Apr 13 2009
Why I Need a Glass of Wine
I finally finished looking through the boxes today. I had originally thought I could get rid of half of them. Ha! I have three boxes of books to be sold, and a box and a half of things for the auctioneer, but that leaves 30-mumble boxes taking up valuable space in my dainty living room. The box on the far left is nothing but cookbooks, including The One Maid Book of Cookery*, which used to belong to my grandmother and starts out “The conditions of living are fast changing, the number of gentle people living in flats with One Maid, or with no maid at all, is rapidly increasing. The One Maid Book of Cookery is specially written with a view to these modern conditions.”
You can almost hear the tone of horror with which the author wrote “with no maid at all” in 1913.
I have the same feeling about the boxes (or, as the cookbook writer might say, The Boxes). I keep looking over at them and being amazed all over again that they’re there. Every morning as I stumble past them/into them, I discover all over again that they have failed to vanish overnight, the way nightmares should.
I’ll avert my eyes and pour a nice, cold glass of Geyser Peak sauvignon blanc. It’s almost time for Jacques Pépin, and I know he’s having a glass, so I’ll join him. Just to be polite.
*When I opened it to copy the preface, I found a file card in my father’s writing for Borscht Moskovski, and a slip of paper in his mother’s beautiful hand with recipes for rice pudding and spiced gammon. Also a newspaper clippings with recipes for cheese straws and oxtail stew. Available upon request.
4 Responses to “Why I Need a Glass of Wine”
I should think quite a few of your books will most probably be worth quite a bit to collectors. You should check out with some second-hand book shops – esp. those interested in the older books.
BTW we had a friend who would leave a $20 bill in this book or that!!! Just in case he needed the extra $$$ – wouldn’t it be interesting if you found such items..not to say handy.
Recipe for Cheese straws would be of interest to me, when you have the time. Thanks for the offer.
jx
Wish I was close, having dealth in antiques before, I would sit down with you with the glass of wine and we could go through these treasures. This way, I could help you maximise the amount of money you could make with these treasures.
Yeah, have you checked abebooks.com?
Poor you. Wish I was there to help you dig through it all…and booze it up a bit. *hugs*
I’ll pass on the recipe for oxtail stew/soup.
However, I’m appalled at the thought that there are one and a half boxes of books that you no longer want or love. I can’t imagine such a thing!