!

As for my favorite cookbooks, I probably use Julia Child's "The Way To Cook" the most. In fact, my copy has fallen apart. Another favorite is "Madame Chu's Chinese Cooking School" - the first Chinese cookbook I owned & a gift from my Asian-cooking-guru mom (along with a good carbon-steel wok & bamboo steamer set). But since I have so very many wonderful cookbooks, they all see use at some time or other. And while the internet is certainly a wonderful recipe-finding tool, I really don't like to rely on it solely. My cookbooks are like old friends; the internet on the other hand, is just a cold computer.
 
rabies aside, i'll bet no one here has my faves: "eat this, it'll make you feel better", vols. 1 and 2, "the sopranos cookbook".

neither are great tomes, but in perspective, my collection is more complete for me... :ohmy::glare::brows::respect:
 
buckytom said:
rabies aside, i'll bet no one here has my faves: "eat this, it'll make you feel better", vols. 1 and 2, "the sopranos cookbook".

neither are great tomes, but in perspective, my collection is more complete for me... :ohmy::glare::brows::respect:
Click to expand...

Sorry Bucky, but I can easily see you & raise you on those - lol! Have "The Sopranos Family Cookbook", "Entertaining with The Sopranos (as compiled by Carmela Soprano)", & several other "mafia"-based cookbooks. Also have a nice one of Italian favorites by Sophia Loren. I love these books because (outside of having been a BIG Sopranos fan) they're as much fun to read as they are to cook from. :)
 
lol, actually, i've made a few dishes from the sopranos cookbooks, and they sucked. way overcooked or bad techniques.

i have a copy signed by uncle junior if anyone's interested...

still, dom delouise's books are very good, both for reading his stories, and the recipes therein. lots of recipes from famous people of the 60's and 70's, the rest of brooklyn italian american. his mama knew how to cook.
 
Another fun one to read that I own (although I haven't cooked from it yet) is "Shut Up and Eat", comprised of vignettes & recipes from a number of Italian-American actors who've acted in all the Mafia movies we know & love.

Terrific book.
 
thanks, i'll look for it.

i'm not a fan of the mafia genre having seen a little of the reality of it in my lifetime, but many italian americans have and regardless of morality, they can cook well too!
 
buckytom said:
but many italian americans have and regardless of morality, they can cook well too!
Click to expand...

They sure can cook!!

Back when I was still a sweet young thing (& yes, it WAS long after dinosaurs roamed the earth - lol!), I waitressed at a small restaurant where one of the chef/owners had relatives "in the life". We became fast friends, & over a period of several years I had many absolutely fabulous authentic Italian meals with him & his family.

One thing that does stick in my mind was when I was being stalked & harassed by some weirdo, said friend did let me know that if it continued beyond what I wanted to deal with, all I needed do was let him know, & the situation would be "taken care of". I wonder if that guy knows what a favor I did him by not taking my friend up on his offer - lol!!
 
ah, but then you'd owe them.

forever.

that's how it works.

in reality, they're nothing more than any other dirtbag criminal.

people need to stop watching movies and get real about it. every time you hear of toxic chemicals dumped on an abandoned site, or truck hijacking, or needles and medical waste on the beach, right down to car and other petty thefts, you can bet there's an organization behind it. just because one dresses and eats well and has a love for their nonnas doesn't make it better.

:soapbox:

anywho, where's the sunday gravy...
 
Oh man - the "Sunday Gravy". It was to die for!! And don't even get me started on the Christmas Eve seafood feast. No one could ever do it better in my book.

He wasn't involved in "the life", but a number of his family members were. I just met them socially & always had a good time & FABULOUS food.
 
LOL!!! I'm just kidding you - I don't condone "the life". I was in my very early twenties & just loved him & his family for who they were personally. Never got into the rest of it except for that one time when I had a creep stalking me. And the subject only came up after I had contacted the police & was told by them that they couldn't do anything until the creep actually attacked me. Nice, huh?
 
buckytom said:
rabies aside, i'll bet no one here has my faves: "eat this, it'll make you feel better", vols. 1 and 2, "the sopranos cookbook".

neither are great tomes, but in perspective, my collection is more complete for me... :ohmy::glare::brows::respect:
Click to expand...

Actually, I have one recipe, for eggplant balls, that supposedly came from Dom's book. It was very good. I just may have to buy it now.

eatthisdomdeluise.jpg



[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Eat-This-Itll-Make-Feel-Better/dp/0671622102/ref=pd_sim_b_1#noop[/ame]
 
OK, I have to bring this up because I love cookbooks and cooking gadgets.
I have collected books for over 10 years and I am still buying.

FryBoy, thank you for your pictures, a very impresive collection :applause::applause:

HERE is my collection and it is growing... just today I got 3 more
 
LOL!! Oh my GOD!!!

You are one serious cook and collector and internet-user, Cuisinette!

Very impressive!

What do you think of SilverSage's suggestion (above) re: paying $50 for life, to online index your own cookbooks?

Sounds like a terrific idea to me, but I only have maybe 30 cookbooks and am keeping to that number (when I get a new one as a gift, either the new one or an old one has to go - I don't have the room to add).


Lee
 
Wow Lee, thank you for pointing that up... I didn't read the post... I went back and saw it... that is a great deal and I think I'll do it.

I love cookbooks printed before computer time. I find all the recipes authentic.
 
When I posted that a year ago, the lifetime membership was available because the site was still in beta. They were trying to build a base while the site only had limited libraries.

They have since added the entire Amazon library, and done a whole rewrite on the site. It just keeps getting better - I'm very pleased with it.

BUT.....the lifetime membership is no longer available. It's now only an annual membership. I believe they still give a free trial period so you can try it before you decide.

Check it out.
 
Joy of Cooking, Beard on Bread, The first Moosewood, The Victory Garden Cookbook. Still a favorite is one DW picked up at an estate sale in Chardon, OH years ago that I still use frequently: The Settlement Cookbook. It contains recipes you just don't find easily like elderberry pie. Also since it was written in the early 1900's convenience foods are non-existent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top