It's so... pretty.... I already want one for all the wrong reasons. I would still use a cookbook like this one, it would just be inconvenient since I'd have to keep it at a safe distance from all food.

I have this cookbook and love it. I think it's cheaper from amazon in Canada even with postage the us.

Well I've never had a problem with getting my cookbooks exceptionally grubby. Spray it with a fabric protector and Enjoy! Or make a book cover out of a clear shower curtain.

Sometimes cookbooks cross the line from utility to art...I'm personally saving up for Salvador Dali's cookbook "Les Diners de Gala" which clocks in at around $225...

An awful lot of cookbooks never get cooked from. I usually find the prettier the pictures the worse the recipes, but there are people who would buy and enjoy leafing through this on the living room sofa, while nuking a lean cuisine in their all stainless kitchen with a complete set of kitchen aid and Cuisinart appliances. To each his or her own.

I think cookbooks are made to have their spines cracked, their pages dribbled on with oils and spices and drool, their margins notated and doodled on, their jackets removed and their covers thoroughly and ilberally splashed with wine, coffee, sherry and splatters of butter. My best, most-used, and most-loved cookbooks are so encrusted with fond I could deglaze and make soup from them, and are usually held together with many types of tape. Cookbooks are utilitarian objects of love, not coffee table tomes objets d'art. If you don't use it, you bought it for the wrong reasons.

Cookbooks like this I tend to keep in a different area in the kitchen where they can't get splattered, or rotate them on the coffee table. I think they can give great inspiration, though, so I like to get lost in them.

It's called a cookbook for a reason. So I say: cook! And on a night when you can't fall asleep but your brain is just too tired to be wired, flip through the pages and enjoy the photos and the story too.

In 10 years, a cracked, dirty, inscribed, and well worn cookbook would be a treasure trove of memories. But in 10 years, an old beautiful unused cookbook might just be clutter.
Use it!

Think of it this way: if you bought a nice photo or print, you'd appreciate the craft that went into it, you'd appreciate it being a part of a limited edition (and the value it adds), and you'd rightfully consider it art.

The same is true for a well made hardcover book. Someone did some careful sewing and gluing by hand to finish that book, and there are a finite amount of them in the world.

So while I understand the frustration over the functionality, buying a very nice cookbook is more about being a collector than a chef. Do a little research on what goes into making a fine book and you'll shudder at the thought of using one as an ottoman.

akay: Oh, I agree with you! Thank you for your perspective on considering it as a work of art, a really important point that was missing from my post. The ottoman comment in no way meant to disrespect the amount of care and craft that goes into creating something as beautiful as Maggie's Harvest.

I love my cookbooks, but recipes that merit "make-again" status get transferred into my Mealboard app. It's so much more convenient to have the recipe handy if I decide at the last minute to make something, and my iPhone also takes up a lot less space in my tiny kitchen. I'd never give up the actual books, especially the really beautiful and/or informative ones (and I do add to the collection from time to time), but I go for practicality on a day-to-day basis.

I have no problem with beautiful cookbooks. I find inspiration from them and, in general, I like beautiful things. I also have no problem not taking a cookbook (or my computer) into my kitchen. I have some particularly large cookbooks which, even if I didn't mind getting them dirty, would just be cumbersome and difficult to keep open. instead, I read the recipe thoroughly before I start, do non-time sensitive prepwork, then I take notes on a whiteboard on my refrigerator to reference should I forget the steps (also easier to read that tiny print in a long recipe). I even take notes on the whiteboard as I go of any changes or additions I make. I wait to see if I really like the final result before I write it in the book (or on a piece of paper left in the pages of the book).

I don't think something has to get worn and dirty to show it was used and well loved. if anything, treating it with care and keeping it in prime condition means you have respect for it and you can pass it on to others.

I love beautiful cookbooks; they inspire me to cook with lovely & colorful photographs which I also admire as great art. I often buy them and keep them on my night stand for pleasure reading. I take concepts from them to use in my kitchen, as that is usually how I cook. I just need to be inspired first and they do that for me. I bought these two because they were beautiful (and yet not too lofty to take into the kitchen): Jamie Oliver's "Jamie at Home" and Nigel Slater's "Tender." And once a cookbook is mine, I don't mind getting it dirty, no matter how beautiful or expensive it is.

Some of the best cooking advice I received was from my mentor, cookbook author, Zarela Martinez, she said, "always completely read a recipe before begining to cook." To that end, I'd add that you should write the recipes down in a journal so that you can take notes and observations as you cook. You'll better understand the recipe and your cookbook will stay nice and clean!

I saw Edward Tufte (who wrote The Visual Display of Quantitative Information and other awesome books about graphical design) speak once. The admission price included a four-volume set of his books. He asked us all to open to a certain page in one of the books, then fold the page in half so we could compare it to another page. A lot of us, including me, demurred, whereupon he told us that books should be used, not treated in an overcautious manner.

To further illustrate his point, he showed us an centuries-old edition of Euclid's Elements from his private collection that had a pop-up figure of a geometric solid. He had popped it up and carried it around the room showing everybody.

That said, the more you respect your books, the longer they will be around to be used. That's why I keep a cookbook holder in my kitchen. It has a clear acrylic front that protects the book from splatters and holds it open at a convenient height for reading. Even with such a precaution, eventually much-loved cookbooks will start to show some wear, but that's okay with me.

Of course they can never enter the kitchen! That's fine! I have the Larousse Gastronomique encyclopaedia and it never goes to the kitchen. If I need to cook a recipe from it, I just photocopy the page or jot down the main points into a notebook!

I saw Maggie's Harvest at Barbara-Jo's annual cookbook sale last week. Frankly, the heft and size of the opus was a deterrent to me and I didn't get it. It is beautiful, but expensive (even with the sale discount) and I'd have to know that I'd use it. I may get it from the library and take it for a test drive.

However, I have arthritis in my hands and that book weighed a ton!

The sign of a well-loved and well-used cookbook is a delight to me; complete with splashes and stains it announces its beloved status. Mine also have notes in the margins - observations about changes I made, cooking times, etc.

Cookbooks are actually meant to be cooked from.

I have a secret - I have a nice, big, spiral-bound notebook with hard covers, and thick, lined paper that I write nearly all my favorite recipes in. I have dozens of cookbooks, but I don't use any one cookbook for a lot of recipes, so I pick and choose and write my own cookbook into the notebook. I also don't feel guilty about getting it dirty, spilling on it, writing notes in it (I used to work in an archive/library - writing in books is sacreligious!), doubling the recipe, etc.

It's also a nice, low-tech way of having all your favorite recipes in one place and easily portable. I find that writing down recipes before I do them means that I understand the recipe and all of its ingredients better before I start cooking.

An alternative to writing notes IN your cookbook is to instead use cookbooker (www.cookbooker.com). You can store all your information about the recipes you've tried, how well you liked it, and also see what worked for other people. Its a fantastic resource that will improve as more people cotton on to it.

I like my functional objects to be pretty too, even if it means they don't stay pristine forever. I think a well-loved, well-used encyclopaedic cookbook like this one is great to pass down (I have, and still use, my grandmother's Mrs Beeton). At least you know it'll last longer than all those paperbacks! But if you're in the market for a hefty Australian cooking tome, I'd go for Stephanie Alexander over Maggie - and her latest has a washable cover.

Maybe it's an Aussie thing (although I'd guess not) but I have several big, beautiful, precious cookbooks that I would never dream of taking into the kitchen. They are for reading and inspiration, and if I do want to use any recipes from them I will leave them in the living room and run back and forth, or copy the recipe.

That said, I don't like getting marks even on my cheap second-hand cookbooks, so I may be a bit sensitive!

I have some large, and beautiful cookbooks and I use them frequently.

If you're worried about damaging books in the kitchen, I would suggest getting a recipe book holder and an A3 sheet of acetate to sit in front of the pages (to prevent splashes).

However, IMHO cookbooks should be splashed and marked - a sign that they're great books to cook from.

PS Maggie is a great 'homestyle' cook - if her sour cream pastry is in that book, you'll never use another savoury pastry again.