Monday, July 28, 2014

SECRETS OF A COOKBOOK HOARDER

There was a time when I could spend hours and hours reading. Summertime was my favorite time. Going back to my childhood of reading novels, I particularly liked series.

My favorites were “Little House on the Prairie” and “The Bobsey Twins”. When one book ended, I eagerly awaited the next in the series.

I thought my children would like reading if I could hook them on a series as well.

For the eldest of Mother’s Little Helpers, there were “Boxcar Children” and “Pee Wee Scouts”.

His first hand in the kitchen was replicating a cookie recipe from one of the Pee Wee Scouts books. I may even still have the handwritten recipe that he wrote for me over 20 years ago.

For my middle helper, it was “Sweet Valley” series and for the youngest helper, it was the “Goosebumps” series of books. The older two were voracious readers; the youngest had more distractions, read as video games. as competition for a good book.

For myself, I discovered another type of book that I enjoyed reading. Cookbooks!

A nice feature to a cookbook is that you can read a section. I was a busy working mom. Unlike a novel that goes on and on for chapters, a cookbook is segmented into topics. You can start at any place in the book, and not always at the beginning. How “novel” is that!

Recently, I discovered that I’m somewhat of a cookbook hoarder. I had not realized this until doing some cleaning and reorganizing just how many cookbooks that I’d purchased over the past three decades.

I made an honest attempt to consolidate.
I had three piles: the 'donate' pile, the 'keep' pile and the 'not so sure' pile. The donate pile was too small. The pile of cookbooks to keep was too large and nothing made it onto the “not so sure pile”. Why? Because every time I touched a cookbook, I’d start reading.

All these books, and yet I still can’t decide what to make for dinner.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: With the invention of the internet, there are so many cooking and recipe websites. Save resources, use the web. If you must touch a cookbook, visit the local public library and borrow it. You have already paid for those books with your tax dollars.
                                  THE "KEEP" PILE OF COOKBOOKS
 
 

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