Foodlore Library

I come from a long line of cookbook collectors. My mother hordes collections of recipes for vegan casseroles and impossibly complex bread recipes, while I prefer tomes filled with creative soups and classic Italian sauces. My grandmother, however, takes collecting to a whole new level. Reorganizing her bookshelves not long ago, I discovered no less than six editions of The Joy of Cooking, most of them with cracked bindings and food-splattered pages, evidence of years of good use in her steamy, yellow-walled kitchen.