Here is a scenario that most cooks will find familiar:
1. Mixing spoon in one hand.
2. Deep mixing bowl held tightly with the other hand.
3. Cookbook flat on the countertop, pages flapping in the breeze just as you try to read the next ingredient in the recipe you’re making.
Of course, the mixing spoon hand has some sticky stuff on the fingers, so after you release the spoon (and carefully position it so it doesn’t sink into whatever you’re making), you have to rinse and wipe your fingers off before attacking the cookbook pages in an attempt to keep them from flapping further.
Let’s explore 10 ways to keep a cookbook open to the right recipe:
- Your free hand resting on the pages
- A bookmark
- Crack the spine
- Rubber bands
- Large paper clips
- Two clothespins (anybody out there remember them?)
- Prop it open with a heavy knife, tumbler, or the flour canister, if it’s handy
- Use chip clips
- Weigh one page with your cell phone, the other with your IPod
- Set the cookbook in a cookbook holder stand
Aha! Years ago I made my own cookbook holder stand of sorts. It was a modified plate holder actually, but it worked pretty well if the cookbook wasn’t heavy or too thick. It allowed me to keep the cookbook upright to read the recipe easily, and also have a hands-free reading experience. It saved me lots of unproductive cooking time.
I’m excited to say that we at The Cookbook People found and now offer a beautiful hard wood cookbook holder stand that will hold large and small cookbooks in a small “footprint” on the countertop. It will even hold our large and small 3-ring recipe binders.
Not only that, it protects the pages from those inevitable splatters with two acrylic sheets. It is well-priced at $18.99 and can ship in 1 to 2 business days. If you would like the freedom to cook without the hassle of recipes flapping, then a cookbook holder stand is definitely for you. (And then you can toss those old clothespins that nobody except you knows what to do with.)
Happy cookbook holder stand cooking,
Matilda
