Latest Pages from Janet's Notebook
April 24, 2012
Go Bold With Butter: Spreading The Joy of Home Cooking
Go Bold With Butter: Spreading The Joy of Home Cooking
April 10, 2012
Potluck Recipes Feed The Spirit of Sharing
Potluck Recipes Feed The Spirit of Sharing
April 3, 2012
Cupcakes Add Sweetness to Memorable Easter Celebration
Cupcakes Add Sweetness to Memorable Easter Celebration
March 27, 2012
Welcome Sweet Springtime with Festive Candy Recipes
Welcome Sweet Springtime with Festive Candy Recipes
Community Cookbooks Spark Creativity, Preserve Traditions
Tue, Oct 25, 2011
"How did your cookbook collection start?" asks home cook Kathy Sterling in her Just A Pinch online discussion group, Cookbook Collectors Corner. "Perhaps someone gave you a gift and it started your romance with cookbooks, or you inherited your family favorite cookbooks." Indeed, Kathy's passion for cookbooks is shared by MANY of us here at the Club. There is just something so very special about sitting down and turning the pages of a recipe collection - one by one. Equal parts relaxation and exhilaration.
"I read a cookbook like most people read a novel," continues Kathy, a Blue Ribbon cook from Cypress, TX. "When I get a new one, it is by my bedside while I devour its contents. I didn't realize I had a cookbook collection until I started putting them together in one place! I had a few in the kitchen, some on a bookshelf in the den, some in a closet then low and behold they began to grow."
I couldn't agree more! My own love of cookbooks started with a stack of worn church cookbooks. My mom kept them stored in a drawer in our kitchen, and I'd pull them out to look at the pictures and read all the notes my mom had added. Each of the ladies featured in those books seemed so regal and important! I knew some of them as friends of my mom, but the others I got to use my imagination on! Simply put, the recipes from those cookbooks are among the best food I've ever eaten.
The Crew and I were tickled pink recently when we got to roll out our tribute to this tradition of community cooking: Custom Cookbooks! This is a new feature to our home here online. Compilation cookbooks of your favorite recipes - shared by cooks from all corners - are now a snap to create. We love organizing our recipes online, but we also never tire of flipping through a bound cookbook and wondering about the cooks and their stories.
Cookbook fan Kathy says it well; "I look [for] cookbooks with stories, regional books with pictures of the area it came from and family cookbooks with photos of gatherings." In fact, Kathy herself has her Blue Ribbon recipe for Tiny Pecan Pies featured in a Just A Pinch cookbook compiled by home cook Gail Welch of Carthage, TX! The cookbook, entitled "True Confections", is a delightful homage to Gail's family... and her obvious sweet tooth! "[This book is] dedicated to those who like things a little sweeter," writes Gail. With an absolutely charming family photo on the cover and pages chock full of time-tested recipes, Gail's book is truly an irresistible treat in itself.
Please join us in this celebration of community cooking - a tradition worth preserving.
"I read a cookbook like most people read a novel," continues Kathy, a Blue Ribbon cook from Cypress, TX. "When I get a new one, it is by my bedside while I devour its contents. I didn't realize I had a cookbook collection until I started putting them together in one place! I had a few in the kitchen, some on a bookshelf in the den, some in a closet then low and behold they began to grow."
I couldn't agree more! My own love of cookbooks started with a stack of worn church cookbooks. My mom kept them stored in a drawer in our kitchen, and I'd pull them out to look at the pictures and read all the notes my mom had added. Each of the ladies featured in those books seemed so regal and important! I knew some of them as friends of my mom, but the others I got to use my imagination on! Simply put, the recipes from those cookbooks are among the best food I've ever eaten.
The Crew and I were tickled pink recently when we got to roll out our tribute to this tradition of community cooking: Custom Cookbooks! This is a new feature to our home here online. Compilation cookbooks of your favorite recipes - shared by cooks from all corners - are now a snap to create. We love organizing our recipes online, but we also never tire of flipping through a bound cookbook and wondering about the cooks and their stories.
Cookbook fan Kathy says it well; "I look [for] cookbooks with stories, regional books with pictures of the area it came from and family cookbooks with photos of gatherings." In fact, Kathy herself has her Blue Ribbon recipe for Tiny Pecan Pies featured in a Just A Pinch cookbook compiled by home cook Gail Welch of Carthage, TX! The cookbook, entitled "True Confections", is a delightful homage to Gail's family... and her obvious sweet tooth! "[This book is] dedicated to those who like things a little sweeter," writes Gail. With an absolutely charming family photo on the cover and pages chock full of time-tested recipes, Gail's book is truly an irresistible treat in itself.
Please join us in this celebration of community cooking - a tradition worth preserving.
I owned a few books I had picked up trying to learn to cook on my own and they seemed to be where I had to go buy everything, everytime I wanted to cook, not everyday kind of cooking. I wanted more and ended up seeing some books my mother in law used, which were from a sister church and people we knew and also were German style in some cases due to strong german village and in some cases relatives of my mother in law. The books were more of an on-hand recipe kind of book which I liked and easy to follow. They had just put out their second book and I wanted them so I went to buy both but one was out of print so I bought the new one and loved it but eventually buying the first one and loving it more. a Few years later they came out with their third book and I wanted it quickly, from then on I wanted cookbooks to see what was in them I could find to cook easy recipes, they had to sound really good for me to try them. I collected recipes from magazines at doctors offices or books or wherever I could get them from. I was hooked and in love with knowing I could cook finally, no more hamburgers and Hamburger helpers every night. My favorite has always been desserts to make I think it is because I get more gratification from it than I do just making meals everynight and getting no gratification from that. But my cookbook took off growing with no place to start putting them, most of them, sit on a shelf waiting for me to have the energy to cook or bake but I am always energized with Christmas baking of candy, treats, snacks, dips, & now soup for Christmas eve after the christmas eve service at 8:30-9:00 at night to open packages til 12:00 and having a good time with Family that usually enjoys my cooking and are upset if I do not bring their favorites which I try to do with a few new recipes I came across.
This is such a fun topic.
I have an eclectic cook book collection, I also read them like a novel. If I get a new one, I read it from cover to cover I can't put it down. I like the old fashion one's.
I read the cook books then create my own dish. I guess that's how many do it. :-)
I haven't posted a recipe yet, but I will get energized and do it soon.
I like quick and easy one's as I can't stand up all day the way I used to. I don't cook much these days, but still love to create in the kitchen when I am able.
Blessings~