Spring Cleaning

We've been in our new home almost a year, and I'm finding areas that need a little attention.  Today was the cookbook cupboard.  Only took a few minutes, and whew! there's more room.  (Maybe for new cookbooks.) 

I like cooking, and I love cookbooks.  But there are some that just aren't helpful--maybe they aren't my style, or the recipes in them are consistently average, or they are hand-me-downs that I never used.  One of my rejects is the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.  I got that one right after we got married, and it was sort of my go-to reference for all things basic.  Like, I'd check other recipes against it to see if they were better or worse, had a different technique, you get the picture. 

For Christmas, John gave me The Family Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen.  This is like Better Homes and Gardens in it's completeness of basic and stand-by recipes, only SO MUCH BETTER!  Everything I try turns out great, because they've done all the work of testing and trying techniques and ingredients. 

What I learned from sorting through these, is that my cooking style has changed, and what my family will eat has changed.  I like cookbooks with pictures, so some of the rejects are for lack of great photography.  Is that lame?  But I want to see what the finished product should look like.  If it isn't appetizing IN THE BOOK, why would I waste my time?

Have you ever blogstalked someone's food blog, and they think they are a great cook, but the pictures are GROSS?  It's like, really, you think you're a good cook?  Good enough to post on the internet for people to see?  Oh wait!  I've posted really bad food pictures!  But it's my lack of photography skills, not my cooking that is the problem.  Yeah, that's it.

Anyway, if you are spring cleaning, get in there and throw stuff out!  It feels great, and DI (or in my case, Goodwill) will thank you.