HOARD GALORE!

[freemonkey]

Today it is cookbooks for me. I need to get rid of some of them, but how? How to decide which of these cookbooks I rarely ever use (and probably never will) to get rid of? Most of them came super cheap from thrift stores, Ross, TJ Maxx so the $ investment is not a big deal, but some are really nice to look at. When I do, I dream of a different me who actually takes the time to prepare fabulous new meals on a regular basis.

Today I will look at the most likely contenders for trading away and see if I can find the same or similar recipes in other books I have. I have one book that has some beautiful desserts in it, I'm tempted to just cut them out (I like the glossy pages with the big pictures, scanning them would just not be the same), but that would destroy the book.

Still, there's a (much) less than 50% chance I will use the recipe in the future. Multiply that by the thousands of recipes in the 45+ cookbooks I have in this pile. Why keep them? :crazy:

Name your hoard(s)!

[vremya]

Cookbooks are great! We have around 50 - 60, I guess. I did a cull a couple of years ago and got rid of the ones I'd never ever cook out of (and which weren't bizarre enough to keep in spite of that).

[wildernesse]

I do not hoard cookbooks, but do hoard cooking magazines. Less initial investment, more pictures and variety!

When it came to Martha Stewart Livings, I just chunked the entire collection into the recycling bin once I realized that not only did I know exactly what I liked in them, but I had read the instructions so many times, I actually had memorized most of them. So if I ever actually want to make that cushion/quilt/pie weight handwarmer, I already know how to. And since I haven't done so in the past 12 years, the odds that I will ever do so are slim. For a few of them, I can narrow down the issue enough that I could look it back up in back issues if I ever wanted to.

For Everyday Food, I cut out most of the recipes that I really liked. Some of those I put in my recipe box, since I've made them and know we like them. The rest are in a freezer bag and I have vowed to work through them and either discard them or put them in the recipe box. I'm working on two of those this week.

For Bon Appetit and Gourmet, I decided I would use epicurious's recipe guide if I ever needed a recipe and just cut out the restaurant lists that I can't find online. I did keep a couple of issues--one that I had made a bunch of recipes from and liked, so it was easier just to keep it all together, for example.

If your local library has a copy of the cookbook you like, you could always get rid of your copy and know that you have a backup there. I'm about to tackle my actual book collection and de-clutter it. If I haven't re-read it and did not have a strong connection to it the first time, out it goes. It's not like I will never be able to put my hands on a copy of The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood if I give mine to the library book sale. That will winnow my book collection down significantly.

[Pinecone]

I have too many books, to include cook books than a sane person needs.

Also:

Art supplies
Tools
Scissors
Candle holders
Salt & pepper shakers
PINECONES!!

Of all these I will probably still keep adding to my hoard because I'm addicted to them, except I really really don't need the candle holders and salt & pepper shakers. They just somehow grew without any desire to need for them.

[Demimonde]

I hoard stationary and pretty notecards. Which is hilarious because I am a terrible pen pal and notorious flake for thank you notes. I swear it is a disease. I want to be a kind an thoughtful friend that drops a beautifully penned note in the mail to make others feel special. So I buy the pretty stuff when I see it on sale and never do anything with it. Hell, I don't think I even have postage in my desk. But I have lots of stationary.

[wildernesse]

I hoard stationary and pretty notecards. Which is hilarious because I am a terrible pen pal and notorious flake for thank you notes. I swear it is a disease. I want to be a kind an thoughtful friend that drops a beautifully penned note in the mail to make others feel special. So I buy the pretty stuff when I see it on sale and never do anything with it. Hell, I don't think I even have postage in my desk. But I have lots of stationary.

Oh. Crap, I forgot all about my hoard of stationary. Last year, I did send my grandparents a postcard just about every week, so that was nice. I need to start doing that again. Besides that bright spot, you and I are on the same wavelength here.

[freemonkey]

I'm about halfway through and I've culled exactly 6 books. I don't know if that's good or bad. Up next: Baking/dessert books, then "healthy" cookbooks.

I also have a pretty big hoard of other books, especially art books. Also art supplies, but that stuff has been useful, and hopefully, will continue to be.

And some other stuff.

[Lauri D]

Cosmetics, lotions and lip stuff. I could probably open my own little store from what I have.

Notebooks, small and large, notepads, legal pads, journals, etc. - anything paper. Pens.

[Demimonde]

Oh. Crap, I forgot all about my hoard of stationary. Last year, I did send my grandparents a postcard just about every week, so that was nice. I need to start doing that again. Besides that bright spot, you and I are on the same wavelength here.

Your tone here cracked me up. :giggle: Sorry to remind you of that, but if it gets you back to your bright spot I'm glad. Maybe that is what I need to do, just set a goal of sending one a week and see what happens? :chin: I think I will! Thanks for the tip.

And Lauri has brought up another of my hoarding things that goes together like pens and paper. To go with my stationary I am a major pen hoarder. I have all kinds of fun, funky, and weird guys some of which I'm not sure that I have used more than once or twice. I have a Parker fountain pen that is my day to day pen which I love. Funny story about that the other day.

I was in an appointment and was filling out some paperwork, using my awesome pen. After I filled it out, I handed the clipboard back and the lady stared at me expectantly with her hand out for the pen. I just stared back until she said, "I need to fill out this section here." I hate giving up my pen, but I reluctantly handed it back. We went over a few bits of info and it was my turn again with the clipboard. Again we played the stare and hand routine but reversed.

Finally, at the end of the interview, I rose to go. She firmly asked for her pen back and I was really confused. It turns out we have the same fountain pen, are equally covetous and protective of them, and were both confused.

Even funnier was that this was a psych screening and she was taking notes as I was completeing my sections. I hope she went back later with "our" pen and crossed out the multiple references to kleptomania in her notes. :giggle:

[godfry n. glad]

Hats.
Teeshirts from places I've been.
Books.

I used to hoard a certain type of refrigerator magnet, but I outgrew that. The same with travel pins.

I suspect 'kinds of chickens' is a growing concern....

[One for Sorrow]

Paperback novels. Great ones, cheesy ones, it doesn't matter. There's a thrift store nearby that almost always has a great selection and sells them for $0.50 a piece. Whenever I make the mistake of going in there I end up buying any that look remotely interesting, which of course means that they're accumulating at a much faster rate than I could ever read them. Of course, I don't even sit down with a book very often because I spend so much of my free time farting around on the internet. It's a sickness.

I'm loathe to let any of them go (even those that I didn't particularly care for) but I'm going to have to bite the bullet and donate a lot of them back soon. I might even list a few on BookMooch, like Chuckles suggested. Which is an awesome idea, actually, because... more books! :larrybounce:

[Plant Woman]

I hoard plants! At one time I had a pot ghetto of 100s of plants in 1 gallon pots. I am trying to break the habit of buying more plants than I can find room in the garden.

[inland wave]

Funny thing this thread has come along. There is hoarding going on at my house. I love stationary, all types of journals, compositon books, legal pads in pastel colors and steno pads in pastel colors, binder clips, etc.....I am starting to get a mountain of school books printed off and have been boxing them up for storage. Just stuff, I can't seem to get enough stuff and I feel out of control with it. I love going to dives and antique stores. I think at the moment I feel really cramped because both of the girls are back home now. Nothing is organized, rooms are messy, and we have at least two house fulls of furniture in our house (this does not include all the stuff in the big workshop). It not only feels out of control, but like the walls are caving in, feeling trapped somewhat, like a mouse in a cage. I need you guys to come out and help me do a clean sweep.

[freemonkey]

:huggle: @ inland wave


Today I am taking the 10+ cookbooks I can part with, along with a bunch of others, to Half Price Books. They're not so great with the prices they pay these days, but whatever.

[inland wave]

Not so sure is going through her books, she, like the rest of us have books that are hard to part with, but why? I started a collection on a particular author and I have decided that I am going to let them go and start going to the library. I love to go to bookstores, but I need to stay away from them for a while. These days I go to buy reference materials for classes, but there will come a day when I can go pick up something for pleasure. Maybe I should look into ebooks or something of that sort to keep clutter down. I have found that I like to get reciepies from the FF threads or cookbooks on line.