The Art Of Collecting Cookbooks

Miner del Mundo, a food consultant who hails from Manila, started in the food industry at age 19, with his first stint as chef de partie at the Legend Hotel, Palawan. He later became the sous chef for Gualtierro Marchesi, which led him to travel in Portugal, Lisbon, Paris and Milan. In 2005, he went home to the Philippines and established his consultancy firm and, as they say, the rest is history. Del Mundo wrote this fascinating article about collecting cookbooks, which I would like to pass on to you:

In my quest for collecting cookbooks, I already have 250 titles. Not much of a promising feat but maybe when I reach the age of 50, I could have a thousand at least. I had my first cookbook during second year high school. It's the Good Food Cookbook, in full-color and contains simple instructions.

My passion for collecting cookbooks was originally meant to be a collection. If you're passionate about something, you don't aim for quantity but quality. Then, you realize you have enough. Being a collector does not mean having hundreds of such items, but must enjoy what you are doing.

Here are some of the general cookbook classifications you could follow when starting your book collection. Cookbooks are divided into several categories: Type of Cuisine, Specialty Courses, Artisanal Cookbooks and Fundamental Cookbooks. The Cuisine Type Cookbook is focused on a specific country's cuisine --- Spanish, Italian, French or Filipino. One that has colored photographs is better so you could have a comparison with what you cooked. Specialty Courses focus on key areas of cooking like All Salad Recipes or the Pasta and Pizza Book, Purely Fish or Succulent Meats. They also focus on the cooking methods --- Grill, Saute and Boiling, among others. Artisanal Cookbooks are cookbooks written by chefs and are the most expensive. A three-piece collection by Fernan Adria of El Bulli, Spain costs P14,000. Fundamental Cookbooks are those made by top culinary schools like the Culinary Institute of America or the Le Cordon Bleu. You only need to purchase one title that could help you in culinary terms and techniques in case you want to pursue professional cooking.

The important thing is to enjoy and learn from these pieces of knowledge, get inspiration from and develop your own culinary style. If you want to concentrate on one area, it's fine. Just enjoy reading. Until next time. Ciao!

Chef del Mundo offers a great piece of advice about collecting knowledge and deriving inspiration from cooking over time. As time passes, modern software for collectors has been created to help manage collections of recipes that have been passed down. Now, web-based management systems such as iTaggit, have been created for storing and distributing recipes amongst friends and family as a secure means of saving your culinary heirlooms. Check out Okishorty's collection of recipes for a great example. For more on Miner del Mundo's background and accomplishments, click here. For his article in it's entirety, click here.

Last Five State Quarter Designs Released

According to an Associated Press report yesterday, the U.S. Mint has released the last five designs for the state quarter collection. The Mint's 50 State Quarters Program releases quarters in order of each state's admittance to the country, starting with Delaware's quarter in 1999. The effort kicked off a coin collecting craze unlike anything ever seen before in the coin world. Based on a 2005 survey, Mint officials estimate 147 million people have gotten involved in collecting the quarters with their constantly changing designs. "The American people have made the 50 state quarters the most successful coins in United States history," said Mint Director Ed Moy.
The next one to be put into circulation in late January honors Oklahoma, which entered the union on Jan. 6, 1912. It will feature the state bird, the scissortail flycatcher, and the state wildflower, the Indian blanket. That will be followed by a Zia sun symbol for New Mexico, which entered the union on Jan. 6, 1912. Arizona, admitted on Feb. 14, 1912, will be represented by the Grand Canyon and a saguaro cactus. Alaska's coin will feature a grizzly bear wading in a stream with a salmon in its mouth while the Hawaii coin depicts King Kamehameha. Alaska and Hawaii were the last states to join the union in 1959.
Through the first eight years of the program, the Mint produced 31.2 billion quarters. Moy said about 20 billion of those quarters were due to the popularity of the changing designs which attracted collectors in record numbers.
The quarters are scheduled to revert back to their pre-1999 designs after next year. George Washington will remain on the "heads" side of the coin, but the "tails" side where the state designs had been placed will once again feature an American eagle.
Collectors who are missing some states should not lose heart since the coins already produced should remain in circulation for about 30 years. Be sure to manage your collection of state quarters using iTaggit. Also check out who has extra quarters you might be missing.

Collectibles Eye Candy

What fuels a collector to collect? How does one start? Would you say you started piece by piece over the years, or did you suddenly take interest in something and began buying everything you found of that genre? Luckily collecting does not have to be an expensive hobby, and most everyone has a collection of some kind, whether they realize it or not. Collecting has certainly been around since the cavemen era, when the hunters would create and collect tools for hunting and making shelter, so in some of my spare time, I decided to research collections on the Internet that had some zany or kookie qualities to them, just to see what I could find. Check out some of the stuff I found out there:

Air Sickness Bags:
Curator Steven J. Silberberg brings us the Air Sickness Bag Virtual Museum. He writes that Air Sickness Bags are art. "One can tell a lot about an airline's image from their Air Sickness Bags. Some barf bags are no more than a baggie with a twist tie, while other sick bags could win international design competitions. Are they art? I think so. You decide." He also posts that he has never been out of North America and is single.

Chocolate Wrappers:

Martin Mihal, of the Czech Republic, collects chocolate wrappers from all over the world. He created his chocolate wrapper indexing site to "popularize this hobby, let anybody browse chocolate wrappers from five continents, and to find new collectors of chocolate wrappers in the world to exchange chocolate wrappers and cooperation." As of January 31, 2006, Mihal has 38,579 wrappers from 99 countries.

Fat Collectibles:

Bill and Becky Sherman, of Illinois, have a number of collections, but my favorite one for its oddity is the fat collectibles collection. Though they do not shed too much light on the story behind the figurines and books, they do share an interesting hobby which Bill introduced into their relationship, and which I now bring to you.

Rum Bottle Labels:
Petr Hlousek, of the Czech Republic, is a member of the Curiosities Collectors Club from Prague and an avid collector of rum labels from around the world. He has 6,407 labels from 98 countries, 4,046 of which are unique. He also has 366 full bottles of rum from 38 countries. Lastly, he lists 2,832 labels that he does not yet have, and asks for help from the cyber-community in obtaining them. His collection is categorized by country and then further dissected by region of the world.

Soviet Calculators:
Sergei Frolov has a rather large collection of Soviet calculators, about 150 models in fact. Although I couldn't understand some of his site for language barriers, he does have several models missing from his collection that he is actively seeking out.

And Last But Not Least.....
Drum Roll Please....

Tissue Box Covers!!!!!!!:
A lady of unknown name or origin has been collecting decorative tissue box covers for a decade now. She purchased some through mail order catalogs, but really began to increase the size of her collection when she found an eclectic assortment of them on eBay.

Collections bring passion and interest into the lives of those they enrich. Like any other hobby, avid collectors give a structured purpose to their free time so they can amass and organize collections. Keep on collecting and showing off your stuff for the betterment of the world!!! Or at least us here at iTaggit!

I'll Trade You My Apple For A Nutty Buddy

My three favorite times as a child, in this order, were:

1. Last day of school

2. One day of year when it snowed

3. Back-to-school shopping

Back-to-school shopping was probably the only thing that got me stoked about the approaching school year. It wasn't that I didn't like school, but summers were just so unbelievably freeing. I disdained all the apple imagery that began popping up all the ads, reminding me of the inevitable early mornings, homework, and teasing. But once I got the school shopping list, my dread turned to eager anticipation. Maybe it was the smell of school supplies or the satisfaction of having a bunch of untouched objects at my disposal, but whatever the reason, I loved the careful choosing of supplies.

That's why I collect vintage lunch boxes. Because besides backpacks, lunch boxes were the single supply that insisted on personal expression.

I don't think I meant to collect lunch boxes. Something about that boxy, metal tote just triggered a memory one day when I was browsing a flea market. I opened up the lid and saw a Thermos. Oh yeah...Thermoses. I remember these...

And so the love affair began and has been rekindled since I've put them all on iTaggit. It's so much fun to stand back and look at these things that may not be worth much, but have always been a part of what makes me different.

How do your collections make you different?

The Top Ten Moments of Comic-Con '07
(as originally written by Neil Miller)

Being about a week removed from the heart of this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, I can say that now is the time to look back and reflect on some of the most memorable things that happened. If you were there, you could probably jot down 20-30 great moments in a matter of minutes. It was that much fun. If you weren’t there, here are 10 things that should have you kicking yourself for missing the event:

10. Tony Stark’s Car at the Omni Hotel.It wasn’t enough just to have the man himself, Robert Downey Jr. (aka Tony Stark in 2008’s IRON MAN) in the house, they had to bring his slick ride along as well. On Saturday during the Marvel Studios panel, this hot ride showed up in front of the Omni Hotel directly across from the Convention Center. I bet I could get chicks too with a ride like that…

9. The Heroes Panel . Any time you put Hayden Panettiere in a room you are going to get a reaction. The reaction was extremely positive as Hayden and her castmates gabbed on about the upcoming season of Heroes and the spin-off show, Heroes: Origins. Also exciting was the announcement that Kevin Smith would write and direct at least one episode of Origins. The show had a huge presence at this year’s Con and that’s a good thing — people just can’t seem to get enough of it.

8. The Stars of Balls of Fury.Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon and Dan Fogler were all on hand to promote their upcoming flick BALLS OF FURY. Their panel, which was part of the Focus/Rogue Studios presentation, was one of the most entertaining panels of the entire Con. “Reno 911″ co-star Cedric Yarbrough showed up in the Q&A align along with some interesting characters like Bob Stencil (more on him later). From talking about the gayness of mustaches to Thomas Lennon in spandex, these guys really know how to entertain. If their movie is half as entertaining as their panel, it is going to be one you won’t want to miss.

7. Stan Lee shows up to the Marvel Panel.Comic-Con just wouldn’t be Comic-Con without an appearance from Stan Lee. And as if it wasn’t enough that the crowd that assembled for the Marvel Studios panel was getting bombarded with footage from IRON MAN, the man himself decided to drop by and give his blessings to the flick. Stan was pumped up for IRON MAN. You should be, too.

6. The “Masters of the Web” Party and Panel.Sure there was some controversy over Robert Sanchez at IESB’s comments during the “Masters of the Web” panel on Sunday, but we should not let that overshadow the great time had by all. Saturday night’s party was one of the highlights of the entire week, hands down. Robert and Kelvin Chavez from LatinoReview.com truly know how to throw a bash. Plus the panel the next day, a panel of guys for whom I have immense respect, was both insightful and entertaining.

5. The Joyous Masses.No, I am not referring to the cult-like nature of some comic book factions. I am referring to the 123,000 strong who attended this year’s Con. They are dedicated and often costumed, but they are to be taken seriously. Like die hard sports fans, these folks are honest with themselves and not afraid to just “geek out” — something that is honorable, indeed.

4. Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy.We can’t claim to have scooped the fact that Zach Quinto would be named as Spock in the upcoming STAR TREK flick, but we can say that it makes sense. Not only was the announcement a delightful surprise, but the fact that Leonard Nimoy would be involved was also good to see. Seeing these two on stage side-by-side was eerie. Can’t wait to see the film.

3. Bob Stencil.Bob Stencil was a rather interesting character, constantly popping up to ask questions in Hall H. It turns out that he is a Comic Con veteran and a traveling comedian of sorts. His crowning moment was his discussion with the guys from BALLS OF FURY about the gayness of his mustache. Check out his MySpace page for more… You shan’t be disappointed.

2. Kevin Smith vs. a Heckler. This rather infamous event was twice as funny in person as it was watching it again later on YouTube. A non-believer in fan favorite Kevin Smith grew a pair and attempted to call him out asking, “Are you ever going to make a movie with original characters that doesn’t suck?” He forgot rule #1 of Q&A: Don’t mess with the guy with the microphone. Don’t worry, Kevin Smith reminded him. Check out the video here.

1. Jon Favreau Showing off Iron Man. By and large the best moment of the Con came on Thursday of all days. No one expected Jon Favreau to show up during the Paramount Panel, as IRON MAN had been officially moved to Saturday’s Marvel panel. But he did show up and he did show off IRON MAN. A shockwave of chills flowed through Hall H as the clip displayed Robert Downey Jr. embodying Tony Stark and donning not one, but two suits. Then as if to add the cherry on top, Iron Man was shown flying through the air followed by 2 F-22s. From that moment there was no two words that got more play during the Con than IRON MAN.

So there you have it, my own personal Top 10 Most Memorable Moments from Comic-Con 2007. I guess that closes out our Con coverage for the year. It is a little sad, really. As a Comic-Con virgin, I have to say that I have never seen anything like it. The fans. The spectacle of it all. The great people I met both in and outside of the business. It was all a bit surreal. And I can’t wait to go back next year.

To check out more on Neil Miller and his blog page, click here.

Comic Book Challenge Down To Final Ten

The first round of the 2007 Comic Book Challenge was held during International Comic-Con in San Diego last weekend. Four Californians made the Top 10 cut, as well as representatives from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, West Virginia and Kentucky. There is less than ten days left in the 2nd round of voting to weed the Top 10 down to the Top 3, and then a final round will end August 26th and produce this year's winner. For behind the scenes coverage and photos of Round 1, check out Duncan's blog. For more on the progress itself, check out the AT&T Blue Room, partially sponsored by us here at iTaggit!

Tabor's Book Takes A Look Into One Of The Deadliest Mountaineering Disasters In North America

James Tabor's Forever on the Mountain: The Truth Behind One of the Most Tragic, Mysterious, and Controversial Disasters in Mountaineering History takes an exhaustive look at the doomed 1967 expedition to scale Alaska's Mt. McKinley. Tabor goes into gripping detail of the infamous climb that claimed seven of the 12-man team during their ascension to the 20,320-foot summit, making it one of the deadliest mountaineering disasters in North America. Tabor explores the problems that hindered the trip from the beginning and profiles the survivors 40 years later. Forever on the Mountain has been given wonderful reviews by critics and readers alike. Don't forget to catalog it and others in your book collection on iTaggit!