Do you still use cookbooks?

At one time I had a library of cookbooks. I donated many to my local library. I still have a number of cookbooks, a few that I do not use or use seldom but I like the personal stories and culinary history included in the books. I have a much-used copy of Joy of Cooking. The binding is broken. The cover is stained. Many pages have splatters of cooking ingredients and notes jotted in the margins. Joy of Cooking was the training wheels of my culinary bicycle. I expanded my culinary world beyond Gumbo and Red Beans and Rice with Joy of Cooking. I have the two volume Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It is a major recipe and technical reference. It is not as tattered and stained as Joy but there are notes in the margins. I remember watching Julis's cooking shows and still enjoy the episodes that I find on Prime and You Tube.
I recently purchased a new cookbook, not new in the sense of being recently published but new to me. My latest acquisition is Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazen. WOW! Where have you been all of my life? The book arrived yesterday afternoon. I have been completely engrossed. I am reading it like a novel. Marcella is definitely the Julia Child of Italian cooking. There are no flashy photographs, and it is so much more than a compilation of recipes. The book is true to its name. Marcella addresses the essential with sections on tools, ingredients, how to shop for and use ingredients, and in-depth discussions on techniques for making sauces and pastas. She finishes the book with menu suggestions explaining why certain dishes should be served together. The book is so interesting that I will read it cover to cover before making a single dish. I am reading it with pen in hand and have margin notes even though I have not cooked a single dish.
There are You Tube videos that I plan to watch when I finish the book.
 
ElizabethB said:
At one time I had a library of cookbooks. I donated many to my local library. I still have a number of cookbooks, a few that I do not use or use seldom but I like the personal stories and culinary history included in the books. I have a much-used copy of Joy of Cooking. The binding is broken. The cover is stained. Many pages have splatters of cooking ingredients and notes jotted in the margins. Joy of Cooking was the training wheels of my culinary bicycle. I expanded my culinary world beyond Gumbo and Red Beans and Rice with Joy of Cooking. I have the two volume Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It is a major recipe and technical reference. It is not as tattered and stained as Joy but there are notes in the margins. I remember watching Julis's cooking shows and still enjoy the episodes that I find on Prime and You Tube.
I recently purchased a new cookbook, not new in the sense of being recently published but new to me. My latest acquisition is Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazen. WOW! Where have you been all of my life? The book arrived yesterday afternoon. I have been completely engrossed. I am reading it like a novel. Marcella is definitely the Julia Child of Italian cooking. There are no flashy photographs, and it is so much more than a compilation of recipes. The book is true to its name. Marcella addresses the essential with sections on tools, ingredients, how to shop for and use ingredients, and in-depth discussions on techniques for making sauces and pastas. She finishes the book with menu suggestions explaining why certain dishes should be served together. The book is so interesting that I will read it cover to cover before making a single dish. I am reading it with pen in hand and have margin notes even though I have not cooked a single dish.
There are You Tube videos that I plan to watch when I finish the book.
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Funny you mention Marcella's book, I just cooked her bolognese sauce recipe this weekend! I have only skimmed through the book and from your comment I think there's some hidden gems there I may have missed.
 
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I am seriously jazzed with Marcella's book. The more I read the more I learn. I am learning how I have been doing things wrong! I am also learning the difference between just good ingredients and stellar ingredients.
detroitdad I have an Emeril cookbook. I donated a Betty Crocker cookbook and numerous other cookbooks to Friends of the Library. They sponsor a semiannual book sale which benefits the library. I also have Exploding Kittens!
 
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