A virtual library!!

Seeing the wonderful cookbook by John Shields got me to thinking that maybe based on his vast experience, the Feeder could create one: “The Feeder Fumbles through the Kitchen”?;  “Bottom Feeder Famous Botches”?  Well….. maybe not.  To paraphrase the famous saying: “those who can, cook.  Those who can’t read”.  Which in turn got me to looking at the accumulation of food related books and memorabilia the feeder has amassed in his gastronomic adventures.  For instance, how many of you have this beauty in your collection?

Or maybe a 2010 Wine Spectator with my hero and a Sunset guide to Wine Country (1989 do they still publish Sunset guides?)  

you sort of get these things one at a time, from different sources and travels, and pretty soon on almost any shelf we have racks of books

Which contain a few oddities here and there

How many of you have all three volumes of Earl Peyroux’s “Cooking by..” series?  He was a (now deceased) chef from Pensacola who produced many cooking shows for PBS. 

Besides shelves there are boxes of books of varying heritages (note “Southern Food” by John Edgerton Hmmm… nom de plume for John T. Edge???)

Book cases have little pockets of good things

Like the first publication of Hugh Johnson’s “the world atlas of wine”, now grown into a much weightier tome, (which I have somewhere), or Robert Parker’s Fourth Edition Wine Buying Guide (1995)

Some books and novels about food (Finishing Ruth’s latest book now)

An attempt (thanks FOJTE) at organizing the print food publications that seem to keep showing up

And in the kitchen, both sides of a book truck

Including a complete set of Martha Stewarts series of little “Everyday Food” a handy little quick look up (if you have the overall guide, which we do);  the wonderful book “Sauces” and McGee’s “on Food and Cooking” a scientific look at cooking – very technical.  On the other side we have

some classic reference books any chef/cook should have: (Larousse; The new Professional Chef; Pepin’s La Technique; Beards Iconic book) and of course the bibles which may have started it all:

And nearer to my “new station”

Including newly acquired Shield’s Books; The Lee Brothers Southern Cooking (a treasure trove of southern cuisine); Michael Twitty’s book on the Southern Cooking history of the old South; John T. Edge (head of the Southern Food Alliance) and the “Save Me…” by Ruth Reichl which (sadly) I have almost finished with.  But wait, there’s more!

Below my feet in the basement are tubs and tubs

of old Gourmets and one of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate back to God knows when, plus some historical Food & Wines & Saveurs, etc.

sharing the basement space with a few "dusties" in bottles

And finally… a summary!

Why? you may (legitimately) ask.  I dunno, just gives me comfort to know they are there.  Am I a hoarder?  If I were to let them go, a large piece of me would go with them, and I’m not ready for that.  Am I a better cook for it?  Well, maybe at least I have a good idea of what should be, which of course leads to frustration. 

Food and the creation of same is still my (hate the word) passion, and I have deep admiration for those who “Do” like Thomas Keller, Jacques Pepin, or more locally Michael Kelley, Russel Nelson, Rob Plant, Ben Reynolds (retired from Dry Dock).   Hence this reverence for food, leading to the DFD plea.

who doesn't love this

 anyway

DFD and eliminate MJ's