Saturday, March 12, 2011

"Am I Charlie Sheen with a Whisk?"




Hi, Blog Friends.


Tonight is confession night. Yes, now is the time that I come clean with you.


I'm a cookbook addict---a selective cookbook addict but a cookbook addict nonetheless. I have so many cookbooks and magazines. They make me happy. They comfort me. They inspire me to entertain my guests even more.


A recent chat with a lovely guest was eye-opening. She turned to me and revealed (in an oddly quiet tone) that she loves cookbooks and "had to stop" acquiring them. No yard sale, no retail bookstore, no Goodwill store, no attic of a deceased relative was off limits. She'd find it, bring it happily home, touch it, read it, and smile. Ahhh......finally.....I was not alone!


I did inquire and ask if there was a 12-step program for 'people like us'---also suggesting we maybe meet for cocktails before the group (hahaha). We laughed but I know others like us are out there. I don't spend a good amount of time wondering why the attachments to cookbooks feeds me. Rather, I rationalize it by knowing it is just a source of Joy and an integral part of my approach to innkeeping and providing hospitality. Here I say: Take that knowledge, get to the store, and make a new recipe in your kitchen! Travel the journey--for it is a journey--of any recipe without any extra baggage charges! (Your family and friends will gladly share in you being so brave--and maybe taste something new!)


Oh, and if you are looking for a stellar Devil's Food Cake recipe, check out the Ladies' Home Journal Cookbook (1960). It is delicious and interesting and easy to make! Yes, this book called out for $2.99 of my money at an antique store in local Oxford, Maine. Money well spent!


There.....I have come clean. Thank you for your support ;-).


Keith A. Neubert

Innkeeper-Chef

Inn at Long Lake---Naples, Maine

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