Thanks to Brenda at the Culinary Fool, here is my contribution, finally!
Number of Cookbooks I've Owned: At least 75, I think. Plus all the ones I am currently borrowing (thanks Chef!) and loaning to others.
Last Cookbook I Bought: Dessert University
. This book is great because it offers really practical advice for tried and true desserts. Roland Messnier has made every recipe in the book a thousand times for thousands of people, having been the pastry chef at the White House since the Carter administration. Besides, what other book have you seen with blurbs from the past 5 first ladies on the back?
Last (Food) Book I Read: The Apprentice. I loved this book because Pepin has such a sweet prose, and the journey of his life is really interesting.
Five (Cook)books that Mean a Lot to Me:
1. Mennonite Community Cookbook. Because it's my heritage, and it's really interesting to read about feasts that the Amish make for weddings and the like, all without electricity or air-conditioning.
2. Professional Pastry Chef. It always answers all my questions, and even has a recipe for dog biscuits. For if I ever get a dog. Maybe I'll adapt it for catnip cookies.
3. My mom's ring-bound notebook full of recipes, for the notations she's made, and for the memories I get looking through it.
4. Grandma's box of recipes, because every Saturday morning growing up she would have the whole family over (at least 30 people) for her famous cinnamon rolls.
5. Culinary Artistry. For awakening my imagination.
And there you have it, in a nutshell.
