Whenever I cook for my family (Thanksgiving photo here, courtesy of Ruhiyyih's Flickr account) , I have a multitude of issues that have to be considered, all of which require that I stop what I'm doing, and ask "will he, or she, EAT this?"
Of the various and sundry members of our family, it seems like just about everyone has a specific requirement. Some are restricted by diabetes, some eat only organic. Some of the guys eat very little meat, and others require heavy protein diets because they expend a lot of calories in their work. 
One of my daughters had a raw food diet for awhile, and has vegetables delivered to her door so that they are farm fresh. My other daughter shops at the Whole Foods Store, and loves to use coupons and shop the bargains.Not only must it be organic, super wholesome and fresh, but she must feel like she shopped wisely. I can appreciate that. But, to be honest, I find coupons and those sales featured in the local paper to be a huge waste of my time. 
I'd have to find the scissors to cut out the coupons, and I'd never be patient doling them out at the check-out counter. There are always shoppers behind me wishing I'd just hurry up. When I shop, I have a list, and it is never for foods for a meal. It is to replenish what has been taken out of our pantry. You see, people come and go around here - they drop in, and raid the pantry. One day I'll have a can of sardines, and the next moment it is gone, pilfered, with half the contents still in the can, drying out in the refrigerator.
I figure if my pantry is well-stocked, I can cook any meal, for any particular person, in short order. So, I even stock my shelves in a certain order, so that I'll know if something is missing. That way, if I make a mistake or need to build-up a recipe, I'll have what I need, and not need to go to the grocery store. I also post notes: Don't take! This is for the pizza. I also hide trail-mix in my closet. Otherwise, I see tell-tale signs from the crumbs in between the sofa cushions, 
and I'm 'up the creek' with nothing to pack.So, this leads to the real subject of this post - I splurged the other day, and brought home $200.00 worth of cookbooks. When I told George, he said, "You did what?"
I laid them out on the sofa and chuckled, "The Library had a book sale, and I got all of them for $7.50!
When I put them in my bag, the librarian said, "Thanks for supporting your library." None of the books were part of the stacks, but rather donated by people in the community. So, all of them were barely used.These now line my bookshelf:
"The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian" by Jeff Smith
"Monet's Table - The Cooking Journals of Claude Monet" by Claire Joyes
"The International Breakfast Book - Greet the Day with 100 Recipes from Around the World" by Martha Hollis
"Tamasin's Kitchen Classics" by Tamasin Day-Lewis
Clare Connery and Christopher Hill's "The Salad Book" - fantastic pictures
"The Complete Book of Herbs and Spices" - an illustrated guide to growing and using aromatic, cosmetic, culinary, and medicinal plants by Sarah Garland
"The Encyclopedia of Herbs Spices and Flavorings" by Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz
"Christopher Idone's Salad Days" is filled with beautiful photographs
"Prescription for Nutritional Healing - a reference book for drug-free remedies using vitamins, minerals, herbs and food supplements
I've already started "Monet's Table", which features his kitchen and garden, and photos of his journal. The pages in his journal are frayed and show an exacting detail for procedures and orderliness. The main meal of the day would be served at 11:30. Guests toured his greenhouse and studio, and stayed for lunch. Then he was left alone for the rest of the day.The photographs in Tamasin Day-Lewis's book show a woman who loves to cook.
She vows to bring fresh tastes and scents to 'jaded palates' and offers a no-nonsense approach to cooking, with New World dishes and Old World ones, like wild boar stew.....hmmmmm, now, where would I find wild boar. (On the other hand, would anyone in my family EAT wild boar. Lets see, who is vegetarian, and who insists on organic and grass-fed, and...)I wonder, will wild boar ever go on sale? Only one boar per customer?
