Last weekend Greg and I spent some time in the garage, doing a bit of organizing – and purging. We made room for a home gym and carved out some space for kids to retreat to for some quiet time.
In the house, I needed some reorganization, too. I am slowly making my way through files, closets, and drawers, purging and purging some more.
And then there is the kitchen. The mess created in the pantry over the past few months has been maddening. I’m tired of opening a cabinet and having to move things to try to find something else, because the everyone in in the habit of shove something in and quickly closing the door.
Here in the kitchen, as I assess gadgets and cookware, focusing on items that need to be replaced, and others that should simply be discarded, I find myself taking a closer look at my cookbook collection.
I love cookbooks. They’re my security blanket in the kitchen. I don’t use them daily, but they are my inspiration for weekly meal planning, party planning, or simply a way to spruce up mealtime with something different. Sure, I can search online for recipes – which I do quite often. But when I have cookbooks ready for perusing, I find the most diversity — everything I need is all bound together in one place.
The problem is . . . I have about 80 cookbooks.
I have a wide variety of cookbooks, many of which have been around quite some time – dating back to my early working days. I have quite an array of cookbooks signed by the likes of Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, Mollie Katzen, Emeril Lagasse . . . A hefty amount that were sent for review, and then a smattering of those I purchased myself.
In my kitchen reorganization, I made the decision to get them off the shelf in my pantry and out in the open of the kitchen where I could have better access to them. I also decided that it was time to downsize my collection. It was hard for me to decide, they all ‘spark joy’ for me in one way or another. But I made the decision that 80+ cookbooks were just a tad too many.
To do this, I needed to set parameters – so I know which to keep and which to give away.
Culinary Traditions
First, I took a look at themes, or culinary traditions – Think Italian, South American, or Indian. I had to ask myself: How many do I need of each culinary tradition, and how innovative are each of these? For example, when it comes to Italian cookbooks, I cook a good amount of Italian-inspired meals, and what I need in an Italian cookbook is one with innovative recipes that I have yet to try – one that makes me think of ingredients in a different way, and recipes that are of things my family would like. Those Italian cookbooks that have the most diverse recipes, that are a bit different than the typical Italian recipes than Americans make, and those with recipes yet to be prepared, but are definitely on my “must try” list, are the ones I plan on keeping in my collection.
Inspiration More than Aspiration
I need recipes that I am inspired to prepare – rather than those I aspire to prepare. Of course, I always aspire to prepare certain recipes I come across, but as I move through the cookbook purge process, I need to make the distinction between those recipes I want to make, and those recipes I’d like to make and will continue to prepare, rather than just once.
I’ve amassed a collection of Indian cookbooks, most were given to me during some work-related event. I don’t prepare an abundance of Indian-inspired meals., so it was time to gather them together and page through them, figuring out which cookbook had the most recipes that I’d be inspired to prepare. I decided to keep a classic or two from Julie Sahni, and then another that focused on easy-to-prepare meals I would be inspired to make, as opposed to those with recipes that I aspire to prepare.
Usage Data
This one is relatively easy to decide. I ask myself, “How long has it been since I cracked that cookbook open?’ There are some cookbooks that have been packed up and moved with me from one house to the next without being used. They have been taking up space on my bookshelves, but I haven’t really used them. So, Int is time to have one last look at them so that I could make up my mind – and then I ask myself:
Have I ever prepared one of these recipes?
And, if not . . .
Am I really going to try some of these recipes?
If the answer is ‘no,’ then it has to go.
Broad Range of Recipes
Some of my favorite cookbooks are those that give me a broad range of meal options across the seasons – and across the day. These type of cookbooks give me inspiration all year round. That’s why I’m keeping my Food and Wine annual cookbooks, my well-worn Good Housekeeping cookbook, and me even-more-well-worn, The Joy of Cooking. They each offer a good mix of easy, medium, and some challenging, recipes, which is what I like. And, each has a good collection of meals for throughout the day.
Ditch the Fluff
In my kitchen, I need a cookbook — not something with extra fluff. Yes, I like a good story behind a recipes, but I take the same tactic with my cookbooks that I do with online sources: So many blogs go on and on about the blogger’s day, or a blatant promo for a product or a brand, that it takes forever to get to the recipe. I like that in a cookbooks – If I’m in search of a recipe — just allow me to find it easily and use it.
Look for Dog-Eared
Some of my favorites I’ve used again and again throughout the years, resulting in dog-eared pages, some of them falling out and stained with oil, batter and vanilla extract – such as The Joy of Cooking. Cookbooks like this, have a permanent place on my counter. They may offer the broad range of basic, everyday recipes, or are a cookbook for something specific – such as Baking with Julia. Others offer me some out of the ordinary recipes that are interspersed with some technique instruction. They are dog-eared for a reason. They are my go-to cookbooks – again and again, and are also filled with my personal notations next to recipes I’ve prepared. My dog-eared cookbooks are keepers.
In the end, I decided to ditch the cookbooks that featured outdated or uninspiring recipes that are pretty basic and that I can easily find elsewhere. I honed it down to about 50 – still a lot, but given I started with nearly 80, I think I had a successful purge.
Tonight, it’s Pork Vindaloo, thanks to one of my Indian cookbooks.
