Buy the Book not By the Book

A few of my cookbooks

I love books, love books, loves books!  I have bookshelves full of all sorts of books and I read  them too because I love to read. Before my daughter was born she had an entire four shelf bookshelf filled with books.  I even have multiple shelves of cookbooks and, yes, I read those too.  Read cookbooks, you say?  Yes, I actually read them and funny thing is, I very rarely actually use a recipe from one of those cookbooks.  Let me explain.

My first cookbook

The first cookbook I ever bought was The Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook.  I was fresh out of college and working at my first real job.  One of my friend's that I worked with was given that cookbook by her boss and after thumbing through it I decided that I had to have it too, especially since it had a recipe for Salsa Fresca which I loved.  From that cookbook I learned how to pair Southwestern flavors and it was that cookbook that began my love affair with cookbooks. 

My second cookbook

The next cookbook I purchased was actually a vegetarian cookbook even though I am and have always been a meat lover.  Irony, I know.  I was actually intrigued by the artistic aspects of the cookbook and learned that the food I prepare is an artistic expression of who I am.


On my shelf are countless church/school potluck fundraiser cookbooks which all have variations of the same recipes.  These are the comfort food bibles, the cookbooks where I learned the power of a casserole to build community, make friends, and comfort the hurting.


I have quite a few Weight Watcher cookbooks which have been tremendous with helping me lose weight.  With loving food as much as I do I had to make sure that what I was making was healthy and would help me lose weight and then maintain that weight loss.  These cookbooks taught me great substitutions for the higher calorie and higher fat foods that I used to love oh so much.  I also really began to learn how to use all those spice jars in my pantry, as well as, fresh herbs to give my food flavor without extra calories.  Invaluable lessons!

My latest and most favorite

My most recent cookbook purchases have been from the folks at America's Test Kitchen and their sisters, Cook's Country and Cook's Illustrated.   All I can say is, "Wow!"  These folks know their way around a kitchen and they know what works and doesn't work in recipes.  I have probably learned the most from them.  They actually have little articles about the ingredients and the equipment they use in every cookbook they publish.  Every suggestion of theirs that I have tried has been right on the money.  


By reading the countless cookbooks I have on my bookshelves I have become a better cook even though I don't usually cook by the book.  Those cookbooks are really, more or less, reference books and I am sure thankful that I have such a nice reference library in my kitchen.

 

Successes and Edible Mistakes

I can remember from a very early age that I loved to play with my food!  When I was really little I used to make cakes out of mud that was until my mother bought me my first Easy Bake Oven.  Then I got to make real cakes.  When I was a bit older my primary chore in the house was preparing dinner.  My mom was a single mom and worked, so it really helped her out, not to mention it was fun for me.  I mastered a mean quiche at the time!

I found that as I got older I would try to create meals based on what I had a taste for and what ingredients we had handy at home.  I would experiment.  Sometimes my creations were a success and sometimes, let's just say they were edible.

Not much has changed since that time.  I still create meals based on what I have a taste for and I still base my creations on what is handy in my pantry.  Fortunately, as I have matured I have learned a few things about what pairs well and what to avoid, so there seem to be more successes rather than edible mistakes.

Some of what I have learned I have learned through trial and error.  Some of what I have learned I learned from watching countless cooking programs on PBS.  And still some of what I have learned I have learned from cookbooks and conversations with people who I consider to be excellent cooks.

I do not claim to be an expert.  I have absolutely no formal training.  Simply put, I enjoy food.  And now, I enjoy making food for my husband, 16 month old daughter, as well as myself.

Let the experiments begin!