# How do you store your cookbooks?



## mudbug

This question was inspired by Kimmie's post at the "form over function" thread.

We all have a collection of cookbooks which probably doesn't get smaller. How do you sort them? Where do you keep them (kitchen counter, cabinets, closets, stand alone shelves, shelves on the wall)? Do you have a cookbook on "display" in a plate holder? Do you have blank recipe books you write your creations in or keep them on your computer? Do you use them all or do you trade unused ones at the used book store?


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## kimmie

In my newly renovated kitchen, I now have the luxury of storing my cookbooks into a large cabinet in which hubby had to build in even more shelves. I like to sort my books by themes: Breadbaking, pastry, Italian, Spanish, Indian, French etc.

I do own two blank recipe books (one is full of recipes jotted down from TV cooking shows and the other one is still pristine). I also have a huge collection of recipes on my computer*s* (at home and at work). At work, I actually have a replica of my home computer, copied onto a CD-ROM!!

I used to have a cookbook on "display", on the butcher block, resting into a plexiglass bookholder. The cookbook of choice would change depending on my mood. _The French Laundry_ occupied that spot of honor for a long time!

I haven't dealt with the magazines yet: there's 4 if not 5 boxes. I'm thinking of using stand alone shelves in the laundry room :lol:

_Do you use them all or do you trade unused ones at the used book store?_

Would you trade any of your children??


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## suzanne

Unused cookbooks? What's that? They are all fair game for researching new ideas, or just bedtime reading. Even if I never, ever, make a single recipe from one, I still think it has value as a resource.

Last time I looked, I had about 500 cookbooks (not including back issues of _Saveur_, _Food Arts_, Australian _Vogue Entertaining + Travel_, and assorted other mags). I have everything catalogued (an Excel spreadsheet). Most of them are filed in order of category. All but 2 of the books* are in my office at home -- in built-in bookcases, a stand-alone bookcase next to a filing cabinet, and stacked up on top of another office unit. Needless to say, I need more bookshelf space, but have not been able to wrest any away from my hubby/business partner, who has his stuff spread out a lot more. Since we live in a loft-style apartment, with the office smack in the middle, it's no problem to go back and forth from office to kitchen.

BTW: I also have 3 file drawers full of recipes, restaurant reviews, and articles on food and restaurants.

*The only 2 cookbooks I keep in the kitchen are the instruction book for my microwave, and Barbara Kafka's _Microwave Gourmet_. 'Cause I ALWAYS need help when I try to nuke anything, which isn't very often.

If anyone is interested in how I have things categorized, send me a PM.


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## monkeymay

How do I store my cookbooks?

Badly, as there is NEVER enough room.


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## chiffonade

My cookbook collection currently lives on a chrome rack with wheels at the feet. They are arranged by topic and I've put an example title next to each category. I have between 200-225 now. I realize there are some to which I refer on a regular basis like _Joy_ (the OLD one...not the new one which I don't own) and some I grab for specific purposes, like the ethnic ones or the cake decorating ones. You don't have to use a book every day for it to be a good purchase. It's only got to be there when you need it to earn its place on the shelf. (Top Shelf books are not often used and are out of reach - regularly used books are more at eye level and a bit lower.)

Holidays - Gift How-To's..._Gifts From Your Kitchen_
Single Subject..._Bread Alone_
Definitive Guides..._New Professional Chef_
Yearbooks-School Publications..._Cooking at the Academy_
Multi-Volume Collections..._Woman's Day Encyclopaedia of Cookery_
Baking-Sweets-Cake Decorating..._Gourmet's Best Desserts_
Canning-Preserving..._Putting Food By_
Antiques-Sentimental..._Dionne Lucas_
Multi-Chef Compilations..._Becoming A Chef_
Ethnic-Regional..._The Cuisine of Armenia_
Single Chef Authors..._Entertaining_
Novelty-Cooking Related-Non-Recipe..._Zagat Marketplace Guide_

*My _Woman's Day Encyclopaedia of Cookery_ was my mother's. You'd be surprised how good some of those old recipes are.


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## brreynolds

The regularly used ones go on bookshelves I had built into one side of the island in the kitchen. (I never did see the point of making half of your cooking surface into a breakfast area, and I don't find stools comfortable anyway.) Then, the old ones occupy about half of the small library my house has. And the modern ones that are only used occasionally are scattered all around the house. 

As for a display stand, I never seem to have enough counter space anyway, so why waste it showing off a book? Especially if it isn't one that's regularly used.

I'm impressed by the organization some of the respondents have. I'd love to have time to systematically organize my books. As it is, any research exercise starts with sacking the house for the right books. I've been looking for an Algerian cookbook for weeks. I know it's around here somewhere, and there's a recipe in it I want to play around with again.


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## monkeymay

I think it's at my house, brreynolds, underneath a stack of Saveur and
La Cucina Italiana!


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## isa

I have a big bookcase in the kitchen. Most of my cookbooks are there. Organised by subject::

Cuisine Of The world
Baking 
References & Techniques
Pastry & Dessert
Single Subject
Other

I have about 100 cookbooks. They don’t all fit in the kitchen so there is another bookcase in the hallway. It was suppose to be for my other books but already one shelf has been taken over by cookbooks.

I always have a few on the coffee table and on the nightstand. 

My own recipes are all in the computer, divided by categories. A few years ago I decided to adopt the index card format. They are all in a box divided by categories. I also made a CD containing all my recipes, articles and food related pictures. I update the CD regularly.

Magazines are easily accessible, they’re store on a shelf in the closet. I kind them divided by title and months. All except for all the December issues who are all store together. I always go nuts with magazines in December.


Do I use them all? Absolutely. And most important I love them all.


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## w.debord

I've ruined the bookshelfs in our home office from the weight. Their over flowing, I shouldn't guess how many books I have it borders on burden. I'd like to loose most of my cook books (NOT baking books), I just don't have the interest anymore...just a keep a couple favorites for home cooking. But the idea of getting pennys for them breaks my heart.

But my favorite baking books are all down in my art studio off the family room so every night I can easily grab a book while relaxing.

I've finally backed up my recipe file on the computor, wish I had done it years ago cause I suffered when I lost my whole mousse file. Still realizing I can't find some recipes again. That was a hard lesson.

This makes most people cringe but I cut up every magazine I get and only keep the recipes I truely want. Then I file them so I can find any recipe in a minute.


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## athenaeus

My books are everywhere because they are numerous.

I do not keep books in my kitchen. I am manic with keeping them in perfect condition so they are all relaxing in my Library divided by category.

They are many so I use the Dewe system that they use in Public Libraries and all of them carry an index number and have a card and an electronic index stored in my pc.Exactly like a Library.

When I need one I just copy the basic recipe on a piece of paper.

I try to write down the menus I have served because there are periods that we were having almost every night guests.

As for the magazines. I have found as solution to scan some recipes and store them in CD roms.

This is the only solution I have found convenient.

Giving away my books????


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## isa

You're right Wendy. I don't know how you can cut out magazines. I am maniac when it comes to magazines and books. When I use one it stays on the table, far away from heat, water and flour.


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## chefboy2160

I have a bookcase at work in my office full of cook books . Also next to that I have a rack of 5 milk crates tied end on end which I use as a make shift book case . Kind of rustic but it fits the kitchen . Also my chef and cooks realy enjoy comin in the office and looking through all the different books . It keeps the interest and the creative juices flowin also . Knowledge is power so keep readin .


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## chiffonade

As obvious as it is, I *eventually* realized that if my books are not organized, I spend at least 15 minutes scanning the spines to find the one I'm looking for. Half the time, I _forget_ which one I'm looking for when I have to absorb every title I own. Right after Christmas, I took every single book off the shelf and placed them in piles. The piles really created themselves as I grouped titles together. Now when someone asks me about a recipe or I'm looking for a book, I know exactly where to look and I get to start cooking faster .


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## kimmie

This is brilliant. I will put my scanner to the test!.


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## chiffonade

Many years ago I stopped cutting up magazines because I found it more a pain to organize the little odd-shaped slips of paper created when you cut recipes out. Also, if you want something from the other side of the recipe, you're screwed.

After years of subscribing to (at different times, for different durations...) _Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Cook's Illustrated, Fine Cooking, Cooking Light, Eating Well, Martha Stewart Living_ and _Saveur,_ I decided it was time to come up with an acceptable formula by which to purge less than useful magazines. So here's what I came up with:

Keep all of the following:
_Saveur_, for its sheer ethnicity and colloquial charm, not to mention the food pix are killer and I've used a million recipes from this magazine; _Martha Stewart Living_ craft ideas and home keeping as well as food; _Fine Cooking, Cook's Illustrated_ for their highly technical content.

Dumped all _Cooking Light_ and _Eating Well_. For a time, I regretted this, then I reminded myself that eating and health guidelines vary wildly from year to year and lots of that info is probably outdated...LOL.

Formula for discarding _Gourmets, Bon Aps_ was as follows:

Save all November and December issues from every year I have. Save any issue in which I had a recipe, tip or letter published.
Save any issue that was extremely specialized, i.e., preserving food, specific (non-winter) holidays, etc.

This helped a great deal and I was able to "lighten the load."

I also have several issues of a magazine called _Cuisine_ which is now out of print. I won't part with any of those. One of the covers features the back of a bald head...James Beard's.


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## isa

I am impress Chiffonade. I don't think I could ever throw a magazine out or cut them. I do know I'll never use 99.9% of the recipes in those magazines yet I couldn't throw them out.


Have you noticed that for the last few years December issue aren't as good as they used to be? Less candy recipes, home made gifts ideas, etc.


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## calicoskies

Husband built me a very pretty bookcase, its in my dining room right off the kitchen. Its also full to the brim! Can never have too many cookbooks. Does anyone do like me, when you are lacking for a good book to read, just grab a cookbook and read? I love reading cookbooks.


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## kimmie

MOI! They're such a good read!


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## chiffonade

...But I love curling up with a good cookbook!

Re: Unused Cookbooks...I used to hold onto these indefinitely. They were generally ones I did not purchase, but received as gifts from well-meaning friends and relatives trying to buy me books I didn't have. I put those on http://www.half.com. BTW, half.com is where I found an original copy of Martha Stewart's _Entertaining_ from 1982. She just revised the dust jacket to include an updated photo - and I'm sure she nuked the original dedication to her (now former) husband, Andy.


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## w.debord

Hey are those orig. Martha books now collectable? I never thought about it but I suppose one day they will be, if not now. COOL I have all of them, one autographed too. Her soft cover magazine style books have self destructed from heavy use.......hope their never valuable, toooo late.


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## thebighat

Very low tech here. lots of piles. the pile of books beside the bed has been a constant in my life for over 25 years. Actually I have builtins bolted to the ceiling all the way across the back of the kitchen and more right over my head as I sit here. And shelves under the windows in the bedroom. We are literally running out of room for more books.


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## isa

Me reading cookbooks? There are 5 cookbooks and 6 food related magazines on my coffee table right now. Plus the Larousse Gastronomique who never leaves my side.


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## alexia

Book storage: I don't even want to know how many! Oh the guilt.

I've put all my recipes and old files on the computer. I have added many recipes saved to my own files from various websites (in Text, not Web so I can access them offline). And now I scan in text from magazines or cookbooks.

Scanner: I have a flatbed type that allows easy scanning from books as well as flat sheets and magazines (HP, only c. $50). This allows me to scan any recipe I use or think I'll use into my files Just be sure to get one with a removable lid (that usually covers the light) to make it easier to copy a page in a book.

Retrival: The advantage of this for me is that my Word Perfect processor includes a QuickFinder system. With a few mouse clicks I can set my computer in search of any word that appears in any recipe. It brings up a list of every document on the computer containing that word regardless of what program it's in. This means that unless I wish to do so, I can leave the ones saved from websites in that form (or format them into WP if that's more convenient) and still access them offline. I believe QuickFinder is available as free standing software, if you use another processor. I find it works better than many of the website search engines.

This is particularly useful as I spend a lot of time out of town and often cook then, too, so take my laptop with me. It's as though I am taking my library with me. Also, by scanning useful cookbook recipes into the computer, even when I am going to use one at home I merely print it out (or take the computer into the kitchen). 

I find it a workable system. It helps eliminate wondering where I saw a particular recipe and keeps my cookbooks clean. For the most part only Joy lives in the kitchen.


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## athenaeus

Can someone explain to me the Word Perfect? Do you mean the Word of Office Windows?

Can I find Quick Find in Tucows ??

Thank you in advance


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## alexia

Atheneus, QuickFinder came with my WordPerfect Program (mfg by Corel). I believe QF is part of another free standing software program that they add to WP as "added value." 

WP is not a microsoft product it is a "competing" word processor/office system that is compatible with any Windows, Mac, or Linux PC - they have a version for each, I believe. I have stayed with it because a) I like it and b) they have terrific support.

There are versions of WP in several languages (or used to be) and for those use a second or third language, you can get supplements that support you in spell check, etc. I've been told that WP is more versatile for academic uses. I primarily use it for the word processor.

I looked up QF (INSO) in Google, but what I came up with emphasized other functions. Perhaps if you contact them about QF they can give you more information. It is entirely possible you have this program in Windows as well. Unfortunately, my knowledge of computers is very limited. Others may know more.


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## nancya

Word Perfect is the best avaliable in my not so humble opinion. I have used every version of WP from 3.0 to 9 and can make it sing and dance and do the dishes.

Word is improving but still doesn't give you the options and performance of WP. But it does use the same icons so you can be fooled into believing that it is almost the same.....

NOT!!!!

Don't settle for less than the very best.

Gosh, I wish I could upload a picture about now....doing the attachment thing for a gif is just too silly.


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## brook

I have three areas for cookbooks -- the most frequently used ones are around the corner from the breakfast nook. They are arranged by category: general, all-purpose reference, followed by type of food and within each type, by type of cuisine. The second batch of cookbooks, primarily arranged by type of food and cuisine since all the reference type books are in the first set, are in another sets of bookshelves off the living room, with the final set of books, again arranged by cuisine and type of food, next to my bed for browsing and reading at night! 

I put magazine recipes I really like onto index cards and file them in recipe boxes because periodically, when the numbers of magazines get too many, I cull my collection (not the Saveurs though). Recipes I have yet to try are stored in files until I test drive them. I have an indexed looseleaf book in which I write down recipes I have tried, where they are located, and other relevant comments, like how well I liked it and the preparation time. That way, I don't have to hunt so long to find a recipe I used ages ago and want to repeat.

Is it my imagination or has the quality Gourmet really deteriorated since they changed editors?


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## monkeymay

No it's not your imagination. It's a travelog filled with ads.
The old ones were better.


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## marmalady

I go through my cookbooks once a year, and get brutal; if I haven't looked at a book in the last year, it goes! unless it has sentimental value, of course!I have several autographed books which i don't really use, but keep on hand remembering the chats I had as they were signed. I donate the books to the Vo-Tech school down the road, for their culinary program; to our local library, and to friends and co-workers.

Magazines - If I kept all my mags, there would be no room to walk in my house! I wait til I have a few months accumulated, and then sit down on a rainy day, clip the recipes/ideas I want to save, and put them on my recipe software program. 

I have two bookshelves - one in the dining room, which has all the 'working' books, sorted loosely by category - baking, ethnic, seafood, vegetarian, etc. Then in the living room (which has one wall of bookshelves!), I have all my reference books and 'general' food books.


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## pete

Get rid of unused cookbooks!? Is there such a thing as an unused cookbook? I never get rid of my cookbooks, though, on occasion I will give one away as a gift (though often times I will then go out and replace that book).

As for magazines had many years worth of Saveur, Food Arts, and a number of Food & Wines, Gourmets, and Bon Apettits thrown in. But once again, I am contemplating a move so I have decided that they must go.     But before they have gone, I have been going through them and coping an recipes that I might want (very hard decisions) and putting them into one of the cookbooks I created in my "MasterCook" software. Yes, it pains me to do it, but I get so tired of moving all those mags. on top of the numerous boxes of cookbooks I have.


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## jill reichow

Being lucky enough to have a new kitchen and walk in pantry, the first 5 shelves on the left are keepers of the frequently used ones. The bookcases in the family room hold the ones that have fallen slightly out of favor for the moment. Plus they hold all the little pamphlets and notes that my aunt had. She was a great cook and I treasure all of her recipes. There is usually one or two left out from some baking adventure or evening reading. Must have spilled something on one of them....found the schnauzer licking the cover! I wouldn't sell a cookbook.......now the kids.......that could be arranged!


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## kimmie

Pete,

You should invest in a scanner...


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## kimmie

1. Spotting a cookbook by it's nice cover;

2. Picking up the cookbook and thumbing through it, just to look at the pics;

3. Thumbing through it some more, stopping at the recipes, drooling a little bit while planning some menus;

4. Jotting down a couple of recipes;

5. Typing up the jotted recipes and filing into the computer;

6. Printing the recipes;

7. Going on amazon.com to read book reviews, etc.; maybe there will be recipes there too;

8. Afterall, it's a very very nice book, lovely concept...and the pics are so inspiring...;

9. Do I REALLY need this book or can I do without it?

10. By now, I WANT the book 'cause I really NEED IT!!!


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## shimmer

I swear, cookbooks (well, books in general) is the only thing my husband and I regularly have spats about. But it's not my fault! I swear they have been breeding while I am at work.

 

I ran out of trying to designate one place for all of my cookbooks. On the shelf in my living room (the large shelf, with the college and highschool yearbooks) I have the notebooks of recipes, like the one from my bridal shower- vegetarian recipes contributed by friends and family who were scared for me to marry a vegetarian; the recipes passed down from my Great-Grandmother, and folders of recipes clipped from magazines from as far back as the late 70s (given to me by my mother).

I move too often. Some are still in a box in our office, like Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and the all-encompassing Madeleine Kamman.

In the kitchen on the fridge are some old Julia Child, some various Cooking for Two books, and Betty Crocker.

On our old game shelf (they had to be moved to make way!!) are the random but intriguing cookbooks I love to read, pick recipes out of but never make. 

In the front of the other bookshelf is the pile of cookbooks I checked out from the library, well, except those I have been copying recipes from onto my computer. So I guess there is a stack beside the monitor too.

But you should see my database!! It's so organized! I have recipes divided up into folders based on what part of the meal they belong to, and then the ethnicity or the type. Some recipes are copied into different folders. I'm being trained in using MSAccess where I work, and will probably transfer them all to an actual database with structure and searching/printing capabilities. 

Then I have my various food journals, in various places. The most recent is on the shelf next to my regular journal. Guess which one gets written in more??!?!?  

I am fortunate in one thing- I am not a wealthy woman. This limits a lot of my cookbook cravings to holidays, where my step-mother in law happily dumps millions of cookbooks on me as presents (They're probably saying "She's so easy!" but it's really what I ask for!!), and for my monthly library trips. Libraries have cool cookbooks, and often have the ones from the 70s that have been forgotten, or those unique regional books that were probably donated. 

:bounce: I too enjoy curling up with a cookbook. Its something about research for me. I love to plan and find perfect recipes even more than making them (I was the same in college- I loved researching for papers, but didn't enjoy finishing the research as much). 

Hmm... seems to me I haven't gotten all the way through the Millenium Cookbook yet. See ya!

~~Shimmer~~


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## isa

By now Kim you should know where to find excerpt of cookbooks online. It’s at Barnes & Noble....


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## shawtycat

*I swear, cookbooks (well, books in general) is the only thing my husband and I regularly have spats about. But it's not my fault! I swear they have been breeding while I am at work. *

That sounds exactly like my fiance but I think he (and my family) love it that Im easy and cheap to shop for at xmas. I have cookbooks on the bookshelf, next to the bookshelf and near to the bookshelf in my office. They are also next to the fridge and on top of my little used microwave. The last pile is next to my bed.  My 18 month old son, who spends almost as much time in the kitchen as I do, likes to lie next to me an look at the pictures. His second word was "cookie". 

I eventually plan on getting another bookshelf or three. And Shimmer, when you do eventually figure out the MS Access database let me know. Ive been trying for a year now and somehow cannot get my reports to print the one recipe I want instead of my whole database.

As for "unused cookbooks" like, Patti LaBelle's and the "Baking Soda" book, I just give em to the local library. You would be surprised at how thankful they are when you do.


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## isa

Ikea has nice bookshelves with doors.


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## pongi

WOW!
I'm impressed of how organized are you guys!
Being totally untidy (like many geniuses, of course ) I'm also pretty disorganized in storing my cookbooks and recipes...I mean iI haven't any classification system and my possibilities of finding what I'm looking for are entirely relied on my HUGE memory 

Basically, I have a limited amount of "favourite" books (about 30) that are kept in my kitchen, in a bookshelf just close to the cooking area. Those are the books I consult for "usual"cooking, and I've read them so many times that I can find any recipe I need by memory.

As for the other (particularly for the funniest part of by collection, the foreign books I have purchased during my travels) they're kept in a separate section of our home bookcase, just close to my hubby's wine books . Obviously my memory isn't SO huge I can find at the first attempt anything I'm looking for...but this is a good excuse for spending some nice time reading recipes and articles here and there!

About this point, I have a question for you. Like many readers, I read my favourite "normal" books many and many times. Nothing odd if the book is a novel or everything else having a literary value...but WHAT ABOUT cookbooks? I enjoy reading and reading again also my favourite cookbooks and magazine articles...is it a sign of mental insanity, or what? Maybe it isn't the right place where to ask for an answer but other inputs are appreciated...

The third part of my collection are, as usual, the magazines, that are the main problem since, apart from my favourite copies of La Cucina Italiana which are in the bookcase, I keep them in cardboard boxes...so, finding a recipe there is something like going hunting in the African jungle.

As for my own recipes, I must admit that, although I usually write everything on my PC when working, I write all the recipes by hands on some old-fashioned exercise books. It is, maybe, the only thing I still write by hands...why? Well...I think it's because I love them-for the same reason why I would never write a love letter with a PC ....

Pongi


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## phatch

Unless a book has lots of good info and recipes, I don't own it. I'll copy down a few recipes into my various electronics and keep them that way. Very easy to search and index.

For the books I do keep, I have a large teak bookshelf. It's mostly sorted by size because each shelf is set at a different height. That works OK because most authors tend to publish their next book in the same form factor as their previous book.

But it was the only way I had to maximize the storage. 

My cookbooks are often in the kitchen with me. I write in them, mark them and re-index in the front pages. Recipes I use frequently get indexed in front for quick reference. And ones I use a lot get put in my Visor or Palm for instant and ever ready access. I ALWAYS keep a source reference to the original book in my electronic versions so I can give proper credit if I share it, or if i need to reference the original for some reason.

Phil


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## kimmie

Like you, Pongi, I enjoy reading my cookbooks and magazines over and over again. Insanity? Umm, maybe, maybe NOT!


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## suzanne

No. Definitely NOT.


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## rita

I was so anxious to find solutions to my recipe storage problems when I saw this thread,but I see we are all in about he same shape.Chiffonade you are really well organized;I admire that!

We moved last year and I did try to get rid of some books and magazine; I would put them in a box to give away but at the end of the day most of them were back out because I would think of a really neat recipe I had made at one time,sooo I HAD to KEEP it.

We have downsized so I don't have as much space for my many many books here;I have a few (lots) here and there on shelves;I sure would love to organize them someday.

I have the "Grand Diplome Cooking Course"books;there are 20 in this series that I aquired about 30 years ago;they are the best(great recipes and lots ot informative reading).

Pete I also have the MasterCook recipe program;I'm in the process of writing a recipe book (family recipes for my children)it's a fun project.

And I agree there is nothing better than to curl up with a good recipe book;I always keep a couple inthe car ;if I'm stuck in traffic or having to wait for someone my books help me relax.

So if someone comes up with a plan let me know but PLEASE don't tell me I have to get rid of them.


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## lwunderlich

I love cookbooks. I cannot keep from getting more. In fact, I just purchased a recipe book with 50 recipes for biscotti (my momster is very fond of biscotti). One on pot pies is on the way to my house at this very moment. All my cook books are on shelves in my bedroom. My MasterCook on the computer (in my bedroom) has thousands of favorites and ones that await trial; I regularly do RecipeSource on line. I like the MC on the computer because I can do a regular search when I have a particular ingredient that needs to be used. This goes for the RecipeSource as well. I did do a massive down size of my cookbook collection about 10 years ago, keeping only favorites that I thought would be helpful in a much changed lifestyle. Well guess what, I didn't bring enough of them along because I still mourn some of the ones I didn't keep. We all know comfort foods, well cookbooks are my comfort.

Have you noticed though that it takes so long to look and ponder recipes that you end up having to do a last minute 'throw it together', because you've spent too much time looking for just the right recipe?


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## marmalady

"Have you noticed though that it takes so long to look and ponder recipes that you end up having to do a last minute 'throw it together', because you've spent too much time looking for just the right recipe?"



YES!!!!:crazy:


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## isa

Good point Marm!

For me looking for the right recipe is half the fun!


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## mudbug

:lol:


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## shroomgirl

I just moved from a 4 bedroom 3 bath to a Bungalow with 1 BR 1 bath.....office moved at the same time...DOWNSIZING. Books and mags went flying.

I have an antique Armoire with glass doors and carved wood flowers on the sides that lives in the livingroom with only cookbooks....divided into baking, Julia and James, Time-Life (from my childhood, vegetarian, game/shrooms same same in my book, cajun/creole, ethnic and I do have that algerian as well as lithuanian etc book, that's pretty much how it's divided oh yeah the chocolate shelf overrunnth.
cookbooks being read in my BR, cookbooks used often on the one counter in the kitchen !! 1950's orginal kitchen...except fridge. READ NO COUNTER> 
I'm not meticulous about my books, if you pick up one I've used you'll know it...it will possibly not have a binder, it will OPEN to recipes that are fav automatically, it will definately have dried samples of much used ones.....these are Joy of Cooking, Maida Heaters, Le Notre pastry, I'm sure a few odds and ends.....and I have my Mom's Settlement and Good Housekeeping from the 50's as well as prying Pillsbury "Best of the Bake-off collection" circa 1966 from her library.
I dated a guy for years that had the largest cookbook library in Mo. cookbooks were mine to borrow or recieve for the asking....the way to my heart is definately fueled by books.(wine/food doesn't hurt either....but information got me.)


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## mudbug

Shroomgirl, 

Ugh, downsizing, that's got to be the toughest thing to do for a collector. The Friends of the Library are having their spring sale so my collection just grew by another non-existent shelf... LOL!

:crazy:


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## nick.shu

on a shelf.


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## miele

I don't have half of what you all have, but I still have problems with organization. I keep my cookbooks in a nook/cranny thing in the kitchen. I have purchased specific La Cucina Italiana, Gourmet and Bon Appetit mags, and I have a subscription to Cooking Light that I am less enthisastic about these days. I've not heard of Saveur before, but I suspect I'll be spotting them in my house soon. 

Questions for all you electronic media users - Are your computers in your kitchen? Do you print out your recipes when you decide to use them? Do you find, as I think it was Marmalade who said, you spend too much time searching? This is my biggest problem! Aside from figuring out what to do with the magazines.

And how on earth can you remember what recipe is in which book when you have 500 cookbooks??!!


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## regularjoe

I do now! Well, not a permanent fixture, but I recently ran an Ethernet cable to the kitchen so I can take my laptop to the kitchen and have internet access to my office computer's database of recipes. Now, there is no more running back and forth to the office, or printing recipes just so I can have them in the kitchen. At times, it is also handy to access the internet directly from the kitchen.

Although my recipe database does have some complete recipes, most entries are cross-references to cookbooks (I'm too lazy to retype all those recipes), for example, the database entry for "Bagels" simply has a note that says "The Bread Baker's Apprentice, page 115". Then once I have tried a recipe and proven it is worth keeping, I will enter the complete formula in my database.


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## headless chicken

I don't have a large collection but it's steadily growing for each pay check I bring in  
However, I keep them all in a cupboard and away from like 80% of the dust in my room. Its getting tight in there but within the next month or so, My tenants in the basement are moving so once they're cleared out and work done to the place, I'll be moving down there with a lot more space for my books. I'm thinking of either building a bookshelf or getting a metal rack for them or get plastic orginizer/moving bins (I save most of my mags and some artical clipouts too). 

With the rack idea, the books will share it's space with my DVDs, which is growing faster then my book collection 

I keep some of my recipes in digital formats so I'm also thinking of making a space for my laptop in the kitchen.


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## travelchick

Oh man, do I need more space too!

We have one small built in shelf which has been full for quite some time. Now, I'm actually storing some on the floor in a stack in FRONT of the shelf unit and I'm storing some at work on a shelf.

I'm not sure how many I have, I've lost count. LOL 300ish I would say.

My prize possession(s) are 2 editions of the Epicurean. We found them at a flea market in a huge lot of books the vendor had purchased from a family whose father had just died. The father was a big time book dealer and these books were from his personal "stash" from a storage unit. Books that never even saw his shop, he was just hording them! LOL

Oh boy, we bought SO many books from her that day!


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## bunbun

"in the freezer of course" along with the coffee, all my cash because we know how likely a theif is to look in there(don't tell any one) and the 25 gallons of milk i got outof the soon to expire bin. haha just kidding mine are usually on my counter where i can get them easiy. i wish i had an island to put them on or at least a bookshelf in the kitchen . some day some day.


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## ambrosiafood

I want to scan my favorite recipes from my cookbooks onto my computer in the future. Now, only new recipes I find on the net, or from new books and magazines are on my computer. 

I have to wait for the rest until I get the majority of my cookbooks out of storage in order to put them on the computer. Then, I will categorize the cookbooks by subject, and alphabetize them within the subject.


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## stacey2685

piled on my chair beside my desk... i'm just starting out, so i dont have many. They sure do help with homework, sure net is grat, but not the same as having a cook book right there on the desk
:chef: stace


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## mikeb

I keep my cookbooks on the desk in my bedroom, whenever I'm bored or can't sleep I read them.


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## alfredo

my cookbooks are organized by what culture there from.For EX.italian cookbooks are sepret from chinese ones. i have one blank cook book that i write my own recipises in. i store them in my bedroom on a book shelf. 

Alfredo


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## redace1960

those of you who have things stored on the computer, please remember that one good lightning storm can make everything go ffffft! found this out the hard way.
JOY lives in the kitchen on the breadbox with my not so blank notebook for writing down inspirations, and my daughters klutz press KIDS COOKING. all three are...used looking. leave it at that. the rest are what i'd call core reference, culled down over the years. they live in the dining room but still have the same 'patina' as the other three. i read all of these over and over. to flesh out an inspiration, i go to the library. since cooking isnt the only thing i study if i didnt limit myself i'd be living in a house made of books duct-taped together with a tarp thrown over.
one thing i have overdosed on are the old recipe booklets they gave out as promotion years ago. i own fire hazardous stacks of these. i dont know whats better- the recipes, the pictures, they way they capture their particular era or what but im addicted!


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## mannlicher

I keep my books on a set of stacked shelves, in an alcove between the bedroom and kitchen. Good lighting, I can see them from my work space, and they are always easy to find. Most of my ideas come out of one of the 4 large binders that are full of my own recipies.


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## diane

I would never suggest downsizing unless it is a matter of life and death. You will mourn for those books lost. My son, has put his nips on my Entire Library when I drop dead. I cannot claim organisation, I have had to move them too often, but the gardening books and the cooks books are more less in place. Otherwise motor bikes sit cheek by jowl with History of the English Speaking People. (Winston Churchill). Be Bold with Bananas (Bonita) appears fairly relaxed with Larousse, and The History and Use of Coffee is snuggled up with a 1900 Atlas of the World. Language Most Foul (a dictionary) keeps winking at Anthony B., and The Devils Dictionary keeps an eye on The Oxford. Aha, said one fellow, you can always tell a person by their books. His hypothosis ended in complete confusion. He ended up with Samuel Pepys Diary in one hand and Bridget Jones Diary in the other. hahahahahahaha.


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## yvonne

Diane,

It seems to me there is an association for you between the lexicon and the lettuce, entymology and encyclopedic cookery.

And your books seem to paired like good fellows in a train's compartment traveling well together.

As for Pepys, he and Jones had similar obsessions with how to's:

"At noon to Anth. Joyces to our gossips dinner; I had sent a dozen and a half of bottles of wine thither and paid my double share besides, which is 18s. Very merry we were, and when the women were merry and ris from the table, I above with them, ne'er a man but I; I begin discourse of my not getting of children and prayed them to give me their opinions and advice; and they freely and merrily did give me these ten among them.


> 1. Do not hug my wife too hard nor too much
> 2. Eat no late suppers
> 3. Drink juyce of sage.
> 4. Tent and toast
> 5. Wear cool Holland-drawers
> 6. Keep stomach warm and back cool
> 7. Upon my query whether it was best to do at night or morn, they answered me neither one nor other, but when we have most mind to it
> 8. Wife not to go too straight-laced
> 9. Myself to drink Mum and sugar
> 10. Mrs Ward did give me to change my plat"


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## diane

Oh Yvonne, what a gift to life you are, I haven't enjoyed anything so much for a long time. Thanks.


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## bigwheel

Well I keep all three of my cookbooks covered under a layer of dust. I do not see why anybody would need to stock hard cover books when there is so much info available in cyberspace. I mean if I turned yankee and decided to make quiches or something..I just axe yall how to do it. Who needs a steenken book? Now if you collecting em or they got sentimental value or something like that I surely understand. Works the same way on sausage making books. The info available in cyberspace has way done outpaced any compendium of books which could possibly be arrayed on the topic. It be the same ailment which afflicting other print media..newspapers for example. Course being a little overly progessive hurts their sales too I think. Just my dos pesos of course. 

bigwheel


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## blisstone

I keep them in the pantry and in my basement office (read hovel). They are not organized but somehow I know where to find what I'm looking for.

I have downsized on the books since my move. I donated a lot to the local library of where I used to live that way I knew where the copies could be found. Now where I live they do not accept donations except to resell them to raise funds. They said that it now would cost them more to catalog a donated bood then to get it new. I don't know what this world is coming to.

As for the Rolodex...I bought one of the big ones that is completely circular. Every time I make a recipe off a book I imput in the computer, print it out to the proper index card size and put it in the dex. If I haven't made the recipe but its from a magazine I print out the recipes I'm interested in and then I can dispose of the magazine 9well in theory dispose of the magazine). 

I haven't done this yet but when you make the recipe you can put the index card in a small plastice sleeve so it doesn't get too too "crusty".

Its true that since the internet I buy less books. But I need to be more disciplined about printing. Lately I've been stationing the laptop in the kitchen while I cook and I know that this is an accident waiting to happen.


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## unh12345

Am crashed and no longer works but i have my data files backed up! Help does anyone have this program that might be able to open my files and get my recipes for me!
It is called Cookworks.5 by pinpoint or cookbook 5.0
[email protected]


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## culprit

My kitchen includes a small built-in cabinet in one corner (also used as a telephone stand) that I use as a cookbook library. The cookbooks are sorted according to their dominant subject matter. Regional cookbooks by the region they represent, or by subject (e.g. Cakes and cookies, Diabetic Recipes, etc.). I don't display my cookbooks. My counterspace will never be large enough, no matter how big a kitchen I have, to waste space displaying cookbooks. My computer is the mechanism I use to write recipes, but I do keep a notebook on hand in the kitchen to make notes when something comes to mind that I want to file in the computer. I use all my cookbooks, even if it's just to get an idea. I am not a disciplined recipe follower. I will ordinarilly follow the recipe closely the first time I use it but I don't feel very creative following someone elses directions and, if I believe I can improve on it, I do. Of course, the improvement isn't always better....:look:
The only cookbooks that I discard are those that I pick up at a used book store and review at home and find it less interesting than it first appeared, or a cookbook that someone else gave me but that isn't useful (I'm not ungrateful but I do have limited space) for my needs.


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## egg_benidict

In your dusty bookshelf


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## firiki03

I value my cookbooks a lot so I put them upright in my book shelves according to the cuisines of the region first and then country along with files containing photostated copies of frequently used recipes. This way my cookbooks are kept in pristine condition.


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## jenyfari

I store my cookbooks in a bookcase along with all my other books and they probably take up at least one third of the space in the bookcase. I have more cookbooks than anything else although I have to say that I do more perusing of the books than actual cooking.


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## cookermacgregor

my cookbooks, maybe 150 or so, live in one big book case plus in piles on the floor in front. They are organized every century or so, but I rarely have trouble finding the one I want. I think if they were uber organized I wouldn't stumble across say Classic Indian Cooking on my way to finding The Bakers Dozen Cookbook. It helps to keep things loose and spontaneous, an atmosphere conducive to the best kind of cooking.


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## dc sunshine

Cook books - my papery battered friends that act as my stress therapy. They live everywhere - cupboards, bookshelves and they don't gather dust. I keep some out on a spare chair out on the decking (undercover!) which rotate on a regular basis for when I take my work stress break (I run a business from home). Cup of coffee and a ten minute read - ahhhhhh - and I'm ready to face work again (and the numb nuts I have to talk with every day on the telling bone).

Organised? Nope. Catergorised? Hardly! Enjoyed? Immensely 

Could I give one away? Don't even suggest it!

I was lucky enough recently to be given a stack of really nice ones when my parents downsized lately to go into a retirement village - they'd been in the family home for forty years and their collection of books (cookery and otherwise) is enormous. No need to guess which ones I've been reading lately! It's like fresh blood to a vampire hehe 

Although I do need more bookcase space now. I've been casting an eye at my husbands National Geographic magazine collection from the last 30 years....maybe its time they went....muahahaha


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## chefant

YouTube - chef anthony first full episode


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## scottintexas

I just read this very old post but thought I'd offer some further advice on scanning and saving recipes from magazines. Search the internet for an OCR (charachter recognition program) that will convert a scanned image into a real document that you can edit and format to fit your current electronic data base. I find it extremely helpful with getting recipes into my Access DB.


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## kiwicook

I must have around 1400 cookbooks by now. When we did some house renovations and made a large study, we have a lot of built in bookshelves made and my collection as well as all our other books went there. And then...

Husband got a new job 2 1/2 years ago which involved moving countries. Give away cookbooks? Would I give away my children?? We are currently in our second rental property here so moving that many books each time is a trial. However, we've bought a whole lot of book shelves, including a couple we moved from home. I currently have my most used books and all my reference books in my study. The rest are shelved in an upstairs family area, or in shelves in the bedroom. Occasionally some books get demoted upstairs to make way for new books and review books.

I'm a food writer and do a lot of cookbook reviewing so my book tally keeps growing. With the review books, I often give these away if they won't serve as reference books or are not the sort of books I would use. My 28-y-o son snaffles all the blokey books and the easy-recipes-with-great-results books for when it's his turn to cook for his flatmates. Likewise cookbooks for cooking with/for kids go to friends with young families.

I think we have one more house move to make - either back to our own home in New Zealand or we will buy here in Australia where we now live. It will need plenty of wall space for bookshelves.

Someone mentioned using the Dewey system to catalogue one's books. I tried that. But unfortunately with all the difference sizes, it became difficult to house them using the same logic. I found myself standing in front of the bookshelf the other day wishing I could just Google my collection for the recipe I was looking for. I suppose in 10 years' time that won't be such a silly idea. Books will come with a digital index which we will add to our cookbook database.


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## harpua

I have a whole bookshelf of cookbooks in the dining area (it's an apt.). The top shelf is the small cookbooks, usually the old ones sponsored by knudsen, reynolds, or pillsbury.

Shelf underneath, my cooking magazines, and also the old magazines from the great grandma's day (woman's day, etc. I REALLY enjoy those). 

Shelf underneath is the old novelty cookbooks that I treasure and pull out on a gloomy day to cheer me up. I also read (or look at) those ones while I'm doing my business.

Shelf underneath, I got the instructional books, On Cooking, some reference, and my vegetarian/vegan books.

Shelf underneath, I have my baking, desserts, and chocolate books, followed by my Italian, then Japanese cookbooks. 

Wow I don't have any mexican or chinese cookbooks... or thai. Hmmm....

Good Japanese books are hard to come by, but I found an amazing country cooking one at the discarded books pile at the library. It's where I became interested in Japanese food.

Oh, I also have 2 boxes full of recipe clippings from my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. I would run out with these during a fire. It also has my oldest cookbook in it, a Gold Medal Flour book from 1910. It's nice to have a cookbook that was made BEFORE the convenience food takeover. It actually had quite a few french recipes in it.. well, french technique anyway.


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## oldschool1982

I used to store them in my office on a shelf. Only taking them to the kitchem for R&D. This was an attepmt to preserve the condition. Now they sit on a shelf in our patio room. They don't get used near as much as they once were but it's nice to be able to display the ones I've purchased/collected or been given with the Recipe manuals I've put together for each of the restaurants/kitchens I set up.


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## kcz

I've decided the best place to put bookcases is in a hallway. In newer homes, hallways are 42-48" wide, which leaves plenty of walking room if 10-12" deep bookcases are used to line one side, preferably floor to ceiling. I've got 400-500 cookbooks, and I now have room for all of them as well as file boxes for recipe cards, and they're handy to the kitchen.


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## maywen

My collection has had a recent serious cull as we are moving, however my vintage books are in a bookcase in the office.
The 500 or so other cookbooks are boxed and indexed in the garage.
I use 'Collectorz' software to catalogue my books. Its a great help when searhing for something I dont have as it searches Amazon, LOC and Powells amongst other libraries world wide, making it a great reference as well.
My copies of Donna Hay, Gourmet Traveller and Delicious Magazines are also catalogued and stored in the house as I am constantly referring to them.
I just got a copy of Maggie Beer's 'Maggies Harvest for christmas (Australian). 2 inches thick with a padded cloth embroidered cover. Soooo beautiful. This one wont go on a shelf. The sort of book you sit in bed and read while you are eating chocolates!
When I move I will probably open up a little shop and sell cookbooks and ephemera, new and old.
I plan to also have a small kitchen installed so that we can test recipes on a friday and share the joy of cooking.
I do also have a book holder in the kitchen sagging with lots of books and recipes that I am always trying to get around to cooking.


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## canadiangirl

We are remodeling our kitchen and my sister in law asked were I would display my books. Most are too worn, used & held together by big bands...The others by Julia and one by The Frugal Gourmet can but I only have a few!
But I joined a cook book club & got 4 books for $3! My FAV was "The Professional Chef-The Culinary Institute of America!($1!!!):lips:
I have been so bored in the kitchen lately and will be ordering many more cookbooks! They will be taking the place of my other novels-since I really don't have time for a real novel!!!! 
I am soo amazed at the numbers of volumes some of you have! I am SO jealous! Please don't give them up but... if you must... I would love ANY hand me downs because I love to try new and tasty treats w/ my family!:smiles:xo


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## adamm

me well i just keep mine were ever i have room, right now there in rubermaid containers becsue im in the process of moving back home/moving to a new apartment closer to home now that im done with my externship. 

My boss had a really neat set up in his home kitchen, he had a ledge or shelf going the whole way around his kitchen and put his cookbooks on it. he didnt have too many but the ones he had he put face out and then had wine or olive oil bottels inbetween them.


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## mannlicher

Since I posted my first reply to this thread back in 2006, I have moved from Miami to North Florida.
My cookbooks still reside on the stacked book shelves, but now they are in my den, next to my computer desk.
I belive I have added about 20 more books, and I have managed to computerize 4 binders full of my own recipes. For Christmas, I gave my kids each a thumb drive with some 40 years of my creating recipes.


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## dg0113

i a have a tall pile on my floor, i dont have much room for a bookshelf in my room


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## inthekitchen

Though I do have a shelf for my books (cooking and otherwise), the cookbooks don't really have a style of organization yet since my collection is small. Only in the past year have I really found my love for cooking so the collection hasn't gotten too out of hand just yet. My favorite though is a recipe collection from the local farmer's market (the North Market) in Columbus, OH. It's got a nice selection of recipes from the merchants that sell their goods in the North Market.


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## maywen

Only just found your love of collecting cookbooks? You might want to get a bigger shelf. It really is addictive! You will soon run out of room.
I am thinking of erecting a small clothesline in my kitchen and suspending some of the less valuable books from this.

Maywen....Cookbookaholic


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## jennabrown

As my collection of recipes grew I thought of storing them in the computer.
And I also save the recipes found in the net.
I am a good cook, but I don't usually try recipes on my own.


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## tessa

drrooooooollllls at the thought

At Bruces house I have some books in a shelf next to my side of the bed, at my place i have cookbooks on shelves, on the coffee table, on the computer table, on the computer, in the kitchen drawe on the bookshelf in the lounge, bookshelf in the bedroom, on the floor next to the bed, on the bed when im sleeping solo in baskets ......... pretty much everwhere. and right now im putting in to boxes as we are doing what shroom did , but in a different way , we are moving in together, but none of my books will begetting lost in transit.
Bruces sister is wonderful and often picks up books for me from garagesales. Ohh and i forgot my cake decorating books are startring to inhabit any space thats left over , plus the number of books in my car as well.

Cookbooks are one of the very best things people can give me for gifts


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## maywen

OK all of you cookbook hoarders, 
I thought I should let you know there IS a cookbook collectors group on yahoo. Just have a look in the yahoo directory for CookbooksEtCetera
I cant post the URL as Chef Talk wont let me yet.
Great group, organised regional events, as it says, etc!
I am in Auatralia and I still get heaps out of being a member of this group.
Highly Recommended

Maywen


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## amazingrace

There is a bookcase, in the living/dining area, where I keep the most frequently used cookbooks. The ones I don't use too often are in the loft atop a side by side set of file cabinets. I have some books which I need to find a new home for, since they have not been used in years.


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## chrislehrer

I'm an academic, so I'm very crazed about books and their organization. I never, ever cut up magazines, either.

First of all, you people looking for space, go figure out where the local college profs buy their bookshelves. The ones you're looking for are just barely the height of your books, and just barely their depth, and no more. You can get twice as much on shelves like these, and they're usually very cheap (and also unfinished: just put a lick of paint or shellac or whatever on them).

Second, I like alphabets. I do things by region/nation (China, Japan, Louisiana, Spain, etc., just to oversimplify). Then within this, I do authors: Lin before Tropp before Yan, etc. Then in one space you put the special subject books (cakes, chocolate, etc.), and in another you put the weirdly oversized things that don't fit elsewhere, and so on, again by author. Magazines go in their own places, by magazine title and run.

What happens if you organize this way, i.e. by author or some other arbitrary system rather than content as such, is that you are forced to remember what everything is. Pretty quickly, you WILL remember, you'd be surprised. And every once in a while you will stumble on books you forgot you had, and then can browse with a lot of pleasure, as though you'd just bought the book. What's more you know where to put that new beauty you just bought.

All in all, I think many of you are missing the point of a hyper-organized system _sans_ computers (which crash, don't load, get coated with raw chicken, etc.). It's for browsing: you know where it is, just up above the blue one, oh no, hang on, maybe it's just to the left of this red one, and hey, what is this red one anyway? Huh, gotta dig into that.... That's the point: not instant retrieval, which is just mechanics or having a secretary, but constant meandering, which is about having ideas.


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## chef21

right now i share a kitchen with my mom so my cook books go in my book case in my room...but when i have my own kitchen i will definitely keep it in the kitchen in a small shelf which will be customized in my kitchen lol i will have a customized kitchen when im married


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## ed buchanan

Dont keep in kitchen as the grease from cooking in the air will yellow them faster. Keep them out of direct sun. also fluorescent light will hasten their ageing(cool flourescent lights oK not warm white type) away from heat sources. Dust every once in a while. I have some over 75 years old no problems so far.


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## oliver b

everybody seems to be in the same boat here, LOL. I have somewhere between 200-250 books, they're just slowly creeping and taking over the large bookshelf in the living room, where they share space with similar amounts of books on art and music. They're in no particular order, those where i have more than one by the same author all sit together, but they pretty much just end up where there was room when I got them. I tend to remember (like a squirrel) where I stashed them. Once in a while I think about organizing them in some way, but figure it's not worth the trouble. I find the ones I want anyway. And once you organize things and get a couple more books about some topic, you have to move all books around to make room in the right place. No fun.

Magazines, I basically purge once every couple months. I might keep one or the other recipe or even entire issues, but mostly I throw them out. I hardly ever make the same thing twice, so there's little use for me keeping any given recipe around. I'd store it and foret about it and never make it again anyway. There are millions more that I have not even read yet, why stick to one I've already made? I don't read the same book twice either and hardly watch the same movie twice (with some exceptions). 

I do "read around" in cookbooks just about every day though, and my wishlist on Amazon is well fertilized too, it grows like weeds!


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## inventivefficie

I would scan them onto the hard drive ^_^


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## chongski

i stack my cookbooks above my counter top. i have a cabinet full of them. I also arrange them according to their categories like pastries, salads, meals, etc. so that its easy for me to select whenever i need a cookbook.


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## goudahound

Have a massive cookbook-off, pull out the recipes of every dish that's simliar, and cook them. Choose the best recipe, and throw the rest away.
Create your own cookbook, taking a bit of this and a bit of that. It might differ in size, but then you can work around that with computers if it's a real bother.


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## san4os

Hi!
:bounce:

I have no cookbook at home!
I can find any recipies in my memorry, Mother and internet!!! =)


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## just jim

I keep mine in a bookcase in my home office, though it's time for another, or a larger one.
Typically the books never enter the kitchen.
I use them as research, jot down the recipe in part or in whole, then take that to the kitchen.
My books look brand new, though they are well used.


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## kyheirloomer

That'll change, san4os, soon as you learn to do more than boil water. :chef:
Seriously, as your cooking skills develop, you'll find yourself in the same boat as the rest of us---maybe even become like those of us who read cookbooks the way others read novels. 

Jim, I'm impressed. My cookbooks are in the kitchen all the time. In fact, there are two 6-foot shelves in the kitchen that carry some of them. The rest are in custom-built floor-to-ceiling shelving units. Those bookcases are in the hall, only cuz there's no room for them elsewhere.

When I decide on a recipe to try, that book goes into the kitchen with me. If it's a keeper, I then type up a recipe card---along with any adaptations I've made. I also write notes and comments right in the books. They are, after all, tools. 

What astounds me, in hindsight, is how little they get messed up by spills etc.

In terms of arrangement, I'm similar to Chris, but not quite as organized. The books are arranged by gross category, and grouped within the catagory as necessary. For instance, all of the Meditarranean cookbooks are together, further broken down by country or region as necessary. Baking would be a category, broken down by bread and other baking. And so on.


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## cabosailor

I have 5, 4 ft long shelves in the family room that holds cook books and cooking magazines. There are probably 5 - 6 cook books sitting around on end tables, coffee tables and such. Right now there is no real organization but I'm starting to go through them and culling the ones I either don't use or won't use any longer. Since it pains me to throw any book away, I box up those I eliminate and donate them to the local library.

Though I'm not as religious about it as I should be, when something turns out exceptionally tasty I enter into a recipe program called Big Oven and tag it as "favorite". Overall I like the program because I can either type the recipe in manually, copy a recipe into memory from online, or put it onto my printer and scan it in. There is a small utility that allows one to highlight a portion and assign it a place. For example, mark out the list of ingredients with the mouse and click on "ingredients", then highlight the directions and click on "directions". Really kind of neat. 

Rich


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## adam smith

Mine Are Arranged in alphabetical order and book shelf is in the kitchen


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## web monkey

mudbug said:


> This question was inspired by Kimmie's post at the "form over function" thread.
> 
> We all have a collection of cookbooks which probably doesn't get smaller. How do you sort them? Where do you keep them (kitchen counter, cabinets, closets, stand alone shelves, shelves on the wall)? Do you have a cookbook on "display" in a plate holder? Do you have blank recipe books you write your creations in or keep them on your computer? Do you use them all or do you trade unused ones at the used book store?


With this.

As long as Home Depot has 1x12 oak, eye hooks and chain, and I have wall perimeter, I've got room for more books.

You can run this around the entire house if you want, since very few people will hit their head on a shelf that's almost 7 1/2' off the ground.

An added benefit is that some stainless rod and eye hooks get you space for all those utensils that never seem to find a good home.

Terry


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## remorel

I have broken down my cookbook collection into three tiers...inside the house are the hard cover collectable frequently used books. Tier two is upstairs in the attic. Boxes of books that are well liked and occationally looked at for reference. Tier three are the wayward soft covers, magazines, manaufacturer product booklets that are in the garage on shelves. One note of caution: Garage kept books absorb moisture and start to degrade rather quickly. The stuff I keep out there can be given away but I can't get the guts to do it. I never know when I want to rush out and find that old copy of Cooking in the Nude or the Road Kill cookbook.


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## sirlene

I´m so glad that I´m not alone with my colletions and Amazon wish list!!/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif


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## halmstad

on bookshelves in a hallway around the corner from my kitchen. making easy access and away from the fumes and airborne grease of the kitchen.


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## mamadelbosque

I pickup cookbooks regularly at goodwill/garage sales and about once a year pair them back down to the ones that I've made anything out of (and thats turned out). 

I have one measly shelf on the very bottom of our bookshelf for my cookbooks. I so wish I had more space!!


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## kyheirloomer

Madame, here's a little secret for you. If your kitchen cabinents are standard installation they are hung a foot lower than the ceiling, with a soffit filling the opening. Remove the soffits and you've got as much "shelf" space as the length of your cabinets. Plenty of room for books, and less-often used cooking equipment, etc.


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## Guest

I am sooooo lucky to have a super computer geek hubby He digitally converted all of my books. We have a mini laptop in our kitchen. I have a little database I can look up by book,author or recipe...I even have all my family recipes stored in it. I add new recipes all the time...I love it!  Now I have room for more cooking stuff  Sad for my books that are sitting in boxes waiting...


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## annecho

Went to cooking school hoping to get definitive info.  Did not work.  I have almost 2 doz books now in my rented room, in less than a year!  Yes I have an addiction. I read a cookbook from cover to cover and flag the recipes I want to do with post-it notes cut up 5 times. What I haven't figured out is how to source a recipe I tabbed that I know that I want to try, but can't recall which book.This can be years later after first viewing! I sort my books by baking, ethnic etc.  I now pencil a checkmark in index if I've done a recipe, untab, make a penciled note on recipe page rating it or suggested changes.

 . 

I haunt the thrift stores and found I had bought some books more than once!

At home when I am overflowing for space, meaning I want to buy a new cookbook, I take out the books with the fewest tabs, review the tabbed recipes to see if they still interest me, untab or scan the recipe into computer.  Then, I donate the book back to the thrift shop, or public library if they are intersted.  If you think this is pricey I find it much cheaper than paying overdue fines at the library!  The library is now my biggest resource, however, while I am out of town in my rental apt.  They have a lot of the books I have at home but some of my thrift store finds are obscure and unique. Each author has their own philosophy, palate, and technique tips that one assimilates into ones own repetoire that you can't get from any one 'bible' cookbook.

My cookbooks are my babies.  I have completed my chef's course and I still am still addicted to cookbooks but do not have to own them all. 

I have become very, very selective now.

   I have pared my collection down to about 300 now! 

Happy reading.


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## kyheirloomer

Annecho, I go through a similar process. One thing that might help: instead of cutting up post it notes, they make what are called post-it flags. These come in an array of colors, and a couple of sizes. You can even get them as part of a combo pack that includes a matching-color highlighter.

You might find that color coding can help when you go back searching. At least it will limit the number of books you have to search through---providing you can come up with a system that works for you.

Something else I've learned to do. Through my work as a book reviewer I'd gotten in the habit of taping a sheet of notepaper to the frontispiece. As I try recipes, I write down it's name and page, along with notes and comments about the recipe and the dish. This has been so beneficial that I now do it with all cookbooks, not just those I'm reviewing.

For me it works much better than merely checking off that recipe in the contents.

Unfortunately, it's no help looking for one of those to-try recipes.


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## abefroman

The ones I use a lot are in the book case in the living room, the ones I use somewhat are in a cabinet in the kitchen, then I have some more downstairs, along with a bunch in other various places.


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## rueclerk

They are stored nearly everywhere, a bookcase in my bedroom, which has overflowed to another bookcase in my bedroom.  Magazines are next to chairs, recliners, piled on desk, in the computer, flat surfaces and magazine racks.  I do not have any in my kitchen, because there is no room in the kitchen. I have a great, quite small galley kitchen that was built to house me and my beloved kitchen tools, we take up every last inch of space.  I carry the recipe book into the kitchen, or enter the recipe into the computer and print it off, I'll make a notation in the book if it's good, note substitutions if any were made.  If it's not good, notation as well and wiped off the computer if that is appropriate.  But throw away a cookbook, that is not something I can do without a struggle.


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## waynus

Like most people they are everywhere, I do cull them from time to time. Though I never dispose of as many as I buy so my collection always grows. The magazines as many have said are the biggest problem, I really wish the publishers would offer cd with a years issues or more burnt on them. A few non cooking publications do this and it saves so much space and you still have all those back issues.


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## silvercliff46

I have around 100 cookbooks dating back to the 1930's.  Some of the WWII cook books have some neat stuff in them.  There were a lot of shortages, and they tell you how to get around some of those shortages.

I have them stored on several shelves of my book case.  I also have my Master Cook software, and around 20,000 recipes in several collections. 

Nope, I will never make all those recipes, but it's nice to search through my MC collection for inspiration.  The wife, and I once went six months, and NEVER had the same thing twice.   We make out two week menu's.  Sometime we choose a cuisine, and only make that, Other times we mix it up.  In winter we always have a different soup every week.  Sometimes we say "LETS PLAY", and put something together based on the proper proceedures and techniques we have learned from our generous Chef friends, and Foodies.

Ya got to feel sorry for folks that say, Oh today is Monday so it's spaghetti, or Wednesday it's meatloaf.

FOOD IS COOL!!!

So many amazing meals developed by wonderful creative chefs, foodies, and straight up home cooks, and so short a life to enjoy them.


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## bigaengus

Lord, please save me from more cookbooks!

My wife and I have a collection of a several hundred cookbooks. Important reference tomes are kept in book cases in our study. Older parts of the collection take up space in a bookcase that covers an entire kitchen wall. The remainder appear to be forming a wall atop dresser in the master bedroom.

It has finally gotten to the point where we seriously need to discard some. This in it self can be a problem in a home with 2 cooks! I want to keep books that include historic notes and assorted trivia on the dishes or cuisine, where my wife wants to keep only books that reflect her personal interests (anything related to Christmas, railroad/dining car related, the esoteric list goes on...) It is important to go through your collection periodically though, it's surprising how many duplicates you can find.

Cheers!

Check out Foodies on the Prowl!


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## sivasvati

I keep some of mine on top of the fridge. some are on a bookshelf in the living room. magazines are stacked in my bedroom trying to find a home. an inordinate amount seem to wind up on the nightstand next to my bed and spill onto the floor. i have no idea how that happens. i also go to the library and check out books flag recipes in them and put them on my computer. i am in the process of printing out favorites and putting them in page protectors in a three ring binder sorted into categories. this will take a very loooong time. but i think it will be worth it.


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## mamachef

I keep my cookbooks with the rest of my "library" on the bookshelves with all of the classic literature that my husband collects. I've tried to organize them before, but that never seems to last long. I love my vintage cookbooks that have been passed down by my grandmother or mother. My prized possessions though are the hand written family recipes I have in two traditional recipe boxes and one 3 ring binder. There is nothing more wonderful than seeing my grandmother's hand writing when I make her scratch noodle recipe or my own chicken scratches from a child in 4H or Home-Ec class when I cook. Some day maybe I will archive these all electronically, but for now, I just love the smell of a musty old 1940's Better Homes and Garden's book or the tattered Swan's Down Best of Cakes book with hand-written notes.


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