i love cookbooks
It’s become a joke between my husband and me. I have too many cookbooks, and frankly, I don’t cook anything from them!! I seriously enjoy imagining eating everything listed or having someone else make all the recipes for me. When we packed 25 cookbooks and moved to Colorado he basically drew the line with me buying more unless I show some promise of making something from inside. I considered this rule carefully when I asked for The Pioneer Woman Cooks this Christmas. (from my mother-in-law to boot!) And now that I have it, I am commited to start cooking from it. I don’t think any of the recipes will keep me away from the doors of Weight Watchers, but that can’t be my focus right now. I need to pick a recipe and start cooking! Any suggestions? You can find lots of her recipes on her amazing site, which can suck you in for hours.
the concierge mom 
I have the same problem!!! I used to even belong to a cookbook book club. It’s a sickness–I swear I must have 75, and that’s having pared them down through our ever-smaller apartments. Nowadays it’s so much easier to search online than to pore through my cookbooks to find the right recipe, but I can’t part with them. Maybe you should explain to him what a friend of mine who used to publish cookbooks explained to me: “Most people don’t buy cookbooks to cook from. They want to sit with them on the couch and flip through them and dream that they’re the types to cook from them.”
This book is fun to read – and the photography is wonderful too. Count it as a good read rather than a cookbook and nobody will be the wiser. : )
I read about this one about a month ago and have used it a ton already. The title grabbed me right away because Mike is always hungry…. Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys http://www.amazon.com/Mad-Hungry-Feeding-Men-Boys/dp/1579653561/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Her “basic beef stew” is amazing and Mike now makes the kids her “old-fashioned pancakes” every Sunday morning. Caroline likes to tell people how great they are and that “we don’t need Bisquick anymore!”
Tonight I made the Chicken Parmigiana recipe that was featured on her website. Wow, it was soooo good and easy!!!
I used to have the same problem! I read this somewhere and it’s good advice – read through the entire cookbook and choose to make 2 or 3 recipes that appeal to you. Now you need to bookmark them, buy the ingredients and leave the cookbook out. Sounds obvious, I know. It is easier to pick from 2 or 3 than the entire book. This has worked for me.
**I have Bookmarks for Cooks (amazon carries them) which are very cute and slip right onto the top of the page. Got these as a gift and love them!! Post-its work just fine too. 🙂
I just saw Tres Leche Cake with Dulce de Leche (from Pioneer Woman Cooks) on the blog Spork or Foon? and I think it needs to be high on your to-make list!