Used Books

I'm a sucker for used cookbooks - and sometimes, I like to peruse craft and gardening books, too.   One of my favorite haunts is the huge used book section of the Ann Arbor Kiwanis Thrift Sale, held every Saturday 9 am to noon.   Since Ann Arbor is truly a melting pot of people, I can find a wide variety of cookbooks from all over.    This weekend was no exception - here's what I got:

I am a sucker for Junior League Cookbooks, no matter when or where they were published.   I have spent a lot of time in Louisville, KY for business, so this one caught my eye - especially because it has a "special Derby recipe section".   Louisville is one of my favorite US cities because it is beautiful and everyone is so friendly and nice and polite in a Southern hospitality sort of way, and the food is terrific.   I am always on the hunt for a recipe for burgoo - the spicy stew made of whatever wild game you have on hand, which is so popular in Kentucky.   My son and husband hunt, and it's hard to find recipes for rabbit, squirrel, venison, etc.   Sure enough, this book has one from a Mrs. John S. Rhodes.   I love that Junior League cookbooks of this era (1970s and earlier) always refer to the husband's name, but not the wife's first name.   Does the Junior League still do this?   I have a copy of the Junior League of Ann Arbor's Cookbook, which was published in the 1990s, but it doesn't give anyone credit for their recipes.    Still on my quest for burgoo...I also found this cookbook:

from the Garden club of Lexington.  This cookbook is still in print, so it must be pretty good.  Sure enough, there's a recipe for burgoo as well as bourbon balls, another Kentucky favorite that I would like to make this year for Christmas.   There is a good section of candy recipes and pickles and relishes too for canning....including one for pickled green tomatoes and pickled peaches.    Next up, I found:

 

 

I liked this book because it promises recipes for the slow cooker, pressure cooker and Dutch oven - all favorite techniques of mine. Interesting recipes like Haitian Chicken-in-a-Pot or Honduran Style Arroz Con Pollo.     Next, I got this pair of books because they looked liked they be interesting reads:

 

 

 



I'm not sure if I would ever cook anything from either, but who doesn't want to learn about Richard II's feasts and Elizabethan recipes?   Plus, Lorna Sass is a fine cookbook writer - I have her pressure cooking cookbooks and they are well done.   Lastly, who doesn't dig vintage Martha Stewart?

 

 

 

This one was written back in 1984 in hardcover, and it is filled with lots of Martha style writing, where everything is "just so" such as her Victorian Christmas party and her life with adorable baby Alexis and her charming husband Andy.    I know Martha has her haters but I've always loved the way she writes.   Wish she'd do more of it now....

 

So, I paid a whopping $7 for this stack of books that will entertain me for a few weeks!