My Library
Some people browse their cookbooks – perhaps stopping on the photo of a vibrant tomato tart about to leap off the page. Others go straight to the index and zero in on their favorite ingredient or dish. I’m not a browser. I’ve been known to dive into a cookbook as if it were a steamy beach read, taking in every chapter, every anecdote, every trick of the trade, every morsel.
My cookbook obsession began when I was a child. My mom kept a stack of her favorites next to her bed. Each night she was lulled to sleep by the promise of the perfect quiche and endless variations of Waldorf salad. Today, my own library includes many of mom’s favorites. Some, like Alice Water’s Chez Panisse Vegetables, get a regular workout with the worn, splattered pages to prove it. While others, like Marcel Desaulnier’s Death by Chocolate, are reserved for special occasions or voracious cravings. Many of my cookbooks go untouched for months or maybe even years, yet they always welcome me back like an old friend.
cookbooks
baking
| Author | Title |
| Better Homes and Gardens | Pie Recipes |
| David Munn | The Joy of Pastry |
| Deborah Madison | Seasonal Fruit Desserts |
| Dorie Greenspan | Baking With Julia |
| Dwayne Ridgaway | Pizza |
| Greg Patent | Baking in America |
| Jeffrey Hamelman | Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes |
| John Ettinger | The Bob’s Red Mill Baking Book |
| Marcel Desaulniers | Desserts to Die For |
| Death by Chocolate | |
| Death by Chocolate Cookies | |
| Mary Gubser | America’s Bread Book |
| Mary’s Bread Basket and Soup Kettle | |
| Nigella Lawson | How To Be a Domestic Goddess |
| Paula Peck | The Art of Fine Baking |
| Richard Bertinet | DOUGH: Simple Contemporary Bread |
| Sara Lewis | The Bread Book |
| Southern Living Magazine | The Southern Heritage Cakes Cookbook |
| All-Time Favorite Cookie Recipes | |
| Williams Sonoma | Desserts |
resources
| Author | Title |
| Andre L. Simon | A Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy |
| Belle Lowe | Experimental Cookery |
| Better Homes and Gardens | You Can Can |
| Bob Brown | The Complete Book of Cheese |
| Fine Cooking Magazine | How to Break an Egg |
| Emma Callery | The Complete Book of Herbs |
| Euell Gibbons | Stalking the Wild Asparagus |
| Harold McGee | On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen |
| Herve This | Molecular Gastronomy |
| Julia Child | Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom |
| Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg | The Flavor Bible |
| Laura Werlin | The New American Cheese |
| Louis Saulnier | Le Repertoire de La Cuisine |
| Maggie Oster | Herbal Vinegar |
| Margaret Peters-Morris | The Cheesemakers Manual |
| Michael Ruhlman | Ratio |
| Ricki Carroll | Home Cheese Making |
| Sally Anne Scott | Splendid Herbs |
| Sharon Tyler Herbst | Food Lover’s Companion |
| Stanley Marianski and Adam Marianski | Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages |
| Steve Jenkins | The Cheese Primer |
| The Good Cook | Preserving |
| W.M. Gibbs | Spices and How to Know Them |
| Larousse Gastronomique |
Bob Vivant 