Since then, I have collected hundreds of cookbooks. I can't stop. They are stacked all over the house. The ones I am currently cooking from are on the kitchen counter, getting basted with sauce and batter. I keep another pile next to my bed to read like fantasy novels.
Some books are exciting new acquaintances.
Others are trusted old friends. Scanning the shelves, I recall my homemade pasta stage, my Middle Eastern period, my fling with the water smoker. I have cookbooks in languages I can't even read. The cookbook was produced on a shoestring, but it is exceptionally well designed. Recipes are marked by level of difficulty and whether they require special ingredients.