Not a recipe - but my latest thoughts about cooking

[Lou]

Since I bought my Instant Pot, not a day goes by where I don't get info on a new Instant Pot Cookbook. Emails, website banners. And today my news aggregator promoted a new $13 Instant Pot cookbook (Kindle version is $10)

Heck, who buys cookbooks anymore? (feel free to answer)

Before my Instant Pot shipped I went to the library and took out 4 Instant Pot cookbooks. I made just one recipe from them. Mostly I just googled stuff. Like "vegan Instant Pot Pea Soup" or "vegan Instant Pot Cuban Black Beans". At first, I brought my MacBook to the kitchen and used it there. Which is better than a cookbook because you don't need to prop it open. Now I just bookmark the ones I like and send the link to my iPhone or iPad.

I even started using YouTube shows for recipes. I like cooking with Sarah (Sarah's Vegan Kitchen) and Rose (Cheap Lazy Vegan). I don't cook with the Avante Garde Vegan. He is too complicated. Plus (I reluctantly admit) not nearly as cute.

All of the cookbooks on my kitchen's cookbook shelf became obsolete when I went vegan. But I suppose they would have regardless with the progress of technology. Even the vegan Kindle cookbooks that I got for free go unopened. *

This observation reminds me of my music collection. In the 60s I bought LPs. Now gathering dust under my dusty turntable. In the 70s, I recorded all of those LPs on cassette tapes. They are gathering dust under my cassette deck. In the 80s I collected bootlegs of Dead concerts. I even paid extra for a cassette player in my car (the CD player was standard) so I could play my tapes**. In the 90s it was CDs. and then later I converted them to MP3s for my iPod. And now my hundreds of albums in iTunes are unused (except on road trips) because of Pandora.

Cookbooks, index cards, and notebooks. Then websites and Kindle books. Then YouTube. I just saw an ad for a wifi InstantPot. "Hey, Siri. Cook two cups of rice. "


* Last summer I started collecting oil-free salad dressings. I even pasted them into Pages and made my own iBook. I do open that up.


** That turned out to be a good investment. My car is so old that it doesn't have an audio input. I bought a cassette converter ($25) to plug my iPhone into my car stereo. Could not drive 10 minutes without it.

 

[TofuRobot]

I haven't bought a cookbook in at least 15 years. If I want to make something, I google it. Sometimes I gather info from labels just to see what spices/ingredients there are in something so I can throw those in to whatever I'm making.

I'm trying really hard to move into more of a minimalist lifestyle, and collecting books/magazines/etc doesn't fit into that equation. I used to dream of having walls full of books, but no more. Not interested. Part of it is, I know that there will come a time when I am going to move and after the last couple of moves I realized I just did not want all the STUFF that I have. I don't have a lot, but I have way too much.

Vinyl though -- I'd keep that. My 16 y/o son is actively collecting vinyl.

 

[Lou]

I don't collect books. But I can't throw them away. I mostly use the library. but they do accumulate.

Strangely, I was having coffee with some old friends this afternoon and one of them told me he was going home and making Porcupine Meatballs.
I looked at him questionably and asked him where he gets porcupine meat. My addled mind thought maybe Costco. But really you never know with Carnists.
Then he had to explain what they were. Something to do with rice sticking out of them.

he mentioned that it was from his Campbell Soup Cookbook. I just checked and I not only have the Famous Brand Name Cookbook Ⓒ1981. I still have the Campbells Soup Recipe Card collection, in a cheap plastic 3x5 box. c 1979.
We ended up reminiscing about Campbells Mushroom soup pork chops and Campbell's tomato soup vegetable casserole.

Hey, I bet I could make the casserole vegan!

 

[hopeful]

I love cookbooks! lol I just asked for (and received) one for Hanukkah in December! "Oy Vey Vegan!" is the name of the cookbook.

 

[Qwaychou]

Sorry to bump an old thread.
I like making my own cookbooks, i need the inspiration of flipping through handwritten pages of recipes i know i will like, i know what the ingredients are, have the equipment, and am willing to take the time to prepare.
I glean the recipes from the internet though, i dont create my own. But i would never use them if i just faved the pages in my phone, i need the reminder of looking through the pages.

 

[Emma JC]

Sorry to bump an old thread.
I like making my own cookbooks, i need the inspiration of flipping through handwritten pages of recipes i know i will like, i know what the ingredients are, have the equipment, and am willing to take the time to prepare.
I glean the recipes from the internet though, i dont create my own. But i would never use them if i just faved the pages in my phone, i need the reminder of looking through the pages.

I agree with you and I write/type mine also. My reason is that I will go and look up about 5 or 6 different recipes that contain the ingredients that I want to use and then I will put together my own version using the ingredients that I have on hand or that I prefer. I try to remember to write it down and if I don't then I just go through the same process again the next time.

Emma JC

 

[Lou]

Sorry to bump an old thread.
I like making my own cookbooks, i need the inspiration of flipping through handwritten pages of recipes i know i will like, i know what the ingredients are, have the equipment, and am willing to take the time to prepare.
I glean the recipes from the internet though, i dont create my own. But i would never use them if i just faved the pages in my phone, i need the reminder of looking through the pages.

I'm glad you bumped this up. I totally forgot about this thread.

I used to keep an index card box and whenever i found a recipe I really liked I would add a card. but i haven't kept that up since I got my InstantPot and now I find myself just bookmarking my favorite recipes online. but I'm finding an issue with that. There is no way to add notes or adjustments or comments. Like "next time - less cummin".

 

[Qwaychou]

I agree! I also like to make notes on recipes like "Joe ate 2 plates, Danny just said no."

 

[Lou]

I agree with you and I write/type mine also. My reason is that I will go and look up about 5 or 6 different recipes that contain the ingredients that I want to use and then I will put together my own version using the ingredients that I have on hand or that I prefer. I try to remember to write it down and if I don't then I just go through the same process again the next time.

Emma JC

My initial plan was to type up my favorite recipes in Pages. convert it to an epub format, send it to my iPad, and then use the iPad (angled up in landscape mode) like a cookbook. I've started two. One for dressing and sauces and one for InstanPot recipes. The recipes are supposed to be customized for me.

But I go months without updating or revising. So "I just go through the same process again the next time. "

Lately, I have been settling on opening a website to a recipe and putting the Macbook on top of the microwave.

 

[silva]

My initial plan was to type up my favorite recipes in Pages. convert it to an epub format, send it to my iPad, and then use the iPad (angled up in landscape mode) like a cookbook. I've started two. One for dressing and sauces and one for InstanPot recipes. The recipes are supposed to be customized for me.

But I go months without updating or revising. So "I just go through the same process again the next time. "

Lately, I have been settling on opening a website to a recipe and putting the Macbook on top of the microwave.

Is 'Pages" and app or something? I love the app https://www.copymethat.com/
I haven't bought a cookbook for years, like Isa Moscowitz, and Robin Robertsons. I do utilize the library a lot! Mostly though I compare recipes online, cause I never follow them anyway, I just like ideas of proportions and cook time

 

[Lou]

Is 'Pages" and app or something? I love the app https://www.copymethat.com/
I haven't bought a cookbook for years, like Isa Moscowitz, and Robin Robertsons. I do utilize the library a lot! Mostly though I compare recipes online, cause I never follow them anyway, I just like ideas of proportions and cook time

Pages is the Word Processing Program you get for free when you buy an Apple product. If you grew up on MS Word it can be hard to use. It does a lot of stuff "differently". One of the things I like about it is that you can save your document as an epub - then it opens it in Books, Apple's version of Kindle. And Books works on iPhones and iPads.

For me, it makes sense to use it for recipes. Except that I am lazy. One day I would like to finish a recipe book or two and "publish" it so that I can share them with the forum. Wait! Why do I hear Steven Tyler screaming, "Dream On!"?

 

[KLS52]

I agree with you and I write/type mine also. My reason is that I will go and look up about 5 or 6 different recipes that contain the ingredients that I want to use and then I will put together my own version using the ingredients that I have on hand or that I prefer. I try to remember to write it down and if I don't then I just go through the same process again the next time.

Emma JC

I do the same thing! I get so annoyed with myself, especially when something comes out really good and then I can’t remember exactly what I did so that I can make it again.

 

[PTree15]

Sorry to bump an old thread.
I like making my own cookbooks, i need the inspiration of flipping through handwritten pages of recipes i know i will like, i know what the ingredients are, have the equipment, and am willing to take the time to prepare.
I glean the recipes from the internet though, i dont create my own. But i would never use them if i just faved the pages in my phone, i need the reminder of looking through the pages.

I, too, like making my own cookbooks. I have three right now, but I also have other cookbooks, probably too many. I donated a bunch when I last moved, so I'm down to two shelves' worth on one bookcase. I still swear by my old Betty Crocker cookbook. I just find ways to veganize favorite recipes, like veggie pot pie instead of chicken pot pie. I do have a fair amount of vegan/veggie cookbooks, too. I use Veganomicon a lot, The Joy of Vegan Baking and Betty Goes Vegan, which has a lot of (probably unhealthy, haha) comfort food recipes. When I find a recipe online that I really think will be a keeper, I'll print it out for my cookbook. Other times, I just put my laptop on the table and consult the recipes I have stored on it.