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Hi everyone! 

One of the farmers' markets by me is held in a local church parking lot -- during those hours, they also have a thift shop that is open including a room of used books. I've mostly found a lot of great children's books there, but just the other day when I stopped by they had an additional selection of Christmas books leftover from another Christmas sale that was recently held. I haven't read any of it yet, but I picked up this cookbook (for $1!) I had never heard of that sounds just delightful. I'm not sure what I will like better -- the recipes or the stories!

Christmas Memories with Recipes

I love coming across a "hidden gem" like this and was curious if other members had any they would like to share :)

Not a "find" per se, but my grandmother left me THE HOUSEHOLD SEARCHLIGHT RECIPE BOOK, published in 1931!  It was a gift inscribed from my grandfather to her in 1938.  She added much later, "To be given to my granddaughter, Penny, because she loves to cook and she will love it.  Gigi"  It has her handwritten notes throughout and contains recipes for such things as Fried Squirrel and Squirrel Stew.  Corn Syrup is spelled, "Corn Sirup."  It contains some ingredients I have never heard of, such as Mintade and Rennet Dessert Powder, as well as some surprising ingredients (for the time):  rose flower water and turmeric!  I just love flipping through it and imagining her cooking from it as a young bride.

"Sirup" is not an error but an old spelling; I saw it in an encyclopedia from the 30's IIRC.

First of all, Christmas Memories with Recipes is one of my favorite cookbooks just for reading.  I love the glimpses into kitchens of such different times, places, and classes.  I discovered the book in the library when it was new, and asked for and received a copy as a Christmas present-  I was still in college.  Haven't cooked too much from it, though I make Martha Stewart's almond crescents every year, and just recently made and enjoyed the glazed meatballs and Danish cabbage in Beratrice Ojakangas's chapter. 

Most special to me is the Christmas ritual Carol Flinders described in her chapter:  you set up the stable of your creche on the first Sunday of Advent and surround it with stones to represent the mineral world.  On the second Sunday you add pine branches for the plant world, on the third you add the animal figures, on the fourth the human figures, and on Christmas Eve the infant Jesus.  My husband and I adopted this when our first child was little, and 25 years later we still enjoy it.

That Christmas Memories cookbook seems lovely.

My odd, interesting cookbook is a fundraising cookbook for my alma mater, the State University of New York at Stony Brook. It has no ISBN and it isn't on Amazon - I just checked. Stanford U. has it in a special collection.

Unlike most fundraising cookbooks that I know of, it isn't a compilation of recipes from a lot of cooks. It has a single author, the wife of the university president at the time.

Don't know how to post a link, but it is:

All the President's Menus: A Cookbook for Entertaining, by Carol Marburger (1980)

I've never cooked from it, so I can't tell you how good it is.

I have several volumes of this series:

• Benson & Hedges 100s Presents 100 of the World's Greatest Recipes


• Benson & Hedges Presents Recipes From Great American Inns


• Benson & Hedges Presents Recipes From America's Favorite Resorts


• Benson & Hedges 100's Presents 100 Recipes from 100 of the Greatest Restaurants

I know I don't own the entire series but it is very fun ...

My personal find is eat tweet: a twitter cookbook by maureen evans ... yes all the recipes fit in the 140 characters. This isn't very old (2010) but is heavily discounted in used bookstores ... it can be hard to distinguish the used from the remainders.

My son found me a vintage copy of The White House Cookbook. The copy I have is copyright 1926, originally published 1887. Also, not a cookbook, but I recently found a recipe from my great, great grandmother for a date cake. Having one from family dating so long ago is very special to me.

I love 'finds' from used book stores or thrift stores!  I found a Larousse Gastronomique and a Culinary Arts Institute Encylopedia Cookbook for just a few dollars each-  I actually just looked up the Culinary Arts book, and it appears to be worth over $100 which I didn't know until today.   I have several other finds as well, and what I love the most about them are all of the notes and inscriptions from previous owners.  Wishing good meals ahead on the cover or coupons clipped and accidentally left in or one even had something like "not epic"  written next to a recipe.   You get a sense of the previous owner which is sort of heartwarming somehow.  :)

I found an interesting one at a local used bookstore that was recipes from cab drivers of New York. With the diversity of cabbies, they had recipes from all over the world, from Algeria to Peru.

Many years ago, I was wandering aound Jerusalem and came upon a Jerusalem Post sidewalk book sale. Among the books I found one called Come For Cholent. Cholent is a treditional Jewish stew that is prepared on Friday before sunset and cooked overnight in a very slow oven. It is eaten for lunch on Saturday, when all forms of work, including cooking, are prohibitred. I don't think any two families have the same cholent recipe, but they all go something like this: combine in an oven-safe pot one pound of beans, a handful of barley, some beef, potatoes, eggs in shell, maybe some kishka, chopped onion, salt, and pepper. Add water, place in a slow oven and cook overnight.

Come for Cholent has actual measurements for the ingredients! Plus, there are so many variations I'd never heard of. Although I don't eat meat any longer, it is still one of my favorite cookbooks -- right up there with The Kugel Cookbook.

https://www.thriftbooks....705985&idiq=24002085

There is also Come for Cholent...Again: Cholent Stories and More Recipes