1 Very Good Reason You Should Invest In Cookbooks

Join me in my 2024 Cookbook Club!

I remember the very first cookbook I owned. It was a gift from my grandmother for my high school graduation.

My grandmother lived in a small farming community in the Midwest. Twice a year, my parents would load up the car and head back “home,” as they lovingly referred to it. There, I learned small-town life – very different from living in the suburbs of Denver.

I never thought much about cooking. But looking back, I’m amazed at how much my grandmother put into each of her meals.

She didn’t use cookbooks. She rarely used measuring cups and spoons. Instead, it was a pinch of this and a handful of that. And her food … mmm …

Home cooking. That generation of women knew cooking well. My grandmother was no exception. And even though she didn’t use cookbooks, she wanted to give her granddaughters the gift of home cooking. She bought hometown cookbooks from her church and shared them with each of us as we graduated.

And these are truly hometown cookbooks. Each recipe was crafted by a church member, containing ingredients I sometimes scratched my head over.

I haven’t used that cookbook in a long time. (Using lard? ? ) But it will always sit proudly in my collection. It’s from my grandmother, my very first cookbook.

These days, I look at cookbooks a bit differently.

People love cookbooks. It’s a huge business! Cookbooks are the fourth largest category of nonfiction, with sales in excess of $20 million per year.

That’s a lot of cookbooks!

Why a cookbook?

In today’s world, it’s almost hard to believe cookbooks are that in demand and generate that many sales. After all, the internet is filled with recipes.

Do a search for anything; you’ll find millions of options right at your fingertips.

I occasionally peer into my refrigerator to determine what’s for dinner. “I have asparagus and tempeh; what can I make?” In seconds, I can scan through oodles of recipes, trying to decide which recipe sounds good.

So why a cookbook?

Because cookbooks have a life of their own. It’s more than a recipe you try to keep open on your phone. Instead, it’s a loving guide that helps you prepare delicious food for your family.

There’s a difference between fast-food and an elegant restaurant. One you consume for calories. The other you go to for an experience.

A recipe pulled off the internet is similar to fast-food. It gets the job done.

But a cookbook? A cookbook gives you a chance to browse through it. Get to know the author. To tag recipes destined to become your favorite. To tantalize your tastebuds with the images. To make notes in the margins for better cooking the next time.

Does this make you look at your cookbooks differently?

Let’s start a Cookbook Club!

So here’s a little secret about me. I live for books. I thrive with books. I’m a writer (and reader) for life!

I can’t imagine a world without books. And as I moved more into my plant-based journey, I discovered I held the same penchant for cookbooks.

When I first started navigating vegetarianism in the 90s when my daughter was little, I knew very little about being vegetarian. I bought a vegetarian cookbook, tried a few recipes, and threw it on the back of my shelf. I didn’t understand the ingredients. The recipes were complicated to make. And quite frankly, they weren’t all that good.

Oh, times have changed! And that’s a very good thing!

I LOVE cookbooks and have started collecting them. But I’ll let you in on my little secret.

Whenever I hear of a new plant-based cookbook, I see if my local library has it. I bring it home and try out a few recipes. If I love it, I buy it! And that’s how my cookbook collection is growing.

I purchase a lot of my cookbooks on Kindle. That way, I have them with me, ready to cook no matter where in the world I am.

Years ago, we started slow traveling the world. It was sidetracked a bit because of the pandemic, but we’re moving back towards the slow traveling lifestyle. What that means for us is we book month-long stays in an Airbnb specifically so we can explore the area and not have to eat out every single meal. It reduces the cost because we can enjoy more meals at “home.” And I’ve fallen in love with visiting local grocery stores. You can really learn about a culture by visiting their markets. 😍

With some cookbooks, they’re simply gorgeous. I need the print copy to touch and feel it, to use it to browse through when trying to select what to cook for dinner.

And that’s what I love about this modern age the most - two different ways to build your cookbook shelf, two different ways to enjoy good cooking!

Okay, back to the Cookbook Club.

Last year, I chose one new cookbook each month and used it as my meal inspiration. During each month, my selected cookbook became my go-to cookbook to use for planning dinners at home. And it worked out perfectly. I would use it to plan three to five meals each week, which gave me the opportunity to sample most of the meals within the book. If I loved a meal, I tried it two or three times during the month.

It was such a great way to change up what we were eating without getting bored of the “same old recipes” over and over again.

I loved the idea so much, I thought I’d do it again.

Wanna play along? I’m keeping this pretty informal – I just want to inspire you to pick up a great cookbook and start cooking, too. Each month, I’ll choose a favorite cookbook I’m working with, and give you the name and the author.

Hopefully, you can get a lot of these from your local library. If not, you can get them at your favorite bookstore, (or you might be able to pick them up gently used through Amazon). Use them for your inspiration, and if you love them as much as I do, maybe it’s time to invest in them and have them ready and waiting on your shelf.

I won’t be sharing the recipes - I respect the copyrights and the hard work these authors put into their recipes - but I will share some of the results. I’ll throw in cooking tips and tricks - it’s how I get my inspiration for many of the posts I’ll be creating.

Let me know if you try any of these, and let me know what you think. Be sure to comment here, tag me on IG @loriosterberg, or use #GorgeousWellth.

Follow along as I’ll be adding new cookbooks each month!

Drum roll, please, January’s cookbook is …

I had an abundance of hazelnuts this year. And whenever I have a lot of a food in my kitchen, I start looking for ways to use them. I wanted an easy-to-make cookie, and found two delicious recipes (here and here) I made several times throughout the holidays.

I dug a little deeper, and discovered this food blogger had other delicious recipes. She also had a cookbook:

Simple and Delicious Vegan
By Michaela Vais

So, it became my January selection for my Cookbook Club.

What attracted me to it was her simple, straightforward ingredient list. She doesn’t just tell you; she shows you a side photo with every recipe that lets you see ingredients at a glance. (A quick way of ensuring you have every ingredient waiting for you in-house.)

It’s currently sitting in my kitchen, ready and waiting for my next meal.

You too?