Cookbooks for a farm kitchen

I don't claim to be a great cook, or even an avid cook, but I do love to cook. And my friends never complained (or failed to accept an invitation to dinner), so I guess that says something. My early efforts were tentative, sticking to the food I was comfortable preparing, and only occasionally straying into uncharted territory. But once I stopped being intimidated by the whole process, I found that I really enjoyed cooking.

I also discovered the joy of reading cookbooks. I used to grab an armload and sit in my local used bookstore, or maybe in Barnes & Noble, sipping on a Starbucks coffee while I looked through each book to see if it suited my tastes. I soon discovered that my favorite cookbooks were those that tell a tale while tickling my tastebuds. Those are the books I read cover to cover. Everyone has a story to tell, and I've read some great tales while flagging recipes to try in my own kitchen.

My friend Ruth has a good technique for scoping out cookbooks to try: she goes to the newest branch of our county library system. They have the latest titles, brand new and squeaky clean, with that great new book smell… yum. I bring home an armload at a time, and when I find a cookbook that I can't put down, that ends up bristling with colored tape flags, and the recipes I've cooked taste as good as they sound... it's a book for the collection.

Over the years, my collection has grown and shrunk, depending on my changing tastes. But some that came to stay permanently include these (and they're still in print!).

Streamliner Diner | a charming diner on Bainbridge Island, just a ferry ride away. My version of the book is the first, written by the four women who started the restaurant, and who took turns cooking. Probably my all-time favorite salad recipe came from this book, and just reading the title makes my taste buds perk up: Mushroom-Bacon-Blue Cheese Salad. The flavors of bacon, marinated mushrooms, toasted walnut halves, and blue cheese atop crisp Romaine lettuce, with a Dijon vinaigrette, are heavenly.

The Riversong Lodge Cookbook by Kirsten Dixon | Probably the first cookbook I ever read cover to cover before cooking a single recipe. The author and her family run a fishing retreat in the Alaskan bush, living there year-round. Really good, hearty food, but I love the Orange-Chocolate Chip cookies.

As American As Apple Pie by Phillip Stephen Schulz | I absolutely love this book. It has a very simple concept: a dozen recipes for favorite dishes, like baked beans, chocolate chip cookies, pot roast, meat loaf, pancakes, and potato salad; twenty categories in all. Feel like making chili but don't want to search through a dozen cookbooks to find the recipe that matches the ingredients in your pantry? This is the first book I pick up.

Sunday Suppers (Barnard & Dojny) is another book that I bought many years ago, but never got tired of. Simple, wonderful comfort food with common ingredients and completely "unfussy."

When my 30-year collection reached the century mark, I limited my cookbook research to the library, and stayed away from the bookstores! But then I gave some away, and sold a few more, and have added some new favorites. I love Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. and I'm baking bread again, thanks to Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (and my sister, who recommended the book to me).