So, this is really sad. As the holidays were approaching last year, in an attempt to “clean up” the cookbook piles…I stashed a ton of cookbooks on the bottom shelf of a cabinet. And I’ve left them there!
So, in this year’s attempt to “clean up” AND be better with the blog…I wanted to go through the packages and write about them. Now, I’ve also got my stash from my very last trip to the used book store and thrift stores in Savannah and Hilton Head in this pile…so there’s another potential blog post in all this stacked up, backed up mess.
Most of this pile started out as a list of cookbooks that I saw on Amazon but there’s also a couple that I specifically wanted because of the authors. And then there’s one that..well, you’ll see.
Here’s the stack!
Let’s start from the bottom and go up.
Whole Hog BBQ: The Gospel of Carolina Barbeque with Recipes from Skylight Inn & Sam Jones BBQ (Sam Jones & Daniel Vaughn). So this one was a “suggestion” by Amazon as I was pre-ordering Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ cookbook. Now, I’ve never been to the Skylight Inn or Sam Jones BBQ, but I just think it’s great to have these books as a way to preserve the many different ways of cooking BBQ.
Think of how many amazing BBQ joints have been in business and closed over the past century. Family recipes, regional flavors, whole hog, charcoal, pit-cooked, dry-rubbed, sauced….how many ways of BBQ-ing have been perfected and then lost to time? That history of feeding families/communities via seasoned and roasted meat is as deep and varied and as long as time itself.
Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking (Toni Tipton Martin). This purchase was definitely to help fill out my collection with more from this author. She has emerged as one of the great respected food writers on Southern cooking. My hope was to get a First Edition of Jubilee as I think I’ve seen more than one cover for this book (or is that my imagination?). This copy does say First Edition and it has the image of the Louisiana Barbecued Shrimp (I think) on the cover. So happy with this as I don’t think it was listed as a First Edition….I was banking on the publication date and a whole lotta luck!
Next up is Tailgreat: How to Crush It at Tailgating (John Currence). I’ve already got another cookbook by Currence (autographed, thank you) and he’s one of the go-to chefs in Oxford, Mississippi that John T. Edge adores. Plus, I’ve noticed him taking part in events hosted by the Southern Foodways Alliance—so he’s definitely legit. And, I’ve always wanted to be the one who has amazing food for Super Bowl parties. Perhaps this will get my game elevated beyond just Buffalo Chicken Dip?
Brown Sugar Kitchen (Tanya Holland with Jan Newberry). I think this one was another suggestion by Amazon’s algorithm when I was looking for Jubilee. I promise you, I ended up with a whole list of new cookbooks that weren’t even on my radar just because of that “suggested for you” section! LOL!!! And you know how much I love breakfast for lunch and/or dinner…who wouldn’t want this cookbook? It has chicken & waffles and then more waffles on the cover!
Now, you may be wondering, “Why does she have two copies of Brown Sugar Kitchen in her stack?” Great question and it has a very simple answer, take a look at how this copy made it to my house:
Unbelievable. My local post office delivered it to me like this. The person literally tried to curl it up and shove it into my mailbox. I was livid! Livid. Liv-id.
So, I bought another copy. It arrived in much better shape.
Brunch @ Bobby’s: 140 Recipes for the Best Part of the Weekend (Bobby Flay with Stephanie Banyas & Sally Jackson). What more can I say? I love breakfast any time of the day: brunch, lunch, dinner…I’m there. I think I watched an episode of him putting together several brunch items? An online search quickly revealed this cookbook and I found it on eBay. Definitely not a first printing but I’m glad it’s here.
Pantry and Palate: Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food (Simon Thibault). Once again, thanks to Amazon’s suggestion, this one came home to me as well. If memory serves, this one was served up after a search for more Mercedes Vidrine cookbooks. Of course, when it popped up I assumed it was associated with Cajun cooking but when it arrived I found that it was focused on the regional community in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Last but not least in this pile is Breakfast for Dinner: Recipes for Frittata Florentine, Huevos Rancheros, Sunny-Side-Up Burgers, and More! (Lindsay Landis & Taylor Hackbarth). This one made it here based entirely on seeing it in a photo on the bookshelf behind Michael Twitty in a Twitter post. I love when food authors have their bookshelves in a photo because I will totally zoom-zoom up on that and find out what’s missing from my collection! And, who could miss that it is entirely devoted to my favorite: breakfast for dinner! LOL!!!
Well, that was fun! And it covered a lot. I think I look at my piles of cookbooks and overthink things. Should I wait and grab a few more cookbooks to make a post more interesting or lengthy? Have I missed the window on talking about this trip or this garage sale find? Questions like that end up with me suffering from analysis paralysis….and then nothing gets written. And the piles stack up and back up.
Luckily, I’ve been able to find some awesome bookshelves and cabinets (future cookbook room tour?) to house the growing collection. And…big helper here…I’m on vacation this week. I’m hoping to devote time each day to work my way through some piles with blog posts. Only once I’ve written about them (or forgotten how I got them) do I feel that I can help them find a place amongst the shelves. Wish me luck!