I’m not a very good housewife. I’m struggle with keeping my house tidy and organized and with cooking healthy meals from scratch. The reasons behind it are varied: I have trouble remembering to put things away after I’m finished with them, working from home and looking after E keeps me pretty busy, I rather spend my free time goofing around on the internet or pursuing another one of my too-many hobbies, etc…not to mention I’m just kind of lazy.
It’s not that I don’t have good intentions. It’s just that my good intentions usually don’t get past the research/inspiration phase. So I end up picking up things on sale that I think will help me be a better person and instead they mostly clutter up my house.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Exhibit A:
This is pretty much every cookbook I own…that I haven’t cooked out of. I have a few others not pictured that I’ve used.
Yeah, I didn’t realize there were so many until I stacked them all up together. In my defense, it’s taken me 9+ years to collect so many. And a lot of them were bargain books; the books in the series on the right were mostly $2 or $3 each. Also, several of them were gifts. (Speaking of gifts, please don’t be offended if you see a book you gave me here!) Cookbooks are some of my favorite gifts to receive and I really like reading them. I just have trouble getting to the part where I, um, actually make use of them.
But not anymore! Presenting Cookbooks on Trial. Every week I’m going to cook a recipe/meal from one of the books until I’ve gone through them all.
It’s not the most thorough way to review the books but it will at least let me get a feel for each book and I’ll hopefully improve my cooking skills in the process. And N is looking forward to getting at least one nice homemade meal a week (I know, I know–the bar is set pretty low around here). But speaking of N, he’s been nothing but supportive and excited about this project. He helped me name my project (and he didn’t even blink when he saw all the books stacked up together). I love that guy.
Anyway, I’m pretty serious about this and I’m hoping that blogging about it will help keep me on track. Watch for the first installment later this week!
Alot of those books look like really good ones. I too, love cookbooks. If you discover you don't like any of them, send them my way.
I am super excited about this, Faith! I will watch for further installments with eager anticipation.
In defense of owning a ton of cookbooks, I think you hit the nail on the head – they are just fun to read even if you aren't constantly cooking out of them. I love getting cookbooks, especially totally impractical ones with great photos. Those are the best to read!
If you have to just keep one in that stack, I would say keep "How to Cook Everything." Everything?! Seriously? The title says it all! Good luck and have fun cooking!
COOKBOOKS: THREAT OR MENACE?!?
If a heretofore-unused cookbook that we once gifted you "wins" this challenge, do we get a free cutting board or something?
Yay! Can't wait to hear your reviews. 🙂
Maybe they will make a movie about you cooking and blogging.
I find that with the internet and websites like Allrecipes that compile shopping lists for me and give me reviews and suggested modifications that cookbooks are no longer necessary. However, there is something satisfying about thumbing through the pages and thinking about what you are going to cook (but never really get around to).