With the second installment awaiting editing by my better half I thought I might give you a reason for these choices.
When I have guests to cook for, I like nothing more than to grab 5-6 cookbooks and magazines and settle into bed with pen and paper. Depending upon the guests and their likes/dislikes, I painstakingly choose a menu. It’s gotten a lot easier over the years as my expertise and confidence have grown.
Many of these are older texts, some out of print so I made it easy for you to find them by beginning to learn how to use html. And some are $6 on Amazon and this is the only way to find them, save scouring used book stores on a hit-or-miss basis.
I’m showing you 42 years of reasoned, thoughtful and brief lists of the cookbooks I use not every day, but refer to regularly. I don’t use cookbooks every day, but look to them for reference and inspiration. Generally, I agree with acclaimed chef and traveler Anthony Bourdain (will get to food-related novels after Volume 2 of cookbooks) who calls the Food Network personalities “bobblehead dolls” in his acclaimed novel, Kitchen Confidential.
Ok, Emeril knows how to cook, Giada can cook Italian, Alton Brown is a scientific cook my non-cook husband likes to watch, and Tyler Florence has his moments and seems like a genuine guy. But if you want Rachel Ray or Paula Deen cook books don’t look toward this site.
Mine are what I believe are solid kitchen library choices that will serve you for a lifetime. Many of the rest are ephemeral snacks, potato chips that while they taste good right now, are gone in an instant. Don’t get me wrong. I have my share of cookbooks that aren’t necessarily in the “essential” category.
Please stay tuned! Root canal tomorrow morning so I’ll see what more I can do for my loyal cooks.
Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 
It’s interesting that the computer has taken over so much of my searching that I don’t have that quality bed time in a room that is 55 degrees for me, 50 degrees when I’m at work. Yes, that what was I did in my 20’s with a heat-zoned apartment in winter. The only good thing about that was the location of the apartment and my arctic weight down comforter from my mom. Think about it, 55 degrees, down comforter, where would I plan menus pre-internet but my bed!
Happy cooking, Dee
Thank you for stopping by my blog. Your comment was very kind and I’ve now read all your posts. Yay! I love cooking and cookbooks and all things yummy. Your stories are great and I look forward to reading more. Good luck with the root canal.
My best and welcome to your corner of the blogisphere.