tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post7497286908016747410..comments2024-03-22T00:35:19.082-07:00Comments on Casual Kitchen: Don't Pay Up For That Cookbook! How to Spend Next to Nothing on a Great Recipe CollectionDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-45850119790288327532010-09-16T00:22:58.522-07:002010-09-16T00:22:58.522-07:00Weirdest place I found a recipe... a fantastic ban...Weirdest place I found a recipe... a fantastic banana bread recipe inside a novel written by a Canadian radio personality. I bought the novel at a used bookstore in northern India, and copied it into my travel journal, waiting almost a year before I had a kitchen again to try it in. I recently met the author and got to tell him that same story.Lisanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-32523548125278875642010-07-23T12:58:23.733-07:002010-07-23T12:58:23.733-07:00I'm pretty darn frugal, and get many recipes f...I'm pretty darn frugal, and get many recipes from the web. But I have to say that cookbooks are definitely something I will buy - and often buy new. I feel strongly about supporting these authors. They deserve to be paid for their efforts. Of course I pick carefully what I buy, but I beloieve in spending my $ on books.Dianenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-6803758893940613102010-07-23T12:44:48.692-07:002010-07-23T12:44:48.692-07:00i belong to several food boards and on each i have...i belong to several food boards and on each i have offered cookbooks that have come into my possession, after copying out any recipes i want, for free. i pay the shipping - you get the book. i do this so they go to someplace where someone will use them and, if they decide they don't want to keep them, will pass them on. i also save the magazines i *hangs head in shame* "treat" myself to at the supermarket and any of the ones i subscribe to and pop them into the package as a laginappe.<br /><br />Barefoot contessa, marcella hazan, cat cora, mfk fisher, martha stewart, john folse and others have made their way to canada, michigan, california and even india this way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-42328802317540910882010-07-23T09:57:40.275-07:002010-07-23T09:57:40.275-07:00My favorite new strategy is to "google" ...My favorite new strategy is to "google" the desired new cookbook and the author to look for reviews... Usually a recipe or two from the book will show up in the review! Sometimes this whets my appetite even more, and sometimes it cools my jets completely! But at least I can make one recipe from the book and have some fun for free!UrMomCookshttp://likemotherlikedaughters.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-76274308670307286012010-07-21T20:31:02.039-07:002010-07-21T20:31:02.039-07:00I have gotten a few cookbooks from Paperbackswap.c...I have gotten a few cookbooks from Paperbackswap.com, which is free for me (except for what I send out, which is worth it because I am getting a great value.)<br /><br />I find that the most used cookbooks I have are from larger names, and are more about the "how to" rather than the recipe itself. The King Arthur Cookbooks, The Cake Bible, and Bakewise are the first cookbooks I reach for when baking something new.AmandaLPhttp://attemptedcooking.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-70112894054437158882010-07-21T10:24:09.235-07:002010-07-21T10:24:09.235-07:00I have quite an extensive cookbook collection and ...I have quite an extensive cookbook collection and recipe collection. The recipes I get online from my favorite websites/blogs, etc. The cookbooks I mostly pick up at library sales and thrift stores. (I picked up both volumes of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking at a thrift store a few years ago - $1/each.) I also utilize www.paperbackswap.com (KathyJ). I have received the $40-$60 priced cookbooks for basically the cost of shipping. <br />Good deals are out there.Kathynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-51341923208649260772010-07-20T16:58:25.994-07:002010-07-20T16:58:25.994-07:00Some excellent ideas so far. A few thoughts:
Th...Some excellent ideas so far. A few thoughts: <br /><br />There is something to be said for turning to a highly reliable source (say, Better Homes or Joy of Cooking) rather than trying your luck with internet based recipes. If you have specific blogs you trust and can rely on, great. But if you're going to Google a recipe, you should have sufficient cooking experience to judge the recipe you choose just by looking at it. I've written a post on this very subject by the way: <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/01/how-to-tell-if-recipe-is-worth-cooking.html" rel="nofollow">How To Tell If a Recipe Is Worth Cooking With Five Easy Questions</a>. <br /><br />That being said, agreed, there are a zillion really good recipes just waiting for you out there, thanks to Google.<br /><br />And to Anonymous (#2): I'd also like to see cookbook authors getting paid. But what I'd like to see even <em>more</em> is consumers getting good value for the money they spend. The best cookbooks will attract buyers. What I'm here to do is protect consumers from the overpriced crappy ones. <br /><br />DKDanielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-1724765807257903602010-07-20T14:05:50.878-07:002010-07-20T14:05:50.878-07:00Dan, you were feeling a little frisky when you wro...Dan, you were feeling a little frisky when you wrote this, weren't you? Very entertaining.<br /><br />I have grown quite cavalier in my approach to cooking and rarely use a "recipe," but when I do try a new one it is nearly always from the Internet.<br /><br />That said, DH and I love risotto and paella dishes, so we have cookbooks devoted to those as well as a BHG which I refer to for basic technique when I've got a new ingredient. And I have a little box of standby recipes collected from friends, family, and magazines.<br /><br />I am most often inspired by the Food Network show "Chopped," next by "Iron Chef America," and then by the produce section at my favorite supermarket. Their produce manager is a visionary.chacha1http://www.ombailamos.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-39995107756118615002010-07-20T09:20:17.616-07:002010-07-20T09:20:17.616-07:00I live by allrecipes.com and supercook.com as well...I live by allrecipes.com and supercook.com as well as a few other recipe sites and aggregators. What I have found is that if you really need a cookbook, buy a 3-ring binder to put all of your printed recipes in! That way you know that your cookbook contains only recipes that you either love or have wanted to try, and they can be edited and modified before it even gets to the printer, so it is just right.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-47480398619657930152010-07-20T08:17:09.690-07:002010-07-20T08:17:09.690-07:00You forgot one. "Put cookbooks on your Amazo...You forgot one. "Put cookbooks on your Amazon wish list."<br /><br />I have a 3-shelf bookshelf of only cookbooks. It's sad, really, how little I've cooked from them. But I love them so much. I can sit and read cookbooks for hours.<br /><br />I've been meaning to commit to trying one new recipe a week. Maybe I'll do that. I do get a lot of my new recipes from blogs.<br /><br />I also swap cookbooks with the neighbor.Marciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13984899661746845414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-31702181942117636782010-07-20T06:41:29.703-07:002010-07-20T06:41:29.703-07:00This kind of saddens me, because I'd like to s...This kind of saddens me, because I'd like to see cookbook authors getting paid, not only for their hard work, but for their bringing joy to my table! <br /><br />So while I agree with your strategies for saving money, I'd add tihs: if you find a great book (through the library or online sources, etc.) and you find yourself cooking out of it time and time again, then splurge, and buy it! I have several books like that, and I can't imagine not having them at my finger tips. And I'm glad that people are inspired to keep putting out cookbooks, even if most of them won't ever make it onto my shelf.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-40601110800269837582010-07-20T04:28:33.196-07:002010-07-20T04:28:33.196-07:00I really recommend checking out discount stores (H...I really recommend checking out discount stores (Home Goods, Tuesday Morning, Marshall's, Ross, TJMaxx). I worship the ground Nigella walks on, mainly because of the way she writes her recipes -- they read like a seduction. I picked up a copy of her _Forever Summer_ at Tuesday Morning for $8, and it's a $35 hardback. Worth it? Oh yes.<br /><br />That said, be careful. I've picked up some really lame cookbooks that looked good off the bargain rack at the local bookstore. Sometimes they are there for a reason.KitschenBitschhttp://www.kitschenbitsch.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-68209016322627092892010-07-20T03:57:02.897-07:002010-07-20T03:57:02.897-07:00Google "recipe (name of ingredient)" and...Google "recipe (name of ingredient)" and you will uncover hundreds of recipes for whatever you are wanting to cook. Or if you don't know exactly WHAT you want to cook, look through Cooks.com or RecipeZaar.com. These are both free services that have thousands of recipes, as well as techniques for things like how to make biscuit mix, how to make yogurt, etc.<br /><br />I consider a recipe to be - at best - a suggestion. So there is no reason for me to spend a lot of money on a book of "suggestions." If I do, and I do occasionally buy a cookbook, it's because I admire the author or want to support a cause. But when I want to cook, it's the internet for me!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com