It’s no secret that I’m addicted to cookbooks. I have zero desire to go cold turkey or even curb the habit. Cookbooks bring me joy, much more so even than cooking. They’re inspirational and hold promise and satiety. So when I received an alert about Eat Your Books, a new site offering users the ability to catalog their cookbook collections, making it ridiculously easy to plan menus and search all the recipes on your shelves at once, I clicked at the chance.

I unplugged the laptop and headed to my kitchen, entering the titles of all my 97 darlings. Upon completion, an overview of my cookbooks accosted me. Holy balls, my virtual bookshelf pigeonholed me as a “Restaurant whoring, diet wannabe, entertaining-for-friends obsessed, baker.” How very push-pull. And how very astute of them. You are, after all, what you eat. Or at least what you read.

Just thought I’d share. Now share yours, please. Because what I’ve realized in cataloging all my cookbooks is that I’m hardly an addict. There are some who hold over 700 cookbooks on their shelves. I’ve got some cookbook shopping to do, and I’m looking for easy-ish family meals that don’t involve frying a chicken. There will be no lacquering of ribs, no dredging, but also no Splenda. We’re talking recipes I can knock out without Phil wanting to knock me out because it’s taking me too long to get things onto the table. Point me in the direction of your favorites please. And when I say favorites, I don’t mean the books that inspire you. I mean the ones you actually use, even if it is rare for you to use a cookbook at all, given the epicurious online world in which we live. Still, I can’t help but pry. I’m really leaning toward New Classic Family Dinners.

A YEAR AGO: New Orleans Photos and Foodie
3 YEARS AGO: Drinking the Stars