How Many Cookbooks Do You Have?

[Andy M.]

I check out flea markets for them (SO drags me to them once or twice a year). I have found some classics for $1 to $3 each.

 

[bullseye]

It's a terrible sickness I know - [...] Blinders might help but I think I could smell all that paper!!!!!

Mmm! Paper infused with the smell of all those meals cooked from the pages of that cookbook. How could one not give it a good home?

 

[Swann]

Maybe 800 or more.

 

[abecedarian]

I haven't counted, but I'm guessing I have in the ballpark of 70-80. I've gotten a lot at garage sales, half.com, and overstock. With all the great resources on the net, you'd think I wouldn't keep buying them, and I HAVE become more selective, but there's still a huge draw to being able to pull out a tall stack of cookbooks and a notebook and curling up on the couch to dream and plan..

 

[BreezyCooking]

Oh goodness - I hate to think about it, since collecting cookbooks is an obsession with me. I probably have somewhere between 300 & 400. Everything from old first editions & out-of-print volumes, many inherited from old world relatives, to full series of authors I like, like Julia Child, Jeff Smith, the "Beautiful" series cookbooks, etc.

We did erect a small floor-to-ceiling bookshelf near the kitchen exclusively for cookbooks, but it's way way too small for even part of my collection, so I end up switching the volumes around to what I'm using at the moment. The rest are in stacks or packed away at the moment, awaiting when we start building our "library" shelves in a spare room. In addition to cookbooks, I also have tons of gardening books, & my husband also collects books that appeal to him. In fact, our house at the moment resembles a totally disorganized used bookshop - lol!!!

But getting back to cookbooks, one of my old favorites is a compendium of old restaurant menus put together by one of my favorite actors, Vincent Price & his wife at the time. Not only are the menus (& their old-time prices) a real hoot to read, but the recipes are absolutely priceless as to gourmet cooking in years gone by.

 

[Robo410]

since I've inherited half of mom's well over one hundred. more on the way tho...

 

[thymeless]

A few hundred. Many are small though.

 

[middie]

Not nearly enough. Maybe 10 if I'm lucky

 

[suzyQ3]

Oh goodness - I hate to think about it, since collecting cookbooks is an obsession with me. I probably have somewhere between 300 & 400. Everything from old first editions & out-of-print volumes, many inherited from old world relatives, to full series of authors I like, like Julia Child, Jeff Smith, the "Beautiful" series cookbooks, etc.

We did erect a small floor-to-ceiling bookshelf near the kitchen exclusively for cookbooks, but it's way way too small for even part of my collection, so I end up switching the volumes around to what I'm using at the moment. The rest are in stacks or packed away at the moment, awaiting when we start building our "library" shelves in a spare room. In addition to cookbooks, I also have tons of gardening books, & my husband also collects books that appeal to him. In fact, our house at the moment resembles a totally disorganized used bookshop - lol!!!

But getting back to cookbooks, one of my old favorites is a compendium of old restaurant menus put together by one of my favorite actors, Vincent Price & his wife at the time. Not only are the menus (& their old-time prices) a real hoot to read, but the recipes are absolutely priceless as to gourmet cooking in years gone by.

We bought the Vincent Price book, "The Treasury of Great Recipes," for my in-laws as a present and later inherited it. It's a perennial favorite on eBay and quite a beauty. It's one of close to 800 cookbooks we have that fill a large bookshelf in our family room and a specially made bookshelf in our breakfast room. I even have some in my office. It's an obsession with us.

Our collection is quite eclectic, with the oldest dating back to the late 1800s (a first edition "The Epicurean") and the newest on order (the latest Joy of Cooking). We tend to like mid-20th century -- guess it's the retro appeal. But if I had to choose my most cherished, it would be the handwritten recipe books and boxes with index cards from both my mom and my MIL.

 

[BreezyCooking]

SuzyQ3 - I did get two pristine copies of the Vincent Price book from E-Bay!! And they were definitely bargains. I bought the first one for myself, & then when I realized how interesting it was, I bought another one for my parents, who I knew would definitely appreciate all those old menus from their younger restaurant dining days. Mom positively adored it!! I definitely recommend it to anyone with older parents who used to dine out in the "good old days". The restaurant menus are from all over the country.

I'm also pleased to have inherited a few cookbooks from older relatives no longer with us. One in particular - a really old book on Czech cooking (since I'm 100% Czech). While I haven't done any cooking from it yet (since I have so many recipes from my parents to use), it surely is an interesting read into a culture.

 

[suzyQ3]

While I haven't done any cooking from it yet (since I have so many recipes from my parents to use), it surely is an interesting read into a culture.

Sometimes I still buy cookbooks because I actually want to cook out of them -- well, to be honest, my husband is the cook. But more often now, I buy cookbooks that interest me in other ways, just like your old Czech book interests you as a way learning about a culture.

I love and collect old Jello pamphlets, for example, even though the thought of Jello dishes makes me want to gag. But wow oh wow, those old booklets have the most beautiful lithos....they look like watercolor paintings.

 

[Elf]

Too many, I have a 5 shelf book case filled, plus 2 shelf cabinet filled with Pilsbury like bookets. My wife's though is if you can get 2-3 recipe from a book buy it.

 

[suzyQ3]

...It's one of close to 800 cookbooks we have that fill a large bookshelf in our family room and a specially made bookshelf in our breakfast room. I even have some in my office. It's an obsession with us.

Here are a couple of pics we took for insurance purposes.

 

[goboenomo]

I have about as many as you do on the bottom shelf of your second picture.

 

[marigeorge]

I have well over 500 at this point and keep on buying.

 

[Caine]

I have two: The Fanny Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook, which I bought about 35 years ago, and Martin Yan's Quick & Easy, which was a gift.

 

[Corinne]

I must have at least 500 - haven't counted lately. It's an addiction that I have to break. I've started to give some away here & there & plan to do a lot more of that in the near future.

 

[mrsmac]

I have 100s but can't stop buying them. I like to sit and look through them even if i don't cook anything from them! We have a series here put out by a womens magazine- The Australian Women's Weekly and I love them. i used to buy every new book as soon as it came out but now its too expensive with 3 kids, although the books are very reasonably priced.

 

[licia]

I don't have as many as you do, but I do have several hundred. The latest was the new Joy of Cooking that came yesterday. On Sunday a friend gave me a copy of a family cookbook. The family had made it in memory of their mother who passed away a couple of years ago. She was a wonderful cook and even tho what she made was usually simple, everything was always delicious. Different family members included her recipes and some of their own. I enjoy books that I know are personal to my friends.

 

[thymeless]

I have a few hundred, probably a third of which are electronic.

One site I webwhacked for my archives has been a great pleasure and resource.

http://www.bbonline.com/recipe/index.html

Probably 15% duplications in there under different titles, but still some great recipes and ideas and its free.