Tuesday, May 1, 2012

My cookshelf

I have mentioned my cookbook addiction before and thought I'd chat about it today :-) I used to wonder if I was a bit weird in that I devour cookbooks like novels. There's nothing I love more than to curl up with a gorgeous cookbook and browse through the lovely photos and recipes and come up with new ideas and combinations of flavours. When I visit friends I always have a nosey through their cookbooks too.

There are many others out there though! Since I have started reading foodie blogs I have realised it's pretty common to enjoy cookbooks not only as something to use as a strict guide to follow, but also something to browse and just enjoy and not necessarily adhere to. My hubbie thinks my collection is getting a tad large, but I beg to differ, Nigella Lawson has over 4,000 cookbooks! My collection pales in comparison but I thought I'd share some of it anyway ...

This is not all of them, I have little piles tucked away in drawers and cupboards and a whole other collection in my parents' attic back in Ireland. I used to have to stifle my collection due to the ridiculous prices of books in Australia but the discovery of the Book Depository got me back on track, I buy the majority of my cookbooks brand new but have a little collection of retro books I love to read as a nostalgic look at the way food was when I was little :-) I've also found Abe Books to be a great source of hard-to-find titles.

Anyone else out there a little bit addicted to cookbooks? Please share :-)

4 comments:

Poppy said...

I was just putting together a blog post about my favorite vegetarian cookbooks, I am a hopeless cookbook collector & have been since high school. My husband laughs at me because I get so excited by new cookbook finds (especially vintage editions at thrift shop prices) & will read them in bed at night like novels. Great post, thanks for sharing some of your impressive collection!

Brenda @ 13 Acres said...

oh my! if your collects pales in comparison to Nigella, then i pale in comparison to you! that is amazing! I love cookbooks too, but they are an investment, i need to know I'm really going to use it and have the same likes and styles as the chef who wrote the book. i have borrowed a book from a library first, then if i really like it, get my own copy...I love your collection and yes, itsn't funny how its' nice just to curl up and "read" a cookbook! xx

Hello Vintage said...

I seem to collect books on baking as I have always enjoyed it. I am just waiting for a decent kitchen so I can really get going. My sister buys food magazines etc just to read (never cooks anything lol).

Anonymous said...

Pleased I'm not the only one, I'm very addicted to cookbooks. My collection starts with my grandma's tattered cookbook which must be close to 80 yrs old, and I recently came across my Mum's favourite recipe collection all handwritten in a notebook by her - such a treasure to find. I also find some true bargains in good quality used recipe books from www.betterworldbooks.com which offers free shipping worldwide and I am always impressed with their fast service.