all about my cookbooks

I was tagged by Zoubida of Kitchen Culture to meme about my cookbooks (I think this is how you use the word "meme") .

I THOUGHT I didn't have many, but when I actually sat in front of my bookshelf...I have 18 in English and 82 in Japanese!

Thinking back, I don't think I really cooked anything until Satoshi and I started going out. Sure, I used to bake cakes from box mixes. And at one time, envisioned becoming a cake decorator. But, when you are still in school, your goals tend to change...A LOT...I think I went from cake decorator to interior decorator to translator at the U.N....who would have ever thought I would become a housewife and blogger too! :)

Oops...back to the meme...

1. How many do you own?
18 English ones & 82 Japanese ones

2. Which is the one you bought most recently?

It is a cookbook written in Japanese by a bagel company called Bagel & Bagel. This book gives recipes and ideas on how to make bagels and how to dress them up.

It is the 2nd book written by them. (I have the 1st one, too.) And am tempted to try making some bagels soon!

3. Which is the one you read most recently?
As soon as I buy a cookbook, I usually read it like a book. Looking at the recipes and of course if the cookbook has great photos, ooh and awe at those.

My mom gave me a cookbook this past Christmas which celebrated the 100th anniversary for her church. It is called "Wisteria Delights" and is filled with a lot of local Japanese style & local style dishes of Hawaii.

4. Name 5 which mean a lot to you. This was a toughie...I mean, they all mean something to me...so, I'll try to narrow it down to 5...here goes...

My Okinawan cookbooks...having found long lost relatives in Okinawa 2 years ago, I was interested in learning more about my roots, culture and the kinds of foods they have, especially since the people of Okinawa seem to have the keys to living long and healthy lives.

The series of cookbooks by Orange Page...these were the very first cookbooks that I purchased...although some of the ingredients were hard to come by in Hawaii (plus, I couldn't read everything), when I moved to Japan 5 years ago, I found that I could cook more the recipes because the ingredients were readily at hand. (Although, I can't read ALL the chinese characters (kanji), I can get by...a girl's gotta eat, right??)

The "Recipes Please" series...these cookbooks were created by my mom's friends. They have a variety of local Hawaiian dishes, dressings and desserts...definitely necessary when craving local style foods.

Recipes from my Grandma & Mom...it's not a cookbook (and I had to pry them out of my Grandma), but they mean a lot to me because when I make some of these foods it reminds me of my Grandma, Mom and Sunday dinners at home.

Recipe for mabo tofu...this also isn't a cookbook either, but it means a lot to me because a friend shared her original recipe for mabo tofu with me...this recipe also means a lot to me because it was one of the first dishes I made for Satoshi.

Now, I'd like to tag Rowena of Rubber Slipper in Italy and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice.

Enjoy!