Cookbooks

I used to be a collector. When I first got married 20 years ago (and I got married young, by the way. I'm not that old!) I went through a cow phase. Then I achieved more sophisticated taste and I moved on to vintage glass swizzle sticks. I still have hundreds of them all packed up in shoe boxes. Then it was depression glass. I sold most of my pieces, save for the family pieces and ones I really loved. This was all BK (before kids). Once we started our family, I decided that I no longer had the time or inclination to acquire, and then dust, collectibles. And while I love "cute shit" as much as the next person, and I love looking at it when it's in other peoples' homes, I don't want it in mine to worry about getting broken, or cleaning it, or whatever. There is one thing I still collect though. I don't have to worry about keeping them clean, or whether the kids can break them or not. Cookbooks! Oh, do I love cookbooks. I can sit down and read a cookbook like it's a bodice-ripping novel.
Here's my collection on the middle shelf: It's right above my work station. This it where it happens; I pay bills here, surf the internet, browse my cookbooks. That's Pioneer Women's Calendar hanging on the wall to the left. That's where I track how many miles I ran on a certain day, swim lessons, MOPs stuff, etc.
Here's a close-up view. You can see I love Gooseberry Patch cookbooks. I also have a Giada DeLaurentiis and a Barefoot Contessa one in there, not to mention a few Rachael Ray:
This is my favorite cookbook. My cousin Kristen gave it to me for a bridal shower gift back in 1988. It's one of those blank ones that you add your own recipes to. She added a few of her favorites and over the years I've added my own. While I love to cook, but loathe baking, you'd better believe the Main Dishes and Vegetables sections are chalk full of recipes and the desserts and cookies sections are kinda bare:
It has to be a tried and true recipe that I make in my regular rotation in order to make it to this cookbook. For example, my friend Denise's recipe for Penne in Vodka Sauce. Love it!

I've got not one, but two, of what I call "Holy Grail" cookbooks. The first one is my Little House Cookbook. I bought it at Wall Drug Store in South Dakota. I've never made anything from it, but I love all things Laura Ingalls Wilder and let me tell you, it makes for some good reading:My most very favorite cookbooks in the whole entire world are those fund-raiser cookbooks, most particularly church cookbooks. I mean, where else are you going to find such great recipes with great sounding names like "Better than Robert Redford Dessert" or "Maid-Rites" (did you know that's what Iowans call Sloppy Joes?! Neither did I!). So when I found this little number, I knew I'd struck gold:
Yes, this is definitely the kind of collecting The Mister can get behind. I'll always believe the old adage that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. It's true.

FF