Nourish

I found this cookbook a few months ago and totally fell in love with it.  It has real food, just prepared in a more healthy manner. They include the calorie count and best of all they have dessert. Yes, desserts in a good for you cookbook. Check it out. You will be amazed and love it too.

Linzertorte Bars

Hubby and I were lucky enough to go out on a date friday night. This normally never happens, not the date, those are rare, but what was more rare was it that is was friday night. After we went to dinner and the baseball game we headed over to borders so he could get a couple of magazines and I looked for a book. Well then I browsed the cookbook section and I found a few more to add to the collection. Yes I bought three new cookbooks, the worst part is that they are all dessert cookbooks, this I really don't need in my life, but alas they are here and marvelous.



This recipe came out of the Williams and Somona Desserts Cookbook. I changed it a bit as the recipe called for raspberry or apricot preserves, well all I have is strawberry or raspberry freezer jam right now (not big on preserves anyway) and as I am opposed to purchasing jam/preserves/jelly I used what I had on hand. Plus Hubby is a big fan of strawberry jam, so we went with that. He said they tasted excellent, so we will just stick with what he likes. Right. Good.

Kids cookbook

This was my one of my cookbooks when I was little. I remember I would bring it out and ask mom to help me make things. I don't know that we ever made anything out of it (they are normal things with special names), but I do remember thinking it was so much fun to be in the kitchen. I let the boys look at it now, and they have yet to pick out anything that they want to help make, but we are working on it. They mostly help with cookies, since they are something easy, plus they know they get a bite of the dough if they are good helpers.

My Library

As you have probably noticed I have started to share some of my favorite cookbooks with you. I have quite the library and it is ever-growing. I am up to 56 now, and yes that is a lot of cookbooks, but I will keep going and collecting.

Some are old, many are new. I have two from my great-grandma, I have used them a couple of times, but really I have left them mainly untouched other than to look through and then put all the clippings back where she had them. I received a few as gift, I wouldn't recommend giving a cookbook to just anyone as a gift, as it could be taken the wrong way, but for me it is good. I did receive a handful when I got married, but other than that I have bought the majority of them. Some on recommendation and others because they had a recipe to tasty to ignore.

This of course doesn't count my two recipe binders either. I have started a new one so that I will have one that has the recipes I have tried and I am keeping and then another for the ones I have yet to, but want to.

What are your favorite cookbooks? Do you have a collection?

Whoopie Pies

A good friend of mine gave me her whoopie pie recipe years ago, which we have all got addicted too. I don't make them very often, because they are something that I can't resist, and we all know how that works. Having said that I opened myself up to temptation when I was out this last spring and found this. I have made several of the recipes so far and every one of them has been delicious. Hubby's favorite is the chocolate chip whoopie and the boys love the chocolate. I still haven't made the carrot cake one yet but I will they just look to divine not to. Luckily I can cut down the recipe, but really why would you want to? I am thinking of making these soon, and instead of a frosting filling using homemade ice cream instead. I will let you know how they turn out.

Cobblers and Crumbles

This is one of my more recent purchases, and I have had quite a bit of use of it already. It has some fabulous ideas and with it being summer it is the perfect time of year to try it out. Though it also have more than enough recipes for the remaining parts of the year too.

I am more of a guideline person when it comes to recipes. As long as you have all the necessary ingredients then the rest you can make up as you go. It all depends on the recipe, but many times you will find me swapping out this berry for that one just because that was the mood I was in or what I had on hand at the time.

My Bread Cookbook

I was on a spree for a while, okay to be honest it lasted for about a year, that whenever I saw a cookbook that looked remotely interesting I just had to buy it, well that stopped last month, and only because I haven't found anything interesting lately. I think I have bought most of what is out there though I do still have a wish list on Amazon for anyone who is interested.

This is one of those numerous purchases. It is a fabulous cookbook, and so easy to follow. You don't need to buy anything special, and it makes excellent bread.



Don't you just love all my page markers......

I had this for about 6 months before I tried it. When I bought it I though yeah this will be great, then I got it home, put it in the library and forgot about it.  While unboxing during the move I found it again and it was such a sweet surprise.  The recipes are simple and straight forward, you can use them exactly as the book says or add your own spin to them and they are still wonderful. I can't think of a way to really mess up one of these recipes.

For those of who may be afraid of yeast this is a good place to start. I can honestly say I don't understand the fear of yeast, but it was the first bread that my Mom had me make so that might be part of my comfort level. For those who are leery don't be, it does magical wonderful things.

Just so you know I wasn't asked to write a review on this or compensated in any way. I just love this book and thought you might too.

Recipe Storage

How do you store your recipes?? Do you use a binder, recipe box, folder? Do you stick them in a cookbook or are they scattered to the corners of the earth?

I am getting ahead of myself here, see I have a recipe problem....I love them, I collect them. Not just any recipe they have to fit in some qualifications first.

1. They have to be something that I am interested in.

2. Two they have to be something that I think I might make at some point.

3. They have to be good, or at least sound good.

I have a recipe box that sits on top of my refrigerator, it has all my old family recipes in it along with ones that I have printed off. Well it was crammed full, so I got out an extra peecee folder and started filling it. Well it just wasn't working. I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I bit the bullet and bought a 2" binder and filled it with protective sleeves. I then organized my recipes by type and started filling it. I have now had the binder for about two weeks and it is about half full already. ( I am using both sides of protectors) between the recipes I had stored on my computer to the ones that I had stuck here and there, to the ones I have torn out of magazines it is amazing what a person can collect. It is so nice too that I can print out something slide it in there and not have to worry about re-writing it to a recipe card. It is also easy to dispose of the ones that you thought sounded good, but really why did I print that out. I already know that I made a mistake in only getting a 2" binder, but when I get this one filled I will get a bigger one and then fill that. It really wasn't to expensive to do this I bought it all from staples and they shipped it to my house the next day (benefit of not having to take the boys with me).

I have already got to use it several times, and it was a great investment, one of the benefits is that the sleeves protect your recipe so if you get something on it they just clean and your recipe is still in one piece.  The recipe box still sits on top of my refrigerator and nothing will ever replace it, it has recipes that were hand written by my great-grandmother, but I will end up typing them out and putting them in the binder eventually, mostly to preserve the old cards. 

So if you have issues as I do then look into a recipe binder. It is quick, easy and you will be more organized too.

A Cookbook

My mother-in-law and I have been talking lately of making a family cookbook, so many recipes seem to disappear when the older generation stops cooking. It will be interesting to see the recipes that I get and I am debating whether to try them out before putting them in the cookbook. I am a bit afraid of some of them honestly. Hubby's family comes from the Appalachian region and I have heard stories of some of the things that they make. It is similar to some of the things that my great-grandma would make. I love her but I would never eat pigs feet, I'm sorry I just can't do it.

I am also thinking that when I finish with that cookbook I will start on one from my side of the family that or I might just make one of my own.

An Addiction

I have a cookbook addiction. It started a long time ago and it just keeps getting worse. My mom asked the other day on her blog about cookbooks and how many people have. Whether you have one loved one that you always turn to, or if you just make it up as you go.

I do have a recipe box that I have hand written cards in from my mom, plus the things that I have added over the years. Many of my recipes I have printed out and stuck in the box. Many I haven't tried yet, but will when the time is right.

So the question is how many do you have and do you actually use them??

To answer my own question. I have 20 cookbooks. This doesn't count the little paperback ones that you get at the grocery store. Some of them were from my great grandma and others were gifts. Most though I have picked up here and there. I am always on the lookout for a new one. And yes I do use them though they are more my guide than my bible.