Also, have these books on rotation! My cookbook library is colour coded only because my brain finds it easier to locate them by the colour of the spine!
I absolutely loved this post—it brought such a smile to my face because I saw myself in it! I was just as surprised by the idea that organizing cookbooks by color could actually help find them—what a mystery! And Greekish was definitely one of my favorite cookbooks of 2024 too. I’d love to connect, as we clearly share the same passion and taste for cookbooks and cooking!
Thanks Lina! I have subscribed to your newsletter and will check it out over the weekend! I love trying out new recipes from cookery books and magazines - and the Eat Your Books database often means I discover hidden gems in my existing collection!
I'm so glad it was recommended to me just before lockdown. A couple of hours uploading my cookery books to the site has saved me countless hours over the years of going "now which book had that chocolate mousse recipe?" Or "What can I do with my veg box celeriac?"
I love cooking from a proper book but agree organising them by colour is silly. Still though, I don’t have a perfect system - I can never decide where Tamar Adler should live: with the cookbook authors under A or in a separate section for good writing and reference.
I know the feeling. I have a couple of shelves for writing about food, then do most of my hardback recipe books alphabetically by author, but I have a separate section for baking/cakes/ice cream books, and my paperbacks and treasured old Sainsburys cookery books are not in any kind of order but just as they fit on the shelf.
I love knowing how people organise their shelves! The baking, ice cream etc: is that because you have more of those themes than anything else? What would you do with a baking book by someone you already had a general cookbook from? Sorry if this is a boring question - I spend far too long thinking about this stuff…
That is an interesting question...the writers of the baking and dessert books I own only have those types of books in my collection, so it hasn't come up as an issue! But if it did...hmmm. I would probably still keep the baking books separate. Having said that, Nigella's How To Be A Domestic Goddess sits proudly in the Nigella section of my shelves...so I'm inconsistent!
Well, as you know I adore a cookery book or ten and often buy unusual ones in the charity shop to take to bed for a read and make notes of clever, creative uses! Of note (following the IWD theme), I have always been a huge Nigella fan (her marmite spaghetti sounds terrible but was a lifesaver when my kids were young although now it's passed over in favour of other more complex delights), I love that her books make it feel as if she is talking to me. And my more recent love - Nadiya from Bake off, she has created some corker recipes that are fun and playful. In our house we love her PB and J pancake tray bake which is great as a way to feed a hungry crowd of teens quickly after a sleepover!
With you on both of those - and Erin and I both huge fans of the marmite spaghetti (which Nigella got originally from a recipe by another icon, Anna del Conte).
Also, have these books on rotation! My cookbook library is colour coded only because my brain finds it easier to locate them by the colour of the spine!
That's really interesting - fascinating how our brain/ memory works.
I absolutely loved this post—it brought such a smile to my face because I saw myself in it! I was just as surprised by the idea that organizing cookbooks by color could actually help find them—what a mystery! And Greekish was definitely one of my favorite cookbooks of 2024 too. I’d love to connect, as we clearly share the same passion and taste for cookbooks and cooking!
Thanks Lina! I have subscribed to your newsletter and will check it out over the weekend! I love trying out new recipes from cookery books and magazines - and the Eat Your Books database often means I discover hidden gems in my existing collection!
Oh thank you so much! lookig forward to continue our exchanges! and yes im also with Eat your books!
Just to reiterate how good and useful Eat Your Books is!
I'm so glad it was recommended to me just before lockdown. A couple of hours uploading my cookery books to the site has saved me countless hours over the years of going "now which book had that chocolate mousse recipe?" Or "What can I do with my veg box celeriac?"
I love cooking from a proper book but agree organising them by colour is silly. Still though, I don’t have a perfect system - I can never decide where Tamar Adler should live: with the cookbook authors under A or in a separate section for good writing and reference.
I know the feeling. I have a couple of shelves for writing about food, then do most of my hardback recipe books alphabetically by author, but I have a separate section for baking/cakes/ice cream books, and my paperbacks and treasured old Sainsburys cookery books are not in any kind of order but just as they fit on the shelf.
I love knowing how people organise their shelves! The baking, ice cream etc: is that because you have more of those themes than anything else? What would you do with a baking book by someone you already had a general cookbook from? Sorry if this is a boring question - I spend far too long thinking about this stuff…
That is an interesting question...the writers of the baking and dessert books I own only have those types of books in my collection, so it hasn't come up as an issue! But if it did...hmmm. I would probably still keep the baking books separate. Having said that, Nigella's How To Be A Domestic Goddess sits proudly in the Nigella section of my shelves...so I'm inconsistent!
Well, as you know I adore a cookery book or ten and often buy unusual ones in the charity shop to take to bed for a read and make notes of clever, creative uses! Of note (following the IWD theme), I have always been a huge Nigella fan (her marmite spaghetti sounds terrible but was a lifesaver when my kids were young although now it's passed over in favour of other more complex delights), I love that her books make it feel as if she is talking to me. And my more recent love - Nadiya from Bake off, she has created some corker recipes that are fun and playful. In our house we love her PB and J pancake tray bake which is great as a way to feed a hungry crowd of teens quickly after a sleepover!
With you on both of those - and Erin and I both huge fans of the marmite spaghetti (which Nigella got originally from a recipe by another icon, Anna del Conte).