Confessions from a Cookbook Addict

Okay, I’m just going to put it out there ... I have a confession to make, I am addicted to cookbooks. Yes, my name is Nancy, and I’m a cookbookaholic.

It all began quite innocently. While in high school my friend and I perused through a library loaner of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking to make dinner for a French class project. It was a wonderful experience. When I went off to college this same friend gave me my very own first hit, The Good Housekeeping Cookbook.

Part of My Stash

That was just the beginning. I craved one hit after another. I couldn’t get enough. I started bringing them home from remainder sections of bookstores, cloaked in brown paper bags. I was pathetic. Since then I don’t know how many have been added to my stash, but it is massive.

I’ve tried to break my addiction; going cold turkey, wearing patches, you name it. But they are so easily available. After all, you just can’t pass a bookstore without taking a peek at what’s new inside. That adrenalin rush you get from picking up some new colorful cookbook, browsing through the pages, ogling each lovely picture … ah.

So just stay away from bookstores you say. Okay, but these cookbooks sneak up on you at every turn. Just the other day, while shopping in Costco for paper towels, one leapt into my arms from a table as I was passing by. I mean, I wasn’t even looking for it … they’re impossible to get away from.

The worst of it is, I’ve never even made anything out of many of them. It is so much easier nowadays to just get on Epicurious, or some other recipe site, when in need of a quick fix.

I’m in recovery now. I haven’t bought any in quite some time; those last two don’t really count as they were on clearance and so very cheap. But you can find me hovering around the cookbook section of our local library. The library has been my rehab and has helped me through that difficult withdrawal period. The books can be mine for three weeks to sample, and I can copy those recipes I truly can’t live without.

Since being a recovering cookbookaholic, I have not only saved money, but have also saved space in the house as the cookbooks were beginning to encroach upon our living space. I’m much healthier now, my self esteem is improving and I think I may be cured.

So what shall I make for dinner tonight? Hmm, I really need to make something new from one of those many books … I'll let you know how it turns out ...