A person is known by the books they read, the company they keep, and the praise they give.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
So what does a collection of 170 (+) cooking/food reference books say about a person? Either they have a deep love and appreciation for the topic, or they are obsessed and need professional help. My friends feel the jury is still out on this…
Trying hard not to adopt a “depression mentality” around my cookbook buying fetish, I stepped back the other day to evaluate my well cared for library collection. Those who have seen it, all have similar reactions; “Wow, your definitely into this” or “Let’s hope you don’t move to often” and then there is my personal favorite “When are you inviting me over for dinner?”…
Careful on the last one!!! After slaving over a stove all day, a guest once came wielding a half eaten cheese ball and a bottle of “two-buck chuck”. My boyfriend wanted to call the police! Guess we can work on the company [we] keep!
So here it goes, I am airing my mania/passion out there for all to judge: (so please, be kind)
Bread Books
Bread Matter. Whitley.
Bread Maker’s Apprentice. Reinhart.
Whole Grain Breads. Reinhart.
Crust and Crumb. Reinhart.
Brother Juniper’s Bread Book. Reinhart.
St. Juinper’s Small Town Cafe. Reinhart.
Bread Alone. Leader.
Beard on Bread. Beard.
Tassajara Bread Book. Brown.
Greystone Bakery Cookbook. Greystone Bakery
The Great Chicago Style Pizza Cookbook
La Brea Beads. Silverton.
Homemade Bake book: Natural Breads and Goodies
Breads of France. Clayton Jr.
Dough. Simple and Contemporary Bread. Bertinet.
Bread Bible. Hensperger.
Laurel’s Bread Book. Robinson.
Local Breads. Leader.
Pizza and Calzones. Clark.
Onley on Bread. Onley.
Redmill Baking and Bread Book. Redmill.
Pasta. Pizza’s and Calzones. Waters.
With the Grain, Sokolov.
Vegetarian Cookery
Everyday Greens. Sommervile.
The Greens Cookbook. Madison.
The Savory Way. Madison.
Vegetarian Cooking Every Day. Madison.
Modern Vegetarian. Berley.
The Complete Guide of Vegetarian Cuisine. Elliot.
The Spice of Life. Simone.
TeaNY, Moby.
Laurel’s Kitchen. Robertson.
Cafe Flora Cookbook.
Sunlight Cafe. Katzen.
New Moosewood Cookbook. Katzen.
Tassajara Recipe Book. Brown.
Tassajara Cookbook. Oilivera.
Vegetables with Love. Khalsa.
The Balanced Plate. Roux.
Fresh Food Fast. Berley.
The Green Grocer. Carcione.
Alice Waters Collection
Chez Panisse Cooking
Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook
Chez Panisse Fruit
Chez Panisse Dessert
Art of Simple Cooking
Fanny in the Kitchen
French Cookery
Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. I/II. Child.
French Chef. Child.
Le Bonne Cuisine. Madame E. Saint-Ange.
Cordon Bleu Cookbook. Lucas.
Bathazar Cooking. McNally.
French Cuisine For All. Berthole.
South of France. Verges
Simple and Healthy. Pepin.
Chocolate and Zucchini. Dusoulier.
Feast of a Militant Gastronome. Courtine.
Sonoma County
Downhome Downtown Cookbook. Mall. Silvers. Rodney Strong Vineyards
Abundant Table. Bishop’s Ranch. Schmidt and Ross.
Wine Road Cookbook Vol. 9
Jimtown Store. Brown. Werner. McLaughin
Mustard. Jordan.
Specialty Organic/Whole Grain
Super Natural Cooking. Swanson
Whole Grain. Sass.
Esalen. Cascio.
Simply Organic. Jesse. Ziff. Cool.
Wine Country Cooking. Weir.
Hay Day Country Cookbook. Rizk.
Earth to Table. Crump. Schormann.
Book of Whole Grains. Bumgarner
Mediterranean Cooking
New Food New Life: Iranian
Moroccan Modern.
Platter of Figs and other recipes. David Tannis
Mediterranean Harvest. Schulman.
Baking/Sweets
Bake wise. O’Conner.
Tartine. Prueitt. Robertson.
Chocolate Bar. Lewis. Nelson
Magnolia Bakery. Torrey.
Buttercup Bakes at Home. Appel.
Martha Stewart Cookies. Stewart
Culinary Institute Professional Baking
Eggs. Roux.
Crepes. Pasley.
Well Preserved. Dragon.
Food Network Chefs
Bold American. Flay.
Parties, In Paris, Family Style, At Home, Barefoot Contessa, Back 2 Basics. Barefoot Contessa.
Jamie’s Italy. Oliver.
Delmonico. Lagasse.
Real Kitchen. Florence.
Sara’s Secrets. Moulton.
Vintage
Artist and Writers Cookbook. Sausalito
American Cookery. Beard.
Grill it out doors. Beard
Theory and Practice. Beard.
Rodale’s Super Natural Cooking. Albright.
California Cook. Worthington.
Bold Knife and Fork. MFK Fisher.
Playboy Bar Guide. 1960s.
Better than Store Bought. Witty.
Complete Bean Cookbook. Benett.
Potluck. Corbitt.
New Orleans Recipe Book.
Wild Food Plants of the Sierra. Thompson.
Simple Foods for the Pack. Kinmont and Axcell.
Irish
Avoca Soups. Ireland.
Irish Pudding, Crumbs and Tarts. Johnson.
Irish Isle Cookbook. O’Connor.
Mexican
Mexican Kitchen. Bayles
Mexican. Milton.
Feast of Santa Fe. Dent.
Rosa’s New Mexican Table. Santibanez
Salsa Cooking. Lambert.
Elena Fiesta. Elena.
Mexican Family Cooking. Gabilondo.
Cuisine of Mexico. Kennedy.
Tamales. Miller.
Inn at Turtle Creek. Fearing.
Misc.
Wolfgang Puck Cookbook
Wolfgang Puck Pizza’s/Pasta’s
Nancy Silverton Sandwich Book
Deceptively Delicious, Jessica Seinfeld
Heirloom Tomato Cookbook. Milli Luebbermann.
Wraps. Barber. Corpening. Narlock.
Punch. Colleen Mullaney.
Festive Picnics. Johns and Barry.
Get Saucy. Parisi.
Tante Marie Cooking School. Mary Risley.
Flying Sausages, Bruce Adellis and David Kelly
The Palm Restaurant. Legere Binns.
Joy of Soup. Irma Rombauer.
Williams-Sonoma, Soup.
Williams-Sonoma, Breakfast.
12 Seasons, Alfred Portale.
Cuilinara Hungary
Martha Stewart Hors d’oeuvres. Martha Stewart.
On Food and Cooking Science Lore. Harold McGee. (Reference)
The All New Joy of Cooking. Irma Rombauer.
Brunch. Meyer & Meehan.
Twist of the Wrist. Nancy Silverton.
Cheese Essentials. Laura Werlin. (Excellent for Wine Paring)
Picnic.Robin Miller.
Bake and Bubbly Casseroles. Wright.
Ratio, Michael Ruhman.
The Vineyard Cookbook.Barbara Scott-Goodman
Thai Food.David Thompson
Revolution at the Table. H. Levenstein. (Historical)
History of Food. Tousasaint-Samat (Historical)
Savoring the Past: France 1570-1790. Wheaton. (Historical)
Jewish Festival Cooking.Glazer.
Sauces. James Peterson.
Garlic Lovers. Gilroy Garlic Festival.
Best Bed and Breakfast Recipes. Maynard
Wellness and Encyclopedia, Cal Berkeley (Reference)
Organic Body Care.Tourles.
Nobu Now. Nobu
Elements of a table. Lynn Rosen.
Physiology of Taste. Brillat-Savarin
Off the Shelf, Donna Hay
The Soul of New Cuisine, Africa
James Beard Delights and Prejudices
Rose Pistola Cookbook. Hearon and Knickenbocker.
Soethby’s Book of California Wine