How Many Cookbooks- Just one more you need!

[susymac]

i love holiday cookbooks and have a whole stack of them...because our entire collection consumes most of the wall space of our home, my husband clears the holidays ones out as soon as christmas is over and they get swallowed up my the other cookbooks...but in trying to count the holiday ones..rough guess about 100 or so....can't wait for Nigella's new christmas one!! (it's ordered, but haven't got it as yet!)

[pooh4shr]

When it comes to books, I would have to say around 75-100, however, I tend to collect cooking magazines and booklets, that you find in your local supermarket and bookstores, as well. SO if you count thoses, my books go into at least, 150-200.

As for using them. I have used every single one at least once. I have somewhat of a photographic memory and like another member as stated, my recipes are more of a guide and if I feel something needs to be changed or substitued, I do so in my new memorized recipe. I do keep my books though and refer to them for new recipes later on.

Steph

[savoritall]

I have about 40 cookbooks and many magazines.  I finally went through the magazines and donated them to clear room.  Well, must have been to clear room for more because I am such a grocery checkout line magazine shopper.  Can't just leave them alone.  I do use some of my magazines and cookbooks.  I've always been called the "Queen of Substitution".  To me, the recipes are the "blueprint" to my "construction project".  (My husband is in construction...can you tell? ha ha)

I also read them like a book.  Just reading the ingredients is enough for me...but I do love cookbooks with stories, beautiful scenery pics, and beautiful food pics.

[savoritall]

I like that I'm not the only "substituting" cook around.  I write to the side of the recipe what I changed and when.  I also put a star by the page number and in the index.  That way I can quickly look through to what I've made before. 

I like the thought of looking at the choices of cookbooks and the memories of when and where they were purchased.  I went to Napa Valley this fall and bought alot of cookbooks...some of the recipes were what we ate in the restaurant, so I made a little note beside the recipe.  Can't wait to return to it for great memories of wonderful friends and food.

[Dreamer4ever]

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BillP wrote:
Here's a two part question: How many cookbooks do you own? And of them, how many do you actually use on a regular basis?

---

1. Way, way too many

2. About 3

Now see, in my house the question is how many of the cookbooks are actually worth using. And the answer is: not many.

[goddesszeppeli…]

about 15 or 20

I only use one, America's test kitchen!!

[thuff]

My husband is a chef, so I know we own over 100 cookbooks. I finally made him get his own large bookshelf for his office, because I couldn't keep the den clean for all the piles of books on the floor. We live in dallas (home to the half-price books chain of bookstores), so we still buy books. The good news is that I work in a large public library, and my husband has discovered interlibrary loan.

[TiggerBear]

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thuff wrote:
My husband is a chef, so I know we own over 100 cookbooks. I finally made him get his own large bookshelf for his office, because I couldn't keep the den clean for all the piles of books on the floor. We live in dallas (home to the half-price books chain of bookstores), so we still buy books. The good news is that I work in a large public library, and my husband has discovered interlibrary loan.

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And I thought I was bad for having 45.

[Afton]

I own less than twenty cookbooks, but I'm happy to say that I use nearly all of them regularly. I own mostly the photograph heavy type, and while I don't often cook from recipes directly they're great for inspiration.

[Mom_of_4]

I own about 10. That doesnt include the magazines I receive mothly. I use an old copy of Better Homes and Garden in a red and white checkered cover.

[Mece]

Too many to count but I use each of them for a special recipe.  Since I cook for some clients, I find a variety of books and ideas are great.  My fav --- Julia without a doubt.

[gerberagirl76]

Hi! My first cookbook is a paperback/dogeared edition of Strawberry Shortcake's favorite recipes, when the dolls were first popular in the late 70s/early 80s when I was a young child.

Now, about 20+ years later, I have more than 150 cookbooks, taking up more than 3 bookshelves in the house. During the last few years, I've begun collecting books from places when I travel such as New Orleans, Charleston, New York, Paris, Prague, Vienna, etc. I believe I've made at least 1 recipe out of each book and like to look through them from time to time for inspiration or for bedtime reading. I especially like the books that give personal anecdotes before listing the recipe, such as "Paris Sweets" or "The Essence of Chocolate." 

Honestly, some of the best recipes come from old homey books like junior leagues or local newspaper compiled books. I've been obsessed with making gumbo and red beans and rice.

[saucychick]

500. I'm cooking my way through each of them, one recipe per cookbook. If it's a success, that justifies having the cookbook. If it's a failure, I cook something else from book until i hit upon a winner. (In fact, I'm sharing the winners and losers on my internet radio program, Join Us at the Table, on which my co-host and I talk about food and culture. We've had a lot of great guests such as Alice Waters and Cat Cora. We're archived: listen in at blogtalkradio.com/joinusatthetable.

As for how many I use regularly, I have about 10 "bibles.''

[basson_mommy12]

I only own about 10 cookbooks and I have used them all pretty frequently, but my favorites are:

New Best Recipe

and

Classic Home Desserts  

I'm also a huge fan of "Fine Cooking Magazine" and "Cooks Illustrated."  I have several years worth of these gems.  Great sources!

  

[SPQR753]

Between my wife and I, we have about 35 cookbooks and we regularly use 6 to 8 of them. One of them deals only with ancient Rome' cuisine recipies :-)

[JoanieGranola]

I have about 20 or so cookbooks, and I only use one of them regularly. One of my resolutions for 2010 is to use more of them.

[Allison_Fishman]

Which is the one you use regularly, Joanie?

A

[Peppermill]

This question caught my eye on the Genre boards the past couple of days.

I haven't read this entire thread, but like some others, my own answer would be "too many," given considerations of space and usage, and especially given how little I cook for either myself or others these days.  Then, if you include copies of Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Weight Watchers, Southern Living, ..., most recently Food and Wine, well, anyway, you get the picture.

Joy of Cooking is still my standard reference. The Women's Day Encyclopedia of Cooking I hope never to have to part with -- I was successful in finding copies in better condition than my own that will go to my son and daughter-in-law.  None of my friends would want me to part with Julia Child's The French Chef Cookbook  for the chocolate mousse recipe alone  (two hardcopies; again, one to pass along).  I have an old church circle book that is full of my mother's handwriting, my childish script, and recipes Mom clipped from magazines and newspapers.  My most recent purchases, for myself and my children, have been for slow cooker (crock pot) recipes.

More and more I am turning to the Internet for recipes, sometimes combining ones I find there into something I remember or that seems like what I would want to create. It can be faster than searching my cookbooks. Sometimes we find a recipe from a magazine we are "sure" we have kept but cannot locate after doing some culling, like one for a Yule Log (Buche de Noel) from a 1980 Bon Appetit. 

There are also some recipes that I have "lost forever", like a gazpacho recipe and a marinated sliced steak recipe from an Apartment Life article (probably 1970's) on picnic fare.

Pepper

[dg]

I have way too many cookbooks and I use way too few of them.  I keep trying to weed them out and get rid of some but I just keep buying more that I can't resist.

The ones that I use most often are the baking books - I particularly love the Tate's Bake Shop cookbook and Martha Stewart's baking book.  For cooking I'd say my favorites are the William Sonoma books and books by Giada DeLaurentis, Ina Garten, Lydia Bastianich.  I also really love Donna Hay's books - very short simple recipes that are delicious and I often grab one when I'm looking for something different and I'm in a rush.  They're all clearly written and nicely illustrated. 

[kellybeans]

I have way too many cookbooks to count! I have The Joy of Cooking, a few Rachel Ray cookbooks, Nigella, Barefoot Contessa, Giada DeLaurentis and Cat Cora along with a few vegetarian, French, and Indian cookbooks.

My favorites would have to be Giada's pasta cookbook and Ina Garten's Back to Basics. I'm also obsessed with this new tapas cookbook that I just bought. It's great when you're having dinner parties because you can make a wide variety of small courses. My friends are also big fans of those recipes