I was going down a country road and there it was, a Yard Sale sign, Granpa's moving Sale, Gramma's moving sale, what ever you might want to call it, yup! I'm drawn to it.
I quit smoking, I quit drinking, gave up salt and hotdogs....won't buy something if it has too much packaging, am a dedicated recycler...yadda yadda
BUT!
BIG BUT!!!!!
I'm in big trouble when it comes to yard sales at old farm houses out in the countryside. Something just drags me in, I am helpless to resist because I "know" that something rare is waiting for me. It's happened often enough for me to heed the call, I usually end up with an old stained and well thumbed cookbook. instead of some fantastic treasure, but that's OK. A good cookbook is a treasure, and you can tell the good ones because they are well used.
Like. do I really need more cookbooks. Well, hell yesssss! I just like them. You know food and the preparation of food is important, Ok that was lame. True, but lame.
I love cookbooks because I am curious about food.
Pretty simple, right? But food is a part of history and culture. It can be a trip back in time, or to a far off place, or even into the future. Thinking way back to watching TV in the 80's and munching on Fritos while watching a "Otherworld" with the awesomely handsome Sam Groom.
One particular episode the menfolk in the family worked in a grocery store where the cans on the shelf were labeled things like "some good food"....think about it. Scary huh? Not knowing what is in the can??? Going even further, good by who's standard, is it something everyone would even call food. Because food is part of how we define who we are, put another way by what our particular culture defines as food. One mans meal is to another gross, or weird. Consider the similarities and contrasts between steak and kale. There is something you learn from cook books. That is besides learning what the ingredients for a dish are and how to prepare the , possibly you will learn the versions of it made in different locations around this world, each one influence by the fashion, items available, and the era in which the recipe was written.
But did you know there were anchovies in Worchester Sauce, yes really.
