A huge part of downsizing is deciding what to do with massive book collections. 

Back in March 2021, we talked about smart ways to part with the book stacks that have accumulated over time. 

Since then, I’ve noticed that a growing part of that collection is cookbooks. Maybe it was all the eating in we did during the pandemic, with the search for both comfort food and gastronomic specialties. You may have discovered a new favorite recipe or two, but moving all those books into a new space would eat up most of the available shelving space in your new home, meaning you could not bring more meaningful mementos or books of another genre.

With the rise of celebrity chefs, many of these books have been received as gifts, and people find them hard to part with. Perhaps you like the celebrity chef, or you really, really want to get around to cooking like Emeril…or Giada…or Guy.

Guess what, that’s probably not going to happen. And if you do decide to cook Ina Garten's Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken, it is probably easier to look the recipe up online than it is to pack, cart, and unpack her bulky cookbook, and the 20 others sitting on your shelf for accompanying side dishes.

So what can you do with your cookbook collection?

My best suggestion is to download a recipe app. This is a great way to organize your favorite recipes so that they are all in one place, and so easy to store. Best part—the apps are searchable, so you can plug in “shallots” or “vanilla frosting” or “country meatloaf” to find your favorites.

A couple of our favorites: Paprika ($4.99) and Recipe Keeper (free and pro versions) are popular apps that allow you to upload, save, and locate your recipes and add recipes from websites to it. Websites like allrecipes.com allow you to search a database of thousands of recipes that have been tested and rated by others. You can search by ingredient, prep time, and even allergies. 

Don’t want to digitize?

If you like all the handwritten recipes you have collected over the years with little notes you made tweaking the ingredients, or if you have favorites you have torn out of magazines, you can store them in a three-ring binder. You can use old-fashioned tabbed dividers to create categories like “appetizers,” “sweets,” “Sunday brunch,” and “family favorites.” 

Consider protecting them with plastic sheet protectors. These are great even for loose recipe cards. 

Special cookbooks that have been treasured through the years can be kept, but you’ll want to protect them from falling apart before the move. A family heirloom or valuable vintage cookbook that has seen better days can be restored by a professional bookmaker. 

For those books that do make the cut, consider the lighting in your new kitchen. To keep the bright covers from fading make sure that they don’t get direct sunlight, Heat and moisture can also damage them. Keep them away from the stove so they won’t get covered with greasy residue. A cookbook stand with a splatter shield can guard the page while you are using it. 

If your collection is small, don’t worry about organizing them by cuisine. You might consider a system of various colored post-it notes for marking favorites of different nationalities and meals. (Red for favorite spicy dishes, green for vegetables and salads, etc.)

Before the move, donate or sell the books you aren’t keeping. Check with local libraries, used-book stores, and thrift shops to see if they take donations. Some books are collectible and have a market on resale sites like ebay. 

And if you want to test out all the chocolate-chip cookie recipes in your collection, they do make an excellent treat on moving day! 

Bon Appetit!