The Culinary Library

With summer deciding to take leave of us again for a bit (thank heavens it at least showed up for opening day), I thought now would be a good time to head back into the kitchen and talk cookbooks...the storage of them to be precise.
After winning the "Fearless Baker" cookbook, I was not only very excited to use it, but I was also extremely excited by the fact that I now had another wonderful book of culinary delights to add to my well loved and ever growing 'kitchen' library, which by the way, was started on my eighteenth birthday when I received my very first cookbook...

"Good Housekeeping's Illustrated Cookbook" (above on the right). To this day I still rely on this abundantly instructive book, it's amazing...but I digress, back to cookbook storage (it might be fun in the future though to go through favorite cookbooks and post favorite recipes out of them...I can feel myself getting sidetracked by that thought as we speak, we best move on).

By the way, yes...that is a little bobble head Miss. Ginger sitting atop my Martha By Mail (sigh) recipe box. I purchased her with the very first proceeds I earned from the sale of my cards at the little French Flower shop that was the first to sell them (Maxine's, a magical place!), she's very special and she's been keeping me company in the kitchen ever since.

When designing 24C, a top priority was to have plenty of open shelving for storing all of our culinary books. Many are like old friends and having them out and about, continually cheering me on to try new things and offering constant inspiration and guidance has made cooking much more of an adventure and treat.

Some shelving was planned specifically with books in mind...

But the majority were planned for a mix of both cookbooks and whatever else my heart desired to have out at the moment.

On this shelf, a few of my everyday go-to books hang out with some favorite ironstone and restaurantware pieces.

Gitzi painted the little glass jar that I use for a bookend...it's filled with dried sour cherries which I use in just about everything from gorp, to oatmeal, to cookies...to chili!

One day there will be shelving on this wall as well and I'm looking forward to placing some well loved editions here too...and maybe even some new ones (such as Balthazar's beautiful cookbook which I've been dreaming of for quite a while now).

In our previous home I liked having our cookbooks sprinkled throughout the house (dining and living rooms, even hallways)...as did our guests, the books were always being picked up, perused and enjoyed by them. Cooking books are such great conversation starters and a wonderful way to connect with people. Many times recipes were copied, stories were read and shared, and sometimes a new appreciation for food was begun...loved seeing that happen.
Needless to say, 24C has been sprinkled with culinary books as well, and guests seem to be enjoying them just as much as before which has produced some very nice and nostalgic feelings.

The image above was taken for the recent Lilac Love post but because it was slightly crooked I didn't use it, but now... since I don't at the moment have a fluffy bouquet on the counter to block all the boxes that are living where our dining table is supposed to be, I'm going to have to use it to show our dining room built-ins. Normally I've just shown bits and pieces as a means of avoiding afore mentioned boxes.

I've particularly loved having cookbooks in the dining room, especially the essay, vintage, and historical ones...they're a bit more library-ish and they mix well with the regular books.

And even though they're behind glass...people are more than welcome to enjoy these books as well as the ones that live out in the open.

One of my favorite cooking essay authors is Elizabeth David..."An Omelette and a Glass of Wine" and "Is There a Nutmeg in the House" are fascinating reads. She almost single handedly taught the post war British generation how to cook again and brought olive oil and garlic into a spotlight that had never even existed before. Her recipe's and essays are a pure joy to read and a must for anyone in love with cooking...I promise, you'll love her!

Some of you may remember this teacup...I still haven't used it! :/

A vintage gardening book was thrown in with this bunch...just cause it's pretty!

I don't have cookbooks in the other set of glass cabinets yet ...

But I do keep my favorite, often used recipe clippings, printouts, and booklets there...for now.

At least they're all in one place and I'm not continuously rummaging around for them, which used to drive me crazy! They most likely won't stay here...but for now it works.

And now that this post is coming to an end and our Fearless new edition is tucked away in it's new home getting to know Ina and friends while awaiting it's first assignment (Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!)...it's time for me to start thinking about what to have for dinner...which since it's so late...looks like it's going to be pizza!
(Mario Batali's dad has a Salumi shop here in Seattle and he supplies our local pizzeria with his spicy salumi...it's so good...that's what we're having...with mushrooms!)

Guten Appetit (Gitzi's German influence here), and happy cookbook reading!!