Fun Stuff
Cookbooks!
Cookbooks are fun.
And yes, I'm doing two Fun Stuff posts in a row. I was seeking an idea for an upbeat book post. The only inspiration for a post that came to mind today was how upbeat and fun cookbooks can be!
Just think about it: cookbooks cover hundreds of culinary subject matters on all levels of expertise. At the used bookstore here in my town there are shelves and shelves of cookbooks. Are you a vegetarian, vegan, a lover of barbecue, French cuisine, Italian cuisine, pastry, desserts, soups? Are you a beginner, a parent wanting to instill a love of cooking into your child, an expert baker looking for ideas for a unique wedding cake? Are you on a low fat, gluten free, or cardiac diet?
There are multiple cookbooks out there to cover any contingency. But I know what some of you reading this are thinking. Cookbooks take room on your shelf or your kitchen counter top. Why not just go to one of the many options on your computer to find a recipe for what you have in mind?
Okay, I do that sometimes. There are a few cards in my recipe box that come from one of those sites when one of the cookbooks on my own counter couldn't deliver what I was looking for. But every time you go to these sites you wade through countless advertisements and clever enticements to sign up and commit yourself to membership. My personal preference is turning the pages of a cookbook instead.
Cookbooks have stories! There's the cookbook put out by the Crisis Pregnancy Center I used to work for. It has a number of great recipes I use on a regular basis, and is big enough to occasionally find something new that works for the occasion. Plus it brings back memories.
There's the smaller Cooking With Altitude cookbook that I purchased from the hospital gift shop which the volunteer ladies put together as a fundraiser. My low fat chicken alfredo recipe is in there, and the best roast beef recipe ever, hands down.
The first cookbook I ever owned was a wedding gift, The Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. When that 'new' cookbook fell apart (it didn't help when I set the back cover on a hot stove burner) my husband and a thoughtful son-in-law found one on line just like it and bought it for me. There are just too many recipes in there I rely on not to have a copy.
There will always be at least a dozen cookbooks available in my kitchen.
There will also always be the beat up recipe box with my mother's walnut bar recipe, an old friend's lemon bar recipe, several recipes hand printed on index cards from cookbooks that couldn't be salvaged and were one of a kind. .....
Well, I love cookbooks and I had shelves built in my kitchen to accommodate my favorites. The internet is a wonderful resource, but my cookbooks tell stories.
ReplyDeleteI have my grandmother's recipe card file and a leather binder full of recipes she collected. I have a binder I created, one of a set I gave as gifts one Christmas to the women in our family. I have a "new" Betty Crocker's cookbook that I received when I graduated from college and didn't know how to boil potatoes. It and a Better Homes and Gardens book taught me how to cook.
Several years ago, I put together a cookbook for a group of 20 or 30 friends, collecting recipes from everyone, finding or shooting pictures to illustrate them, and folding in stories about our friendships. I made another for the nephew who loved to help me in the kitchen.
I even have a 19th Century Fannie Farmer, passed down through four generations.
Some are falling apart, even without being set on a hot burner. Most have spatters that reveal which recipes I cooked a lot.
I have sort of been working on a new personal cookbook, shooting photographs to illustrate it, and writing stories for the cooks who will come after me, so they know how this dish or that came to be part of our traditions.
DeleteI've noted that the reason my great-grandmother baked the golden cake was because she had a dozen egg yolks leftover after baking her real fruitcake with a dozen egg whites.
I recall the years our family churned out scores of batches of bourbon balls to give to my father's customers at Christmas, a tradition that started because he couldn't afford to hand out the fifths of expensive whiskeys his customers expected.
Maybe no one will care. But I suspect future generations will have at least one like me, who will enjoy reading it as well as using it.
You are a woman after my own heart, and true lover of cookbooks. But my own stock of cookbooks and my recipe file would look very second rate compared to yours. Thankfully we aren't having a contest here.
DeleteI am guessing that most of my recipe collection will not survive me, it is too personal and there are no daughters who have shared my kitchen or the memories. Perhaps my sister and the boys will pass on some of it.
I don't have any children, much less daughters. Sometimes, I doubt if anyone will care . . . but then I think it is worth the chance.
DeleteWe never know, do we? Besides, the work you put into those cookbooks for friends will always be remember by them. That is a real labor of love.
DeleteThere's a young woman, that went to our former church, who threw out all her cookbooks because she was exclusively using the internet! I can't imagine not having my cookbooks. I use them. Although I could get rid of some. I always think I might want one someday and wonder why I was so foolish to throw it out.
ReplyDeleteWhen my mom broke up housekeeping I received all her cookbooks and recipe file. It is in all tote. I have not done a thing with it. Someday. Someday. She was a good cook. As was her mother before her.
I have a favorite memory of my mom pulling her favorite cookbook, the "Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book" copywrite 1950, out of a bottom draw. She reading it with her elbows on the counter. When she was finished, she would drop it in the draw and kick the draw shut with her foot. Needless to say, it wasn't long and one of the covers broke off. She continued to use it that way for years. Not long ago I found a remake of the same cookbook and bought it. The recipes are good but not as healthy as our recipes are today. I still am glad I bought it. It brings back fond memories.
FYI. About wading through the "countless advertisements" -- you might consider getting an ad blocker. I use Adblocker Plus. It blocks 100s of ads on anyone sight. One time it blocked 1,000. It occasional asks for money but have not paid anything, so far. If a site asks me to disable my adblocker I never do. It's not worth the risk.
I received a notice for this post. Maybe they changed their minds.
Happy Memorial Day!
Thanks so very much for sharing your cookbook memories - and the tip about blocking ads. You two totally make my case for enjoying cookbooks.
DeleteI agree, old timey recipes were not health conscious, one reason I pass over many as for the fried chicken, etc. And a few even call for ingredients no longer available. But that still leaves a treasure trove of possibilities. Plus, some can be altered and still be delicious.
Yes indeed, may we honor Memorial Day. The flags are all flying on Main St., a wonderful sight to see.
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DeleteHere I go Mary Jo. I don't comment very often, as you well know. But there were a few cookbooks belonging to our mother that have disappeared over the years, and I get hungry for her spicy meatball over rice, or the one for date bread that was so good, and I've never found one as good. Who eats date bread any more? ME!! People who have never eaten warm date bread with a thin slice of cheddar cheese have never really lived!
ReplyDeleteBut I do have several that I love to use regularly. I especially love the ones made as fund raisers that include many favorites from a variety of people. I'm am not an avid baker, but occasionally I just have to have this cake or that casserole. The ones that bring back childhood memories are the best.
Keep blogging, Mary Jo. I do so enjoy them.
I've wondered where those recipe books went too. Egads, I had forgotten all about that date bread! But you are right, it was yummy warm with the cheese. The spicy meatballs do not ring a bell. Time to consult with some cousins and see if they might have those recipes.
DeleteHow interesting! I have many cookbooks and have considered giving them to the “Treasures” store here in town or placing on a garage sale. I also have so many hand written recipes of my Mother and don’t want to part with them. She wrote a comment by a recipe in a homemakers cookbook called “No Peek Chicken” with the note “I peeked!” Mary Jo and Ellie - I have recipes from Aunt Cena Geurkink (Rademaker) and Aunt Alma Rademaker. Aunt Cena’s homemade donuts are the best! I know I have date bread recipes so will check that out also.
ReplyDeleteYou are a gem, Rosie! Thanks so very much for coming, and for your great memories. Plus, you may supply Ellie with a long lost recipe.
DeleteDon't temp me with home made donuts.... Grandma and those aunts made the Best yeast recipes....
Hi Cousin Rosie. I vaguely remember my grandma Rademaker making a Dutch dish called something like fedicullis. Have you heard of it? Also, Dad used to make sour milk pancakes from Grandma's recipe. When I begged for the recipe, he put me off. They were the best pancakes I ever ate. They were thin like a crepe. If you know anyone with that recipe, could you pass it on?
ReplyDeleteI think mom got the recipe for the spicy meatballs from someone after we moved to Phoenix, so not surprised you don't remember that one, Mary Jo. But oh, they were delicious. Now I'm getting hungry, and it's not even lunch time yet.
Hi Ellie....I started thumbing through some “old” recipe cards of my Mother and
DeleteSour Milk Pancakes” appeared! But...she didn’t write down who gave her the recipe! Anyway, here it is: 2 eggs (well beaten); 2 cups sour milk; 1/2 cup sour cream OR 4-6 Tablespoons crisco; 2 cups sifted flour; 1/2 Tsp. baking powder; 1-1/4 Tsp soda and 1 tsp salt. Now for the fedicullis.....I have never heard of it and Google doesn’t seem to know either. A word that popped into my mind was fedirillicus! I know that is not a correct spelling and I don’t remember what it was! But will check with some of my “Dutch” friends and and perhaps someone may know. I also found a Date Bread of Aunt Cena - let me know if you’re interested in it. A Jelly Roll recipe from Inez V. and Tomato Catsup from Aunt Ella Rademaker. I will be interested to hear if you try the pancakes!