Cookbooks: How do you treat them?

[lulu]

As regards family books, my mother kept her books well, they are a little tattered, but the ones she has already handed over are treasured. I have books/handwritten collections not just from my mother and sister, but, very specially, from my grandmother, great grandmother and great great grandmother and her sister (they made a surprising amount of candy!). These don't come into the kitchen with me, but, the things that ,make them special to me is that I can tell the things read most often, by the dog ears, the notes in the margin and splatters. That's kind of special to me.

I dream of not being a messy cook, I keep a damp cloth by me and wash up as I go as far as I can, but I still spill and splatter.....I guess I am just messy. My handwhisker and I can create a mess in seconds.

 

[philso]

... -- my Korean cookbook that disappeared a year ago, and no one I now know would even dream of making a Korean meal. So where did that one migrate to?

in spite of what our moms have told us about umpteen bazillion times, we all know that some things do indeed just get up and walk off on their own. i'd say that the most likely scenario is that your cookbook just couldn't handle Galena, IL any more and one night it just got up and started to hot-foot it down the road. probably in alaska or siberia round about now.

most of us understand that cookbooks need to be communicated with, whether praised or cursed. i respectfully suggest that next time you get a foreign cookbook you try to pick up a smattering of the lingo.

 

[KathyJ]

I try not to splatter in my cookbooks, but I will write in them. I love picking up an older book and seeing which recipes the previous owner had tried and liked or didn't like.... I have an old Searchlight one where there are extra recipes written on every available empty or semi-empty page. Loved it!
Also nice to have my mom's and see her notations.

I do have a question in regards to storing...
I've been trying to find some kind of space for my books in my small house. One of the spots that might be available (haven't measured yet) is right to the side of our wall heater. Will that damage the glue in the bindings after a while? I could maybe set up a fan to blow the heat in the other direction... if that'll even help... ???
Someday, we will have a full-house heating and ar system, but that might be a few years off.

 

[suzyQ3]

One of the spots that might be available (haven't measured yet) is right to the side of our wall heater. Will that damage the glue in the bindings after a while?

It's not an ideal spot (scroll down to From the Office -- Caring for Your Books). But let's get real here: How many of us have ideal display space away from any heat, moisture, or sunlight?

 

[TATTRAT]

I think a few splatters gives the books character. I have ones that have been passed down from my great grandparents and even further back from my moms side. I tend to take better care of those, but you can tell, they didn't mind a little splatter back then either.

 

[BigDog]

I use the cookbook the first couple times I make a new recipe, and then go from memory and usually modify it to various degrees.

If I go back and make something I haven't made for a while, I'll check the cookbook to refresh my memory, but that is about it.

 

[KathyJ]

suzyq3
where do I scroll to? can't find it. sorry, I'm having brainfade today. guess that happens when you only get 4 hours a sleep a night for a week!! hopefully, by Monday, I'll be normal again.

thanks.

 

[suzyQ3]

suzyq3
where do I scroll to? can't find it. sorry, I'm having brainfade today. guess that happens when you only get 4 hours a sleep a night for a week!! hopefully, by Monday, I'll be normal again.

thanks.

If you just scroll down a little bit, you'll see the heading "From the Office -- Caring for Your Books. I'll send you a cut-and-paste privately, just in case you still have trouble finding it. It's just one bookseller's opinion, but it seems to make sense.

 

[PytnPlace]

I used to write a lot in my cookbooks - and I still do in some of them. Well used cookbooks are signs of love INHO. I know that my daughter will love to read those stories and hints someday. Some of my cookbooks are to "glossy" for me to think about writing in. Nor would I consider writing in some of the vintage cookbooks that I collect.

 

[suzyQ3]

I used to write a lot in my cookbooks - and I still do in some of them. Well used cookbooks are signs of love INHO.

I totally understand. I used to write notes all the time in my cookbooks. And I cherish the recipes I inherited from my relatives, many of which were lovingly annotated. But when I buy an old out-of-print cookbook, I do tend to look for those in as pristine condition as possible.

Nor would I consider writing in some of the vintage cookbooks that I collect.

Exactly. So do keep in mind that the books you're writing in now will someday be "vintage" and that some of them will be very collectible for you or whoever is lucky enough to come into possession of them. An alternative to writing in the book would be to use note paper or 3- by 5 cards.

 

[Sararwelch]

I have one of those plastic cookbook stands that props up your book and protects the pages. I never use it. It just seems like a big effort, and most of the time I'm just trying to get a meal on the table in a reasonable amount of time.

I don't own any particularly valuable cookbooks, and I generally don't pay the full suggested retail price on what I buy, so I don't mind when I get them dirty.

 

[StirBlue]

Writing down the recipe on a piece of paper helps a lot. Most people glance at them and go from there.
On the opposite side of the paper list the ingredients and check the ones which are not staples and might need to be added to the grocery list. Also make a note of the tools needed, pots or pans.
Then make a schedule for the things that need to be made ahead like marinating. Anything else that will save time in order to make a meal. Making pie crust the night before or the morning of.
Write out the general instructions next and you will have a very good idea of what you are doing.
(I was making a chocolate cake in the microwave. I glanced at the cookbook for the time schedule for cooking. And might I add there were pictures of the whole process from mixing to frosting. My pan was the same in the picture. {but my pan was not the same size....I did not notice that I was 8 cups short}. I stopped the microwave before my batter ran over the top. I made another cake {my pan was 8 cups and the one in the book was 16 cups} It turned out very nicely. I had finished baking the other one in the oven.) Not writing down stuff can catch up with you fast.

 

[babyhuggies]

my older cookbooks are very well used. Splattered and torn missing pages
but they are the ones i use the most. I have just started to buy some new ones and so far have kept them like new(so far-hehe)

 

[Veloce]

We have a collection of older cookbooks in very good condition. When we use them they lay flat on the table just three feet from our main prep counter. We keep a piece of tempered glass in the bookcase to hold them open when necessary.

We also have a smaller collection of "working" cookbooks that are often used right on the prep counter and they show it. Some of these are duplicates of books in the collection.

 

[Jenyfari]

I like cookbooks that open out flat. Anything other than that and I get annoyed as when you are cooking you don't want the pages to flip over so you lose your place. So any cookbook that doesn't open flat i make open out flat so they can take a bit of beating....although having said that I now have a cookback stand that holds the pages back.

As for stains and splotches... that doesn't worry me too much. I just wipe them away.

 

[Half Baked]

My most-used cookbooks are a bit tattered and stained...the Fannie Farmer, and my first Joy of Cooking in particular. In fact, the hard-back cover actually came off my Joy of Cooking. I re-attached it, but I'd had a bit of the sippy when I did it, and the cover is now upside down.

Now that's funny Constance!

 

[Shaheen]

I love my cook books! I cover them with a thick plastic sheet so that they don't wear off on the edges. Then I arrange them on my book shelf. First cuisine wise, then height wise

 

[XeniA]

Just counted. I have 31 which surprises me. That's a lot considering I don't like to cook from cookbooks!

About 29 of those are in the "pristine" shape many of you like. Two of them, however, are the way I like them -- old, semi-broken or re-bound, stuffed with papers, notes written within (in pen yet!), pages folded down. Those two are: my very first -- "Joy of Cooking," the one I'd never be without, and; my "Paradeisi" which is the Greek equivalent, an old, reliable, straightforward book of basic Greek cooking.

For those of you who think the shape they're in is a shame ... time to re-read that most wonderful of children's books, The Velveteen Rabbit! Books live to be read and loved!

 

[suzyQ3]

Just counted. I have 31 which surprises me. That's a lot considering I don't like to cook from cookbooks!

About 29 of those are in the "pristine" shape many of you like. Two of them, however, are the way I like them -- old, semi-broken or re-bound, stuffed with papers, notes written within (in pen yet!), pages folded down. Those two are: my very first -- "Joy of Cooking," the one I'd never be without, and; my "Paradeisi" which is the Greek equivalent, an old, reliable, straightforward book of basic Greek cooking.

For those of you who think the shape they're in is a shame ... time to re-read that most wonderful of children's books, The Velveteen Rabbit! Books live to be read and loved!

So true about loving and enjoying books! And for the majority of posters here who have cookbooks, I'm sure they agree. The difference might come into play for those who fancy themselves collectors and view their books as having particular value. I imagine one would be hard-pressed to find a book collector who doesn't try very hard to buy and keep his books in as good condition as possible.

Now, collecting cookbooks poses a special problem, as opposed to those who collect fiction or some other genre, because cookbook collectors tend also to use the books for recipes. So a cookbook collector will probably try to avoid the "well-loved" approach and will take steps to preserve the books' condition.

Personally, I don't get too crazy. I have covered all dust-jackets with Brodart (mylar protection), and I've stopped writing notes in my books. But we still take them into the kitchen to use and enjoy.

When I buy used cookbooks, though, I will tell you that I pass on those that are not in at least very good condition. The only time I might bend on that is if I found a 1931 Joy of Cooking, which was the very first (self-published) edition. But then, I probably couldn't afford even a poor copy, so I'll just dream on.

 

[Aria]

I have many (won't take time to count) cookbooks. And of course I have my favorites. Mary Meade's Country Cookbook and Betty Crocker Cookbook. I have a collection of "real favorites" recipes. These are from friends and neighbors. I write or type the recipe on 81/2 x 11 plain bond paper. I have
5 white 3 rind binders in catagories. Breads Cakes Cookies Main Dishes
and Latest.

Each of the 3 ring Binders are divided into sections: Whole Wheat Bread,
Peasant Bread etc. This does make it easier to find the recipe .

Somehow I make selections from each cookbook....one may have an excellent Beef Stew, another may have favorite chicken etc. I have a contents list in front of each category..in my 3 ring binders.

And now that I joined the DC Forum I have one 3 ring binder with Latest.
The binders are "full". But there is always a new recipe I want to try.