My name is Amanda and I’m a recipe hoarder. By looking at my cookbook collection, you’d think that I must cook and bake all the time. Especially if you also look at the “recipes” folder on my computer or all the pages torn from magazines in my recipe binder or my old-school recipe box filled with hand-written index cards... The truth is, there are several cookbooks that I haven’t made a single recipe from. Or maybe I’ve made one or two. Yet I keep buying more cookbooks. While I rarely buy novels, preferring instead to borrow them from the library, I must own cookbooks. I love to page through them and put sticky notes on everything I plan to make. Maybe I make them, maybe I don’t. The point is that I never know when I might want a certain recipe so I like to have them all at my fingertips, just in case.
My favorite and most-used cookbooks are Veganomicon, Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, and The Joy of Vegan Baking. Happy Herbivore, a relatively recent addition, is probably going to make the list, as well. The others are all great but I may only use them for 1-2 recipes. Like the tofu scramble from Vegan Brunch. Or the taco seasoning from Go Dairy Free. Others have some delicious-looking recipes that I know I'll make...some day. Even those books I haven't used for recipes have useful tips, tricks, suggestions, such as Babycakes for gluten-free baking or Sweet and Natural for alternative sweeteners. In fact, I don’t think there’s a single cookbook in my collection that I regret buying. Although I cut it out of the pictures, the bottom shelf is stacked high with all my non-vegan cookbooks, many of which I still use for the "accidentally vegan" recipes or those that are easy to veganize. A favorite of these is the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (a.k.a. "the plaid cookbook").
New challenge for myself – make one new recipe a week from a different cookbook. For desserts, I’ll aim to try a new one each month. Will I succeed? Based on my track record, probably not, but I'll try.
Another challenge? Find a bigger bookshelf.
What are some of your favorite cookbooks?
The boxes of cards, clippings and torn pages along with the evolving collection of cook books tells the story of your life and the people who were a part of it.
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