For years I've had an addiction to cookbooks.
I can't go by a book store, Williams and Sonoma, Marshall's, yard sale or anywhere that has a stack of books without scrounging for and browsing cookbooks. I can spend hours doing this.
It brings me such joy to hold them, flip through them, read the recipes - constructing the recipes in my mind/on my tastebuds as I speed read them. I love the cookbooks that have attitude, a plot if you will and some commentary - of course pictures are great too - particularly those that have cool presentation ideas. Invariably I go home with a stack.
Perhaps the funniest thing about this addiction is that I don't use cookbooks a lot for actually cooking - I use them for ideas, cooking time references, spice usage insights and quite frankly just find pleasure in reading them. Some people (and unnamed sisters) can curl up with a "Harlequin" romance, Daniel Steele, Anne Rice book but me... I curl up on the couch with cookbooks and get lost in them just as much as someone with a novel.. somewhere between appetizers and entrees.
Recently, perhaps out of necessity, I've had to hold myself back from acquiring new hand-held cookbooks. Whether it's due to running out of shelf space to put them on or just my realization as I get older that one can only have so many cookbooks I've been seeking out alternate fixes for my addiction. Luckily, with internet access or one of the dozens of surprisingly intuitive virtual "cookbook" downloadable apps for the smart phone I can get my fix virtually anywhere, anytime.
What I've found is that while I read the "hand-held" cookbooks more for pleasure, these virtual/digitally accessible cookbooks I actually DO use for recipes and direct instruction.
After a long day, perhaps while commuting home, just before leaving work or w/in minutes of coming through the front door I can pull up a recipe in minutes based on what I have handy or happened to thaw that day. See my blog home page for a few of my favorite "hit and run" recipe websites and/or Apps (I use iPhone but know many of these are available on other mobile devices). They simplify your life, help you make more efficient decisions on how to use ingredients you have on hand and can save a ton of time... not to mention on these digital channels you can get pretty good, often very candid commentary from people who have tried the recipes and get a bunch of ideas on improving them. Gotta love them!
If you too are a cookbook addict, recipe junkie and haven't crossed the line to using websites or apps to get your fix - you are missing out - come join the fun.
If you have favorite culinary websites or Apps that you find useful - please feel free to share/blog here about them.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment