I think that the wear and tear on cookbooks should be taken as compliment. Not only do mine bear the schmutz of splatters and sticky fingers, I also write my opinions of the recipes, tips for future reference, changes to quantity or ingredient substitutions in the margins.

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no dishonor! i am a gardener, also, and when i brought a dirt-smeared book on plant propagation in to a book signing, the author was tickled.

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The way I look at it, the more stained the book, the better it is.

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My favorite cookbook is one that my Mom gave me that she learned to cook with about 30 years ago. Every single page in it is smeared/torn/taped/stained/etc. Funny, the recipes in there that I specifically remember growing up eating are the ones that have the most wear and tear. It gives the book character!

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Mine get stained all the time and I write in them.

That way if a recipe was good but just too something (e.g. "too salty"), I just make a note for the next time I make it I also give them grades (A through F with all the minuses and pluses) and any comments from whomever I shared the food with.

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Having collateral damage is just fine with me -- it will direct future generations to all the best recipes. BUT (big "but") having a database that will pull up recipes from every single source whether I can remember if that great sauce recipe came from a magazine or a book and then which of scores of books is even better.

If I like a recipe, the first thing I do is create a DB entry that has the info to get me right back to the source and then as soon as I can I type the whole recipe in. Recipes from magazines are super easy -- most of them are published online by the publisher or epicurious. They can be imported.

But even if i have to retype a long recipe, it's very much worth it to always be able to retrieve it, to be able to pair a meat technique from one book with the sauce or side dish from another, to be able to copy it and share it & never worry if I've got a typo in an amount I wouldn't necessarily recognize, to take a printout to the grocery store as a shopping list and to print out as many copies of all the family favs as sibs and near and dear may want to have.

It's for sure the DB doesn't have the romance of the book/s but the advantages are mighty and compensating.

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I singed my copy of Julia Child's, How to Cook. I was flambeeing at the time. I believe that Julia would be proud.

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There is a direct correlation between the amount of stains in a cookbook and how good the recipes are. Things fly in my kitchen when I cook - so a cookbook that is often used just gets caught in the melee. I also use my computer for recipes - I try to be neater in that case - but sometimes...

Catherine @ Life In the Micro
www.inthemicro.blogspot.com

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I do try to keep them in pristine condition, but lately, I've made myself a compilation in a three-ring binder. The printed/copied sheets are placed into page protectors that you can then take out of the binder as needed and use, then put back. Keeps all your favs in one spot without trying to remember from which cookbook it originated. Works well for me.

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I definitely agree the sign of a good cookbook is the amount of smudgy fingerprints on the pages. I like the idea of writing in the book to denote a change to a recipe - i haven't done that yet.

I seem to get stuff on my laptop keys as well when i'm trying recipes i find online. Messy is more fun !

theripetomato.wordpress.com

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If a cookbook doesn't have schmutz on it, or isn't falling apart, then it's not been used. And, I for one, do write changes to the recipes with arrows, bubbles, what have you. I live in Cairo, Egypt and have photocopies and scanned copies of favorite recipes. Most of them have smudges, which just reminds me of how much I (or the family) like that recipe / cookbook.

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My favorite cookbook is called "Great bowls of fire". It is out of print and to get a copy is very $$$$ yu have to search to find a cheap one. If I could keep it clean i would. As a matter of fact i am thinking I should just scan the whole this so I have it on my computer. So the day i accidently drop in a pot of food I will have back up. If they aren't stained then you are not trying!

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years ago my future wife used my Craig's NYT cookbook and left it on the electric range while cooking.Smoking. Still use it with round marks on the cover, most all my books are stained, marked and written on. 30 years and still married, LOL E

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I love splatters. It shows love.

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I do have some beautiful books with gorgeous pictures - but they just don't make it into the kitchen, living instead on the coffee table.

My favourites are covered with sauce spatters or are almost translucent from oil drops. When I'm dead and gone my grandchildren will have no trouble working out which books were my favourite.

The torn scraps of paper with notes taken while on the phone to my grandmother and my own scribbled notes as I cook and experiment are the ones most used though!

My favourite cookbooks are the reference kind - the basic foundations on which to build a lifetime of tasting and experimenting. I've written a bit more about my favourites over at http://beyondbeeton.com/weight/4-cookbooks-and-recipe-collections-i-couldnt-do-without and I'd love to know which books other people covet!

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