Paper Palate

Earlier this week I looked up my standby recipe for hummus in The New York Times International Cook Book. I’ve had it around for years and consult with it irregularly. But when it comes to hummus, that’s the recipe I love. You can tell by the way the page looks.
Some folks treat their cookbooks the way an archivist would, using special cookbook holders and taking exquisite care of them. Me, when I love a cookbook I use it. No book protector for me: when cooking I have one or more cookbooks open, I move them from counter, flipping through them to double check on ingredients and compare recipes. I set measuring cups or ingredients on the pages, or rest a spoon on the open book to hold it to the place I need. Occasionally, I *ahem* set them on the stove and *ahem* occasionally the burner was on.

If find this doesn’t happen now that I have a gas stove. But you can certainly tell that Julia Child’s The Way to Cook is one of the cookbooks I love the most.

How well do you use your cookbooks?

[Times International Cookbook listed at Amazon.com for $1.91  from Amazon.co.uk from 92p]