Where Do Cookbooks Come From?

Recipes: Volume 1 by Lamlighter’s Cove Garden Club
Cheap. Fast. Good! By Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross
How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman
WEIGHT: 5 lbs
METHOD OF DISPOSAL: GIVEN AWAY TO A FRIEND

It has been several days since I have written or given away a book. I cannot have many breaks like that if this project is ever to be finished. Tonight, I have set aside 5 lbs of cookbooks for a co-worker, friend, and super-amazing woman that inspires me daily. She recently moved into a new house with her family, and is in the process of starting a new life. She has been talking more about trying new recipes and cooking. I also talk to her about the library project from time to time over the phone. She is supportive of most things I do, even if they are a little ridiculous. Any who, it has been decided that the cookbooks will be in the best hands with her. I hope she uses them more than I did.
I am never sure how cookbooks come into my life. I am almost confident that I have never purchased one. I wonder if they are not all second-hand gifts and, here I am, sending them along like everyone else. I have carried quite a few around for years, always with the idea that I would eventually get in the habit of using them. This never seems to happen—whether I have them stacked up in the kitchen or on the bookshelves in the living room.
Unless cookbooks are designated vegetarian on the cover they are rarely vegetarian-friendly, almost always centering meals on a meat dish. There are always plenty of side dishes and desserts, but it always feels sort of like scrounging. I think I will stick to the Veganomicons of this world and even those seem to sit untouched for months.
It is not that I don’t cook. I do. I often make the same or similar dishes over and over again until I am forced to learn something new. Or I get some produce from the local farm and then go online to see what to do with it. I choose meals based on what I have in my fridge, rather than purchasing certain food items to make a pre-planned meal.
I hope that this wonderful person with her family and a desire to branch out, trying new things in the new house will not follow in my footsteps. I think she could make a lot of really great dinners and have fun doing it. Even better, maybe someone else in the family will learn how to cook a few things and treat her to a much deserved dinner after work.