blogis librorum. A blog about books. Rare books.

What’s your favorite part of Thanksgiving? Perhaps it’s the golden brown turkey, or Grandma’s green bean casserole. But we know it’s probably the pumpkin pie…Whatever your Thanksgiving Day favorites may be, find some inspiration to shake things up this year.

Take a Cue from Culinary Visionaries

Whether you’re an amateur foodie, a serious cookbook collector, or a true blue epicurean, you’ll find inspiration in the words and work of great chefs.

• Thanksgiving is all about comfort food, and no chef does that better than Paula Deen. Cooks love her rich, hearty recipes, and collectors love Deen’s status as an icon of the American culinary scene.

• One woman singlehandedly changed the face of cooking: Julia Child. Enthusiasts still look to Child’s cookbooks for guidance on creating classic recipes—with a bit of flair. She remains a perennial favorite among chefs and rare book collectors alike.

• If you want cooking the Thanksgiving meal to be a family affair, look to celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. A crowd favorite, Lagasse makes cooking accessible to people of every ability level.

Look to the Past for Inspiration

Cooking and cuisine have evolved over the years, and Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to revisit our culinary roots with rare cookbooks.

• Even before celebrity chefs and fancy appliances, home cooking was still seen as an art form. Recall that simplicity with titles like Home Cookery, published in 1902.

• Recall the rustic roots of modern Southern cooking with Cross Creek Cookery, a collection of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century recipes by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

• The refrigerator and other inventions revolutionized the way we look at food. Titles like Electric Refrigerator Recipes And Menus: Specially Prepared For The General Electric Refrigerator evoke that era of change.
  
  

Add an International Twist

Sure, Thanksgiving celebrates the beginnings of America. But that doesn’t mean we should stick only to American fare. The same goes for any cookbook collection; bring an international flavor to your table—and your shelf—this season.

• Thanksgiving is all about tasting a wide variety of dishes. What better way to carry on that tradition with tapas from Spain?  Bring a taste of robust flavor to the table this year.

• The holiday also gives us an opportunity to visit with family. And the cuisine of Italy is synonymous with family-style dining