I have a collection of 200 cookbooks and am now a semi-vegan - no beef or pork, and very little chicken. I am looking for vegetarian cookbooks now and online is, I think, the best place to find vegan recipes. I am now old enough to "play with my food" and see what I can change in the recipes though! lol
Cookbooks, do you use them?
- Thread starter MilKii
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
cookinghomefood
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2006
- Messages
- 19
I buy when I need to be sure about some recipe and I cant find it online. I do not read everything. I just look at the pages of what I want and then keep it. I bought one recently containing 450 recipes but I only looked at the section for meatloaves.
PanchoHambre
Washing Up
I like cookbooks... I enjoy reading them for ideas. I rarely follow recipes true though.... sometimes I think I should.
CeliacFamilyCook
Cook
Check out Veganomicon. My vegan and vegetarian friends have been raving about so I picked it up. I've made a few recipes and so far so good.
To answer the OP: I have fewer than 10 cookbooks. I rarely use them, most of what I cook is in my head or I improvise as I go. I do keep The Joy of Cooking around for reference. I am not vegetarian, but I picked up Veganomicon to make it a tad easier to cook for my veggie friends. I have a few gluten free cookbooks that were given to me since I have a family full of Celiac's, but I have never even cracked the cover on those.
expatgirl
Master Chef
I love cookbooks and some so much that I've had to go out and get a second copy because the first one was falling apart (luckily my mother-in-law passed me hers for those that are out of print) I'm a sucker for magazines, too, The Chili Pepper, being one of the most interesting
LexLuv101
Assistant Cook
I have a small collection but ended up converting them all to the recipe boxes. I hated having a variety of books to sort through when in the mood for one recipe.
Adillo303
Head Chef
I have a few - 15 or so. Yes, I use them, like others here, I like to read them. If I am going to make somethiing special, I like to tead several recipies for what I am making and take a little from each.
AC
AC
jpmcgrew
Executive Chef
About two to three hundred I remember each one of them when I need to look something up. Sometimes I look for a certain one and then realize I gave it away. I have certain ones I go to on a more regular basis. I would buy more but I'm getting tired of buying one from mail order without actually being able to look at it and then find out it really was not what I wanted. Where I live there are no stores for books so I usually buy from Ebay. Afew years ago I was in Eugene,OR there was a huge used book store it was heaven I could have been in there for hours and hours going thru all the cookbooks they had.gussington
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2008
- Messages
- 2
Hi all,
My first post in this section (I have 19 cook books for yopur information - just counted them)
1) Good Housekeeping 'Cookery Book' - 850 amazing and simple recipes. Not much of a read but very useful.
2) Gary Rhodes - Keeping it Simple - for the way it's written and how it provides suggestions for alternatives to everything. well worth picking up and seriously under rated.
3) Moro - Mostly just for reading, but has some great recipes too for when you're feeling energetic!
4) Delia's complete cookery course - Recipes sometimes a little iffy but a great book overall. Just look out for her Nutmeg fetish!
5) The Crank's recipe book - Fantastic recipes (especially the soups) which I have regularly scaled up and used for up to 150 people at a time. They can be a bit 'wholefood' and worthy, but amazing recipes that actually work.
That's all folks
gussington
My first post in this section (I have 19 cook books for yopur information - just counted them)
1) Good Housekeeping 'Cookery Book' - 850 amazing and simple recipes. Not much of a read but very useful.
2) Gary Rhodes - Keeping it Simple - for the way it's written and how it provides suggestions for alternatives to everything. well worth picking up and seriously under rated.
3) Moro - Mostly just for reading, but has some great recipes too for when you're feeling energetic!
4) Delia's complete cookery course - Recipes sometimes a little iffy but a great book overall. Just look out for her Nutmeg fetish!
5) The Crank's recipe book - Fantastic recipes (especially the soups) which I have regularly scaled up and used for up to 150 people at a time. They can be a bit 'wholefood' and worthy, but amazing recipes that actually work.
That's all folks
gussington
Max Sutton
Senior Cook
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2008
- Messages
- 195
Love cookbooks!
I love cookbooks! I only have 57 cookbooks in my collection.
I go through my cookbooks and copy the recipes that look interesting onto recipe cards that I keep in my recipe box. When I cook or bake I only use my recipe cards.
Yes, I also get recipes from websites and TV cooking shows.
I love cookbooks! I only have 57 cookbooks in my collection. I go through my cookbooks and copy the recipes that look interesting onto recipe cards that I keep in my recipe box. When I cook or bake I only use my recipe cards.
Yes, I also get recipes from websites and TV cooking shows.
ChefJune
Master Chef
I sure do use cookbooks! I currently have around 300 of them, although I'm always going through and weeding out the ones that aren't pertinent.
Sometimes I make a recipe exactly, and sometimes I fiddle around with a recipe, and other times I just use them for ideas.
Every now and then one will really grab my attention and I will cook from it extensively. The most recent one of those was "Sunday Suppers at Lucques," by Suzanne Goin. I have to say that, altho some of the recipes have a lot of steps, every single dish I have made from that book is outstanding. Many have been reprised again and again.
Sometimes I make a recipe exactly, and sometimes I fiddle around with a recipe, and other times I just use them for ideas.
Every now and then one will really grab my attention and I will cook from it extensively. The most recent one of those was "Sunday Suppers at Lucques," by Suzanne Goin. I have to say that, altho some of the recipes have a lot of steps, every single dish I have made from that book is outstanding. Many have been reprised again and again.
AuntieV
Cook
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2008
- Messages
- 96
I do have regular meals that I cook without a cookbook for most meals but it is my goal to try at least 1 main dish and one other type recipe per week.
I have about 500 cookbooks in storage right now and have access to my Mom's cookbooks while I am their caregiver. Right now I am going through five+ years of magazines to see if there are any recipes worth trying. Mom never throws away Taste of Home and family magazines and she started with the first issue.
My main interest in cookbooks is the fund raiser books found at garage/estate sales and well loved cookbooks with notes in them from the previous owners.
I have about 500 cookbooks in storage right now and have access to my Mom's cookbooks while I am their caregiver. Right now I am going through five+ years of magazines to see if there are any recipes worth trying. Mom never throws away Taste of Home and family magazines and she started with the first issue.
My main interest in cookbooks is the fund raiser books found at garage/estate sales and well loved cookbooks with notes in them from the previous owners.
PieSusan
Washing Up
Whenever I bake, I sure do! Not always when I cook. My mom taught me how to cook and I make certain things the way she taught me.
I probably have around 30 individual cookbooks. And four years worth of Cuisine at Home. I'm currently in the process of leaving only a few in the kitchen, moving the rest to a bookshelf, and getting rid of what I don't want. The project involves typing recipes into a word processor for quick reference...and I am sick of it.
Oh well, I have to make counter space somehow
Oh well, I have to make counter space somehow
Glorie
Senior Cook
Love them!!
snack_pack85
Washing Up
I read cook books in bed to help me fall asleep. It doesn't help though because I just get hungry and have to get up for a late night snack a roo!
kitchenelf
Chef Extraordinaire
Got a couple new ones for Christmas. I'm sure I'll find some great recipes to cook exactly as written, and then I'll find some to alter to my personal taste!
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PieSusan
Washing Up
Absolutely!!!--especially baking books and soup books.
I also really love to read cookbooks like some folks read novels.
I also really love to read cookbooks like some folks read novels.
ChefJune
Master Chef
I just bought myself a great new one for Christmukkah... "My Love for Naples," by Anna Teresa Callen. She's the person I always turn to for "Italian advice," and the book is filled with the history of the area, as well as recipes. She lived in Naples from age 12 to young adulthood, and really knows the area well and loves it.
I know, I didn't NEED another cookbook, least of all Italian, but...
I'm making a baked rice dish from it for a dinner meeting next Monday.
I know, I didn't NEED another cookbook, least of all Italian, but...
I'm making a baked rice dish from it for a dinner meeting next Monday.
PieSusan
Washing Up
I just got my copy of Bakewise in the mail and returned the other to the library. I am going to do my best to learn more about the science of baking. I think some of it I have absorbed--I can read a recipe and know if it will work or not but I can't necessary explain why. It is just my experience in all the years of baking. I also know the function of certain ingredients. I think Shirley O Corriher will give me the finer points and I look forward to reading more of her book.
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