People often wonder what their cookbooks are worth. A simple search on the Internet may yield a vast range of cookbooks that appear at first to be valuable. Don't be fooled. Many cookbook sellers "park" their cookbooks on sites such as Amazon, eBay or Abe Books and ask an insane price, way above the true value.It would be difficult for me to sit and list prices that my books have fetched over the past year or to name even the top 100 most valuable cookbooks in terms of price... Read Full Story

Famous Recipes from Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding Housein Historic Savannah Cookbook CoverCookbook Title: Famous Recipes from Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House in Historic Savannah Cookbook Author: Sema Wilkes "Mrs. Wilkes"Copyright: 1976Format: Hardcover with wire spiral interior(This book has also been published in a softcover spiral bound book.Photo shown is the May 2000 hardcover with wire spiral interior updated printing)Specialization Categories: Restaurant & Inn Cookbooks, US L... Read Full Story

I had recently written a restaurant and hotel cookbooks checklist in follow-up to my post on Cookbook Collecting Specialization to give people ideas of books to collect in various categories. This post covers a list of Jewish community cookbooks. I was fortunate to find this list in the back of a cookbook referencing contributors to recipes for a Jewish cookbook. I know my mother-in-law has searched for such a list as her friend had a great community Jewish cookbook from City of Hope but she ... Read Full Story

Pei Mei's Chinese Cook Book Cover Cookbook Title: Pei Mei's Chinese Cook BookAuthor: Miss Fu Pei-Mei (Taiwanese TV Chef)Copyright: 1960Format: Hard cover with dust jacketSpecialization Categories: Chinese Cookbooks, Asian CookbooksAverage Price: $10-$25; $75-$100 for the set of three (I haven't seen signed copies of this book so one would be extremely rare)Noted Recipes: Cantonese Roast Pork, Chicken with Dry Red Pepper, Dry Shredded Beef, Paper Wrapped Chicken, Abalone with Oyst... Read Full Story

The Pink Adobe Cookbook CoverCookbook Title: The Pink Adobe Cookbook - Santa Fe, New Mexico RestaurantAuthor: Rosalea MurphyPublisher: Dell PublishingCopyright: 1988Format: SoftcoverSpecialization Categories: Restaurant CookbooksAverage Price: $5-$6 used, ($20 signed by author)Noted Recipes: French Onion Soup, Poulet Marengo Pink Adobe, Santa Fe Corn Souffle, Crepes Maison Murphy, French Apple Pie, Southwestern Bread Pudding, Pink Adobe MargaritaCOOKBOOK COLLECTIBILITY RATINGS RATINGS EXPLAI... Read Full Story

In follow-up to my post on Cookbook Collecting Specialization I am going to write a series of posts with some lists related to different collecting "specializations" or categories. My favorite type of cookbook, restaurant and inns/hotels cookbooks, seemed like a good place to start. I will try to grow the lists over time so they can serve as a quick checklist for those of you interested in collecting special categories of cookbooks. Note that the names may be shortened from the orig... Read Full Story

In follow-up to my post on Cookbook Collecting Specialization I am going to write a series of posts with some lists related to different collecting "specializations" or categories. My favorite type of cookbook, restaurant and inns/hotels cookbooks, seemed like a good place to start. I will try to grow the lists over time so they can serve as a quick checklist for those of you interested in collecting special categories of cookbooks. Note that the names may be shortened from the orig... Read Full Story

Commander's Palace Cookbook Dust Jacket CoverCookbook Title: The Commander's Palace New Orleans CookbookAuthor: Ella & Dick BrennanPublisher: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. PublishersCopyright: 1984, First Edition Format: Hardcover with dust jacketSpecialization Categories: Restaurant CookbooksAverage Price: $8-9 used, $15-18 new ($25 signed by author)Noted Recipes: Eggs Creole, Commander's Endive and Walnut Salad, Deep-Fried Catfish, Shrimp Croustade, French Bread Pudding with Clea... Read Full Story

Dim Sum Cookbook CoverCookbook Title: Dim SumAuthor: Rhoda YeePublisher: Taylor & NG San FranciscoCopyright: 1977, First EditionFormat: SoftcoverSpecialization Categories: Asian Cookbooks, Chinese CookbooksAverage Price: $4Noted Recipes: Shrimp Turnovers (Jow Ha Gok), Parchment Chicken (Gee Bow Gai), Barbecued Pork (Cha Siu) Cha Siu is my favorite. The best place I've ever had this dish is at a Chinese restaurant called Fat Kee in my hometown of Den Haag/The Hague in The Netherlands. ... Read Full Story

This post focuses on the top 10 cookbooks to make sure to include in a cookbook collection. For someone interested in cookbook collecting, this will give you a head start on the basic books to include as the foundation of your collection. These are the more mainstream cookbooks of the past. They may not necessarily be the most valuable of cookbooks as many antique cookbooks, signed cookbooks and cookbooks of present day often fetch higher prices, but these are are definitely the basis of a so... Read Full Story