cookbooks

Just because I don't have any VEGAN cookbooks doesn't mean I don't have any COOKBOOKS! :)

Here's what I have:

The Ultimate A-Z Bar Guide (Sharon Tyler Herbst & Ron Herbst): a great book to learn about alcohol. I hardly ever drink, but when I do, I want to know what's in it!

The Laptop Lunch User's Guide (Amy Hemmert & Tammy Pelstring): there are some neat recipes in this teeny little book that came with my Laptop Lunchbox!

The Christmas Cookie Book (Lou Siebert Pappas): this book was given to me as a gift and I've never cooked anything out of it . . . but it's very, very pretty, and has many "old school" Christmas cookie recipes in it like springerle and peppernuts, which I might enjoy making . . . someday!

Betty Crocker's New Cookbook: I grew up cooking from an earlier version of this cookbook, and still prefer it to "Joy of Cooking." Many recipes are not vegan, but easily veganized -- I've pulled muffin, piecrust, and pancake recipes from here with great success! There are also some awesome recipes in the beans and legumes section, and handy charts for cooking times for dried legumes.

The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking (Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker): where I turn when Betty leaves me hangin'.

Gear for Your Kitchen (Alton Brown): I love this book. It's funny and interesting, and I've had it signed!

I'm Just Here for the Food (Alton Brown): even though I don't enjoy eating meat, it's still interesting to read the science behind preparing a variety of different kinds of foods. It's broken down by cooking method, which is just plain cool.

I'm Just Here for More Food (Alton Brown): AB's baking book. Truly fascinating, for those of you who love to bake. Funny as hell, too.

The Joy of Cooking All About Vegetarian (Rombauer, Rombauer-Becker, & Becker): I have lots of recipes flagged in this book, but haven't made any of them.

Jamie's Kitchen (Jamie Oliver): another gift cookbook; I love Jamie Oliver's philosophy of stripping food down (hence, "The Naked Chef,") and focusing on a few simple, high-quality ingredients over fussy preparation methods and complicated recipes. This is not my favorite of his cookbooks, because it is mostly "restaurant food" and a little too fancy for my tastes. (Plus, it's a lot of meat, of course.) But it sure is purty. And funny. (And I give credit to Jamie Oliver's first cookbook for my ability to bake bread from scratch -- those cookbooks, and a lot of practice, of course.)

That's my cookbook library. I used to have more, but I've gotten rid of ones over the years that I didn't use and/or didn't like. I check lots and lots of cookbooks out from the library and copy down a recipe or two here and there, and if I want to cry when it's time to return the book, I write it down on my wish list. I also have found many, many good recipes on the internet, and have a vast recipe collection of my own. (I actually worked about two years ago on digitizing my recipe box -- I had outgrown a side-by-side, double 4X6 recipe box, and decided it was time to join the 21st century.) I think, ultimately, unless I'm baking, I just "wing it" -- I never make anything the same way twice, and use recipes/cookbooks as more "inspiration" than anything else.

Cookbooks on my wish list:
Vegan with a Vengeance
Vive le Vegan (hi Dreena! Is that the one with the gooey brownies in it that I read about on someone else's blog? I miss brownies . . . !)
The Vegetarian Family Cookbook
The New Vegetarian Epicure
Sinfully Vegan
World Vegearian

And not a cookbook, but sounds very interesting:
Super Nutrition for Women (Gittleman)

SO, I guess the new question would be, what (top 5?) cookbooks are on your wish list?

AND, I forgot to add something to my gadget wish list: a Salter kitchen scale. I really should bake properly.