My contribution: It’s always amazed me that cookbooks are big hardbacks—it just seems so impractical for kitchen use. Someone tipped me off to take your cookbook to staples and get it spiral bound. I think I’ve only done it with paperbacks, but it’s possible it could work with hardback if the covers aren’t too thick. That said, I rarely make a recipe from a cookbook. I mean to but just never seem to remember when it’s time to make something and I’m hungry.
Looking forward to your Bravo-themed cookbook that you will someday write.
What a great post! I cannot stand when you have to flip to other pages for another involved recipe. I loved Paul Prudhomne in the ‘80s but he did that. My biggest pet peeve is British books. I love One Tin Bakes by the 1st winner of Great British Bake Off, Edd Kimber. BUT they have notes in the back of the book that I never read until months later saying things like : the eggs listed here are UK sized large. In the States, use XL.” What??? Put that info in the front! Same with Nancy Birtwhistle who won Season 5 - all the vital info is in the back to the book. Cheers
Honestly, some of my favorite cookbooks are the small 3-ring binder cookbooks that churches, families, etc put together. A great mix of current & kitsch w/o unnecessary instructions.
Great point about page number size! My biggest pet peeve is just the “filler” recipes that aren’t necessary and obviously just made the cut. It’s a waste of everyone’s time.
I actually love when cookbooks are laid out by menu 🫣 but only when it’s accessible and I might actually do it! I just preordered Kelsey Barnard Clark’s new book “Southern Get Togethers” and the menus look awesome. Her first book is full of food I will actually cook, but is still elevated. Do you have any of the Mark Bittman “how to cook everything” series books? The way those recipes are laid out is so genius, especially for newer cooks. I think a lot of us cooking nerds do this intuitively now but he adds in steps like when to wash a bowl you are done with or when you can chop something while something else is cooking. So great!
I need to know from the start if a recipe will take 30 minutes or 12 hours. Alison Roman's latest cookbook says in the intro to read each recipe in its entirety first and yes, sure, I get it...I'm still not going to do it. Just say at the top of the page, "THIS WILL TAKE YOU 10 HOURS TOTAL TIME," please.
My contribution: It’s always amazed me that cookbooks are big hardbacks—it just seems so impractical for kitchen use. Someone tipped me off to take your cookbook to staples and get it spiral bound. I think I’ve only done it with paperbacks, but it’s possible it could work with hardback if the covers aren’t too thick. That said, I rarely make a recipe from a cookbook. I mean to but just never seem to remember when it’s time to make something and I’m hungry.
Looking forward to your Bravo-themed cookbook that you will someday write.
What a great post! I cannot stand when you have to flip to other pages for another involved recipe. I loved Paul Prudhomne in the ‘80s but he did that. My biggest pet peeve is British books. I love One Tin Bakes by the 1st winner of Great British Bake Off, Edd Kimber. BUT they have notes in the back of the book that I never read until months later saying things like : the eggs listed here are UK sized large. In the States, use XL.” What??? Put that info in the front! Same with Nancy Birtwhistle who won Season 5 - all the vital info is in the back to the book. Cheers
Honestly, some of my favorite cookbooks are the small 3-ring binder cookbooks that churches, families, etc put together. A great mix of current & kitsch w/o unnecessary instructions.
Great point about page number size! My biggest pet peeve is just the “filler” recipes that aren’t necessary and obviously just made the cut. It’s a waste of everyone’s time.
Yes to Alison! Amazon has the option to order some big books as spiral bound and it's 100% worth the extra cost.
GET OUT! I'm going to try this!
Yep! They basically trim the pages out and then spiral bind them instead.
I actually love when cookbooks are laid out by menu 🫣 but only when it’s accessible and I might actually do it! I just preordered Kelsey Barnard Clark’s new book “Southern Get Togethers” and the menus look awesome. Her first book is full of food I will actually cook, but is still elevated. Do you have any of the Mark Bittman “how to cook everything” series books? The way those recipes are laid out is so genius, especially for newer cooks. I think a lot of us cooking nerds do this intuitively now but he adds in steps like when to wash a bowl you are done with or when you can chop something while something else is cooking. So great!
I love when a book has recommendations about when to clean dishes!
Next up....would love some of your cookbook favs.!!!
I need to know from the start if a recipe will take 30 minutes or 12 hours. Alison Roman's latest cookbook says in the intro to read each recipe in its entirety first and yes, sure, I get it...I'm still not going to do it. Just say at the top of the page, "THIS WILL TAKE YOU 10 HOURS TOTAL TIME," please.
Love getting books spiral bound at Staples. Sadly, they can’t do it for hardbacks.