I have a confession….i think i may have a problem with collecting old (and sometimes new) cookbooks!
I love to scour the op shops and find those old classics i grew up with and those even before i was born. I love the wisdom, the cookery terminology, the fact that the recipes don't call for a packet mix or can of soup and that they have often stood the test of time.
I love when i find comments and notes written in the books that just add so much.
I love the stains on the pages of what were obviously favourites so i have to try them too! I love to come across a recipe for a dish i remember so well yet had almost forgotten.
I love the sense of occasion that older recipe books seemed to exude when talking about cooking, i love the handy hints that are often included and i love that the recipes always seem to work!
I do love some of the modern cookbooks but it is rare that i buy one….i will borrow from the library first and if it meets the grade i will spend the money on my own copy. I do however tend to buy books with creative children's recipes as i continue my quest to get Miss Ruby to eat something different! And i quite often pick up slimmer's recipe books at garage sales.
I love that my teenager now cooks from many of these books and will probably take a few when she leaves home….just as i did. I love that she has a zeal for following the recipes to the letter when i have perhaps become more complacent and just add my own touches. I love that she asks me to write those touches down!
I love that i can cook a meal from scratch for my family and create new family favourites of our own.
I love that these books are so inexpensive to collect when doing so from garage sales and op shops. I love when i recognise a book cover and i glimpse a memory from childhood before it disappears again…but i know it must have been good if part of me remembers it so i have to have it!
Perhaps i don't need all these books really….but then who knows when i may need just that particular recipe that i KNOW i remember from somewhere! Often the fun is in the searching and the cooking has to wait until another day!
Do you experience joy when you pick up an old or new cookbook? Do you collect recipes to pass onto your children someday?
Please tell me this isn't a bad addiction….i think the rest of the family are getting a little worried!
Warm Wishes….
Oh Jode, it is a charming addiction 🙂
-Jaime
Thanks Jaime!!
What a wonderful, warming addiction to have 😉 I love cookbooks too and actually my husband does even more than I do. I took lots of my mums recipes with me when I moved out and got a copy of the cookbook she used all the time 🙂 I think it is gorgeous that your daughter asks you to right down your little touches x
A useful addiction me thinks:) I inherited a pile of my Nanna’s recipes and I am enjoying, over time, trying them out.
What a wonderful inheritance to receive!!
I hear you Jode, I got to the life line book fest in Brisbane every year and have to hold myself back from buying a stack of recipe books.
Oooh I am such a sucker for an old cookbook too! I always look for the pages with the most food stains, because they’re the recipes that taste the best.