Kitchen

[Sooner]

Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

Highly rated, loved by many, but I look at all of the notes and instructions and reading and think "I just want some cake!  Wonder if I have a Jiffy mix?" 

I thought if some of us add to this topic occasionally, it might help.  Help us bless someone else. And maybe have more room. Probably for more books...

[Meowingkitty]

I pitched most of mine years ago. I rarely made anything from them. I can find what I need free on the internet and it doesn't take up space. Plus I only do simple. If it needs a ton of ingredients, I'm out.

[LindaSal]

I donated a bunch of them when I downsized.   I mean how many cookbooks does one need?   In my case, we tend to always go back to our favorite recipes anyway.  We don't venture off into "new" very often.   Sometimes but not often, plus with ageing we have to pay attention to certain ingredients.

[J Town Girl]

I've never had what one would consider a lot of cookbooks and even with that I seldom looked at them.  Most of them centered around baking as that was my preference. I never was a big fan of cooking.  Most of our meals are very simple fare.  I'm not an adventurous cook and that suits us both fine.  

Since we've gotten older I want to watch our calories and sugar intake so I don't really do much baking any longer.  I miss it but I know we are better off without having all of those sweets around.  We will get an occasional cookie and share it or a small Frosty from Wendy's and that satisfies us.  

One day I realized that I most likely was never going to go back to those cookbooks so I just packed them up for donation.  I'm sure someone is going to enjoy the cakes, pies, cookies and rolls that they make from those books.  For us they were just taking up space.  

[Sooner]

Part of my problem is I love trying new things, new ethnic and regional food and new ingredients.  I am thinking we've probably settled on a way of cooking incorporating those things now, so I don't really need four Lebanese cookbooks and another four Mediterranean ones...and several bread bakingbooks.

But it is hard for me to let go of books--but I do it. But I don't like it. 

[KatieB]

You could donate them - take them to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.  There are probably a lot of women who like to have them but can't afford to buy them. 

Edited to add:

And I always like to 'read' cookbooks, sometimes there's a story with the recipes.

[AuntG]

My favorites are the seasonal cookbooks. In November, I'll curl up with my Christmas cookbooks and make a plan. I have a rule that if a new cookbook goes on the shelf, one has to be tossed.

[Sooner]

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@KatieB wrote:

You could donate them - take them to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.  There are probably a lot of women who like to have them but can't afford to buy them.

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@KatieB I agree with you.  I donate books to the Salvation Army--we always have a box or bag being filled with kitchen things, clothes and books!  

[Flatbush]

I have some cook books, not a massive amount,but donated two of them recently.Ouch.

I have been frequently looking for recipes on You Tube now. Some of them were total flops and some have turned out well.

The books I still have, I have had for many years, and I made notes in them.

I also made notes as to the first time I tried the recipe, so it's kind of a diary for me.

[software]

I love to bake, Cake Bible is a great book for bakers.  I like notes but I also do "Jump to Recipe" when searching online.  I have my limits!

In my current state of purge, I only keep my signed cookbooks.  

But this is my "bible", issued in 1982.  Every recipe by home cooks, all tried & true, some from generations past