7 cookbook tips for getting more out of your cookbooks: a cookbook agent and editor on the 7 cookbook tips for getting more out of your cookbooks so you can finally start using your cookbook collection!
Jarrett and I are riding The Crescent down to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail this week–it’s a trip we’ve long dreamed about, and I’m excited about having 30+ hours on the train to catch up on reading, listen to music, daydream, watch the scenery, and maybe even sip a G&T. (Just writing that makes me realize how close to Bliss that all is!)
But I promise I won’t leave you without a few things to read this week.
Speaking of reading: do you read the comments?
I do, if it’s a site I know sticks to useful thoughts on happy topics: y’know, the food, the books, the writerly pep talks. But you couldn’t pay me to read the comments on news sites, or political sites, or health sites. Ugh. It’s like taking a bath in slime and then tossing yourself in a dumpster.
But one of my favorite comment threads of all time to return to is the extended conversation on cookbook tips that happened on the last post on this page on The Kitchn. If you need two minutes of happy, read a few of the comments–people went into amazing detail about how they use their cookbooks, how their families passed them down, where they stand on dog-earing and writing in cookbooks, and all the other cookbook tips they’ve accumulated.
My favorite comment on cookbook tips?
“My mother passed away in April and I can’t seem to move on from her passing. Opening her cookbooks and seeing her notes, especially her hilarious reviews of recipes that weren’t so successful, brings her back to me. Cooking these recipes helps me keep her close to me even though she is gone. So, write in your cookbooks! Your daughters will thank you one day.”
Our cookbooks can speak so loudly about who we were and each little meal we made in our lifetimes. So here are my 7 best cookbook tips for getting more use out of your books–these are the ones that will help you turn your favorite cookbooks into treasured family records of your life!
