What cookbooks would you 'save' ?

lucy*locket

Merrywidow wrote: »

What I really love and use regularly are the books they bought out with the Masterchef recipes from the programs when that irritating American, Loyd Grossman was in charge. They are short, sharp and very delicious. Recently I have been checking out charity shops as they have very many of the very old cookbooks, all can be bought for a few pounds. Am I the only person that thinks that modern day recipes are very rich and too filling?

Oh yes they're fab books, the presentation of the food is perfect and I use them as inspiration at work when we're catering for a function. I picked 2 up on Ebay last year.

Swan_2

morganlefay, what a good thread :T

I'm still trying to work out which books to keep if I absolutely had to get rid of some, & have succeeded in whittling it down to a mere 48!
I'm now at the stage where I'm choosing the books I really enjoy & ditching ones where I only like the recipes, because I can just cheat & write them down in my battered old A4 index book

but I'll keep trying, & if the list ever gets to a reasonable size, I'll post it

Chris25

vixtress wrote: »

we are sorting the kitchen out after decorating and i have just returned from taking 3 carriers of cook books to the charity shop :eek:

rescued were:


a 1970,s st michaels (M&S) freezer coook book

i am quite proud of myself for being good and 'getting rid'

I have that one too and the only reason I haven't got rid of it is because I gave it to my Mum for Christmas 1977.........well, so says the inscription in the front
But there's no point in being sentimental especially as Mum never cooked anything from it anyway she cooked a mean stew and made very good jam but that was it as far as cooking goes

Merrywidow

Well Well, SWAN - you have made my day. Both my husband and I worked for Time Life Books in Amsterdam for 30 years and I have every single one of the cook books they produced over the years. We got them free but with Foods of the World, I too topped up the American publications just as you have. You and I seem to be the only ones with these books. Guess you and I are of an age and the others too young to have ever heard of them. The cooking of Spain and Portugal's recipe for Paella is still used today. It is really grotty and greasy but I still treasure it.

Swan_2

Merrywidow wrote: »

Well Well, SWAN - you have made my day. Both my husband and I worked for Time Life Books in Amsterdam for 30 years and I have every single one of the cook books they produced over the years. We got them free but with Foods of the World, I too topped up the American publications just as you have. You and I seem to be the only ones with these books. Guess you and I are of an age and the others too young to have ever heard of them. The cooking of Spain and Portugal's recipe for Paella is still used today. It is really grotty and greasy but I still treasure it.

WOW!

it was these books that sparked my interest in cooking, before that all I'd ever done was boil an egg & make a Vesta curry

one of the books arrived in the post at my parents home, seemingly unsolicited, they were going to send it back, but I had a look & was instantly hooked
I collected the whole of the British set, & I loved them, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, in a moment of sheer madness I gave them all away, books & recipe files, the lot :doh: :doh: :doh:

the ones I have now are only the recipe files, I re-collected (is that a word?) them from ebay, but they all seem to come from the USA & the postage on the big books themselves is prohibitive, if I'm ever well-heeled enough, I'll have them all again

the photography & the narratives were wonderful ... didn't Lawrence Van Der Post write the African one?

it's so nice to meet someone else who is familiar with these lovely books

Merrywidow

Swan - it must have been sheer madness to give them away - I could never do that. I have the two other sets, the last one being a healthy cooking version. I also have some enormous US ones, Great Dinners from Life and a Heritage book - a lot of them are currently boxed in the Garage from lack of space awaiting their new bookshelves that are recently completed. I never give them away - I just build more shelves! When my husband and I moved to England I bought with me all my Dutch cookbooks so I could cook his favourite meals. Hey Ho, I now have a Polish sister in law who gives me Polish cookbooks and as she is Vegetarian I have now started to collect Veggie books too

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never ends. Did I mention all the hundreds of clippings from magazines and newspapers- he ho - I must really stop!!!!

Swan_2

hi Merrywidow,
I loved my T & L books, it was my (now Ex) husband who 'encouraged' :mad: me to get rid of around 75% of the books I owned, some of which I'd had since I was a teenager
for example I watched him give two crates of them to his friend who only wanted 'filler' books to impress people in his new home :rolleyes:

anyway, now I can have all the books I want, within reason given my financial constraints, any time he visits (I still have our youngest son living with me) it drives him crazy to see the books multiplying, & he can't do a darned thing about it

your books sound wonderful, I wonder if our library might have some of them I could look at? must check it out

talking of Polish food, one of the best recipes I got from the Foods Of The World books was for Bigos, it's absolutely delicious (definitely not veggie though) & I can remember my Polish stepfather's surprise to find a Scotswoman who could make his favourite dish from home

I did have the foresight to write down the recipes I liked & have used them again & again over the years
I got my favourite Chilli Con Carne recipe from the American book, the one with the beautiful Strawberry Shortcake pic on the cover, & the first time I made it almost killed everyone who ate it! as at the time I didn't know that American chilli powder is not the same chilli powder in the UK
a surprising thing when I finally got a copy of that particular book again, was to find how my present version of the recipe differed from the original, as I'd cooked it so often & had gradually tweaked & adapted it

funnily enough, I have to call my joiner today about building me some shelves ... anyway, I'm rambling now, insomnia, was good to talk about those books



OP, I'm no nearer a sensible list, I fear I'm a hopeless case

Merrywidow

Ahhh Yes, Swan - its usually the men who never cook that react to our collections. My late husband knew he couldn't stop me but he still muttered endlessly. You have encouraged me to dive into the garage for the boxes of books. The Foods of the World have been there for two years now. I was lucky when working for Time Life (not T & L) as my office was next to the Trade Department and I was able to "aquire" the plastic binders that held the book and recipe book in their own pockets. Not only do I have hundreds of the cook books but they produced umpteen other series on Gardening, Crafts, etc, and I have them all. (In boxes) When I moved to England I counted 800 odd. Time to give them away I think before they become 'history'. I wouldnt mind having your Chili recipe tho.

rach

I'm a bit the same in that I have quite a few cookbooks but don't often use the recipes...more use them for inspiration!

I do love Nigella Express, especially the sweet treats in there.
I use Jamie's original book for risotto and other simple recipes but I've never really used his other ones
My current favourite is Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite book; there are some really lovely easy recipes in there.

I think I'd find it hard to get rid of any of my cookbooks!!

mose_2

The silver spoon, Jamie's italy and 1080 recipes