This year, I will cook my way through my 67 cook­books. You might think 67 cook­books is a lot to own. Some part of me appar­ent­ly thinks it’s not near­ly enough. My col­lec­tion has over­grown its shelf space repeat­ed­ly, and if some­thing isn’t done, could take over the apart­ment entirely. 

So now, each book must prove its worth — earn its keep. Will I cook every recipe in every book? Hilar­i­ous idea. I will, how­ev­er, cook from each book until I find at least one thing I love. If that does­n’t hap­pen, the book goes, and I regain a bit of shelf space.

The line-up, orga­nized as I have them on my shelves:

Desserts

• Chez Panisse Fruit by Alice Waters
• Chez Panisse Desserts by Lind­sey Shere
• Bou­chon Bak­ery by Thomas Keller
• The New Arti­san Bread in Five Min­utes a Day by Jeff Herzberg and Zoe Francois
• Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
• Dessert Per­son by Claire Saffitz
• What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz
• Snack­ing Cakes by Yossy Arefi
• Pale­tas by Fany Gerson
• The Per­fect Scoop by David Leibovitz

The­o­ry and technique

• Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Matrix by Mark Bittman
• Mod­ern Sauces by Martha Holm­berg and Ellen Silverman
• Sauces: Savoury and Sweet by Michel Roux
• The Mod­ern Larder by Michelle McKenzie
• Culi­nary Artistry by Andrew Dor­nen­burg and Karen Page
• The Pro­fes­sion­al Chef by The Culi­nary Insti­tute of America
• New Com­plete Tech­niques by Jacques Pepin
• Basics: Foun­da­tions of Mod­ern Cook­ing by Fil­ip Verheyden
• Fer­ment­ed Veg­eta­bles by Kirsten Shock­ey and Christo­pher Shockey
• Begin­ner’s Guide to Pre­serv­ing by Delilah Snell

Gen­er­al

• I Dream of Din­ner (so you don’t have to) by Ali Slagle
• More is More by Mol­ly Baz
• Cook This Book by Mol­ly Baz
• Where Cook­ing Begins by Car­la Lal­li Music
• That Sounds So Good by Car­la Lal­li Music
• A Man and His Kitchen by Matt Hranek
• Cook­ing at Home by David Chang and Priya Krishna
• The Art of Sim­ple Food by Alice Waters
• Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
• The Food Lab by J. Ken­ji Lopez-Alt
• Taste and Tech­nique by Nan­cy Pomeroy
• Chef’s Fridges by Car­rie Solomon
• Bou­chon by Thomas Keller
• Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller
• The Gourmet Cook­book by Ruth Reichl
• Gourmet Today by Ruth Reichl
• Sim­ple & Clas­sic by Jane Hornby

Ingre­di­ent Specific

• Veg­etable Lit­er­a­cy by Deb­o­rah Madison
• Ruffage by Abra Berens
• Chez Panisse Veg­eta­bles by Alice Waters
• Six Sea­sons by Josh McFadden
• The Per­fect Egg by Teri Lyn Fish­er and Jen­ny Park
• The Bean Book by Steve Sando
• Cool Beans by Joe Yonan
• Grains for Every Sea­son by Josh McFadden

Cui­sine Specific

• Sim­ple French Food by Richard Olney
• The Ulti­mate Mediter­ranean Cook­book by Amy Riolo
• The Slow Mediter­ranean Kitchen by Paula Woolfert
• The Foods and Wines of Spain by Pene­lope Casas
• Tapas by Pene­lope Casas
• Essen­tials of Clas­sic Ital­ian Cook­ing by Mar­cel­la Hazan
• Fla­vor by Yotam Ottolenghi
• Zahav by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook
• Clas­sic Indi­an Cook­ing by Julie Sahni
• To Asia, With Love by Het­ty McKinnon
• The Wok by J. Ken­ji Lopez-Alt
• Indian(-ish) by Priya Krishna
• My Mex­i­co City Kitchen by Gabriela Camara
• Mi Coci­na by Rick Martinez
• Let’s Make Dumplings by Hugh Amano and Sara Becan
• Mas­ter­ing Pas­ta by Mark Vetri and David Joachim
• The Ele­ments of Piz­za by Ken Forkish
• Shake Shack: Recipes and Sto­ries by Randy Garut­ti and Mark Rosati
• The Break­fast Book by Mar­i­on Cunningham
• The Art of Cook­ing Omelettes by Madame Romaine de Lyon
• Whole Food Cook­ing Every Day by Amy Chaplin
• The Sprout­ed Kitchen Bowl and Spoon by Sara Forte