... and I am a cookbook-aholic. That's right. I admit it.
You might think this is strange, knowing me, and thus recognizing that I do not cook, can not cook, and don't particularly enjoy myself during the infrequently-occurring attempts.
But I LOVE cookbooks. I fall off the wagon the most at Costco. It might have to do with the idea that I'm getting a bargain- the price on the inside flap is always MUCH more than you will be paying in the checkout line. And then there's the fact that they're placed so attractively right next to all the new best-sellers, which are so clearly calling out for some attention, as no one would begrudge me some intellectual stimulation in my life. One moment I'm innocently browsing The Kite Runner, The Secret Life of Bees, and Marie Osmond's latest memoir, and all of a sudden and quite unbeknownst to me, I'm immersed in deliciously luscious pictures of dripping gourmet roasts and succulent homemade mac and cheese. Brand names like Williams-Sonoma and Crate and Barrel beckon tantalizingly, teasing me with the knowledge that I would never be able to afford their publications in a regular store. Jessica Seinfeld offers to help me trickily hide healthy food inside the delicious, and Betty Crocker promises that with her recipes, I'll be both thin, AND have plenty of time left on my hands. The Slow-Cooker series offers delicious and delightful ideas for Sunday dinners, and Better Homes and Gardens shows me 101 different things I can do with a cake mix. Who doesn't want to learn 101 things to do with a cake mix?! Right now I only know two!
One-dish meals, vegetarian meals, meals on a budget. Quick meals, 5-ingredient meals, 5-minute meals. Low-fat meals, low-carb meals, Brand-name meals. I believe I have a cookbook for each of these genres. And a person can not deny that someone such as myself would do well to learn to make these types of meals. That's the thing. I want to like cooking, or at least just do it anyway. I certainly like eating, and if I actually cooked I could surely be enjoying some tastier tasting stuff with my fine palate. And the wife I aspire to be would have a hot meal waiting for her hardworking husband when he arrives home every night, as opposed to every fortnight. And I already know I don't like cleaning. Poor Davey- I fear he's getting a bum deal.
The other week I bought a Tillamook Cheese cookbook. Oh, I do love cheese. And we live right near the Tillamook Cheese factory! And the photographer they hired might be the best that has ever captured the sight of flavors on a page. Now, this is where we find that Hope Springs Eternal. Because with every new cookbook I purchase, I truly believe there is a high probability that this particular one will inspirationally catapult me into the domestic goddess that a person who enjoys food as much as I was surely born to be. Now, I have not actually made anything from this Tillamook book yet, but I have browsed through it A LOT. And how I've enjoyed my browsing.
The day before yesterday I bought the Williams-Sonoma cookbook, Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen. There is a mom with two kids on the cover and you can tell they really love her. (I would love her too, if she made me the delicious concoctions so scrumptiously presented inside.) But the point is, I clearly needed this for the baby. She needs some traditions. Even if the tradition doesn't have as much to do with cooking as it does flipping through pages and licking our lips.
4 days ago
9 comments:
I, too, rather enjoy a cookbook. I have a few, and wished we lived closer so I could borrow, then bring you what I would cook. Sounds like a good deal. Our Ross had a sorry excuse for a cookbook section, so I will have to try Costco for the Jessica Seinfeld one.
Roy, they have copies of that Jessica Seinfeld one on Amazon starting at 5 bucks. Can't beat it.
The Jessica Seinfeld book is a keeper. Some really yummy recipes. Another one I highly recommend is Marlene Sorosky's Cooking for Entertaining. I love almost every recipe in it! My kids love the Cooking For Kids Recipes from Southern Living. Jessica, would you enjoy cooking more if they were simple and quick recipes?
LOOOOOOOOOVE that you call me ROY!!!!!!!!!! I will look on amazon. Danke for the heads up.
Yeah, this is why you need the recipe blog and we need you!!
I have like 30 cookbooks...I make maybe 15 things....
Branching out!
I actually do enjoy cooking now. But I never make anything out of the cook books I buy. So weird.
I've never been a big fan of cooking either, and Kyle's mom is a very good cook, and so is Kyle, so it makes me kind of afraid to cook, as my cooking is sub-par. And Kyle's cooking is so delicious. Does Dave cook? I often think if we ever had kids, (which I sometimes think I'd like to, although not right away) I would want to know how to cook for my kids. At least then I guess I could just think about cooking for them, and forget if Kyle likes it, I'll make them eat it, hahahaha.
Sandy- yes, I would enjoy cooking more if I had great recipes that were really simple and quick. But they'd have to be really yummy too, to make them worth the effort! The other problem is I'm kind of a perfectionist about it, so I want everything I make to be DELICIOUS. No room for error!
On the perfectionist note, I've learned that the more I cook the better I get. Good thing we had kids later, b/c they wouldn't have eaten what I made before! Jason is a fabulous cook, especially with meats, but he also has come along from where he used to be, though he was always pretty good!
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